She didn’t bother getting up. “I bet you didn’t think you’d be having this meeting anytime soon.”

“About that.” His forced smile hesitated while looking at the bouquet before settling on her face. “Of course, you know everything that happened in our case was a result of zealous client representation and nothing personal.”

She treated him to a dramatic wince. “A backpedal that hard must hurt. Did you injure yourself?”

“Excuse me?”

She remembered he didn’t have a sense of humor and tried again. “The motion you filed called me incompetent. That felt personal.”

He laughed as if they were sharing a joke. “Darren is a difficult client. You know how it is. You’re a partner now. You’ve had to deal with—”

“Is this an apology?”

“I didn’t think I needed to make one.” Some of the lightness left his voice. “Lawyers spar in the courtroom all the time without ruining their private relationships.”

She was tired of being lectured to. “We don’t have a relationship.”

“Right.”

Before he could say anything else, she jumped ahead. “I’m not leaving the Bartholomew case.”

“There’s been a lot of damage in this matter. Ill will and bad feelings. Things said that are difficult to forget. It might be better to have fresh—”

“No.” Her fingers tightened around her pen. A little more pressure and she might snap it in half. “I will remain in as guardian ad litem, and if there are any more personal attacks against me, or my character, I will fight back.”

He scoffed. “There’s no need to—”

She waved her hand in the air. “You may leave.”

Chapter Fifty
Gabby

Gabby stared at the search warrant. “You’re a detective in Maryland. We’re in DC.”

“Right.” Detective Schone stepped out of the shuffle of people in and around the condo to talk with Gabby. “That’s why there’s a mix of Metropolitan Police and Maryland police here. Out of professional courtesy and as part of a long-standing multijurisdictional agreement, I’ve been given the okay to take the lead on the search.”

None of this made sense. Her house, maybe? But Liam’s?

Gabby wrapped her fingers around the warrant, crinkling the paper in her fist. “What are you looking for? Why are you here?”

“Is Mr. Fielding home?”

A nonanswer, but it said a lot. She was coming after Liam. Gabby couldn’t stop it, but she tried to slow down the hunt. Give him time to get here and call his attorney. “He’s on his way back from New York.”

Detective Schone stopped looking around the room and focused on Gabby. “Why was he there?”

Nope. Gabby refused to play the game where she answered questions and Detective Schone dodged hers. “Is this about Baines or the missing money . . . ?”

“You should wait outside.”

“No.”

Detective Schone smiled as if she enjoyed every minute of the discomfort she caused. “Excuse me?”