CHAPTER ONE

TWO DAYS EARLIER

MaKayla sat in the back of the courtroom as her lead prosecutor finished his closing arguments. Deliberation instructions would be handed down first thing in the morning, and the case would then be in the hands of the jury. MaKayla usually felt relieved by this time in the process. At least their case in chief was over and they gave all they had to give. But after a string of defeats on cases with far more direct evidence than this one ever had, she wasn’t counting on victory. Which would be another blow to the DA’s office and specifically to her, as the head of that office.

She took her briefcase and made her way out of the courtroom before the gavel came down. Her goal was to grab a latte and then head back to her office before anybody noticed her. She was able to drop by Starbucks inside the courthouse and grab the latte, alright, but she couldn’t quite make it across the atrium to the exit doors before she was accosted.

“Well hello there, MaKayla!”

Almost got away, she thought, as she turned to the sound. But when she saw that it was Alvin Clayton, the newly appointed judge in her district, she smiled. Why wouldn’t she? He was African American like her, which was a rarity in Jericho as blacks made up only three percent of the population, and even less in the judiciary. And he was all the rave among the ladies’ circles. He was what they all considered, and MaKayla agreed, the total package: very tall, very dark, very smart, very handsome. “Alvin hi. How are you?”

Alvin Clayton gave MaKayla that perusal he gave all women. Although she was a little thicker than he was used to, as most of his girlfriends had been skinny white women, he loved her vibe and her face. Gorgeous face! But he was more intrigued by her body than attracted to it.

He’d heard from other brothers in town how hot she was beneath the sheets. They’d never been with her, they admitted. That bastard Brent Sinatra guarded that ass like it was the nuclear codes. But they knew it had to be smoking. They were convinced of it. Which convinced Alvin. “I’m doing great! Couldn't be better. Were you in court this morning?”

“Just sitting in for closing arguments.”

“How did it go?”

She swiped her hair away from her forehead, a move that seemed to captivate the good-looking judge. “Not great,” she said.

“Your prediction?”

“Truthfully? A hung jury is about the best we can hope for.”

“That’s not good.”

“I agree.” Then she smiled that smile that made him want her beneath him that very moment. “But I think it’s realistic,” she added.

“Hope for the best, but expect the worse?”

“Exactly!”

He smiled too. But then he perused her body again, something she was never comfortable with. “Listen, why don’t you and I go to lunch this afternoon? You don’t have a case on the docket then, do you?”

She didn’t.

“I’ve only been in town a few months. I’m really looking forward to getting to know you better.”

He knew she was married to the police chief. He’d met Brent on several occasions. But to her he still behaved as if she was as free as he was. And that bothered her. “Actually, no, I have so much to do. But thanks for the invite. See you around,” she said and left before he could get a word in edgewise. She and Brent had their share of problems. Lord knows they did. But her tipping out with a player like Alvin Clayton was never going to be one of them.

Alvin watched her leave as his smile evaporated and turned into something far more sinister. “You’ll heel to my will, bitch,” he said beneath his breath. “Just as all the others who thought they were better than me did too. You’ll heel.”

And if you don’t heel, and if you don’t happily bend to my will, he thought as he began walking away too, I’ll just have to bend you myself.

Then he grinned. “Oh this is going to be so much fun,” he said out loud as he rubbed his hands together and made his way to his chambers. He spoke to everybody on his way: from the janitor to another judge. And everybody agreed: What a nice man he was. What a wonderful addition to the Jericho judicial family he was turning out to be. What a lovely guy.