The Parks Empire: Secrets, Lies and Loves. Marie Ferrarella

most notorious criminals were once housed. The Birdman of Alcatraz had been nothing like the movie version depicting him.

      Neither, apparently, was Walter Parks.

      An uneasiness rippled through Cade as he replayed that morning’s visit with his father. A man was supposed to be considered innocent until proven guilty. He certainly had no proof to the contrary on his father.

      The conversation, argument, whatever, with Sara last night sloshed around in his brain like bile, bitter and burning in its intensity. The revelation of her true reason for moving to the city had haunted his sleep…which had been in moments, not hours, after he’d left her place and returned to his own town house.

      His eyes felt like sand pits this morning, and his spirits weren’t much better. Live and learn.

      Sara wasn’t the first woman who’d fooled him into thinking they had something special. His wife had done the same. He should have gained something from that first experience of betrayal.

      He exhaled heavily, still not wanting to believe that the woman next door, the woman who had shared the sweetest moments in his arms, had done so only because she wanted information…and revenge on his father.

      Sara had been sad at times. She’d seemed vulnerable and fragile, but there had been a core of honesty and openness about her. Stacy had trusted her at once, and he had trusted his daughter’s instincts.

      There had also been the connection between him and Sara as children—the shared kindergarten class, the disruption of their lives through no fault of their own by her father’s mysterious death and his mother’s equally mysterious departure. Those experiences had been life-altering for both of them and represented the same thing to the children they were at the time—abandonment by those they loved.

      Over the weekend, they had shared more than childhood memories. Certainly she hadn’t faked her response to their lovemaking. Or had she?

      Hell, he couldn’t tell truth from fiction anymore. He rubbed a hand over his face as if to shut out the pictures that rampaged through his mind. Sara smiling. Sara holding the saddle horn for dear life. Sara coming to him, meeting him eagerly as a lover—

      “Hey, Cade, how about lunch?” a friendly male voice interrupted just as his thoughts were becoming uncomfortably steamy and his blood hot.

      A distraction, that’s what he needed to escape the morass his mind had fallen into. He nodded to Steve Knoles, fellow attorney and good friend at the law firm.

      Like him, Steve had started with Clauson, Mason, Barnett and Raines, the senior partners of the company, right out of law school five years ago. Being the newest members of the prestigious group had bonded them from their first day. Their friendship had held fast from then on.

      The two men walked to a nearby restaurant. Once they were seated and had gotten water and iced tea, Steve leaned close. “Can you keep a secret?” he asked.

      Cade smiled wearily and crossed his heart. “To the grave.”

      Steve grinned, reminding Cade of Rowan when his younger brother was in a devilish mood. Both men had blue eyes and dimples that melted the females of the species when they smiled. Steve wasn’t quite as hotheaded, though.

      “Something tells me this means trouble,” Cade muttered to his friend.

      “Nah.” Steve waved aside the statement with feigned nonchalance. “I’m going out on my own. Want to be a partner in a new law firm?”

      Cade blinked in surprise. “Run that by me again.”

      “I’m never going to make partner,” Steve told him. “Old man Raines has hated me from day one. I’ve found a suite of offices in a good location. With the dot-com bust, rents are affordable, if I have a partner to share expenses. You, naturally, are my first choice.”

      “Hell’s bells,” Cade murmured. “Warn a guy before you hit him with something like this.”

      “Sorry. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, but the cost was too high.” He shot Cade a serious glance over the edge of his iced tea glass. “You’ll make partner in a year or two, so it would be a greater risk for you to go out on your own than for me. That said, I hope you’ll consider it seriously.”

      “Do I have time to think about it, or is this a do-or-die deal that has to be decided today?”

      “Take all the time you need,” Steve said airily, “but remember this—we would be our own bosses, determine our own hours, choose our own cases. Ah, the list is endless.”

      “Freedom,” Cade said.

      The word filled his head, luring him with a force stronger than any siren’s call. In going out on his own, he would be free of his father’s influence, his subtle threats and the demand for family loyalty.

      Cade surveyed the proposal from every angle. His friend had certainly provided the distraction he’d needed from his own gloomy thoughts. Freedom. The temptation of it.

      He admitted it had daunted his ego when the old man had made it clear Cade’s position came through the Parks name rather than his own record of achievement.

      Which was excellent, he grimly reminded himself. He’d been an honor student and had graduated third in his class. At the law office, he’d done well and earned a reputation as an able attorney. Bringing the Parks account to the firm had been a plus for him, but he’d never considered it worth more than his own merit—

      “Earth to Cade,” his friend intoned. “Are you envisioning us on our own, arguing cases like Perry Mason and supplying the damning evidence at the last moment?”

      “Right,” he said dryly. “Who’s going to be Paul and Della to our combined Perry?”

      “I know a private detective,” Steve said. “He did some work for a client of mine last year. Mark Banning. You ever hear of him?”

      Cade shook his head. “Don’t think so.”

      “If he came in with us, we could move to a bigger place. I’m thinking of specializing in insurance and medical fraud. A detective in-house would be just the thing.”

      Cade studied the other attorney. “Why do I get the impression you’ve thought this through, and all the detective and I need to do is sign the lease papers?”

      Steve flashed a supremely satisfied smile. “You’re really going to consider it?” he asked. At Cade’s nod, he muttered, “Hot damn!”

      “I’m not signing on the dotted line yet, but yes, it’s something to think about. In fact, I may have use for your friend’s services.”

      The waiter stopped by to take their order. After he left, Steve gave Cade a quizzical glance.

      “I want information on something that happened a long time ago. Twenty-five years, in fact.” He leveled a serious stare at his friend. “Can you keep a secret?” he asked.

      Steve nodded. “To the grave,” he vowed, repeating Cade’s earlier promise.

      “Things seem to be getting serious,” Tyler muttered to Sara while dipping sushi in hot wasabi sauce.

      She nodded in agreement. He’d called last night and asked her to meet him for lunch today after she’d told him about her dismissal and her accusation toward Cade and/or his father for it.

      “Have you decided when you’re going to confront Walter Parks about yours and Conrad’s paternity?”

      “Not yet. I want to find out more on his dealings with Jeremy. Ah, there’s Robert.”

      Sara followed her brother’s line of sight and saw a man in a conservative suit speak to the hostess, then head their way. “Who is he?” she asked.

      “Robert Jackson, from the D.A.’s office. He prosecuted the murder case I investigated back during the spring. I thought we should ask his advice and