Hot Pursuit

By Nina Francis

Sophia is a successful Attorney running a Law Practice in Boston and
believed that after the tumultuous events of her past following the death
of her parents at a young age, she was fi nally at a place where she had
her life together and everything was going accordingly.
Until the Matthew Cooper case crash lands into her world and brings
with it Detective Stephen Nielsen, the man responsible for breaking
her heart years ago. Matthew is an alleged human traffi cker who has
come to Boston in pursuit of his wife Claire Cooper, who has managed
to escape from Matthew, taking with her his closely guarded secrets.
Secrets if revealed could fi nally see Matthew jailed for life.
Cooper will stop at nothing to get to his wife, even if it means coming
after Sophia as he mistakenly believes that she is safeguarding his wife.
Sophia is now forced to work with Stephen to fi nd Claire wife before
Cooper does.
The heat has defi nitely been turned on in this pursuit to outwit Cooper,
because not only does Sophia face the danger of being the target of a
mad mans terrifying chase but she is also in danger of getting swept
away by the ever present attraction to the handsome Detective as the
simmering passion between them threatens her carefully laid plans to
keep Stephen in her past.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Oct 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514440803

Nina Francis

Coming soon.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

S OPHIA HALE STOOD at her desk hip-deep in papers looking for a file that her brother, Thomas ‘Tommy’ Hale Jr, had asked her to bring over to the court house today for one of his newest clients arraignment—not that she’d been given an opportunity to say no, seeing how it had seemed more of a command than an actual request, she thought, scowling with irritation.

Her office at The Magnolia Legal Centre was a chaotic mess at the best of times but this morning it appeared even more so with papers exploding every which way on her desk as Sophia ripped open files looking for the one marked Cooper. She was supposed to have been at the courthouse with the file an hour ago and she was now officially running beyond late.

She frantically rummaged through the paper avalanche and mentally cursed Tommy with each piece of paper that she tossed aside. Today was meant to have been her day to get on top of her paperwork and she had purposely kept her schedule free today so she could get through all her work undisturbed and without any interruptions, and here she was losing precious time trying to get this one darned file for Tommy; she seriously considered billing him for these minutes.

Filing and billing, the non-glamorous part of being an attorney, the part that no one talked about because it was that horrible. Even Hollywood glossed over this, only ever showing the dramatic trial bits and the ‘happy ever after’ outcomes. Sophia grimaced that Ally Mcbeal had a lot to answer for, misleading the masses into believing that being an attorney meant prancing around court rooms in designer suits and then singing about it later with never a mention not even a single ode to the horrors of filing. If she had only known back at law school what she would be getting herself into now, she would have decided to join the Peace Corps instead, still helping people but then skipping off to the next exotic location before anyone could pull her up on not finishing up the paperwork.

Her desk phone’s shrill ringing pierced into the silence of the office just as she spotted the file. With a triumphant shout she picked up the handset yelling ‘Yes’ into the receiver whilst grabbing the file and trying unsuccessfully to stuff it into her leather tote bag.

‘Sophia, I have a visitor here for you,’ Mardi Brunton, the Centre’s Office coordinator, bit out in a tone far removed from her usual cheery bubbly self.

‘Mardi, you know I have to go meet Tommy at the courthouse and I’m already running late; can you reschedule the visit please?’ Sophia frowned wondering who’d want to see her, especially this early in the morning.

Mardi replied with equal impatience ‘It’s Detective Stephen Nielsen and he’s coming through now, so you go right ahead and reschedule him yourself.’

Sophia would have bet her life savings she heard a muttered ‘like I have nothing better to do’ as Mardi slammed the handset back into its cradle.

Sophia rolled her eyes heavenward and blew out a deep breath, causing her side swept bangs to flutter out. Great, that’s all she needed right now, the good Detective paying her a visit, and if Mardi’s tone was anything to go by it sure didn’t sound like it was going to be a friendly visit or a short one at that. And time was definitely not on her side here and there was no way she could keep Tommy waiting any longer; he would never let her hear the end of it especially if her running late with his files ended up being the reason for why his arraignment had to be delayed.

So that’s what it meant to be caught between a rock and a hard place, Sophia thought frantically as she looked around her office seeking a solution to her dilemma. Her gaze landed on the open window that faced out to the car park in the back. Without a second thought Sophia grabbed the file with one hand and her handbag in the other and made a mad dash to the window, thankful that her office was on the first storey of the Centre.

Throwing first the file and then her bag out the window, Sophia removed her high-heeled pumps and hoisted her right leg over the wide sill, saying a silent prayer to the fashion gods for having worn the snug black pant suit today.

Just as she swung her left leg over the sill, the office door opened and Stephen strode in ‘Sophia …’ the words dying out abruptly as he surveyed the scene that greeted him.

‘What in the world’ he barked out as Sophia turned to look at him from the window sill ‘Hey Stevie, would love to stay and chat but I have to run; can’t be late for court.’

Without a second thought Sophia shot him a quick, and what she hoped was an apologetic smile, and pushed off from the ledge. Landing with ease onto the grass carpet below, she hurriedly grabbed her file, bag, and shoes and sprinted to her ancient but trusty Jeep. Beeping it open Sophia threw herself into the driver’s seat and everything else onto the passenger seat. As she brought the engine to life Sophia got a quick glimpse of Stephen’s blond head shaking in disapproval as he stood watching her from the window.

‘Consider your visit rescheduled,’ Sophia muttered to herself as she snapped her seatbelt on. It was such a shame that Stephen was so easy on the eyes but so hard on her nerves, she thought as she drove out of the Centre’s car park. All six foot two inches of him was made to perfection, with his lean broad-shouldered frame having just the right amount of muscles to classify him as ripped rather than lanky. This coupled with his chiselled jaw and those full lips, that would make even a collagen junkie drool but were now currently pressed in a thin line as he stood there grimacing at her from the window, made him always seem as if he had stepped straight out of the pages of a GQ magazine.

Not that his looks in any way changed the fact that he could be such an overbearing pain in the ass—case in point turning up unannounced at her office without any prior warning. God only knows what had prompted a visit from him and even though her curiosity was piqued as to why he needed to see her, Sophia also knew without a doubt that there would have been no way Stephen would have agreed to wait till she had returned from court to discuss whatever it was that’d had him rushing to her office. Stephen would have demanded a million questions as to why she had to rush off and then that would have been followed by a standard Stephen-style lecture on how important his business was over anything she may have had planned and she simply did not have the time to spend listening to him carry on. It had literally been a miracle: that she had been able to get out when she did; if she’d hesitated just one more moment there would have been no telling how long a Stephen sermon would have gone for, which is exactly why she didn’t have a hint of remorse for pulling such a childish move as jumping out of the window.

*     *     *

‘Damn it,’ Stephen muttered as he slammed his palm on the window sill, from which moments ago Sophia had jumped out of; only she could have pulled a crazy stunt like that and think it perfectly normal to do so. His annoyance at her method of departure dissipated only slightly as he remembered how notorious Sophia was for acting on impulse and with total disregard for the consequences—case in point jumping out of the window just to avoid talking to him. He knew he should have called ahead but then he also knew the likelihood of Sophia agreeing to see him immediately would have been zero to none, and he hadn’t wanted to waste time trying to negotiate a few minutes with her, not when it was something as important as this Cooper case.

As much as he didn’t relish the idea of chasing after her, he also knew he didn’t have any other option but try and catch her at the court house because there was no way he was planning on letting her get away this easily, and especially not now when a woman’s life depended on information that only Sophia could provide and he needed it pronto.

Turning to the empty office, Stephen bunched his hands deep into his trouser pockets and walked over to the desk, noting the papers from the open files strewn across the desk and spilling onto the floor. Typical Sophia, never one to keep anything in order, he thought to himself as he picked up a coffee mug emblazoned with a New York University College of Law seal and marked with her lipstick.

The mug still held coffee, black strong and no sugar he bet. Annoyed with himself for remembering how she took her coffee, Stephen slammed the mug back on to the desk causing the remaining liquid to slosh out onto the papers and strode out of Sophia’s office with a scowl on his face.

‘Well, that was a short visit,’ Mardi commented as he walked past the reception desk, hiding a smile as she noted Stephen’s obvious annoyance.

Pausing only long enough to retort back ‘It’s hard to have a serious conversation when she’s busy jumping out of windows,’ Stephen made for the front door but not fast enough to miss Mardi’s stern, ‘That’ll teach you to not call ahead next time’.

CHAPTER 2

B RINGING HER JEEP to park outside the courthouse, Sophia grabbed the Cooper file, wrestled her feet into her heels and jumped out of the car. Running up the courthouse steps, she mentally prepared herself for the parking fine that she could almost guarantee would be wedged on her windscreen by the time she returned for parking illegally. Better to risk getting a fine than the wrath of Tommy for not having his case files in time, Sophia thought to herself as she sprinted towards the court house foyer and flashed her court pass to take the elevator up to the courtroom. Outside the court room, Tommy was beyond chilled and laid-back but inside the courtroom he morphed into a steely eyed no-nonsense kind of lawyer who went for the jugular with ruthless intensity, which wasn’t exactly a bad thing when she thought of the scumbags they had to defend their clients against and probably the reason why Tommy was so well respected and regarded.

Spotting Tommy standing outside room, Sophia ran to him holding the file out like a relay runner holding out a baton in preparation of an exchange. ‘Five minutes, you are giving me five minutes! What were you doing?’ Tommy muttered furiously to Sophia as he snatched the case file from her hands and marched into the courtroom without waiting for an answer.

‘A thank you for your efforts would have been nice,’ Sophia muttered under her breath as she watched her older brother’s suit-clad back disappear into the courtroom. She didn’t understand how her normally organized-to-the-back-teeth brother could have left reviewing case notes to the last minute; it was just so unlike him. It was also very unlike Tommy to not discuss his cases with her as he was doing with this one. When Sophia had questioned him on what the case was about and why he hadn’t prepared earlier, she had only received a clipped ‘can you bring me the files or not?’ in response.

As far she was concerned the whole case and Tommy’s cloak-and-dagger attitude reeked of the bizarre. Sophia was almost tempted to follow her brother into the court room to find out what the big deal with this case was all about but knowing that her entrance would only bring on unnecessary attention and not wanting to raise Tommy’s temper any further she pushed this thought aside and instead headed over to the chairs outside the courtrooms. Sinking into one with a loud sigh of relief Sophia pulled off her shoes to wriggle her cramped toes free, the black Jimmy Choo pumps she had treated herself to at the recent July Fourth sales were definitely not meant for running, she thought resignedly.

Deciding against putting the shoes back on she gingerly got to her feet to head back to the office, mentally groaning as she remembered the filing that was still waiting for her back at the office. Thinking of the filing reminded her of the state that she had left the office in and she groaned again, but this time out aloud: if Mardi got to her office before she did, Sophia would never hear the end of it.

This day was just getting better and better she thought as she walked across the foyer, her bare feet earning more than a few curious looks, and stepped out of the gloomy interior of the courthouse and into the bright Boston sunlight.

At least there was coffee waiting for her back at the office, Sophia thought smiling to herself as she headed down the courthouse steps. The smile abruptly turning into a grimace as she spotted Stephen leaning against her Jeep with his arms crossed loosely across his chest. Fancy thinking that her day couldn’t get any worse because now it just went from crappy to outright bad hair day kind of bad. Sighing Sophia slowed down her steps and seriously considered giving into the temptation to turn around and head back into the courthouse but there was no way she could avoid him for the second time this morning, especially not with him standing there stapled to her Jeep glowering at her like an angry guard dog.

Mentally squaring her shoulders she figured given that she had no choice but to speak to him it was probably best to have it over and done with here at the courthouse rather than having to deal with him back at the Centre. Taking the last few steps towards him, Sophia flashed him a wide smile and called out cheerfully, ‘Hi Stevie, fancy seeing you here, twice in one day; it must be my lucky day’.

‘The name is Stephen, not Stevie, and we need to talk,’ Stephen bit out as he walked towards her, successfully barricading her from her car in the process. Sophia had almost forgotten how tall he was, even without her heels she was taller than average standing at five-foot-eight inches, but she found herself tilting her head back to look up at him. Those silver gray eyes on the other hand she could never forget, she thought meeting his steely gaze. Eyes that she still believed could frost bite on demand.

‘How can I a mere human being be of assistance to the great Detective STE-PHEN,’ Sophia drawled out sarcastically as all good intentions to remain pleasant and have a normal civilized conversation with him went flying out as fast as it had come in as her annoyance kicked up a few notches in response to his terse demand.

‘You can start by quitting the attitude and putting on your shoes. You’re not at grade school anymore,’ Stephen drawled back raking a glance that took in her hair, which had come loose from its glossy brown knot at the nape of her neck and pointedly rested at the shoes she was clutching in her hand.

Sophia forced herself to not squirm under the heat of his assessing gaze like the school girl and firmly reminding herself that she was a grown woman of thirty. She retorted, ‘My shoes are fine and my attitude might be just as fine once you get to the point, which is?’

‘I have important business that I need to discuss with you and outside here on the street is not where I want to be discussing it. Meet me back at your office. I’m giving you fifteen minutes to get there; don’t be late. I’ve already wasted enough time chasing you around the city and I don’t plan on wasting any more,’ Stephen replied impatiently as he turned on his heel and got into his car, which was parked in front of hers.

Sophia stood on the street and watched him drive away. She wondered anew what exactly it was that he needed to discuss; it was obviously something important enough for Stephen to have felt the need to follow her down to the court house. Opening her door she slid into the Jeep and tried to process what he had just said to her, but as much as Sophia racked her brain she couldn’t make sense of it.

Typical of Stephen to walk in and bark out a list of orders and expect that she would simply drop everything and fall into line. The man had no idea how to talk to someone like a normal human being and now she really was regretting her decision to not follow Tommy into the courtroom; even the thought of getting back to the office and getting that cup of coffee was disappearing fast. Although the one good thing to come out of this morning was with Stephen standing guard at her Jeep he had saved her from getting a parking ticket, so maybe it hadn’t been all that bad having him hound her today, she grudgingly acknowledged as she buckled herself into her seat.

She gunned the engine and pulling away from the curb merged her car into traffic quicker than the speed limit permitted and headed back to the office.

CHAPTER 3

S OPHIA PULLED INTO the Centre’s parking lot in record time, the drive back across town was done with more urgency than the one earlier this morning because as much as she hated to admit it she was curious to know what exactly it was that Stephen needed from her. It was so very unlike him to come searching her out for anything especially when he could have just gone straight to Tommy, as was his normal practice.

Which was no surprise really, given the fact that Stephen had been Tommy’s closest friend since before even grade school and she couldn’t think of a time when Stephen hadn’t been around in some form or the other, and as hard as she tried to avoid him, he and that mocking smile of his always just seemed to spring up.

It hadn’t always been a case of Sophia trying to avoid him like a plague; there had been a time years ago when she had eagerly sought him out with a quiet hope that one day he would see her as more than just his best friend’s baby sister. Those hopes were long gone now and she ruthlessly pushed those thoughts aside as she reminded herself that she had moved on from her immature teenage crush on Stephen and now he was just a pain in the ass, one that she put up with for the sake of her brother. It was just unfair that in this deal that he was such a scrumptious-looking pain in the ass.

Parking the Jeep, Sophia hurried into the Centre; Stephen was a stickler for time and she did not relish being served another lecture for keeping him waiting, Walking up the steps of the one-storey cream brick house that was the Magnolia Legal Centre, or affectionately referred to as just the Centre, Sophia stepped inside and was immediately greeted by the hive of activity that was ever present in the Centre’s waiting room.

Filled with women and children as was customary of the Centre’s main clients, the waiting room looked more like a family living room with its stuffed couches