“And how much will this cost?”
He shoved that cigarette back into his mouth and jotted something down. “I charge 40 percent when the case is settled,” he said around the cigarette. “I don’t anticipate we will ever go to court, so that money could come soon.”
I wished I had finished school so I could figure up how much that was. But I knew it was less than half. That would still leave me with over twenty-five million. And then there was Eloise and Deke. They expected part of it, too. And I’d have to pay taxes.
The money was fast dwindling away, and I hadn’t even gotten my hands on it yet.
He punched a few keys on his computer, puffing on that cigarette. In a moment the printer whirled to life. I watched as a document slid out of it. He snatched it up, slid it across the table.
“Now, if you’ll just sign here.”
I peered at it. “What am I signing?”
“It just says that you’re hiring me as your attorney, that you’re willing to give me 40 percent of the settlement amount, and that you will pay me a thousand dollars up front. You can make that check out to—”
“A thousand dollars?” I put my hands over my face. “I don’t have a thousand dollars.”
Deke shifted his slump. “Now wait a minute. The last time, you didn’t charge us nothing until we collected.”
“Well, the last time I was in a little better situation than I am now. Plus I thought I had a surer case. But you got to understand the estate isn’t up for grabs. Amanda Holbrooke is firmly entrenched in that company and in that mansion and that money is all hers. That makes this case more of a long shot.”
I leaned forward, trying to follow him. “But I thought you said it would be easy. I thought you said we would settle and it would be quick.”
“Well, it will,” he said, “but in the meantime, I have expenses. I have to keep my office running, pay a secretary, file court papers, make long-distance calls. There are just a million and one expenses that you don’t even know about, and I can’t do this unless I have some money up front.”
I started thinking that it was all over, that I’d made a terrible mistake. I should have gone with Lizzie. I’d be sitting in some fancy Laura Ashley room in Amanda’s mansion or shopping for a cocktail dress.
But I’d also be studying a bunch of worthless garbage, working in an office at her company where I probably wouldn’t even get tips, and none of her money would be mine.
I looked at Eloise and Deke. Deke slapped his knees. “Well, I guess we’ll get the money somewhere. But we don’t got it today.”
Enos leaned back hard in his chair, like he was the one whose time had been wasted. “Tell you what. I’ll get the paperwork started and give you a couple of weeks to come up with the money. Sound fair?”
I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. There I was, thinking it was all over, and now it would be okay. “Fair to me.”
“Yeah, she can come up with it somehow,” Deke said.
That stopped me, and I shot him a look. She can come up with it? Was he just coming along for the ride, with no intentions of helping at all?
“How’s she gonna do that?” Eloise asked.
“Well, I don’t know.” He scratched his armpit. “But we’ll figure something out. We always have before. This is too important to blow.”
“But there are lawyers who would do this for free.” Eloise crossed her arms and gave Enos a haughty look. “Only getting paid at the end, like he did last time.”
Enos smiled and started rocking his chair. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and shoved his glasses on. “Look, I can see this is a problem. If I cut my down payment in half, would that make you feel better, Eloise?”
She thought about it for a moment, then frowned. “I guess so.”
Enos turned to me. “Could you come up with that?”
This was getting better all the time. I knew I had some cash stashed in the Secret Tree. I wasn’t sure quite how much, since I’d never thought of it as all mine before. But now that Lizzie was gone, I figured I could have mine and hers. If she’d wanted it, she would have taken it with her. “I think I can come up with it.”
“How?” Eloise shouted again.
I started signing the sheet. “I’ve been saving, Eloise. I didn’t want anybody spending it. It was my escape money.”
Deke’s voice was way too loud. “Escape from what?”
“From Barton,” I said. “You didn’t think I was going to live in that stink hole for the rest of my life. I was going to move somewhere and start over. But now I guess I can use it for this. And when I get the settlement, I’ll be able to start over anywhere I want.”
“You got that right.” Enos grinned. “So you just bring the check by for five hundred dollars, and I’ll file the papers.”
I nodded. “It’ll be a few days because I don’t have quite five hundred dollars yet. Maybe I can get the rest by the end of the week.”
He smiled and dropped both hands on the table. “Well, then, it looks like I’m your man.” He got up and shook my hand again. His was soft and mushy, like that of some overweight woman. He patted Deke on the back as we all headed out of his office. “It’s going to be a pleasure serving you again, and this time I think we’ll all come out better than we did the last time. Miss Kara, you’re about to become a millionaire. What do you think of that?”
It was about time, that’s what I thought.
“Imagine me with money.” I was already thinking of the things I was going to buy. A fancy red convertible, a mink coat, all the jewelry money could buy . . .
“What you going to do with it?” he asked.
I stopped for a minute and stared at the air as I thought of all the possibilities. “I’m going to move to New York and live in one of those fancy apartment buildings where celebrities live. And I’m going to shop and buy some clothes and go out every night clubbing. I might even go to Europe if I get the nerve up to fly on a plane.”
“Good for you,” he said, laughing. “And, young lady, I predict you’re going to be able to do all of those things. No, Amanda Holbrooke hasn’t seen the last of us.”
That afternoon, as I went back to work at the SOS, I couldn’t keep my good news to myself. I practically pranced around, feeling like I would wait on those idiots because I wanted to, not because I had to. But I couldn’t get too proud, because I had gone by the tree on the way to work, and saw that I had exactly $350. I’d need another $150 before I could start this ball rolling, and I was going to have to earn it through tips.
It was a hard thing, hustling to get the tips I needed while still floating around in the thrill of my millions.
Rudy came in a little while later and took his usual place at the counter. “So he thinks she’ll settle out of court?” he asked me.
“That’s right. He thinks she’ll just write a check out to me on the spot, just to keep from having to go to court where I might get the whole thing.”
Rudy pulled out a pen and started writing on his napkins. “So he wants five hundred dollars and 40 percent? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Rudy had on his casino uniform, which looked something like a tux. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. “What’s wrong?”
“Honey, you don’t pay five hundred bucks to someone representing you in a lawsuit like this.
You shouldn’t have any out-of-pocket expenses.”
“Well, he gave me a deal. He cut it right in half. He asked for a thousand first.”
“So you paid him five hundred?”
“No, not yet. I don’t have quite enough. But I’m hoping I’ll have good tips this week, and then when payday comes on Friday, I might have enough.”
Rudy shook his head. “Who’s this lawyer you’re talking about?”
“Enos Wright. He has his office over in High Point Shopping Center in Vicksburg. He was real nice.”
“Real nice? He’s probably nothing but an ambulance chaser.” Rudy stood up and reached across the co
unter for both of my hands. “Honey, look at me.”
It always blew me away when he took my hands like that and made me look into his eyes.
They were so blue that I started wondering if they were contact lenses, but then I decided that he was just one of those lucky people who’d been born with cobalt eyes.
“You can do better than a lawyer like this,” he said.
I really liked it when he got all protective, so I smiled and tipped my head. “How? I don’t have any more money than that.”
“You don’t need any money to file a lawsuit.
Any decent lawyer with enough confidence in winning the suit shouldn’t need any money up front.
Besides, if Wright’s practice is doing so poorly that he couldn’t handle the expenses without it, then you sure don’t need him.What did he tell you he’d do for you?”
“Well, he told me that he was going to get me fifty to sixty million dollars.”
Rudy put both hands on my face and tipped it up to his. “Baby, you’ve got a lot to learn.”
“Well, how can I learn it, Rudy? All I know to do is what Eloise and Deke tell me. If you’ve got a better idea—”
“I’ve got lots of better ideas. Girl, you could win that whole estate, snatch it right from under the woman who stole it from you, and who stole your sister and has been deceiving her all this time.
You could have several billion dollars, be the owner of a major corporation with Learjets at your disposal, and live in that huge mansion.”
I couldn’t help being impressed at how passionate he seemed to be about my plight. “Well, why did Enos Wright tell me I couldn’t have it all?”
“Because he wants to do this the quickest, easiest way. Going for the whole thing is going to take a little longer, but, baby, it’ll be worth it.”
“What do you think I should do, Rudy? Just tell me and I’ll do it.”
“I think you need to call this Enos Wright fellow and tell him to take a hike. And tomorrow I’ll take you to see a friend of mine, another attorney. This one is legitimate and has a healthy practice. If anybody can win this case, he can.”
“Really? How do you know him?”
“He helped me out of a few scrapes a while back.”
“What kind of scrapes?”
He looked around like he didn’t want anybody to hear. “Nothing big. Don’t worry about it. But trust me. I won’t let you down.”
I started thinking how much better it would be to do this without Eloise and Deke. If they weren’t in on the whole thing, maybe I wouldn’t have to share any of it with them. It was my money, after all, and they’d already spent ten million of my money.
“All right,” I said, “make me an appointment and I’ll go.”
“I’ll drive you. And for Pete’s sake, don’t tell those parasite grandparents of yours. Those two lowlifes I see at the casino every night don’t have any business getting their hands on your money. I don’t care what they tell you. You need to make sure you do this by yourself.”
“Okay, if you think I can.”
“I know you can, honey. Just count on me.
Now, I have to get to work. I’ll call that lawyer from the casino, and I’ll let you know when he can see you.”
He kissed me then, right there in front of everybody, and as he was walking away, I really felt like somebody. Like a rich somebody, with a good-looking boyfriend.
If only Lizzie could see me now.
THIRTY-TWO
Two days later, Rudy drove me to Jackson, where Bill Daniels’s law firm was located. On the way, I tried to find out a little more about Rudy’s relationship with him.
“So tell me about this guy,” I said. “Did you go to school with him or something?”
Rudy laughed. “Hardly.”
“Well, what kind of scrapes did he get you out of?”
“I had a couple of tickets, some DUIs. He was a public defender then. Now he’s doing litigation.
You know what that is, don’t you?”
I had seen every episode of LA Law. “Yeah, I know what it is. I’m not stupid.”
He reached up and slid his hand to my neck, and gently stroked it as he drove. “I know you’re not stupid, baby. In fact, you’re probably one of the smartest women in Barton.”
Nobody had ever said that to me. Most people just thought of me as a dropout loser. “Is that why you like me?” I flipped my hair. “For my brains?”
He had this lusty chuckle. “No. I can’t lie to you. It was your looks that caught my attention.
The brains are just icing on the cake.”
That was okay with me.
When we got to the parking garage of the Deposit Guaranty Building, I was in a really good mood and looking forward to getting this thing underway.
We navigated our way up the garage elevator, then got out and walked across the walkway that crossed one of the busy streets in downtown Jackson. We rode the escalator down, then found another set of elevators. I wondered how in the world they did business here, when it was so hard to find anything.
But it was much more impressive than the hole-in-the-wall office of Enos Wright’s.
Rudy got us to the right office, and we walked into a large waiting area with a busy receptionist, who smiled up at us as we came in. “May I help you?”
Rudy stepped up to the desk. “Tell Bill Daniels we’re here, will you, please? Kara Holbrooke and Rudy Singer.”
“Yes, sir, I sure will.” She picked up the phone to let him know. “You can have a seat.”
I took a seat on a couch that looked like something out of an Ethan Allen showroom, and Rudy sat down next to me. He took my hand in his, patted it, and said, “You don’t have to be nervous.
This is going to go real well.”
“I’m not nervous,” I lied.
He smiled. “Yes, you are. Your hands are shaking.” He was real sensitive about my moods, and that pleased me. Most guys—Crawley, for instance—would have made me feel stupid for trembling the slightest bit. He probably would have told the receptionist and embarrassed me to death. But Rudy just closed his hands around mine to calm me down.
“It’s going to be fine.” His whisper was warm against my ear. “Wait and see. So did you tell your grandparents that they weren’t going to be mooching off of you anymore?”
I almost had the night before, when they were riding me about getting that money to Enos. I noticed they weren’t trying to raise it themselves.
But I decided not to tell them until I saw how this turned out. “Not yet. I thought it was best if I just kept it to myself for a while.”
“That’s fine, as long as you don’t start writing them checks.”
A door opened, and a man in a dress shirt and tie stepped out and reached for Rudy’s hand. “How’s it going, Rudy?” He was polite, but I noticed an edge in his voice and strain on his face, like he didn’t really like Rudy much.
“Bill, I’d like you to meet Kara Holbrooke.”
Bill Daniels gave me a long, assessing look, then shook my hand. “How old are you now, Kara?”
“Eighteen.”
He nodded. “Come on back to my office.”
Rudy set his hand on the back of my neck, reassuring me that this was going to be easy. We got to the plush office. It looked like the Oval Office—or what I imagined it looked like: The paneling was made of cherry, matching a desk and tables. Several lamps sat at various locations around the room, and there was a sitting area with a leather couch and two plush chairs. I could have lived here very comfortably, I thought. I wondered where he’d gotten that couch.
Bill motioned us to that area and offered me the couch. Rudy sat down next to me.
“So . . . Rudy—” he took a seat facing us—“as I understand it, you wanted me to meet with Kara today to discuss suing Amanda Holbrooke.
Is that right?”
“You got it,” Rudy said.
Bill rubbed his forehead and shifted in his seat.
&
nbsp; “Kara, I did some research into this situation to prepare for this meeting. That case was settled about fifteen years ago. The only way to revisit it now is to open another suit that has nothing to do with the estate. The way I see it, if you had some kind of damages against Amanda Holbrooke, you might be able to take some civil action and win a settlement.”
I sat up straighter on the couch, trying to follow the words. “What do you mean by damages?”
“Well, is there anything she’s done to you that you could sue her for, anything that would give us a basis for taking her to court?”
“She stole my money.”
He leaned forward. “But, you see, that’s just it.
She didn’t steal your money. She was awarded it in probate court. She was the beneficiary in your father’s will and the court upheld that.”
“All these girls got was ten million dollars,”
Rudy said, “and, I might add, not a penny went to them.”
“I understand that,” Bill said, “but that’s not the point. You see, Kara, the court did award you ten million dollars. Technically, you could sue your grandparents for squandering that money, but none of what happened to that money is the fault of Amanda Holbrooke.”
Clearly he knew nothing about Eloise and Deke. “I can’t sue them! They don’t have anything.”
“I realize that. But I’m just trying to explain that you do have a case against them, but not against Amanda Holbrooke.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I looked at Rudy. “I thought you said he was on our side.”
Bill held up his hand. “It’s not a question of sides. Rudy, I wish you would have explained to her that it’s my job to figure out if we could win in court. And with the situation as it is, I don’t see how we could. I’m going to have to refuse to take this case.”
“You’re what?” Rudy stood up, glaring at the man. “What do you mean, you refuse?”
Bill rose to face him squarely. “I mean what I said, Rudy. I won’t take the case. It’s not a lawsuit that can be won.”
I felt as if my legs had been knocked out from under me. All this time I’d been so sure that this was going to happen. I thought of Enos Wright, telling me there was no way I’d get all of it, but at least he did think I had a claim to some. “Rudy—”
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