Jackson caught his reflection in one of the generic paintings hung along the hallway, noticing a clump of his dark brown hair sticking upward. Scowling, he stopped and lifted his hand to snap his fingers above his head. The rogue hairs fell back into place, and he continued down the hall until he reached the decorative oak doors that marked the entrance to his boss's office. He took a moment to compose himself, then knocked.
Jackson heard a brusque, feminine voice in response to his knock. "Come."
Jackson opened the door and stepped in, closing the door behind him. His discerning hazel eyes took a quick inventory of the surroundings before settling on the woman he had come to speak to. "Good afternoon, Ms. Timmons. Jackson Frost, from your legal team. I have some documents that require your signature."
The redhead looked up from her desk with keen blue eyes that gave one the impression of being looked through as much as being looked at. "Drew the short straw, I take it?" she asked with a smirk.
Jackson could not escape those piercing blue eyes, but countered with a smirk of his own. "It seems you work just as hard at avoiding your legal team as you do with your company ventures. My lack of resistance has started a rather interesting office pool as to how this goes."
"Oh yeah? What's the over/under on escaping unscathed?"
He cocked his head slightly to the side in thought, "Unscathed?" He chuckled slightly. "Actually, that wasn't an option. It runs the gamut on how, though I have no intention of telling you, as that may give you ideas. I do notice a lack of office supplies on your desk, so having a stapler thrown at me is out, and your contract lawyer has already lost."
Angel took a quick inventory of her desk and her eyes drifted to her lap. "Are heels or knives in the pool? I could probably make you a few bucks."
"Those would be in the pool, but why would you assume I'd put my money on something so small and readily available? If you're not throwing something like an office chair or a desk, I'd say it'd hardly be worth the effort of pissing you off."
"Are you planning to piss me off?" she asked, amused.
Jackson could not resist staring at her that moment, noting how pretty her mouth was, set in that almost smile, and how the humor seemed to make those blue eyes shimmer a little brighter. "As the pool would dictate, that is supposed to be inevitable."
"Are you a contract lawyer?"
He crossed the space from the door to her desk, offering her the folders he had been carrying. "No. While I do have a few contracts for you to sign, that would not be my specialty."
Angel reached for the files, noting the absence of a ring on his hand or a watch on his wrist. "I still haven't decided if I can trust Legal yet. What was your name again?"
"Jackson. Jackson Frost. And if trust is an issue, I'd be the type of lawyer that would be the lowest on your list." He couldn't help but laugh. "Though I hardly see why you'd not trust the people in your employ. Or is it lawyers in general you don't trust?"
"Well, Jacks from Legal, let me put it this way... I don't recall hiring any lawyers, and there's a whole department of you."
Jackson bristled as she used the shortened version of his name. "Well, Ms. Timmons, my research would indicate that you and I shall be seeing a lot of each other. So yes, I expect the likelihood of pissing you off to be rather high. Probably not today, but I've been surprised before."
"Smart man, I'll give you that," she smirked, looking through the folders. "Anything that needs to be signed right away?"
"Yes. The top one would be urgent. The other two you can look over at your leisure. Mind if I ask what you have against lawyers? Or is it the magical way we just appeared in your company?"
"Don't get me wrong, that last one is a bit on the unnerving side, but I used to be a cop, and in my experience, it's rarely a good sign when the suits show up." She signed the topmost document next to the little tags shaped like arrows and handed it back to him. "No offense."
"None taken. I can see why you keep that floor at bay. My job would be to keep the other suits out of your.." The scent of her perfume and his proximity to her gave him pause, and he found himself taking a moment to appreciate her beauty, his gaze wandering unbidden to her long red curls. "...hair."
The lift of an eyebrow made it clear that the change in his demeanor had been noticed. "How are you with international law?" she asked.
"My specialty covers a wide range of categories. Why don't you tell me what it is you need help with, and I'll tell you which lawyer would be best suited to assist you."
He watched her reach into a drawer on her left and withdraw a file folder to hand to him across the desk. "Problem with a custody case from Missing Persons. Our agent kidnapped the children back without consulting local authorities."
He noted that she was wearing full gloves as he accepted the folder. "Hmm. My specialty would cover that. Exactly the reason I was hired for your firm." He motioned to the chair. "May I?"
She nodded. "I promise not to throw anything at you for the first five minutes."
He adjusted his slacks before sitting down. "How very generous of you." He studied the documents, a brow quirking when he noticed the name Aittera Timmons. His eyes moved back and forth as he scanned the rest of the folder's contents. "Was the identity of your employee discovered, or linked to your firm's direct involvement?"
"If they have evidence, I haven't seen it. But he knows the children are back with their mother."
"Is he a citizen of the United States?"
"No, but she is."
He smiled as he came across a particular document. "And the children are as well."
"Yes. To be clear, we were supposed to locate and collect evidence."
He cocked his head to the side. "Whose directives were those?"
"Mine. It looks like the father has some cartel connections, and I wanted to loop local law enforcement in. My sister made a call based on instinct, and it was probably the right call. It looked like he might relocate again."
"So they don't know who did the actual extraction, but they do know you were involved."
Angel shrugged her shoulders. "If they don't, it's a matter of time."
"If you looped in the local law, I am sure they would be aware by now. I will be on a plane first thing in the morning. As my boss, I need to ask you what methods are at my disposal."
"Shouldn't you know that? Aren't you from Legal?"
He smiled. "As far as I can tell, you have very little legal exposure from this. I intend to go and find out if the government is pursuing any actions, as well as inquire as to the intent of this cartel and the gentleman in question. Consider the matter handled."
"Damnit."
Jackson looked up at her quizzically, "Problem?"
"Why didn't Legal send you down here sooner?"
"Because you have been avoiding us?"
"Okay, fair point, but do you know how many staplers I could have saved?"
He laughed heartily. "That explains where they all went!"
She laughed.
He gave her a genuine smile in return. "You know what was not in the pool? Making you laugh."
