The Candy Bar Complete - 4 book box set: Candy Bar Series

by Patrice Wilton

  My heart was beating a little faster, but I kept my smile in place. “Oh, Marcia, if and when I do take a lover, I’ll make sure you’ll be the first to know.”

  Her already slit eyes narrowed further. “Don’t be such a smart-ass. I know more than you think.”

  The saying about keeping friends close but your enemies closer, leapt to my mind. With Marcia around I knew to watch my back.

  I nodded to Susie, ignored Marcia, and carried on toward my office. My administrative assistant, Ted Martin, obviously was unaware I was back. I found him sitting at my desk, facing the small window and talking on the phone. He had the seat tilted back and his feet up to the wall, and was chuckling about something.

  “Hello, Ted.” I said in a firm voice.

  His feet slipped from the wall, and the chair straightened up and nearly threw him out. He stammered and blushed. “Jesus, Lydia. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were back. Damn. This is embarrassing. Your seat and all.” He bent forward as if he were thinking about kissing my cheek, which I thought was highly peculiar. “It’s good to have you back.”

  I stepped around my desk and took the seat he’d warmed. “It’s good to be back, let me tell you.” I leaned back in the chair. “And don’t ever let me catch you in my chair again.”

  “No, Ma’am. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  “Ted? What’s with the Ma’am? You can still call me Lydia, just don’t use my desk.”

  He smiled shyly. “Right. So, Lydia, can I get you your usual? French Vanilla cappuccino?”

  “Sounds great.”

  He returned with the hot mug and put it on my desk with a warm blueberry muffin. I smiled. “Trying to earn brownie points?” At his nod, I gave him his first order of the day. “Catch me up. What’s going on that I should know about?”

  It took me most of the week to catch up to speed, and Ted and I put a lot of long hours in and a few late night dinners, but he never complained.

  A couple of weeks later I was outside on my patio working on a law review article, when I heard a knock on my door. I dashed back inside and stubbed my toe. “Ouch! Damn.” I hobbled over to the door, peeked out, and opened it a crack.

  “Are you Lydia O’Reilley?”

  “Yes. And you are…?”

  He handed me a legal looking letter. “I’m the process server and you have just received a formal Complaint.”

  “Complaint? From whom? About what?” I stammered ridiculously.

  “Don’t know, Ma’am.” He smiled and gave me a two finger salute. “Have a good day.”

  I would have liked to slam the door, but it wasn’t opened far enough. I used as much force as I could, then limped into the kitchen to see who the hell was suing me. I got my letter opener and sliced through the top of the envelope and read the letter of Complaint quickly. It didn’t make any sense.

  Ted Martin, my administrative assistant filed a lawsuit against me, charging me with sexual harassment. It was crazy. Why would he do such a thing? We weren’t friends but I liked him well enough. He was a nice kid, and that was what I called him. Kid. He had nothing to gain by these false allegations. I didn’t get it.

  The timing was suspect too. Right now, with me pregnant. A coincidence? I didn’t think so. Did that bitch, Marcia, know about me and the baby? Had she put him up to this?

  I picked up the phone and called Hal Matheson to give him the heads-up.

  “Hal? This is Lydia. Something strange happened a few moments ago that I think you should know about.”

  “I hope this has nothing to do with Alexei Perkins.”

  “No. This is more personal.” I released my held breath. “I got a Complaint delivered to me a few minutes ago. Ted Martin is accusing me of sexual harassment.”

  “Is there any basis to this?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve never done anything inappropriate with that kid. Not even a sexual innuendo. Nothing.” I added, “I don’t think he’s even grown facial hair yet.” My mind was reeling a mile a minute. He wasn’t clever enough, or ambitious enough, or in a position to benefit from it. It had to be Marcia.

  “Did you tell Mr. Harrison that Alexei was involved with another woman?” Hal changed the subject so rapidly I was left with my mouth hanging open.

  “No, of course not,” I sputtered. “Why would you ask?” Silence was my friend, words were my enemy. I remained clamp-mouthed, eager to hear what he’d say.

  “Marcia came to me yesterday saying Alexei had called her saying you did, and asked her if it was a breach of client confidentiality.”

  “Alexei called Marcia? Why would she do that?” I was so screwed. Thinking fast, I groped for something to save myself. “It doesn’t make sense. She should have called her own attorney, not Marcia, if she wanted to bad mouth me.”

  “I don’t know. Can you prove you didn’t?”

  “Of course. All you have to do is ask Mr. Harrison. He’ll tell you the truth.”

  “So you didn’t tell him she’s in a same-sex relationship?”

  “For the last time, no. I never divulged any information about my former client to her husband.”

  “I didn’t think you would, but I will need confirmation from the husband.” He cleared his throat. “Now, about Ted. Obviously you work closely together. Is there any chance he might have misunderstood something you said or did? Have you ever…?”

  “Ever what?” I demanded. “Hal, give me a break. I would never, not in a million years, do something that stupid.” I sighed. “Come on. Do you really think I’d jeopardize my career by propositioning a male assistant?”

  “No, but…”

  “There are no buts. You know me better.”

  “Lydia, I like you. I respect how hard you work, so I’m going to tell you something you probably won’t want to hear. You’ve rubbed a few people the wrong way and it wouldn’t hurt for you to become “one of the team.” You want to make partner, don’t you?”

  His words echoed in my ears. How many times had I been passed up? Twice recently I had expected the “big announcement” only to find out one of the male attorneys had been named instead. They were worthy of the honor as much as me and so I let it pass without digging deeper. But now I knew. It was an all boys club.

  The knowledge felt like a smack in the face. I had always been a team player—pitching in whenever I was needed, taking the cases nobody else wanted. Why would one of the senior partners dislike me, and not want to see me make partner? Who was this unseen enemy and what had I done to “rub him the wrong way?”

  “Hal? Give me a name.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m just telling you that it would be in your best interest to win a few people over.” He coughed. “You know who they are.”

  I did? I thought of the senior partners. Joel Shriver was a tall, lanky man in his mid-sixties, and he always had a new joke to share. I’d never thought any of them were thigh-slapping funny, but I’d laughed just the same.

  Tom Matheson was an attractive, well groomed man, with a quick wit, a quick brain, and exuded confidence and energy. He had my utmost respect. It couldn’t be him.

  Jonathon Tyrone was a bit of a cold fish, but had always been cordial. Thinking back, I could only recall a few conversations with the man during the ten years I’d worked for the firm, so he couldn’t have anything against me.

  And Hal had always gone to bat for me.

  * * *

  Doctor Shelby called me a few days later, leaving a message to call her office as soon as I returned. I was put on hold and after an indefinite length of time spent listening to a popular radio station, I heard her voice.

  “Lydia, I’m sorry to have to say this, but I need you back in the office to repeat some tests. I’m afraid your last batch of blood work showed an abnormal reading.”

  The word ‘abnormal’ scared the living daylights out of me. “What does that mean, exactly?”

  “We’d like to do further testing to check for possible abnormalities or
rule them out. I would rather not discuss it over the phone, but in person, at your earliest convenience.”

  “I can come in tomorrow if it’s that important. Either first thing in the morning or early evening?”

  “Tomorrow evening will work fine. I’ll see you after my last appointment. Can you make it around six?”

  “Yes,” I stammered, “but could you just give me an indication of what this means?”

  “It’s too involved to go into over the phone, but we can properly discuss this tomorrow. Meanwhile, try not to worry too much. It’s early in the diagnostic stage, and it could easily be nothing.”

  “Or it could be something?”

  “I’m sorry, Lydia. It could be a genetic abnormality, but we’ll know for sure once we conclude all the tests.”

  “Thank you, Doctor. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I hung up, feeling as though my brain was disconnected from my body. I leafed through the mail and found a pamphlet from a cord blood bank. For a reasonable fee they could store my baby’s stem cells from the umbilical cord in case he or she ever had a serious injury and needed it. Sheesh. Like I wanted to think about that.

  I was so damn worried and had nobody to confide in. I wished Jed could be with me, right now, here, holding me, sharing my fears. What could the tests mean? How bad could it be? I was hurting so bad that a part of me was glad Jed didn’t know. At least he was spared this awful worry and pain.

  A few hours later I was loading my dinner dishes in the dishwasher when I got a frantic call from Candy.

  Billy was down in the precinct. He’d been arrested.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  “Ma’am,” came the greeting from a young uniformed officer I’d seen a few times in the hallways of the courthouse.

  “Officer Jones.” I read from his nameplate as I extended my hand. “I’m here for my client, Billy Thompson.”

  He nodded and pointed toward a dingy hallway. It reminded me of the many reasons I had chosen civil law above criminal. I hated the smell of a police station. I hated the noise. I hated having to weave through a maze of desks as a half dozen pairs of eyes followed me with open curiosity.

  Officer Jones paused, his hand closed around the scuffed door knob. His eyes met mine as he took in a breath and let it out quickly. “You know, we got an ID on your client. Arrested him on scene.”

  “So I hear.”

  “Since he about wet himself when we hooked him up, I’m thinking his level of involvement might be limited. His best course of action might be to roll on Sean Flaherty. I can talk to the State’s Attorney in charge, but, if he gives us something, we might be able to knock his arrest down to probation before judgment.”

  “No arrest record?” I asked, my heart pounding. “Everything expunged?”

  He nodded. “Assuming your kid wasn’t a principal in the robbery and he gives us the other kid. Deal?”

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  * * *

  Billy was seated in a straight back chair, legs sprawled out in front of him, pretending to be cool. Candy was sitting next to him, chewing on her nails. I walked in, threw my briefcase on the desk, and gave Candy’s shoulders a brief hug.

  Billy I ignored, although I knew he was probably shitting bricks right about now. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him, after all, he was just a mixed up kid.

  “Candy, you can stay while I question Billy.” I gave a pointed look toward the police officers, who obligingly got up to leave. I stopped them. “Could you please take the handcuffs off my client?”

  They looked at each other and shrugged, then one stepped forward, pulled out a key, and removed the cuffs.

  The three of us were alone. Candy thanked me for coming, and I could see from her blood-shot eyes and trembling hands how close she was to losing it. “It’ll be okay,” I assured her.

  She nodded, wiping away more tears.

  “How’re you doing?” I asked Billy with a gentle smile and an outstretched hand. He shook it briefly, long enough for me to feel how clammy his palms were.

  “Nervous?” I asked.

  “Naw. I’ve got nothing to be nervous about. I didn’t do anything.”

  “I don’t need to know what you did or did not do. I need to know what you’ve told them.” I moved my head toward the window.

  “Nothing. They wanted Mom to sign a waiver, but she wouldn’t. So they stopped with the questions.”

  “That’s good. I know this is new to you, so are you sure you didn’t say anything?”

  “No. This is such pure bullshit. They made a false arrest.”

  “Did they catch you with anything in your possession?” Candy asked her son.

  “No.” He rolled his eyes. “Mom, for the hundredth time I told you I didn’t steal anything, I swear.”

  “Candy,” I began gently but firmly, “It would help if you’d let me ask the questions.”

  “But he didn’t do anything,” Candy’s maternal instincts jumped in. “I believe him.”

  I didn’t have that luxury, but I didn’t think now was a good time to share that with my distraught friend. She didn’t need to know that my primary role was to secure Billy’s defense, not his innocence.

  I walked around the room for a moment and sighed. “Why do you think the police arrested you?”

  “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask them?”

  “I did. They told me you’d been ID at the scene.”

  “Billy, you better not be lying.” Candy strode across the room. “Can I smoke in here?” she asked.

  I pointed to the “no smoking” sign which is posted in all the interrogation rooms. “Sorry, not allowed.”

  “Tell me what happened when you were arrested.”

  “I was just walking back from the rec center when they grabbed me and said I was under arrest. They said that Sean and I were seen leaving the place right after it had been broken into. They wanted to know where we stashed the gear.”

  “What did you tell them?”

  “Nothing. I don’t know what they’re talking about.”

  “If you’re protecting anyone Billy, tell me now. I might be able to use it when they take you in front of the arraignment judge.”

  He glared at me. “I told you. I don’t know anything.” He looked at the one way mirror and flicked a finger. “Is that where the cops are? See it in the movies all the time.”

  “Yes, and flicking a finger isn’t going to help. So if you have anything of value to say, do it now. You’re a minor and this is your first offence. Cooperation is a free ticket out of trouble, Billy, and you only get one chance.”

  He scuffed his feet without looking at me. “I don’t know anything, honest. If Sean did anything, I don’t know nothing about it. You’d have to ask him.”

  “I’m asking you.” I sat down across from him. “Come on, Billy. Judges help those who help themselves. Someone broke in. Someone robbed and ransacked the apartments. As far as the cops are concerned, you’re good for the crimes. Your only way out of this—assuming it wasn’t you—is to trade up. Now isn’t the time to be loyal, Billy. It’s the time to be smart.”

  “But Sean and me are friends. And he was with me so I know he didn’t do it.”

  “What about before he showed up at your apartment? Could he have ransacked the place and hid the stuff before meeting you?”

  “No way. You’re just making this up and trying to get me to say something that I know isn’t true. He wouldn’t do that. He’s not that stupid.”

  “I don’t think he’s stupid at all. I think he’s smart enough to know you’ll stick by him. Being friends with you allowed him to get through the security gates and gave him access to all of Southgate Towers, every tower, every apartment, all his for the picking.”

  “It isn’t like that. He’s my friend.”

  Candy sniffed. “You were always a good kid, Billy, until you started hanging with him. Your grades have dropped, you’ve been in and out of trouble at school, and you and your friend
spray-painted the building and Lydia.”

  I nodded. “This kid is nothing but trouble, and if you don’t step away from him, he’ll drag you down with him. Is your friendship worth your freedom?”

  Billy didn’t say anything, and I decided to let him ponder it for a few minutes. “I’ll be back after I speak to the police. Maybe you’ll remember something.”

  “I gave him a key to the locker, that’s all.”

  I sat back down. “The locker in the storage room?” I felt my pulse rate soar and tried to contain my excitement. “Why would you do that?”

  “His dad is a mean drunk and beats the hell out of his mother and his younger brother. He doesn’t pick on Sean anymore, cuz Sean’s too strong. But he told me he wanted to move a few things out of the house. It was his getaway plan, he called it.”

  “Did you actually see him put his belongings in the locker, Billy?”

  “No, I didn’t think he had used it yet. He knew where it was, but as far as I knew he hadn’t been down there.”

  “So, it is conceivable that he’s been using that locker to store stolen goods?”

  “Yeah, I suppose so. But I still don’t believe that he broke into those places and stole that stuff.”

  “But it does make sense. If he had this getaway plan he’d need money, wouldn’t he, Billy?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “Why do you think somebody identified you and said they saw you leaving the apartment that had been broken into?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Were you there? Did you go anywhere near that apartment this afternoon, Billy?”

  He didn’t answer right away. Finally, he shifted his feet, looked toward the one way mirror and nodded. “Yes. Sean called me on his cell and told me to meet him there. When I showed up he asked me if I wanted to make some quick money. I asked him what he meant, and he just grinned and said I knew what he was talking about. I wasn’t sure, but I thought he meant he was selling dope to someone in the building. I said no, I wasn’t interested, but if he wanted to do it I’d wait downstairs.”