“Well what is it?” Now I was concerned.
“I need a small advance on my paycheck.”
“Is that all? Damn it Maddie, I thought something was really wrong. Take whatever you need. Tell Penny. She’ll take care of it.”
“I don’t need a lot.” I could tell she felt like she needed to explain, but I didn’t need to hear it.
“Take whatever you need,” I repeated.
Maddie smiled and I felt a twinge of my syndrome. “Thank you,” she said.
“You’re welcome. Go get my flowers.”
Maddie hadn’t been gone for more than 30 seconds so when the door opened again right away, I assumed she’d forgotten something. But when I went out to the reception area, I found a courier instead.
“I have a delivery for Samuel Collins,” he said.
“I’m Samuel Collins.” I signed his pink slip and he handed me an envelope and left my office.
I checked out the return address; it was from Dick Stollens’ office. I sat down at Maddie’s desk and found her letter opener and I pulled out the envelope’s contents. Settlement Agreement and Release. It was a 6-page document settling all claims asserted in connection with Maddie’s employment with Datacare and releasing all parties to the suit. There was a settlement check attached to the agreement with a handwritten sticky note from Dick that read: Please call me after you have had a chance to review.
I set the check aside and started reading the document. The release language was pretty generic, and he had included a non-disclosure provision and a disclaimer of future employment with Datacare. Like Maddie would ever consider working there again, you asshole! I read through the whole document and then picked up the check again and stared at it. I had to admit it was pretty tempting, but in the end, it wasn’t my decision. I’d have to consult with my client.
It was closer to an hour when Maddie finally got back with the flowers, but they looked so good I couldn’t say anything. She’d arranged them in a big rustic-looking basket and there were deep purple flowers, mixed with giant yellow and orange sunflowers, and all different shades of green and purple foliage. Even I was impressed.
Maddie set the basket down on the coffee table in the reception area. “Sorry it took so long. They were packed.”
“That looks great,” I said.
“Why are you sitting at my desk?”
“Oh.” I got up, and let her have her seat. “A courier came by right after you left. We need to talk.”
“Okay.” She stuck her purse under her desk and looked at me, waiting. I could feel the syndrome trying to rear its ugly head.
“Dick Stollens has prepared a settlement agreement and release. I’ve had a chance to look it over and it looks okay. We just need to agree on the amount.”
“Okay,” Maddie said.
“You know how when you asked what figured we’d settle on, I told you I’d know when I heard it?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I think I’ve heard it. I’m going to suggest we take it.”
“Whale, of course I’ll go by whatever you say, Samuel. What did they offer?”
I couldn’t keep up the pretense any longer and I broke into a huge smile as I handed her the check.
Maddie stared at the check for a second, then she stood up with such force that it sent her chair rolling back five feet. She looked at me with huge eyes. “Is this for real?” she said in disbelief.
“It’s for real.”
She looked back down at the check and then back at me, and then she screamed louder than I’d ever heard her scream before. “Fourteen million dollars? Oh my God! Fourteen million dollars!” She screamed again even louder than the first time.
I was laughing just watching her jump up and down, then she ran into my arms and we hugged each other and jumped up and down together like a couple of nerds. We separated and Maddie picked up the check and we looked at it together, then she screamed again and we hugged and jumped up and down together again. We were so engrossed in our celebration that we didn’t even see Penny come in, but when we separated again, there she was looking perplexed but delighted by our performance.
“What did I miss?” Penny asked.
“Sit down,” Maddie told her, and she pushed Penny down by the shoulders into her chair. “We’ve settled my case,” Maddie said.
“Oh, that’s wonderful, dear,” Penny said, looking from Maddie to me like there had to be more.
“For 14 million dollars!” Maddie said, and this time Maddie and Penny were screaming together, jumping up and down.
“And . . .,” Maddie continued, “The grand jury no-billed Landra’s case!”
“Oh Samuel, that’s great!” Penny cooed. “This is really a special day!”
The three of us were huddled together in a group hug when Landra walked in and we didn’t even hear the door open.
“Hello?” Landra said.
The three of us turned towards the door and shouted more cheers when we saw her.
“What’s going on?” Landra asked.
“We’re having a double celebration,” I said. I picked her up and spun her around, then I planted a big kiss on her lips, and set her back down. “We settled Maddie’s lawsuit for a figure I’m not allowed to disclose. But let it suffice to say that there are enough zeros in it to make us very very happy!” I’d give her the figure when Maddie and Penny weren’t around, but I felt like I had to impress upon them the importance of the non-disclosure provision.
“Congratulations!” Landra said, and she and Maddie hugged.
“Same to you,” Maddie said.
There was a whole lot of hugging and kissing going on in the office that day. It was a day I would never forget. My whole life had changed. I’d been given my girlfriend back and I’d made my first million all in the scope of one hour.
We locked up the office and the four of us went out for a celebration luncheon, which turned into a celebration happy hour, which turned into a celebration dinner.
We’d ended up at Morton’s and I’d just eaten a steak the size of a cat. Landra had gone to the ladies room and Penny had gone home.
“Did he ask you out?” I asked.
“Who, Calvin? Yeah. Why, is he a creep?” Maddie asked.
Girls are always so suspicious. “No. He’s actually a very decent guy,” I admitted.
“Then why isn’t he married?”
“I don’t know. But just because a guy’s not married doesn’t mean he’s not a decent guy. I’m a decent guy and I’m not married.”
Maddie smiled. “Who says you’re a decent guy?”
“Did anyone ever tell you, you have a mean streak?”
Maddie laughed. She looked very mischievous in the mood lighting of the restaurant.
“You’re going to quit on me, aren’t you?” I asked. It was the first thought that had occurred to me when I looked at the settlement check. Not, I’m going to be a millionaire; or even I kicked Dick’s butt; but Maddie’s going to quit on me. And it bummed me out to think of being at the office without her.
“Probably,” she said.
“Well, that sucks.”
Maddie smiled and rested her hand on top of mine, then she looked me directly in the eye. “Thank you.”
My syndrome was back in full force, kicking my butt. “You’re welcome. It was my pleasure.”
I felt very uncomfortable when Landra got back to the table. It was one thing having the hots for my neighbor when my girlfriend wasn’t around, but it was totally different when she was sitting right there next to me. What was wrong with me?
I looked from Landra to Maddie. They were both pretty, but in a different way. Maddie had the all-American-girl look while Landra was more exotic looking. They were both smart. They both had a sense of humor. But that was where the similarity ended. Landra came with much less baggage than Maddie. She didn’t have kids and she wasn’t my neighbor. Of course, I was no longer Maddie’s boss, so that was one less thing going against her. And s
he was no longer my client.
“Hello . . . anybody home?” someone was saying.
I snapped out of my reverie and both women were looking at me. “Excuse me?” I said.
“Where were you?” Landra laughed.
“I wasn’t listening,” I said vaguely.
“No kidding. Are you ready to go?”
“Let’s do it.”
Landra was the only one in any shape to drive so she drove us all home in my Suburban, then we all piled back in the next morning to retrieve everyone’s car. I was probably the most hung-over out of the bunch, and I wished I could turn right around and go back home like Landra did. As it was, I had to work.
The first thing I did when we got to the office was to call Dick and finalize the settlement agreement. He actually apologized for what had happened at the Tower and he seemed genuinely upset by the whole thing. I was seeing a side to Dick that I didn’t know existed. But then again, maybe he was just worried that I was going to turn down the offer.
Niki called mid-morning hounding me about his party again. I knew what the deal was. Hardly any of his friends lived in town and he was going to be totally outnumbered by Stacy’s friends.
“It’s next week, right?” I said, knowing full well that it was in three days.
“It’s Friday. This Friday.”
“This Friday? Oh . . . no can do,” I said.
“You’re so full of shit, Collins. I talked to Landra about it last week.”
“Don’t be talking to my girlfriend behind my back,” I said. “Hey, did you hear that the grand jury no-billed her case?”
“I hadn’t heard. Congratulations, I guess. Just don’t go leaving her as a beneficiary in your will any time soon,” he said. I knew he was only half-joking, but I didn’t let it bother me. In order to preserve my friendship with the guy, I’d resigned myself to agree to disagree on the matter.
“I’m going to come to your party and get drunk and throw up all over Stacy,” I said.
Niki laughed. “She’d kick your ass.”
“I know. She scares me.”
“I’ll see you Friday,” he said, and he hung up laughing.
I sat at my desk for the next hour doing nothing. Nothing but thinking, anyway. Making money overnight was a concept that was difficult to grasp. I’d never been hard up for money before, but I’d never been filthy rich either. It was hard to get into the mindset that I had a lot of money and I could do whatever I wanted, be it work or play. And therein lay the problem: I didn’t know what I wanted to do.
I liked practicing law. And I liked my house and my car. But a part of me kept looking for something to change in my life, now that I had the means. I finally decided that I’d take a vacation. I wouldn’t take any new cases and I’d take off for a month or two. That way, I didn’t have to get rid of my house or my car, but I’d feel like I’d gotten something out of my new-found wealth.
I went out to the reception area and sat on the sofa. “What are you going to do with your money?” I asked Maddie.
“Whale, I guess I’m just going to live off of it for a while. I can stay home with the boys, which is what I’ve always wanted to do. That’s the main thing. Other than that, I don’t expect that I’ll do a whole lot different. Maybe buy a new car.”
“You need a new car.”
She smiled. “What about you?” she asked. “What are you going to do?”
“I think I’m going to take a vacation. Other than that, I don’t know.”
“It’s weird, isn’t it?”
“It is weird,” I said.
“I’ve been thinking about something that I want to run past you,” Maddie said. “And if you don’t want to do it, just say so. It won’t hurt my feelings or I won’t get mad or anything.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Whale, I was wanting to take $1 million off the top of the settlement amount and give it to Penny, and then we do the 60/40 split on the $13 million.”
I was in love with this woman. There was no doubt about it. My guts were doing this thing that was about to make me sick. It was the thought of her not being my secretary any more; the thought of her going out with Calvin or Matt; the thought of never kissing her again; the thought that it wasn’t a syndrome and it never had been.
“I think that’s a great idea,” I said.
“You do?”
“Absolutely. But we have to tell her it’s conditioned upon her not quitting on me.”
“I don’t think we can do that,” Maddie laughed. “Besides, I think she works because she wants to.”
“What about you? Any chance you’d work part-time?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Well that’s better than a flat-out no.”
Chapter 29
I was at home later that evening and it was just me and the Siamese, and for some reason, the bastard was all over me. I couldn’t get away from him. He’d follow me to the bedroom, then back to the fortress. Wherever I went, there he was. It was like he’d anticipate my every move and try to beat me to it.
“What is your problem?” I finally asked him.
He gave me a hearty meow and wrapped himself around my legs.
“Are you hungry?” I asked.
I reached down and scooped him up and gave him a scratch behind the ears. His motor was rumbling away and he was moving his head around to make sure every inch got scratched. I dumped some food into his bowl and set him back down on the ground beside it, but apparently he wasn’t interested in eating. Something else was bothering him, but I had no idea what. Whatever it was, he was beginning to annoy me.
I went back to my bathroom and when I came out, the bastard was sitting on my tux. I’d taken the damn thing out to see if it needed cleaning, which up until then, it didn’t, but I could imagine how much cat hair would be stuck to the thing after he’d lounged on it. Not only that, but the bastard had his paw in the pocket and I could hear him clawing the material, sharpening his damn nails on my jacket!
“Get off of there, you bastard!” I shouted.
The Siamese scrambled off the bed in a blur of fur, dragging my tux with him and he shot under the bed like a missile. I picked up my jacket and shook the hair off and examined the pocket he’d been fondling. There was no visible damage on the outside, but the thing would definitely need to go to the cleaners.
I cursed the Siamese and threatened him with eviction as soon as he got the balls to come out from under the bed. He never came out, but shortly afterwards, I heard him playing with something, rolling it around and batting it back and forth. My curiosity finally got the best of me and I got on my hands and knees and poked my head under the bed.
“What do you have?” I asked.
The Siamese crouched down trying to be invisible. I could see what he was playing with but I couldn’t make out what it was, so I reached my arm under the bed. I could just reach it with my fingertips, so I flicked the thing and it rolled out from under the foot of the bed. It was a shiny little thing, spinning like a top, but I still couldn’t make out what it was.
I got back to my feet and walked around to the other side of the bed and picked the thing up and looked it over. And as soon as I saw it, I knew exactly what it was. I stood there immobilized, just looking at the thing. The hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention and a chill ran down my spine. I closed my fingers around the thing and clenched it in my fist, and sat down on the bed in shock, thinking. The Siamese was at my side again, purring, but I was too out-of-it to acknowledge him.
I opened my hand and looked at it again. It was a little rhinestone button shaped like a rose, nestled in an antique-looking setting.
The DA was right the whole time. She’d shoved Drake out the window; she’d beat herself up; and the last thing she had done was rip her own dress. It was the only way she would have ended up with the button. I’d put my coat around her shoulders and she’d slipped the button in my pocket. She’d been using me the whole time and I�
�d fallen for it hook, line and sinker. And if she’d been using me, that meant she was probably using Mrs. Howard too. And the Johnses. Damn Niki Lautrec! He was always right.
The only question left was what I was going to do about it. Landra was protected by attorney-client privilege, so even if she confessed to the whole thing, I couldn’t do anything. But one thing was for sure – whatever it took, I’d get even with Landra Krally, even if I had to lose my license to practice law in the process. For my pride’s sake; for Mrs. Howard’s sake; and for the Johns’ sake. I’d get even. But I had no idea how.
* * * *
I was so numb when Oliver came knocking at my door that I couldn’t even pretend to be okay. I felt like everything I’d known was a lie. She’d made me fall in love with her, and what was worse, I was certain that it was all part of her plan. God only knows how long it would have been before I was her next victim. Especially since I’d just come into a small fortune. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise me to see her find a way to prey on Maddie’s millions too. I was bitter and I was angry and I was feeling extremely vindictive.
I opened the door and the first thing out of Oliver’s mouth was, “You’re face looks like this.”
“I know. I’m in a bad mood. What’s up?” I had to consciously make myself be nice to him.
“Mom wants to know if you want to eat dinner with us,” he said.
“I don’t think I’d be very good company tonight.”
Maddie and the baby were walking across my lawn and Oliver turned around and shouted, “He’s not good company tonight.”
When Maddie reached my door, she was laughing. “What’s the matter? You look . . . weird.”
“Nothing. That I can talk about.”
Maddie turned to Oliver. “Why don’t you and Max go play in the grass over there,” she said, and the boys took off running. When they’d gone, she turned back to me. “Tell me what happened,” she said.
“I can’t. It’s nothing.” I couldn’t even look at her. There was a big lump in my throat and I almost felt like I could cry, which was something I’d done very rarely as an adult, and something I had no intention of doing in front of Maddie.
Advice of Counsel (The Samuel Collins Series Book 1) Page 33
