That La Jolla Lawyer

by Robert Rogers

  “Thank you for a lovely time,” she said.

  “The thanks goes to you. I’m in your debt.” He wanted to add Sarah to that, but thought better of it.

  They finished their coffee. The morning was over. The relaxing moment had come to an end.

  She put her arms around him and said, “I hate for the morning

  to end, but I know you have to check on your friend, Carter.”

  “You’re right on both counts,” he said. “But, there’ll be other weekends.”

  She kissed him.

  Driving away, he said to himself, “She said she could get used to it. I could too.”

  Chapter 28

  Damn, I didn’t know the kitchen looked that good, Matt thought when he walked in.

  Carter got up when he heard Matt opening the front door. “Welcome back,” he shouted from the bedroom.

  Cat also heard and came from someplace to greet him. Matt put out fresh food.

  “I assume all went well with you, Matt. You look … shall I say, relaxed.” Carter added a knowing smile. “But, listen, I’m well enough to go home and I want to go. How about driving me home.”

  “Now? You want to go now?”

  “No. I’m not going anyplace until you tell me what my next assignment is. How about this?” Carter said. “We take a beer to the back, watch half-naked girls run along the beach and you tell me.”

  “Damn good idea Carter. First though, I have to tell you did a great job cleaning up the kitchen. Damn thing shines. Do you do windows? I might want to hire you.”

  “Babble on. I cleaned up in self-defense. I was afraid I’d slip on the grease and break my neck.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Okay. Beer right? Under the circumstances, we’ll waive the five o’clock drinking rule.”

  “There ain’t no five o’clock rule when it comes to a cold beer, Matt.”

  They drank beer in the old wooden chairs Matt had inherited with the house. The surf was rolling in frothy and high, leaving behind patterns of white foam on blue ocean waters. Surfers were out catching the waves. The sun was playing hide and seek with a blue sky full of white fluffy clouds. Men and women ran along the beach with their dogs and children. Seagulls drifted overhead, squawking now and then. Somewhere someone had a radio turned to an oldies station. An old Beach Boys tune filled the air. Good

  Vibrations.

  “That music takes me back. I shore love watchin’ the beach,” Carter said between sips.

  “Yeah. I know what you love to watch, Carter. Those girls in the bikinis, their boobs jiggling.”

  Two bikini-clad, well-endowed, girls tossed a ball back and forth with two young surfer-type guys. Their surfboards lay on the sand a few feet away, near a cooler chest and beach blankets.

  “Even if they’re store bought these days. Okay, what you got for me to do?” Carter asked.

  “You feel up to a little work?”

  “A good night’s sleep and some home cooking will, as they used to say in jolly old England, put me to rights. I may have to take a pain pill but one won’t disable me.”

  “How’re you going to get any home cooking?”

  “Hell Matt, I tole you, you ain’t the onlyest one with friends.

  Margie loves to bring me over a dish of something delicious. She cooks a mean chicken ‘n dumplins’. Makes me feel like I’m back in Bama. She’s retired military. She made sure I got to the hospital after the bastards shot me and stayed until I went into the operating room. They told me.”

  “Ah ha! Margi huh! That’s why you always look healthy.

  You have a woman looking after you.”

  “Damn right. She takes good care of me. Ain’t no two ways about it. And, she’ll change my dressing. Save me a trip to one of those always-open clinics.” He took a long swig of his beer and

  leaned forward as one of the girls he’d been watching bent over to pick up the ball. “Son of a bitch, Matt, if I stay here, I’m likely to have a heart attack.”

  “Maybe she should move in,” Matt said.

  “I’m thinking about it. She is too. We’ve talked ‘bout it.

  Trouble is, we’re both too damn set in our ways. ”

  Carter straightened up in his chair and looked at Matt. “Okay,

  I’ve done the small talk enough. My attention span is long gone on the live entertainment you got out there. I asked whut you had for me to do. Hell, I’m bored.”

  Matt smiled. “Sarah had the name Adderall in the ANN mainframe computer file. That got my attention,” he told Carter.

  Carter nodded and gestured for him to continue.

  “You likely know that it’s an amphetamine used to treat ADHD and can be addictive if you don’t take it according to the doctor’s instructions.”

  Carter rubbed his top of his head. “ADHD’s a damn curse. Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. I know ‘bout that shit. You think Reid’s takin’ Adderall for ADHD?”

  “Sarah’s note didn’t say. She found it on Warner’s desk.

  Could be Warner has it. That’s what I need for you to nail down. Do you feel up to nosing around Reid’s schools and Warner’s to see if either of them were ADHD?” He stood to get the print out with all the information in Sarah’s file.

  “Bring reinforcements,” Carter said and held up his empty.

  Matt returned with more beer and a copy of Sarah’s computer file. It had a list of the schools Reid and Warner had attended.

  Carter studied the lists. “Hmm, Warner went to school in Phoenix. I don’t know about going over there.” He wiggled his injured arm.

  “See what you find over here first. Can you handle it?” Matt

  asked.

  “The late President Regan said something I liked.”

  “What? I just remember that he was president,” Matt said.

  “Ha. He said something like, 'I am hurt, but not slain; I'll lay

  me down and bleed awhile, then I'll rise and fight again,’” Carter said.

  “I’ll remember that the next time I get a backside full of buckshot.”

  Matt drove him home. As his car pulled into Carter’s driveway,

  a middle-aged woman, reasonably well-dressed, was coming out her front door. Matt took her to be Margie.

  “I’ll see you later. Looks like you’ve got company,” Matt said, pointing his head at the woman hurrying toward them. “Nice- looking lady,” he said.

  “She stays in good shape,” Carter said and added with a smile, “Keeps me in good shape too.”

  *****

  Jennifer called. Matt let her leave a message which he listened to afterward. She was sending him a check for ten thousand dollars. She was curious about a story in the Light, how he and Carter were shot the same night.

  Because of the check, he returned her call and told her what had happened.

  “Do you think they were clients of yours?” she asked.

  Matt laughed. “Most of my criminal clients are dead. The one client who got hard time, eight years, lives in Idaho, has a family with six kids. He came by to see me when he got out of prison to thank me for getting him a reduced sentence. So, I seriously doubt

  the attackers were past clients.”

  “Who was it then? What have you and Carter been investigating?”

  “I thought I’d told you. Sarah’s mother asked me to probate Sarah’s estate which I’ve been doing. I’ve been looking for who killed her to file a wrongful death action against them, assuming they have assets. I suspect somebody we’ve been investigating sicced somebody on us.”

  “Who have you been investigating?”

  “The people Sarah was investigating when she was killed.”

  “Didn’t you say Franklin and I were on her list?”

  “I think I did.”

  “Well, we didn’t do it.”

  “Good. Otherwise, I’d be thinking you were trying to get rid of me so you wouldn’t have to pay my fee and expenses from the

  trial.”

 
“I’m going to pay you, Matt.” Her tone grew icy. “You’ll get a check for ten thousand dollars this week! That’s a lot of money!”

  “Well, Jennifer, you owe a lot and every check will be appreciated. My house could use some improvements.”

  “It has been needing improving for years now. It’s a dump.”

  “Let’s have lunch,” Matt said sarcastically.

  “Wh… oh, Yes. We’ve finished. Right?’

  “Unless you have something else.”

  She hung up.

  *****

  Carter called the next afternoon, late. “I’ll have to tell you over the phone what I found out. I’m too tired to come over and I just took a pain pill.”

  “I understand. Quick work, old buddy.”

  “To be fair, people took one look at my sling and my old

  investigator’s badge and talked their heads off to get rid of me. I told them we were assigned to run a security check on both Reid and Traynor.”

  “Sounds plausible.”

  “It worked. Some background on Reid. One lady I talked to said He didn’t play sports, was a member of the debate and theater clubs but didn’t do much in either. She described him as laid-back.

  She was surprised when he ran for congress.”

  “Interesting.

  “There’s no record of Reid taking anything for ADHD at any of the schools he attended. He was not ADHD as far as his school records show.”

  “Damn,” Matt said. “I was hoping he had been. That could have led to his addiction. That still doesn’t mean he’s not addicted.”

  “So far all we have is speculation, Matt. To that end, I’m not sure a trip to Phoenix will do us any good, Matt. Even if Warner is

  the one with the addiction, I don’t see why he’d kill Sarah to stop that from being disclosed. How would it hurt Reid’s campaign? Warner’s not running for a thing, publically. Privately, of course, he’s running for the money he’ll get.”

  “Forget Warner for now, Carter. Let’s look at Reid. Adderall gives users an energy high. Reid has that now, but not when he was in high school apparently. Sarah saw it. And Denise. Some users have increased sexual activity and Reid has that reputation. So, it’s a little more than speculation.”

  “I don’t disagree with you on that score, Matt. The man’s a walking dynamo. And, you’re right more often than you’re wrong, but how can we prove it?”

  “These days, they have a program designed to prevent overuse of the drug,” Matt said and told him about the program.

  He explained the California program called the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES). How the CURES records contain the patient’s name, date of birth, address, prescriber’s name, DEA number, license number,

  pharmacy’s name and date of the prescription was dispensed.

  “You’re probably thinking Reid’s wife prescribed the stuff for the congressman to pump up his energy and he got hooked.”

  “Maybe. Worst case analysis, Warner wouldn’t want it to come out that Reid’s taking drugs and sure as hell wouldn’t want it known if Reid was addicted. Reid could kiss his political career goodbye.”

  Carter asked, “How do we get into the CURES records to see if Reid takes the drug? If he hasn’t, where would that leave us?”

  “One step at a time, Carter. One step at a time. Do you know

  anybody who could do it?”

  “I know plenty of ’em, but nobody ’ud touch that even if they had the skills. Frankly, I doubt any of ’em do. They can do simple hack jobs, maybe get around a password, but nobody’s gonna stick

  their neck in a government noose like you’re asking. That’s a hard time kind of job.”

  “Okay,” Matt said.

  “Right now,” Carter said, “I need to lie down and rest a bit.

  Give me a couple of days. Okay?”

  “Take what you need.” Matt walked back to his computer and booted it up. While he waited, he called Denise and asked her to ask Allister if he’d be interested in a hack job. She said she’d call him back.

  Matt spent the rest of the day studying Sarah’s notes about the Schofield trial and its aftermath. He was intrigued by the amount of work she had done. She had called Jennifer and Stone for interviews. He recalled Jennifer saying Sarah had not called.

  “She lied. No surprise.”

  Sarah had interviewed some of Stone’s employees and a couple of Jennifer’s medical assistants, ones that had been fired or let go for some reason. She’d talked to Aaron’s ex-wives.

  Her notes gave an angle for her story — how did the trial and the verdict impact the lives of parties involved? What was left out of the trial and would that have changed the verdict?

  He mulled that over. It was not totally unusual for something to be left out of a trial. Either the DA didn’t think it had probative value or the defendant’s attorney thought it would go against his client or both might have thought it was prejudicial to their case.

  “Could be Sarah was looking at the conflict about the lights and the problem about the cell phone bruise. Those questions are the only things not resolved during the trial. They probably should have been hit harder by the DA. Maybe I should have also.” He recalled his conversation with Carter about it.

  “True,” Carter had told him, “but love is an incurable addiction. It takes all your attention.”

  Matt laughed. Carter was right. Love is an incurable addiction. It damn near killed me.

  Matt did his afternoon jog along the beach dodging dog walkers, beachgoers and the last gasps of frothy waves. Long-legged birds darted back and forth with the waves watching for wiggling things washing ashore. A guy who’d just shown up, sat on a rock and played a ukulele. A dog lay at his feet. No one took notice.

  The afternoon sun was a red oval easing down in the azure blue Pacific for its evening sleep. The white clouds in the sky were colored orange and red and tinged with a dark, shadow ring.

  If the surfing crowd cared, it didn’t show. They kept paddling out to catch the next big one to ride onto the sandy beach.

  *****

  Matt was at his computer desk when Allister called that night. “Denise said you might have another job for me,” the young man said.

  He told him about hacking into the California CURES computer.

  “That’s a toughie, Mr. Dawson. I can do uncomplicated hack jobs, like the Merlin thing but something like that, a public program, I probably wouldn’t want to do it even if I could.”

  Matt was disappointed and cursed.

  “However,” the young man quickly added. “I know somebody who could. Problem is, he charges. It’s what he does for a living. Gets word of mouth referrals. Let me call him and see what he says. You probably want to check names, right?”

  “Plus a drug.”

  “I’ll call you back. Give me a day or so in case he’s busy.”

  “Okay.”

  “Oh, can I ask you a question?” he asked.

  “Fire away,” Matt told him.

  “Are you and Denise … I mean, well, are you going together?”

  “We’re just good friends, Allister. We do things together, like going to Balboa Park. Why do you ask?”

  “I just wondered. I know some guy from Vegas calls her but she doesn’t seem that interested. I’m not sure about you. She likes you. I overheard her telling him about you; how nice you were. I wanted to ask her out, but I didn’t want to step on any toes.”

  “No toes here.”

  “Super. I’ll call you about the other.”

  Well, looks like I have competition for Denise. Good thing I’m not really serious. I like her and enjoy her company, but hell, I’m almost old enough to be her father. What the hell does age have to do with anything these days?

  Remembering the rush her ex’s father put on her, brought a laugh into his thoughts. He’s older than I am. Probably says the same thing.

  Cat suddenly appeared and gave out a big “meow
.” When Matt didn’t respond quickly enough to suit him, he reached up with his paw and placed it on Matt’s arm, his way of letting Matt know for certain that he was hungry. Matt filled his food bowl.

  *****

  He called Carter for an update.

  “Hell’s bells, Matt, I’ve been sittin’ on my ass waitin’ for you to call. I’ve had a few rough moments and my arm still bothers me now and then, but I’m over the worst. Margie has been chauffeuring me around. Thanks to her, I’ve been working.”

  “Give her my thanks. Not for driving you around, but for

  putting up with you.”

  “Okay, out with it, Matt. What do you need?”“Have you had a chance to read Sarah’s computer notes? The file is a pretty good outline of her story, but unfortunately her detailed notes were lost with her laptop or her notepad. She had a nose for a story.”

  “I not only read it, I agree with you. She had a killer instinct for what people want to know. And, by the way, I’ve already been out backtracking. I figured that’d be our next move. I’ve interviewed the people whose name’s she had underlined and I’m ready to give you my report. Margie is typing it now.”

  “Be damned!”

  “Ain’t it so. Still no lawsuit filed?”

  Matt said, “I haven’t been served. A bit of a puzzle.”

  “As soon as Margie finishes my notes, I’ll drive over. I think I can manage that.”

  “The beer is cool.”

  “I may have to go with coffee. Margie’s rule. I need something to offset the effects of the pain pills.”

  “Still taking them?”

  “Only when it hurts.”

  Chapter 29

  Carter rang Matt’s doorbell after dark. Margie had driven him and left to do some shopping. He was to call when he was ready to be picked up.

  They sat at the kitchen table. As requested, Carter drank coffee. Matt had a glass of White Zinfandel.

  “Wish I had a beer,” Carter said, with a glance at Matt’s glass.

  “Eat your heart out. Next time duck.” He pointed at Carter’s sling.

  “Yeah. You weren’t so fast yourself. Okay. Let’s see what