Ex-Con Times Two

by Jay S. Wilder

  “He showed up on my door about two months after the case was closed, after things had died down. I couldn’t take him back. I didn’t. Maybe that’s one of my weaknesses. I can’t go back. As much as I cared for him, I knew there would always be some case like that, something that would come up again, and come right between us.”

  “You’re friends now. Am I right?”

  “Not quite.”

  “So why are you still using him as your source at the NYPD?”

  “I trust him. I’m not close to any of the other officers. Probably for good reason, considering many of them at his precinct know we were together. Do you think it’s going to be a problem?”

  “I’m not sure yet. He has some animosity toward me. Your history with him may have something to do with it. It’s possible he dislikes me because he sees me as a threat, where you’re concerned. Or it could be that he just really hates wealthy people. Either way, I hope it doesn’t come back to bite me.”

  “Let’s not worry about it. He let it slide last night with your little testosterone matchup. He could have charged you with assault, you know?”

  “Charge me?” I ask, my voice deepening with some residual anger from the man’s unprovoked punch to my jaw. I pounce off the bed and begin pacing the floor beside the bed. “He threw the first punch. I swear if he had laid charges, I would have sued his ass.”

  “Maybe you should calm down, Jonathan.”

  I stop in my tracks. Rebecca doesn’t deserve this. She did nothing wrong, so I take a deep breath. She comes over to me and puts her hands on my chest.

  “Look at me.”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m sorry,” she says, looking up at me with those adorable eyes of hers. If I was angry, I’m not anymore. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “Don’t worry about Rob, okay? Let me deal with him.”

  I nod, but don’t know how to respond for a few seconds. “I will, as long as I don’t actually have to deal with him. If the time comes that I do, I’ll probably be a little more concerned.”

  She steps up on her tiptoes and leans in to kiss me softly on the lips. I admit, I was still a little cold, but that kiss, like all her others, warms me right up to her again. I turn and pull her into my arms, and hold her close. I kiss her hair, and we’re back to where we were on the bed.

  “Let’s get ready,” I tell her. “I want to leave on time for our trip this afternoon. Do you need a ride to the office?”

  “Sure.”

  She smiles and moves off, picking up my clothes that are thrown around her bedroom floor, and hands it to me before she hits the shower.

  “Did you still want to ask me about my reputation?” I ask her.

  “Yes.”

  “Fine. Ask away. Just know it’s mostly true.”

  “What? Are you telling me you’re a womanizer?”

  “No. I’m telling you I dated…a lot…but that was all before I met you. I was serious when I told you I won’t ever lie to you.”

  “Hmmmm. Okay.”

  “Anything else?”

  “I’ll think about it and ask you if something comes up.”

  “Deal.”

  I love this woman. I don’t think I could ever be mad at her.

  Chapter 31

  Rebecca

  We get dressed and Jonathan drops me off at work. I almost can’t believe I told him so much about Robert and me. I’m impressed with him, and with myself too. I didn’t think I could be so open with anyone. What impressed me most was he listened so intently, and didn’t judge me, or react with any jealousy about Robert. I don’t even care that he’s admitted to being a playboy of sorts. What matters is I believe him, and he’s not threatened by Robert. I feel so close to him now, and God, I’m still aroused from our playtime this morning. I’m probably too close. Definitely too close, but it’s too late now.

  I get to my office early. Thank goodness we set the alarm for a half hour earlier than I usually wake up. It’s the morning after Virocci is arrested and released, and I need to give Kara an update. If I know anything about her, she’s salivating in her office as she waits to find out who at the precinct dared to arrest one of our firm’s clients.

  I pop by her office. Kara is in early as well. I walk into her office when her assistant tells me she’ll see me. At this point, I’m in over my head. I can’t have Jonathan as my client, and now Rob is part of the equation. It’s been over a year and a half since we broke up, but it feels like he betrayed me just days ago. Now, I’m supposed to put on a professional face and deal with him.

  On top of all that, I haven’t seen anything suspicious in Jonathan’s behavior, even if he’s not opening up about his past. The evidence collected on Doreen Rushton has yet to come back from the lab. By now, I prefer Jonathan in my bed, so I’m thinking that maybe Kara can pass this case on to someone else, and spare me the clear conflict of interest in sleeping with a client while saving me the misery of having to deal with Rob.

  She eyes me up and down while she finishes up her call. When she hangs up, I try to jump in with both feet, but she beats me to it.

  “What happened to the Bahamas trip?”

  “We’ve rescheduled it for tonight. That’s why I’m here. I don’t know if I can do this, Kara.”

  She just looks at me. I’m about to continue, but a call comes in. She answers on speakerphone. The receptionist tells her it’s her brother, and patches him through.

  “Phil? This had better be good.”

  “Are you all set for Monday morning, Kara?” he asks.

  “That’s why you called me? Come on, Phil.”

  “You blew off the last three appointments, Kara.”

  “Alright, alright. I’ll be there.”

  “Good. Are you eating?”

  “You mean right now?”

  “Don’t play smart with me.”

  “Yes. I’m eating.”

  “You sound tired. You need sleep, the pace you’re always going. With everything going on, it’s not healthy, sis.”

  “Stop Phil. I’m fine. I’ll see you Monday.”

  “Bye.”

  She hangs up and looks at me again. Instead of letting me talk, she lifts a hand and tells the receptionist to send in Brian Beck, a junior legal analyst who works at the firm. Less than a minute later, he walks in, nervous as hell.

  “Have a seat, Brian.” I get up to leave and she stops me. “No. You need to stay.”

  She pulls a file from a small pile on her large mahogany desk. “How long have you been working here, Brian?” she asks, still looking in the file.

  “Seven and a half years, Kara,” he answers, his voice wavering.

  “That’s a long time to know how things work around here.”

  “Yes, ma’am. It’s been a pleasure working for you.”

  “I wish the feeling was mutual.”

  “Pardon me?”

  “Brian, who did I trust to compile the data from the Arthurian case?”

  “Me, ma’am,” he mumbles.

  “Come again?”

  “You trusted me, ma’am,” he says more loudly, but with just as much nervous energy.

  “Okay, and who let my client liaison on the case look like a fucking idiot when she didn’t have her facts straight on one of our biggest class action lawsuits ever?”

  “I did, ma’am. In my defense, the clients acknowledged they had only sent the correct files to me on the morning of the meeting.”

  “Just that morning? The briefing was at seven that night, Brian!” she shouts. “You sat on pivotal information for nine hours and you think you have an excuse?”

  “You pulled us into a mandatory all-day meeting that day, ma’am. I couldn’t possibly have…”

  “Couldn’t possibly have checked that fucking blackberry on your hip during the all-day meeting? Couldn’t possibly have created such a catastrophic fuck-up all by yourself? Well, I for one take responsibility for the mistake, Brian, a
nd I will not let it happen again. Brian, you’re fired.”

  “You’re not serious.”

  Kara turns to me and asks me to tell her what I needed to talk about. Brian is still looking at her, in shock.

  “Kara, the clients apologized. Please, listen to me.”

  “You listen to me, Brian. Get out of my office and start packing up your desk.”

  He stands and storms over to her office door. “This is bullshit, Kara.”

  “I agree. That report was the biggest, steamiest pile of bullshit ever put together by this office. Congratulations. Now get the fuck out and keep walking.”

  She waits for Brian to finally leave, then turns to me. “What were you saying?”

  Kara has a flair for the dramatic, and would probably love for me to cave and tell her never mind. I continue as if nothing just happened.

  “I think I’d prefer to go back to what I was doing before you assigned the Sloan case to me, Kara.”

  “Go back? There isn’t any such thing as going back around here. There’s just forward, or…out.”

  “He hasn’t been charged yet. Maybe you can assign someone more…more appropriate to work with him.”

  “Exactly who do you think that would be?”

  “I don’t know. Someone more senior.”

  “I don’t need anyone else on this case, Rebecca. I need you to handle this phase. I trust you’re smart and mature enough to hold it down. Is that reason enough?”

  I take a breath. “No. I don’t think it’s enough, Kara.” I can’t believe I just stood up to my boss after she made me witness one of her famous termination meetings. “Why was I chosen for this assignment?”

  “I don’t owe you an explanation. Now, I’ll warn you just this once. Tread lightly with what you say next. Otherwise the only two assignments you may have after this are finding Brian’s replacement or joining him on the job hunt.”

  At least the woman lets you know where you stand. I try to think of some other redeeming qualities she has, but I come up with nothing.

  “I don’t feel I have the skill set yet,” I explain.

  “I chose you because I trust you…and because you wanted more responsibility.”

  “Are you sure you give a damn what I want?” I mumble.

  “Pardon me?”

  “Nothing.”

  Kara gets up and walks around her desk to sit in the guest chair next to mine. “Listen carefully, Rebecca. The Sloans and Fairchilds are some of this firm’s biggest clients. I need you to press on. Think of it as taking one for the team. Give it a little time to jell.”

  I think it’s jelling plenty, but I don’t tell her that. “Okay,” I say, letting out a long breath.

  “There’s a lot at stake, Becky. I need you to stick with it. You can’t just jump ship when things get rough. Sometimes you have to put your own comfort aside and ride through.”

  Stick with it. Ride through. If only she knew.

  “I didn’t want to get into it,” she continues, “but, okay, I’ll add this. These two families need me more than they have ever needed representation. I’m not one to desert a friend and valuable client in their toughest moments. I don’t expect you to either. Understood?

  “Yes. I think I do. Okay. If they’re in some trouble, I’ll stay on it.”

  “Thanks. I’ll tell you something, Becky. You do this one thing for me. Stick it out to the end, no matter the outcome. The next promotion that opens up in this firm, it’s yours if you want it.”

  I look up at her. “I haven’t been here a year yet. You’d make an exception to the policy for me?”

  “Becky. It’s my firm. I made the policy. It’s for the average lawyer. You’re nowhere near average. Carry this through, and I’ll make sure you’re taken care of. Now tell me Rebecca, what happened last night at the precinct?”

  Chapter 32

  Rebecca

  Just as I suspect, Kara wants to know exactly what happened. She walks back to her seat on the other side of the desk and tells me to give her a detailed report-back on last night. I’m not ready to rehash the part about Jonathan getting into a fistfight with Rob. Kara is growing impatient by the minute, so I sit and I spill as much as I can.

  “Okay Kara. I arrived at the precinct with Jonathan, and we were told that Tony Virocci was being held on a weapons charge. I demanded to see him. They kept us waiting for forty-five minutes. According to them, the items in his car were being processed. During that time, I saw Bateman. He’s not assigned to the case, but I asked him to try and find out what was going on.

  “The detective realized Virocci had all his permits in order. I know you’re probably aware Virocci has had a clean record for the past six years, and the charge from six years ago was dropped. Before that, his record has been clean for twenty-five years. They released him, but according to Virocci, he was questioned aggressively before I got there, even after he told them he wanted his lawyer present.”

  “How aggressively are we talking?”

  “He said he was harassed about Doreen Rushton. According to him, they asked whether she was visiting Solomon the night she was killed. They threatened to put him in front of a grand jury if he didn’t give them what they wanted on Solomon Sloan.”

  “What?” Kara practically screams the question. The vein on her forehead pops up. Her eyes are glaring at me, and she leans forward in her chair.

  “Yes.” I say. “A grand jury.”

  “What evidence do they have?”

  “Nothing that they’ve let us in on.”

  “Did they search his person? Or just the car?”

  “He said it was just his car. They may have patted him down for concealed weapons, but he was clean.”

  “Was he hurt physically?”

  “No.”

  “Okay. Well it sounds like they’re fishing. It’s a good thing Virocci has a clean record. If they had anything on him, they probably would have pushed harder. They can still threaten to charge him with something if he won’t cooperate or voluntarily turn on Solomon.”

  “Why would they go that far so soon? Why not wait until the evidence from Doreen comes in?”

  “They have to do something while they wait. It’s too high profile to wait on the evidence. Right now, they’re shaking trees to see what falls out. I wouldn’t be surprised if they planned that random search of theirs.”

  “Is there something we can do?”

  “We need to send a message that my clients are off limits. I’ll get Webster on it. You focus on Jonathan.”

  “Okay. So what will Webster do for next steps?”

  “I’ll have him start a complaint on Virocci’s behalf about the grand jury threat. If we don’t fight back now, they’ll think they can do it again, or worse the next time.”

  “Sounds good. The only other problem with what happened last night, Kara, is what Rob told me off the record.”

  “What’s that?”

  “They may have swabbed all Virocci’s weapons and checked them for prints, blood and DNA while they were holding him.”

  “Well if the idiots did that, it’s illegal. None of the evidence gathered from Virocci’s vehicle will be admissible. I’ll make sure it’s never heard or seen in court, if it comes to that. What else?”

  “It’s not that, Kara. I know it’s inadmissible. I’m more worried about how they’ll adjust the targeting of their investigation, depending on what they find.”

  “Good point. They’re more likely to look at Solomon if they find anything on Virocci. Unless…”

  “Unless what?”

  “Not to worry. Was there anything else?”

  “No.” I relax in the chair, relieved she hasn’t asked me about Jonathan again. “That’s it.”

  “Okay. So when do you leave for the Bahamas?”

  “Sometime this evening.”

  “Excellent. Go on home, then. Get some rest. Be ready. Stay on top of Jonathan while you’re down there.”

  “Will do.” I get up
to leave her office when I hear her again.

  “Rebecca?”

  “Yes?” I answer, stopping to turn and look at her.

  “You make sure he comes back when the weekend is over.”

  Kara grabs her purse and tells me she has to take care of something. She does not invite me to come along. I can’t imagine what she’s about to do, but I get the sinking feeling it involves Solomon Sloan. Knowing Kara, I already understand that whatever she does, if it involves protecting Solomon, it’s likely to expose Jonathan even more.

  Chapter 33

  Jonathan

  I drop Rebecca off at work and head home to meet Dad. I probably have an hour before he gets here, so I shower and head downstairs in my robe to put on a pot of coffee. I’m on the last sip of my first cup when I hear my phone ring. I know it’s Dad from the ring tone. I hurry to finish and grab the phone on the last ring. He tells me he’s on his way over and will be here soon. We have a lot to discuss. This Mandy issue can’t be ignored any longer.

  I hurry to get dressed. I’m barely down the stairs when the front door opens. Dad has come alone. Thank goodness. I don’t wait a minute to get into it.

  “What’s going on with Mandy, Dad?”

  “Oh, you too? Can’t a man get a chance to sit and get comfortable before the third degree starts?”

  “Sit, Dad,” I tell him. I watch him as he sits. “There. Are you comfortable?”

  “Sure.”

  “Now tell me about Mandy.”

  “Shit,” he growls, leaning forward with his head in his hands. “She wants a divorce now. Can you believe that? After all this time, and after I took such good care of her.”

  The man is distraught, and also delusional. Granted, he doted on her during her cancer treatments. Still, for him to think Mandy has no reason to want a divorce, he has his head up his ass. Right now, though, I don’t have much concern about their relationship. That’s his cross to bear. I just want to know what dirt she has on him, and what’s pissed her off enough to threaten to go to the police.