Kira looked him over now, taking in the black sling and the small white bandage on his hand from an IV. Any other man might look sickly today, but he didn’t. If he still had the sling during the trial—which was bound to be postponed—Kira had no doubt he’d find a way to use it to his advantage.
He ended his call and stood up, resting his good hand on his hip. “Kira, hi. We didn’t really meet last night. You’re Ollie’s partner?”
“Associate.”
Was. She was Ollie’s associate. She felt a sharp pang in her chest.
“We started working together about three years ago,” she told him. Ollie liked to keep her behind the scenes, so she wouldn’t poach his clients. He gave her the work he didn’t want, especially the online stuff, which he hated doing, even though it was becoming a bigger and bigger part of every job. Kira hadn’t minded the arrangement when she’d been a brand-new PI just starting out, but she’d recently upped her rate and started pressuring Ollie to treat her as an equal.
“Sit down.” Logan gestured to a chair. “I assume you noticed the detectives on your way in?”
“I did.” Kira took a seat and nodded at the conference room across the hall, where another linebacker-size guy was now stationed beside the door. “I noticed them, too. Who are they?”
“Private security.” He leaned back in his chair. “We hired them this morning.”
Kira looked at the conference room again and counted nine people seated around a table. Everyone wore suits, but the bodyguards were easy to pick out because of their muscular builds and military haircuts.
“Lot of manpower,” she said.
“It’s a big job. Our team has four attorneys and a paralegal.”
Kira didn’t comment. No matter how many people they had staffed to the case, she knew when it came to trial, it would be just Logan and the client at the defense table. He was known as “Lone Logan” because he always liked to play up his client’s underdog status.
She checked her watch. “You said there was something urgent?”
He smiled slightly. “In a hurry today?”
“I’ve got a meeting at the police station, and I still have to retrieve my car from your house.”
“No, you don’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not there. They towed it this morning. One of the neighbors must have called.”
Kira cursed inwardly. Just what she needed today.
“Listen, Kira.” Logan leaned forward, resting his good arm on the desk. “I spent several hours this morning with the detectives investigating Ollie’s murder.”
“Any arrests?”
“No.”
“Suspects?”
“Not yet. I assume you talked to them, too?”
“Five hours last night at the station.”
He nodded. “I was in surgery then. It was a through-and-through bullet wound. Messy but not too serious, so they discharged me early this morning.”
“Glad you’re okay,” she said. “Were you able to give a good description?”
“Not really, since he was wearing a ski mask.”
Kira must have looked startled, because he frowned. “What, you didn’t notice?”
“It was a blur,” she said. “I didn’t see much of anything.”
“The detectives told me the gunman, whoever he was, took the laptops and cell phones, along with some files off the table,” Logan said. “They’re working the theory that he was after information. Particularly information about the Quinn case. They think someone might be trying to throw a wrench into the doctor’s defense by gunning down his legal team and stealing the case files.”
Kira just stared at him.
“You follow?”
“Sure, but if that was the purpose, why aren’t you dead?”
He looked taken aback. “I don’t know. Luck, I guess? I acted dead on the floor, so maybe he bought it. Or maybe he just wanted the hardware. It’s possible he was after something we have but don’t necessarily know we have yet. In that case, we might have been collateral damage, and the real goal may have been the electronics.”
Kira watched him, trying to get her head around the idea. Was that really what all this was about? Laptops and cell phones?
“Which brings me to my next question,” he said. “Why were you at my house last night?”
“I had info for Ollie.”
“What info? He told me he’d just come up with something big that was going to help Quinn, but he hadn’t filled me in yet.”
“I found some new background on your alibi witness, Robert Peck.”
He looked disappointed. “That’s it?”
“He’s your star witness. I’d say he’s key to Quinn’s defense.”
Logan watched her, and he looked like he was trying to decide something.
“I’ll cut to the chase here, Kira. We’d like to hire you to replace Ollie.”
She scoffed. “You can’t just replace Ollie. He had twenty-five years on the job.”
“We’re in a jam. The trial starts in five days. This judge is a former prosecutor, and he favors the state. I plan to ask for a continuance, but—”
“You won’t get it.” Kira’s heart thudded as she saw where he was going with this. “And Ollie wasn’t Quinn’s counsel, so his death isn’t going to warrant a delay.”
“That’s correct. So you see my problem.” He paused for dramatic effect—always the trial lawyer. “Ollie knew my case inside out. He knew every report, every witness. He knew my trial strategy. I don’t have time to get anyone else up to speed.”
“You want to hire me.”
“That’s right, I’d like to bring you in. You’d work for Logan and Locke.”
“I work for myself.” The thought of losing her autonomy brought a surge of panic. She hated face time and suits and being under someone’s thumb, especially a man’s. “And anyway, Ollie is not my only client.”
Her heart was racing now. She was trying to play hardball here, but she worried that Logan could see right through her.
He gave her an appraising look. “What was your arrangement with Ollie?”
“I charged him by the hour. But I work for an insurance company and several other lawyers in town, too.”
“That’s a no-go. You’d work for us exclusively,” he said, as she’d known he would. “What was Ollie paying you?”
She tossed out her overtime rate.
“I’ll double it.”
Kira stared at him, trying not to react.
“You know details of what Ollie was working on recently?” Logan asked.
“Not all, but I can get up to speed.” God, was she really going to agree to this?
“I assume you have access to his office?”
“Of course.”
Triumph sparked in his eyes. “Good. I want an update by end of today. Email works fine if you don’t have a chance to get back here.”
“I’ll need an advance,” she blurted.
“Done. Would a thousand cover it? Two?”
“A thousand is fine.” Holy hell.
“I’ll have Bev take you by accounting. Then we’ll get you briefed on the security arrangement.”
“Security arrangement?”
“The firm we brought in. Wolfe Security.” He nodded toward the conference room. “They’ll provide an agent and take a look at your home security setup, your transportation, the works.”
Her setup? She started to laugh, but the look on his face stopped her.
“You’re serious?”
“Absolutely.”
“That sounds . . . thorough.”