Chapter 7

In the kitchen Liberty turned on the overhead fan light and then set her purse and case on the sleek granite counter.As a brand new home owner she had yet to furnish her abode as she envisioned it with new furniture and accessories.At the moment she made do with what she had in her old apartment, although it all looked out of place in her new surroundings.Her Grandma Jessup, on her mother's side of the family, had given Liberty her refrigerator and stove, both of mustard yellow.They would definitely have to go.In her old apartment, Liberty had bought Danish Modern furniture and decorated her home in earthy browns, wicker tans and sage greens.

But now she reconsidered a change to Colonial or Federal-Colonial in keeping with the ambiance of the condo complex, with an antique white and Wedgewood blue palette this time around.A few really good pieces of furniture would be nice, and she knew Brandon would help her scour the shops for deals and troll the Internet sites.

As she headed for the bedroom to kick off her heels, Liberty heard the squeaky hinges of the old fridge as Preston opened it to rummage inside."Hey," he called to her, "don't you ever eat or drink?You got nothing in here but old Chinese takeout, a couple of hundred-year-old eggs, a stale loaf of 12-grain bread, imitation butter, and a bottle of coffee creamer.Where's the beer?Well, hell, I guess this will do."

Knowing that Preston had grabbed her bottle of Boizel Brut R¨¨serve champagnea house-warming present from BrandonLiberty quickly returned to the kitchen.She had been saving the sophisticated bubbly for a special occasion, and this was definitely not the time or the man she wanted to share it with.

"Put that back!" she ordered.

"Okay, chill baby."Preston did as told and then began to scrounge around her cabinets.Finding a bag of pita chips, he grabbed it and dived inside."Oh, girl!" he admonished when he held up a little chip."You need to do some serious grocery shopping."

"I don't have the time.You want food and beer?Go out and get it yourself.There's an all-night convenience store down the street."

"Better yet.Let's go to the Fox and Hound Pub over on Bristol Square and I'll buy you a drink.You look like you need one."

Liberty debated for a moment, and then agreed.Conversing with Preston at a public place seemed much more preferable to having him here with her, alone, where talking could easily turn into physical coupling.It's not that she couldn't trust herself, but she couldn't trust Preston not to make the moves on her.And with her resistance on low speed right now...anything could happen."Okay, but let me change into something more comfortable."

"A sexy black teddy would be nice," he offered with a suggestive pump of his eyebrows.

"You wish."Just to make sure he wouldn't avail himself of an inopportune moment, Liberty locked her bedroom door before changing into jeggings, a tank top, her stiletto ankle boots, and a plum-blue jacket.

Once they exited the condo via the front door, she glanced up and down the street, and saw nothing but the puddles of water the rain had left behind, shimmering like miniature dark ponds beneath the street lights."Where's your car?" she asked, enquiring after Preston's old but serviceable green Camaro.

"I parked around the corner so I could surprise you."

"Congratulations, you surprised me."

Reaching out, he stroked her hair, making Liberty jerk back her head.

"Why did you straighten your hair?" he asked, giving her a serious perusal by the porch light."I liked your hair kinky.You look like Michelle Obama now."

Liberty considered that a compliment, but she didn't want to discuss the changes she had made since he left, both physical and mental. "I wanted a new look for the new me after you bottomed out of my life.Now, come on around to the garage and we'll take my car."

For a Tuesday night, the Fox and Hound had a full crowd, a mix of college students, young professionals, and displaced Britons who came looking for a taste of back home.The place had everything an English pub would have, including dark wainscoting and several dart boards.Ale could be ordered Merry-Old-England style at room temperature or icy cold as per American tastes.

After finding a booth in the back, Preston ordered a Guinness from their rosy-cheeked barmaid while Liberty opted for a wine spritzer, definitely un-English.

"I saw you this afternoon," Preston began after their drinks arrived, "at the dedication.I was there, too."

"Oh?"She certainly hadn't seen him.

"I was at back of the crowd.When I saw you talking so intimately with Dr. Baumgard I figured you and he had a thing going."

"A thing?"Liberty paused in route to taking a sip of her sparkling wine."You're hopelessly outdated!"Her tone grew defensive."You know I serve on the Hope for Tomorrow Foundation board that the doctor heads.It's all professional and above board.We're strictly colleagues and friends."

Preston held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture."Okay, okay, don't get your panties in a bundle.I guess I didn't mean it that way, but you two know each other, and I figured you might be doing some legal work for the doc."

"No," she sat flatly.

"Well, I'm working for the man."Preston leaned across the table and lowered his voice."I can tell you this:I'm doing a little investigative work for him concerning an information leak."

"Ah, yeah."Liberty nodded, but said no more.

"You know about that?"

"DanielDr. Baumgard, told me this evening that he received a threatening text message suggesting that one or more persons had copied personal files from the clinic and planned to use the information to blackball his efforts."

"More than that, I think."The P.I. paused to take a pull of his beer."He, she or they want to ruin the doc and close down his clinic because of the abortion angle."

"Do you have any suspects at the moment?"She couldn't help but gaze at Preston's upper lip where his ale had left a dash of glistening foam.

"No, I just started, but I wanted to give you a heads-up since I thought you might be providing some legal services in that direction."

"Let's just say I'm working in an advisory capacity at the moment."

"Okay, so maybe we can work together as colleagues.You find out something, you pass it on to me, and vice versa."As he spoke, Preston took his napkin and wiped his mouth.

"I'm just advising Dr. Baumgard," she stressed."Not working for him officially."

"Still, we can connect, babe, on a professional level, of course."

"Of course.Tell me something, Preston" She leaned back against the leatherette seat."Do you have any information about this anti-abortion group?I take it the lady heckler today in the crowd belongs to that group."

"She does.Her name's Heather Pomers, married, a housewife, with three grown kids.She lives in Bethesda, and her husband's retired Navy.She joined the Save the Babies League several years ago.She mainly goes for the protests, writes editorials to the papers, and distributes leaflets, etc., although nothing overt or violent.She doesn't appear to be connected with the Morning Star Clinic as a former employee or a volunteer."

Preston sat back and idly tapped his fingers on the table."She probably never set foot in the clinic.At least none of the people working there remember seeing her inside the building, just outside during protests.The league members know well enough to stay across the street rather than face charges of violating civil liberties or something like that."

Liberty elaborated."It's called obstructing the right to conduct a fair and honest business."

"Yeah, that."Sitting up, Preston offered a broad, playful smile."I like the way you talk legal.It turns me on."

She jerked her legs away from his roving foot under the table, the toe of his boot making obscene strokes along her thigh."Hey, just keep your habeas corpus to yourself or you'll be the next corpus delecti."

He chuckled."Oh, babe, where did we go wrong?"

"You were the one who decided that we needed to broaden our horizons and see other people, your words exactly.Well, you certainly took your advice to heart."

In fact, while Liberty assumed she and Preston had been in an exclusive relationship last year, she found out through her own investigative methods that he had been seeing another woman named Velvet Brown...if Liberty could believe it.And Ms. Velvet Brown seemed a real piece of fluff ass for sure.Unfortunately, Liberty wouldn't have gone to such lengths if Preston had shown any signs of commitment on his part.

Instead, he possessed all the signs of an unfaithful lover, up to and including the smell of another woman's perfume on his clothing, his vague answers as to his whereabouts when he was supposed to be with Liberty, and those provocative phone texts he swore were from clients, strictly professional.Right!What kind of clients started off a business text with:Hey, Tiger, booty call 2-nite. I'll be waiting...?For a private dick Preston certainly could be obtuse when it came to women and romanceor just plain stupid.

Now when he finished his beer, Liberty glanced at her watch.After midnight all ready, and she needed to get some rest."I'm ready to call it a night."She hiked the straps of her purse over her shoulder."It's been nice chatting with you, Mr. Durrell.Thanks for the information."

"Anytime I can be of help, babe."Retrieving his wallet, Preston shelled out a twenty and a five."I just wish I could be more of a help to you...just to make up for my lack of integrity in the romance department."

Liberty smiled sweetly."You've done enough for me already."

Afterward, when she pulled up to his Camaro on the side street, Preston paused before leaving the Caddy, his face and eyes shining with provocative anticipation. "You know, if you don't think you can sleep tonight, I'll be happy to stay and sing you a lullaby.You used to like the way I sing."

"Sorry, but I'm not in the mood for a song tonight, just sleep."Liberty gripped the steering wheel.She had to admit that Preston had a nice baritone singing voice that could lull her into submission and arouse her to giddy heights at the same time."So, goodnight, and thanks for the drink."

With both hands he made a quick gesture of shooting off twin guns."Well, babe, you got my number.Call me anytime, and I mean that, day or night. I'll be there, like the song says."

Liberty stressed her next words."Good-bye, Preston."