Devil s Bargin Page 0,23

thumbs-up and opened the inner office door.

Standard lawyer office, straight off of a movie set. A massive dark desk, a green-shaded banker's lamp, executive pen-and-pencil set, framed diplomas on the wall. Law books, ranked according to color and size. Two visitor chairs, big and leather in a manly dark green. Jazz sat at Borden's gesture and noted that Lucia settled comfortably, legs crossed, chin down as she watched Borden move around the room. Jazz, as usual, was antsy. She wanted to pace, but she controlled the impulse to a light tap of her fingers against her leg.

Borden perched on the corner of the desk, not behind it. "Sorry you came all this way," he said. "There's nothing I couldn't tell you over the phone just as easily."

"I like to do my deals face-to-face. Less chance of...misunderstandings," Lucia said pleasantly, as if she hadn't just implied, oh, a world of things. "Nice offices. Criminal practice?"

"Not really. We have two criminal attorneys on staff, and one's a full partner, but we specialize in tax and corporate law," Borden said. "I've never taken on a criminal case in my life." He made it sound like a failing. "Not really cut out for it."

"No?" Lucia let her head fall to one side, watching him. "Why not?"

"If you want to practice criminal law, you end up spending a lot of time with criminals," Borden said, and shrugged. "Not really my thing."

"I'm sure associating with corporate polluters and tax dodgers is much better," Lucia agreed. "How did you get my resume, Mr. Borden?"

"James," he said, and flicked his eyes toward the door as it opened. "Coffee?"

The assistant - Pansy? Did anybody really name girls Pansy anymore? - entered burdened by a black lacquer tray, and passed out delicate little cups of espresso. Jazz sipped and thought her veins would explode. The stuff was like black oil. She knew she was making bitter-coffee face and set the saucer and cup aside on a small octagonal table. Borden didn't even try to drink his.

"I repeat the question," Lucia said once Pansy had withdrawn. "My resume. How did you get it?"

"It was provided to me," Borden said, and held up a hand to stop her from going on. "I can't tell you, Ms. Garza. I'm sorry. If I had to guess, I'd say that it was passed along from within the FBI, but that's just a guess."

"You use information without knowing its source?"

Borden sent Jazz a look. Not quite a plea, more of an assessment, trying to see where she stood in all this. "I trust the source. He's very reliable."

Lucia's eyebrows indicated sarcastic doubt. Jazz drummed her fingers on leather, and said, "Yeah, okay, fine. You got the resume from a file clerk at Quantico. Let's talk about this deal you're offering."

Borden straightened up and met her eyes again. "It's simple enough. The initial funding, plus we pay five thousand per case you take for us. Do you want to review the partnership agreement?"

"No, I want you to explain to me whose money is funding this," she said. "Or there's no deal."

Borden let several dry ticks of his mantel clock go by, then slid off the edge of his desk and went behind it to open a drawer. "You know the check is valid," he said. "You verified that with the bank."

"Yeah, I did. I know it's drawn on your corporate account. I also know that no law firm in the world fronts money for its clients without a damn good reason. You specialize in tax cases, right? Trying to hide some money the feds want to confiscate? This is all some bullshit designed to get the two of us to take the heat as accessories. Somebody wants us brought down."

Lucia flicked her an unreadable look. Borden let out a slow, aggrieved breath. "Look, I'm not saying nobody's out to get you. I'm sure that between the two of you, you might have charmed your way into a few...trouble spots. But this is a legitimate deal, offered legitimately. I'm an attorney. Believe it or not, I take my fiduciary responsibilities seriously."

Lucia's mock surprise was really too funny. "An honest lawyer? Now you really are making me suspicious, Mr. Borden."

He looked from one of them to the other, brown eyes bright. "You two really were separated at birth, did you know that?" Borden reached into the drawer, pulled out a thick manila folder and slid it across the highly polished surface. He had lovely long fingers, Jazz