Trouble with the Law by Tatiana March Read Free Book Online

covered up the voice of Sandra whispering, “You’re lying.”
    “I’ll explain when I see you on Monday,” Justine muttered and pinned a smile on her face as she turned to face the clients.
    “I’m afraid we’ll have to go now,” Steven said, taking Sandra’s elbow. “But I’ll leave you in good hands.” He grinned at Mark, and then cast a hurried glance at Justine to include her in his comment before he addressed the guests again. “Thank you for your support of Chandler Developments. Eat, drink, and be merry.” He saluted the crowd and made his exit with Sandra in tow.
    * * * *
    Justine swallowed the last sip of Baileys in her glass and sneaked a glance at her watch. Almost eleven. The party had been a roaring success, with Mark amusing the clients with anecdotes about law enforcement in a small town where everybody knew each other. Thank heavens the table had been laid out without chairs at the ends for the host and the hostess, so she didn’t have to spend the entire evening facing him. Everyone sat along the long sides, and although Sheriff Taylor sat across from her, he was three chairs over to the left, out of her direct line of vision.
    She’d worried that he’d flounder with the sophisticated crowd and embarrass Chandler Developments, but instead he proved to be the kind of man around whom the laughter always rang the loudest and the conversation sparked the brightest.
    “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that,” Justine said to the quiet accountant from the City Hall on her right. She strained her ears to hear what the building inspector’s wife had said to Mark, who appeared to be choking into his brandy glass.
    “I asked if you follow the Flyers at all,” the accountant said.
    Justine sent him a professional smile. “No, hockey isn’t my thing. We sponsor the Eagles.”
    “I prefer hockey,” the accountant said. “I get hay fever in the summer.”
    “Un-huh,” Justine said. Her eyes narrowed as the woman on Mark’s other side clutched his arm, shaking with laughter. This really was getting to be too much. Didn’t Sheriff Taylor realize that the husbands were present? Justine craned her neck and raised her voice. “Can we share the joke?” she called out.
    “Honey, you are the joke,” cried the flamboyant woman in her forties who was the electrical contractor’s escort. Justine frowned as she tried to recall the woman’s name.
    “ Sharon asked how we met,” Mark said, his eyes glittering under the beam from the ceiling lights.
    Justine stiffened. Panic lurched in her stomach. Everyone had been drinking wine throughout the meal, and brandy and liqueurs afterwards. She had no idea how well Mark tolerated alcohol. Did drink loosen his tongue and cloud his judgment, the way it did with most people?
    “And how did you tell Sharon that we met?” Justine forced out the question.
    Sheriff Taylor sent her a mocking smile across the table, and she realized that he knew exactly what was going through her mind.
    “I told her that I arrested you.” He raised his voice to carry past the people between them. The rest of the guests interrupted their conversations and turned to watch him.
    “What did you arrest her for?” asked the building inspector. “Speeding?”
    “Soliciting,” Mark said calmly. “She barged into someone’s hotel room in the middle of the night, wearing not very much at all, and the gentleman’s wife made a complaint.” He swept a look around the table to include everyone. “Of course, I knew it was a mix-up with the reservations, but when I saw Justine, I simply couldn’t let her go. I arrested her and told her I’d hold onto her until she agreed to go out with me.”
    Laughter rippled around the table, and Justine heaved out a sigh, exhaling the air trapped in her lungs. Grudgingly she gave a mental round of applause to Sheriff Taylor. By getting his version out first, he’d neutralized any rumors that might start circulating about the incident at