Tell No Lies by Julie Compton

Earl, pounced on him.
    "Jack!" she said, coming around her desk to greet him. In her hand was a large stack of pink phone messages. "You're a popular man today." After she handed the messages to him, she reached up and touched his chin. "Ooh . . . trying to grow a beard?"
    He gently pushed her hand away. She relentlessly teased him about his youthful face after he'd once been carded at a bar where the office had gone to celebrate a victory.
    "Anybody important?" he asked, fingering through the papers.
    "Depends who you think's important," she said. "Jennifer Dodson's been trying to reach you all morning. Says she really needs to talk to you. After she kept pestering me, I finally told her to just leave a message on your voice mail."
    The weight that had lifted briefly when he'd first entered the familiar surroundings of the courthouse was back. "Who else?" Jack said, trying to skim over the mention of Jenny's call so Beverly wouldn't think it was important, at least not to him.
    "A couple of reporters called, wanting to get your reaction to Earl's announcement. I got the feeling they'd already talked with Earl." She paused, as if in thought. "And one wanted to talk to you about Barnard."
    "But I'm not handling Barnard."
    "I tried to tell him that." She shrugged. "Oh, yeah, and Earl's been looking for you."
     
    In his office, he looked carefully at the messages Jenny had left. The first one was pretty basic—Beverly had simply checked the little box next to RETURN CALL AT YOUR CONVENIENCE . The next, left only twenty minutes after the first, had the same box checked, but Beverly had also handwritten "important" on the memo line. A half hour later, Jenny had called again. Beverly hadn't bothered to check off any boxes on that one; she'd merely scrawled in capital letters across the paper "NEEDS TO TALK TO YOU ASAP!!"
 
    Jack glanced at his phone and saw the message light blinking. He wondered how many of those calls were also from Jenny. He dialed and took a deep breath as he heard her voice.
    "Jack, I'm just wondering why you haven't called me back." Her voice oozed artificial calm. "I've been trying to reach you all morning. Could you give me the courtesy of a return call?"
    He skipped a few more messages from others and then listened to her next, and last, one.
    "Jack, where the hell are you? Why haven't you called me back? Don't tell me you're one of those jerks who refuses to call a woman back because he wants to pretend something never happened. I'm not Glenn Close, you know. I'm not going to stalk you or anything." Her anger trailed off at the end. "I just want to say I'm sorry."
    Jack laughed at her comparison. Despite Jenny's ranting, the maniacal character from Fatal Attraction would never have entered his mind. He knew Jenny just hated being vulnerable. He pressed the switch and waited for a dial tone. He hit the speed dial for her direct line, even though he knew the number by heart. The phone rang only once before she picked up.
 
    "Jennifer Dodson." Her voice was all business.
    "Jenny, it's me."
    She let out a huge sigh. "Godammit, Jack, where the hell have you been?"
    "If you wanna be my campaign manager, you'll have to clean up that potty mouth of yours."
    She laughed with relief. "You've reconsidered?"
    "No, I was just razzin' you."
    "Where have you been?" she asked again.
    She must still have thought he'd been purposely avoiding her calls.
    "I slept in. I just got here about ten minutes ago."
    "It wasn't that late when we left last night."
    "Yeah, well, long story."
    "Is everything okay?"
    "Yeah."
    The phone line fell quiet. Jack knew she was expecting him to say more. He considered telling her how he had accidentally fallen asleep in the car—leaving out the role she had played, of course—but he didn't think he could even say Claire's name out loud to her right then.
    He heard Earl's voice down the hall, talking excitedly to someone about his plans. Despite his own misgivings about the future, Jack had