MARY CLARK - Every Breath You Take

Their surprised expressions made clear that they had not known this fact.

“Penny used to read little notes your mother would ball up in her office garbage,” Ryan said. Anna shook her head disapprovingly. “Some of the notes were about changes to her will. In many of them, you and Carter were going to inherit your mother’s shares in the company, Anna, but nearly all of the other assets were going to be designated to charity.”

Anna’s mouth opened, but nothing came out.

“Penny told this information to Carter,” Ryan revealed. “ That was why he was pressing Peter for information.”

They looked at each other again, but this time was different. They were no longer worried about the tone of Ryan’s questions. They were seeing something they knew in a different light. They were scared.

“I just thought he was being paranoid,” Anna said quietly. Ryan waited for her to explain. “Mom talked to him, maybe a month before she died. She was worried that he felt ‘entitled.’ ” Anna released her husband’s hand for the first time since the interview began and used air quotes to emphasize the last word. “She saw how much harder I worked. Mother told Carter, ‘I’m afraid that if it weren’t for the family money, you would have turned out just like your cousin, Tom.’ Mind you, Tom’s great, and he’s doing fabulous work for the company now, but at the time, trust me: for Mom to compare Carter to our cousin was no compliment at all. Tom was in and out of different jobs, crazy girlfriends, gambling—all in the past now. So when Carter was asking Peter about Mom’s will, I told him he was being paranoid. I thought Mom was just trying to get Carter to grow up a little. I don’t want to believe that he—”

She paused and held Peter’s hand again.

“That he what?” Ryan asked. “What do you think your brother did?”

“I have to tell them,” she whispered. She waited until Peter nodded his approval, and Laurie realized that the power in their marriage might be more equal than it appeared on the surface.

“That argument I had with Mom the day before the murder? It was because Carter had asked about her will, saying he was worried she was going to change it and cut us out. It got me thinking about all the money she was spending on Ivan, so I let her know I did not approve. She made it clear that she was a grown woman who had the right to do what she wanted. But Carter wouldn’t let it drop. As soon as he saw us at the gala, he wanted to know if I’d gotten assurances from our mother that she was going to keep the money within the family. And then he kept nagging Peter about it, demanding that he lecture her about the foolishness of giving the family money away. That’s when I went over and told him to knock it off—we were in a public place.”

“And what did your brother say?” Ryan asked.

“That we—”

Peter interrupted, and Laurie was certain that the lawyer in him was going to cut off the conversation. Instead, he finished Anna’s sentence for her.

“That we had to stop her. That we had to stop her from changing that will, no matter what .”

Anna blinked a few times and her eyes began to water. Peter put his arm around her and waved a hand at the camera, signaling that they were done.

52

By the time Laurie got back to the city after filming, she managed to make it to Union Square Cafe ten full minutes before the time of their reservation. This was one night that she did not want to risk making Alex wait.

She was at a bar seat near the entrance when she spotted him step from the backseat of his black Mercedes, not waiting for Ramon to open his door. She watched as he straightened his jacket at the curb and then checked his hair in the reflection of the glass before he walked inside.

She wondered whether it was possible he had become even more handsome in the past two and a half months, and decided it was.

She had braced herself for an awkward reunion, but as soon as they greeted each other with a quick hug and a kiss, it felt as if they’d seen each other only yesterday. In fact, it was better. It was as if they had reached an unspoken understanding that any hurdles that may have existed before would no longer stand in their way.

The hostess had their table ready, in the back, away from the windows, as Laurie had requested. Even before she had met him, Alex was already a public figure because of the acquittals he had obtained for his clients in several high-profile trials. His work on the first three Under Suspicion specials had broadened his celebrity. Now that his name had been submitted for the federal bench, she did not want their dinner to be interrupted by strangers asking for autographs and selfies.

“So tell me about D.C.,” she said, once they were seated.

“I will. I will tell you everything—so much that you will never want to hear another word about the Senate Judiciary Committee, but I want to hear your updates first. Please tell me that I won’t need to withdraw my name from consideration in order to defend you against charges of slowly poisoning the young Mr. Nichols.”

The last time she and Alex had spoken, Ryan was incessantly undermining her at work and she was finding him completely insufferable. Laurie smiled. “Let’s put it this way. He still plays teacher’s pet with Brett, and it’s impossible to underestimate the size of his ego, but at least he’s not stupid.”

“Wow, that is some kind of endorsement!” Alex said wryly. His eyes lit up as he smiled at her across the table.

“It’s actually getting better,” she said grudgingly. “He’s still the worst host we’ve ever had, to be sure, but I think it’s working out.” The only other host of Under Suspicion had been Alex, Laurie thought, and no one could ever fill his shoes.

We’re talking as though the last two months didn’t exist, Laurie thought happily. Oh God, how I’ve missed him.

“I accept the compliment.” He was browsing the menu. “Everything looks delicious. Have you been here since they reopened?”

Danny Meyer’s first restaurant remained one of Laurie’s favorites, but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to come in since it moved to a new location. She realized now that she’d been waiting to go with Alex. “No, this is my first time back. How about you?”

“Mine, too.” He put down the menu. “I was hoping to go with you.”

“And here we are.”

• • •

Their appetizers had been removed when Laurie finally insisted that Alex tell her all about his federal judicial confirmation process.

“The politicians exist in a completely different universe. There I was, enjoying a career as a criminal defense lawyer. I would have been happy to have kept my practice as long as clients would have me. But now that I’ve been thrown into this circus of judicial confirmations, each side views me as a potential Supreme Court justice someday. They’re trying to figure out whether I’m a ‘strict constructionist’ or a ‘legal realist.’ I told them I’m just a lawyer who reads the law and applies it to the facts, which is what trial court judges are supposed to do. I feel like a football in a Giants-Eagles matchup.”

“But is it going smoothly?” she asked. “I can’t imagine a better nominee.”

“Oh, they can, trust me. But the White House assures me that they don’t foresee any problems. Meanwhile, to keep you up to date on another front, Ramon has decided to be vegan. Some diet he saw on TV. He thinks he put on too much weight over Christmas. It’s a miracle he isn’t trying to talk me into it.”

“Maybe he can do all that yoga he was pushing on you last year,” Laurie said, laughing at the memory. After Alex’s blood pressure was at the borderline of high, Ramon acted as if Alex had been diagnosed with a serious heart problem.