“Damn you,” she told him. “You’re going to make me cry again!”
He grinned and bent down and kissed her on the lips again, softly this time. “I’m going to go see if I can find out who the hell is doing this to you. When I find them, they’ll be a sorry son of a bitch. I promise you that.”
“Thank you, Grant,” she told him, with tears in her eyes.
He kissed first one eye and then the other. “Don’t cry, you’ll mess up your pretty make-up.”
Grant left and as Fannie was fixing her face, Mark knocked on the office door and stuck his head in. “Hey, good morning,” he said, “I’m sorry to be late.”
Fannie dropped the compact into her open desk drawer and closed it quickly. “Good morning, Mark. No worries, I was a few minutes late myself.” She forced a smile.
“Good then, I don’t feel so bad,” he told her with a genuine smile. “Are you ready to get started?”
“Yep,” she told him. “Is Susan joining us?”
Mark looked at her strangely. “No, why would you ask me that?”
“She was in your office earlier when I got here. She said that she was looking for you. I’m sorry, I just thought that maybe she was helping us.”
“No, she’s not helping us!” he said rather harshly, and then he added, “I’m sorry, Fannie. I’ve got a headache this morning, and a few personal issues with Susan. I didn’t mean to take that out on you.”
She smiled as they left her office. “It’s been that kind of morning all the way around.”
* * *
“Susan, what the hell is going on with you this morning? I swear you’re not even hearing a word that I’ve said.” Dan was getting frustrated. He and Susan had been given a stack of subpoenas that Harlan wanted filled out, filed and given to the process server by the end of the day. If Susan didn’t snap out of her dream world and help him, this was going to take three days instead.
“I’m pregnant,” she said, suddenly.
Dan was horrified. He and Susan weren’t close. As a matter of fact, he rarely got close on a personal level to anyone. That was the way he liked it. He planned on being a Supreme Court Justice one day. He wasn’t going to take a chance that personal relationships would get in the way. His father was a Supreme Court Justice, and after he had finally divorced Dan’s clingy, overbearing mother, he had told his son, “Don’t get involved with a woman. It’s rarely ever worth it. Prostitutes exist for a reason.”
Dan had taken that advice to heart, and at the age of twenty-eight, he had never been in a relationship that lasted any longer than he had rented the hotel room for.
“Oh, um…congratulations?” he said.
Susan gave him a look, like he was an idiot. That was another reason not to get involved with a woman; they always thought they were smarter than you.
“You should congratulate Mark,” she told him then with an evil smile. “It’s his too.”
Dan thought maybe he should hold his hand under his chin to keep his mouth from falling open. Mark and Susan? He had a hard time picturing that. Mark was such a smooth, good-looking guy, and on top of that, he was smart as hell. Dan saw Susan as one of those women who became a paralegal, not because she loved the law or wanted to have a career, but because she wanted to land herself a lawyer. Everything about her screamed “cheap floozy” as far as Dan was concerned. He probably wouldn’t even pay for that.
“Um...this is probably not my business,” he told her then, hoping she’d shut up about it and let him get back to work. “We should really finish these subpoenas. Harlan will be ticked off if we don’t get them done before the courthouse closes to file them.”
“You’re right,” she said. “It’s really none of your business. Let’s break for lunch. I need to talk to my baby daddy.”
Dan watched in shock as Susan picked up her purse and left the office. He shook his head, thinking that she better hope some poor sucker married her, because at this rate, she wasn’t going to keep a job very long.
* * *
Fannie and Mark had worked together pretty well to come up with at least half of Mark’s opening statement by lunch time. Fannie was impressed with Mark’s ability to make dry facts sound like prose.
“You must have gotten straight “A’s” in public speaking and English classes in high school and college,” she told him.
“Yes, public speaking was one of my favorite classes. I loved to show off back then. I shudder now to think of how full of myself I was.”
Fannie smiled, but she didn’t tell him what she was thinking. He may not realize it, but one of the reasons that he was such an outstanding attorney was that his overwhelming sense of self captured the attention of everyone in the courtroom. It may be off-putting to some, but for many people it acted like a magnet.
“Are we breaking for lunch now?” she asked him.
“Sounds like a plan,” he said. “I’m starving. Do you want to grab a bite with me, or do you have plans?”
“You have plans,” Susan said from the doorway.
Fannie saw the instant change in Mark’s demeanor. His body stiffened and the smile he’d had on his face seemed to freeze in place.
“What are you talking about, Susan?” he asked her.
Fannie, sensing that this conversation wasn’t something that she wanted to be present for, stood up. “I’m actually meeting a friend for lunch, so if you’ll excuse me I’ll meet you back here at…?”
Mark was still looking at Susan, and not at all like he was happy to see her. He turned toward Fannie then. “Sure, go enjoy your lunch, Fannie. How about one-thirty, back here?”
“Sounds good,” Fannie said. As she headed out the door, Susan actually bumped her shoulder again like she had the first day they’d met in the staff meeting.
Fannie wondered what the heck this woman’s problem with her was. She looked at Susan’s face then, the woman was glaring at her, and Fannie had a sudden, sickening revelation. This woman was almost a dead ringer for Miranda, Paul’s stalker. She wondered why she hadn’t realized it before. Fannie just kept walking. She suddenly needed to get out of there.
CHAPTER THREE
Fannie called Paul on her way out of the building and arranged to meet him at a diner that was about halfway between both of their offices. Paul worked as a computer software engineer at a large firm in downtown Chicago. He was their boy-wonder, and had the freedom to come and go as he pleased most of the time. When she got there, he was already in their favorite booth by the window, waiting for her.
“Hello, gorgeous. What’s wrong?” he asked as he stood up to greet her.
Fannie smiled. “What makes you think anything is wrong?”
“I know your gorgeous face, but it’s a worried or upset one right now. Which is it, and why?”
Fannie took a deep breath. “I’m not really sure where to start. I had a really, really good night last night, I guess that’s where it started.”
“A really, really good night? Who was the guy?” he said with a grin.
Fannie smiled. “Remember the investigator for the firm that I told you about, Grant?”
“Yes…”
“It was him.”
“Okay, so you get all dreamy-eyed when you say that. What went wrong?”
Fannie told him then about the audio tape. Paul listened with a look of angst on his face.
When she was finished he said, “Oh, my poor Fannie. I’m so sorry that happened to you. I wish I could catch this repulsive human being!”
“Me too.” She sighed. “They just took such a sweet, tender night for me, and turned it into something so cheap and ugly. I don’t know why anyone would want to do this to me.”
“And we’re sure Miranda is in Missouri?” Paul asked. “This all seems so Miranda-like that it’s kind of spooky.”
Fannie nodded. “I agree, but that’s what the detective told me. Speaking of Miranda though, did she ever mention a sister?”
Paul pulled his eyebrows together
in the middle. “Not that I remember. But you know we really weren’t together long enough to learn that much about each other. She started getting weird after less than two months, remember? That’s when I ended it, or tried to. I was afraid she was going to try and get pregnant or something.”
Fannie nodded again. “I don’t doubt for a second that she would have given it her best shot. She was obsessed with you. I’m actually shocked that the restraining order worked. I thought it would deter her a bit, but I doubted that it was going to make her disappear.”
“Why did you ask me about a sister?” Paul asked her.
“I don’t know, it’s probably nothing. There’s this paralegal at work, and she hates me for no apparent reason. I realized today that she’s almost a dead ringer for Miranda. I guess it’s probably just my imagination working overtime.”
“It’s worth checking out though. Maybe just mentioning to that detective...Edwards, was it?”
“Yeah, I’ll call him. I need to fill him in on the latest anyways. Let’s eat now, I’m starving. What’s new with you? I’m sick of talking about me.”
Paul grinned. “Well, if you insist. I had a date with an angel last night.” He went on to describe the date to Fannie. She could see in his eyes that this latest girl was important to him already. She was happy for him. She could only hope that this one turned out to be normal.
* * *
Mark had waited until Fannie was gone and then he had closed the door. Turning toward Susan, who was standing there smiling like this was an arranged meeting, he said, “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Who do you think you are, barging in here and insisting that we have plans to do anything together?”
“I’m the mother of your child, dear,” she said in a sickeningly sweet voice.
“You’re crazy, that’s what you are,” Mark told her.
“Don’t call me that,” she said, like maybe it had been an issue before. Then she took a deep breath and smiled again. “I know this is a shock to you, sweetie. It was to me as well. I had not planned on having children, ever. But when I realized that it was your sweet baby growing inside of me, I knew that it was fate.”
“Fate? No, Susie, it was stupidity. Stupidity of me for forgetting to put the condom on. You were always only a cheap thrill for me. Why can’t you accept that and move on? Yes, I’m an asshole for saying it, but that doesn’t make it any less true.”
“You’ll come around to the idea of it,” she said, still smiling that crazy smile. “I’ll be the best wife, and our child will be beautiful. We’re going to have the best life together.”
“Oh my God!” Mark said, running his hand roughly through his thick black hair and tearing some out as he did. “Susie, listen to me. Get the crazy smile off of your face and hear me, okay? I am not going to marry you. You will not ever be my wife. If, by some act of the devil, you are pregnant with my child, and if you choose to bring it into the world, then after a suitable DNA test that proves it’s my kid, I’ll be happy to pay whatever needs to be paid to support him or her. Then, the only thing we will ever be to each other is co-parents. Until you produce proof that you are pregnant, and that the baby is mine, however, I suggest you leave me alone.”
Susan had lost the smile finally, and now had tears in her eyes. “I don’t know how you can be so mean.”
Mark sighed. “I’m not trying to be mean, I’m really not. I tried to tell you quite a while ago that we were finished though, and you don’t seem to get it. Being mean seems to be the only way to get through to you.”
Susan moved toward him, and Mark took a step back. She stopped and looked at him with her eyes narrowed and her lips drawn into a frown. “What did you think I was going to do, attack you?”
“With you, I’m afraid I never know.”
“Mark,” she said, trying to keep her voice level. “You are making a serious mistake here. You won’t find a better wife than I would be to you. Surely you don’t think that fat whore you’ve been spending so much time with would compare in any way to having my hot body pressed up against you every night?”
“Fat whore? Are you talking about Fannie? First of all, do not ever talk about her that way again. And second of all, Fannie and I are colleagues, and colleagues only, as you and I should be.”
“As we were, until you couldn’t control your urge to grab my tits any longer.”
“I admit to my part in this, up to the point where you don’t understand that we’re through. I think you need help.”
That was the wrong thing to say. Susan instantly drew back her arm and let her open hand strike the side of his face, hard. “I told you to stop saying that I’m crazy.”
Mark was stunned. “Okay, I’ll say this instead…you’re fired. Get the hell out of here.”
“You can’t fire me. If you do, I’ll ruin you.”
“I’ll take my chances,” he told her. “Get out.”
She reached out toward him again and he grabbed her wrist. “I said get out,” he told her between clinched teeth.
She smiled, a big, bright, scary smile, and then she left.
* * *
When Fannie got back, she found Mark sitting at his desk with his head in his hands.
“Mark, are you okay?” she asked, approaching him tentatively. He looked up at her and she could see now that the whole left side of his face was red, and slightly bruised. “Oh my goodness, Mark. What happened?”
“Being an asshole finally caught up to me,” he said in a dejected tone.
Fannie sat down next to him. “Is this about Susan?”
“Yes. I made the mistake of sleeping with her, multiple times. I treated her poorly, and I deserve a kick in the ass for that, but she’s planning instead to use it to ruin me.”
“How is she going to do that?” Fannie asked him.
“I believe that she is planning a sexual harassment suit.”
“Did you fire her?” Fannie asked him, hoping that he wasn’t that stupid.
“Yes, right after she slapped me. I need to go talk to Mike and Harlan and Trenton and tell them what I’ve done before she does. I hope that I still have a job when all is said and done.”
“Mark, I don’t know if this has any bearing on what you’re going through,” Fannie said. “But I have a strange suspicion that Susan is somehow related to my friend Paul’s stalker. You know, the one I told you about that day at lunch.”
“Why are you thinking that?” Mark asked.
“Susan just reminds me so much of her, and she’s a dead ringer for this other girl as well. How long has Susan worked here?”
“About a year, give or take a few months, I guess, why?”
“Have you ever been to her place?” Fannie asked, ignoring his question.
“Once, why?”
“Where does she live? Is it an apartment in North Central?”
“Yes, how did you know that? Fannie, tell me what you’re thinking here, please.”
“Paul’s stalker, Miranda, had an apartment in North Central. I remember her saying that her parents owned the apartment.”
“Are you thinking Susan is this Miranda person?” he asked.
“I’m thinking maybe she’s her sister,” Fannie told him.
When Mark went up to the top floor to talk to the partners, Fannie called Grant. She told him what she was thinking, and he asked for an address to the apartment where Miranda used to live. She gave him Paul’s number. She knew the area that the apartment was in, but she had never been there. Paul would be able to give him more detailed direction. Fannie texted to warn Paul that Grant was going to call.
The text she got back from Paul made her smile, as usual. He said: Okay, we’ll talk about Miranda first, then I want to know what his intentions are with you, and if he’ll be okay when someday you decide it was really me that you loved all along.
Next, she dialed Detective Edwards. She told him what had happened that morning, leaving out the intimate details of the recording, and then she t
old him about Susan and her suspicions.
“Wow, it would be awfully unusual if a stalker turned out to have a sister with the exact same interests,” je said. “Why would she be doing these things to you and not your friend Paul if this is her?”
“She never believed that Paul and I were only friends. She hated me, Detective. If the sister had just picked up stalking Paul where Miranda had left off, it would have pointed right back to her. By stalking me, she gets to Paul in a way, and it’s not as easy to figure out who it is.”
“Good point,” he said. “I’ll look into it.”
Fannie thanked him and hung up. Mark wasn’t back yet, so she went back to work on the opening statement on her own. Almost an hour had gone by when Mark returned. Fannie could tell by his face that it hadn’t gone well.
“You okay?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “Embarrassed and ashamed. Mike and Harlan looked at me with such disappointment in their eyes. Smyth, Banyan and Smyth are one of the oldest and most respected firms in Chicago. A scandal could do serious damage to the firm, both on a financial and a word-of-mouth level. I feel like crap.”
“You couldn’t have known that it would get this out of hand, Mark,” Fannie said, trying to make him feel better.
He smiled at her. “If I had been less of an asshole at eight years old, I may have realized what an amazing person you are. We could have become friends instead of bully and victim, and you could have taught me a few things about how a human being should treat people. Then, I might not be in this mess.”
Fannie smiled back. “Well, we’re friends now, and whatever I can do to help.”
“You’re amazing,” he said.
She rolled her eyes. “Stop saying that,” she told him. “You know the first day I came in here for my interview I could barely think of anything other than how badly I wanted to sock you in the eye.”
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