Kate strode down the hallway to Managing Partner Nina Woods’ corner office. On her way, she passed Randall’s office.

The door was closed. Before she could decide whether to knock, Nina Woods appeared around the opposite corner.

“Kate!” Nina’s bright silver hair gleamed in the light streaming through the glass building. “Welcome back.” She smiled.

It was funny how things could change. Kate could not remember an instance when Nina Woods had given her a genuine smile last year. Nina was a rainmaker for McGrath Woods, the woman who had single-handedly kept the ship afloat when Randall Barrett was charged with murder. She was known as the Ice Queen, but she was, in fact, the White Queen on the chessboard of McGrath Woods. Nina never gave away her hand, always keeping her strategy quiet until the beginning of the endgame.

“How are you?” Nina’s gaze flickered over Kate, and then back to her face. “Italy agreed with you.”

Kate nodded. “Yes. It did.”

“Could I have a word with you in my office, please?” It wasn’t really a question. Not when the Managing Partner posed it.

“Of course.” Kate cleared her throat. “Actually, I was on my way to speak with you.”

“Oh?” Nina Woods walked into her office. “Have a seat, Kate.”

Kate followed her soon-to-be ex-boss into her stunning corner office. It had once been John Lyons’. She shook off the chill that skittered along her arms at the thought of her former mentor.

She remembered that day when he first invited her into his office to work on the TransTissue case. She had been excited at the carrot he had dangled before her. Her future had suddenly held promise. And she had gazed through the commanding view of his twenty-second floor office and been in awe. Of his success, his power, all on show with his million-dollar view.

Even now, the view moved her. There was something about the deep, mysterious body of water that spoke to an elemental part of her. Perhaps it was the immutability of the ocean, how it reached beyond them all. It just went on forever. Nothing could stop it.

And at the horizon, silvery fog performed a sleight of hand with the long, flat lines of an incoming container ship.

“Coffee?” Nina Woods held out a thermal coffee jug.

Kate shook her head. “No, thanks. I just had one.”

Nina nodded, the brisk movement swinging her smooth hair as she poured coffee into a mug with McGrath Woods emblazoned across it. At the sight of it, Kate remembered that she had one at home, in her cupboard. Would she and Eddie have mugs with the Bent & Lange moniker? She doubted it. That wasn’t his style.

“Kate, I’ve been reflecting on the conversation we had before you left for Italy,” Nina said. “I’m afraid I might have given you the wrong impression when I told you that clients were concerned about your reputation.”