from behind her, sending her jumping. “Are you seriously on a date with Sean Donavan, or am I having some sort of stroke?”
“Michael, you scared the hell out of me. What are you doing here, and why are you calling me every five seconds?” She knew the answer to the latter question, but faking ignorance seemed like her only card to play.
“Look at you,” he said, pointing to her dress and hair. “I barely recognized you. I tried for fifteen minutes to convince myself it wasn’t you sitting at the bar with that complete degenerate. So tell me, do you have the nastiest taste in men or the faultiest judgment on earth? Because you are either out on a date with him or poking your nose where it doesn’t belong, either of which would be a terrible choice.” Michael’s face turned from hard-lined disappointment to genuine concern. “What have you gotten yourself into, Piper? When I told you to go check out those court records I had hoped you would either be too dumb to figure it out, or too smart to do anything more with them.”
“Seriously?” Piper couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “So you knew all along what I would find? You had the answer and wouldn’t give it to me? More importantly, you’re too much a coward to do anything about it yourself. I’m writing a paper Michael, stop being so dramatic.” Piper tried to storm past him but he used his body to block her. He put his hands on her shoulders, not with force but enough for her to stay put.
“What I believe and what I know are two different things. In this case I believe there may be more than meets the eye when it comes to a judge and a crime family. I’m certain you are in absolutely no position to go trying to find out on your own. I have tried two cases against Sean, and both were sexual assaults. He is a dangerous guy and as tough and smart as you are, you can’t outrun wickedness, it will catch up to you. Please, make an excuse to leave and meet me at my office. We’ll talk this out.” Michael brought himself down to her level and looked her in the eye. “Please.”
“Fine.” Piper had gotten all she could out of Sean without actually having to sleep with him which she never intended to do anyway. Michael’s incessant phone calls had actually acted as a decent exit strategy, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of meeting him after. “I don’t need the lecture though, so I’ll skip the little meeting at your office. Thanks anyway.” She shook his hands off her shoulders and stormed past him.
As Piper approached the bar she worked fast to concoct a decent story. “The pipes in my place burst,” she huffed, sounding flustered and put out. “I’ve got to get back there and deal with the damage. My landlord is having a meltdown. I’ll have to take a rain check on tonight.” She had prepared herself for some pouting, whining, and overall childish behavior on his part and was surprised at how calm he was.
“Oh, that sucks. Why don’t you just finish your drink, that’s what we came here for, right?” He pointed to her bar stool and smiled crookedly at her. “The pipes won’t be any less broken in ten minutes.”
She didn’t have time to dispute, her story was not thought out well enough to ad lib reasons she must leave right this second. When nothing came to her, she acquiesced and sat back down. She knew Michael’s eyes would have been on her. She knew he must be steaming mad, but she thought finishing her drink was a small price to pay for exiting this horrible date unscathed and with a little more information than she had when she arrived.
The drink only tasted worse the longer it sat, and Piper decided to drink it quickly and make short work of it. With five or six large swigs that she tried to work in between more idle conversation, the drink was finished. Why she was worried about being rude was beyond her, but she thought she should wait at least another five minutes or so before taking off.
It was in the middle of a discussion about video games that Piper realized something was amiss. She had been half-listening to Sean speak and half-organizing the thoughts of her plan in her head as she processed the