Kansas City Countdown. Julie Miller

see each other socially. I’ve accepted that and moved on. And your decision has paid off. Once Arthur retires, it’ll be you or me who takes over as senior partner. Stan hasn’t brought in the big clients and built his reputation the way you and I have.”

      Arthur? Stan? From the board meeting. Right. “And we’re not seeing anyone else?” she asked.

      “I’ve been dating Carol on and off.”

      “Carol?”

      “Yes, she’s your...” His voice trailed off and his lips curved into a pitying smile.

      “My what?” A sister? Friend?

      “I don’t suppose you remember her, either.”

      Kenna shook her head.

      “You said not to tell you.”

      “Hellie.”

      “Your executive assistant. Carol Ashton. Petite brunette? Shapely. Snarky. Superefficient? You’re a stronger man than I am.” He laughed at his male-female ribbing. “You’ve always been about the work and putting that first. But I need someone in my life. You don’t complicate your goals with distracting relationships. I admire that about you.”

      She’d let the workaholic allusion, and the fact that she apparently defended criminals and had no personal life to speak of, slide for a moment. There was a more pressing clarification she still needed here. “So you can go to my house in the middle of the night and pack my things and greet me with a kiss because...we’re old friends?”

      How much of a player was Helmut Bond? Had she ever succumbed to his dubious charms?

      “You did get a hard whack in the head, didn’t you?” Hellie put one hand on her bag. “I picked this up at the office. Carol had those files stacked with the messages and mail on your desk. You always keep a bag packed in your closet in case you work late or are running straight to the gym. Your passport was in the safe there, so I pulled that for ID. Once the call to the firm’s answering service was forwarded to me, I gathered the information I thought you’d need and came right to the hospital. We share the same insurance provider, of course.”

      “I see.” She might as well ask him to confirm a few other suspicions. “I don’t have any brothers and sisters, and both my parents are dead—Kenneth and...?”

      “Gloria. Yes, they’re both gone.” Hellie cupped a hand around her shoulder again. She waited expectantly for him to continue, hearing the seconds ticking loudly from his watch near her ear. “You’re worrying me. Do I need to call a specialist for you? We have several psychiatric consultants on retainer with the firm. I could arrange for one of them to meet with you to go through hypnosis or memory exercises with you. We’d have to keep it hush-hush—out of the media so no one can question any of your recent or upcoming casework and claim incompetence and start filing appeals. I can draft a press release stating you’re taking a leave of absence for your physical health after the assault. But I don’t like seeing you like this.”