He closed the file and went to the courthouse to investigate.
Shawna, who worked in the clerk of courts office, greeted him enthusiastically. He knew she had a little crush on him and usually did his best to pretend he didn’t notice her attention, but today he needed information, so he turned on the charm.
“Hi, Shawna,” he said. “I just wanted to double check something with the case I filed the other day, Clayton v. McCarthy. Would you mind getting the file for me?”
“Anything for you, Griff.” She disappeared into the stacks of files and returned smiling. “This is a popular case. Dirk Stewart of all people was here a couple days ago looking at it.”
Griff did his best to maintain a poker face. “Oh really? Who’s that?”
Shawna looked up in surprise. “I thought everyone in town knew Dirk Stewart. He’s a partner in a law firm. I was surprised to see him here, though. Usually he sends his flunkies to do that sort of thing. He’s very interested in what the interns are doing and asked to see all their files.”
The filings in the clerk of courts office were all public records, so it’s not as though Dirk had done anything improper, though it still made Griff very curious. Clearly Dirk was looking for an opportunity to make trouble for his ex-wife.
What a jerk.
Griff thanked Shawna, demurred when she suggested they get a cup of coffee and headed back to the office hoping to get there before Ali saw the letter from her ex.
When he opened the door and saw the wide-eyed look on her face, he knew he’d failed in that goal.
He crossed the room and took her into his arms. “He can’t hurt you anymore. I won’t let him. Besides, you know those are empty threats from a bully.”
She shook her head against his chest. “You don’t understand. He knows everyone and they all owe him favors. He’ll go to any lengths to cause me problems.” She looked up at him, her eyes clouded with worry. “And now he’s got you in his sights too. I’m so sorry.”
She pulled away from him and stared out the window, arms crossed over her stomach. Griff was torn between his desire to take her in his arms and make all her problems go away and an instinctive understanding that she needed a few minutes to sort out her thoughts. He stepped closer without touching her, hoping his presence would offer some comfort to his tormented lover.
Finally she turned to face him. “I’m tired of letting him push me around. We need to talk to Professor Dearing and figure out what to do next to force his hand.”
Griff hugged her tight. “That’s my girl. I’m proud of you.”
“Me too,” she said.
Seeing Dirk’s handwriting at the bottom of the page had sent Ali into a tailspin of emotions. Her heart pounded and she wondered if she might faint.
Would she ever be free of him? Wasn’t divorce final enough?
If it hadn’t been for Griff, she’d have caved in and dismissed the case. Anything to avoid a confrontation with Dirk.
But, no more. Despite her shaking knees and sweaty palms, she was determined not to back down from Dirk and his threats.
Her heart thundered in her chest as she and Griff consulted with Professor Dearing about the letter from Dirk.
The professor read the letter then glanced over the top of the piece of paper and raised an eye brow at Ali. “It would appear that this case has become personal,” he said, in his usual unruffled tone.
“Yes,” Ali said. “I never imagined that Dirk would be involved. We assumed McCarthy would ‘fess up to his insurance company and make them pay, not go and hire a lawyer. Besides, who would have guessed that Dirk would take a case like this?”
When Griff shared what he’d learned at the courthouse about Dirk’s interest in the interns’ cases, Professor Dearing leaned back in his chair and studied his two students.
“What is in the best interest of your client?”
Ali’s breath caught in her throat. In all the head spinning she’d done in the last few minutes, her client had been furthest from her mind. This wasn’t about Dirk. It wasn’t about Griff. It was about a woman named Melanie Clayton whose life had been devastated by an irresponsible liar. And it was Ali’s job to make sure that justice was done.
She squared her shoulders and licked her lips, then replied, “It’s in our client’s best interest for Griff and I to continue to represent her, not because we want to crush Dirk into the ground, but because she’s put her trust in us to handle her case properly and that’s what we are going to do. If we crush Dirk in the process, that’s bonus.”
The professor smiled approvingly. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. Now, let’s work on a plan to do just that.” He rolled up his sleeves and leaned forward across the desk. “I think we need to have this case tried right away.”
“But how can we do that?” Griff asked. “You know the court’s docket is backed up for months.”
“True. But I know a retired judge who owes me a favor. He can preside over the trial on one of the court’s off days or even on a Saturday, if all the parties agree.”
A trial? Ali’s heart pounded so hard she glanced down at her chest expecting to see her blouse quivering with the movement. What’s in the best interests of your client? The question begged for an answer.
“Yes, that’s what we need to do.” Was that her voice?
“What if Dirk won’t agree?” Griff asked. It was a legitimate question, given how contrary Dirk was to most any request.
“Leave that to me,” Professor Dearing said. “He won’t back away from the opportunity to show you both up in front of an audience.”
“Audience?” Ali said. “Show us up? Whose side are you on, professor?”
The professor laughed. “Yours. I have complete faith in the two of you. Mr. Griffen, do you remember what I said on the first day of class when you drew Ms. Stewart’s name from the hat?”
Griff smiled and looked directly into Ali’s eyes when he replied, “A formidable pairing.”
Chapter Nine
Melanie Clayton looked the way Ali felt—like she might puke. The two women sat together at the plaintiff’s table while Griff gave the opening statement for their side.
Professor Dearing sat in the first row of the galley, right behind them, calm as ever. She envied him.
Despite her nerves, she couldn’t help but notice how sexy Griff looked pacing the courtroom in his dark suit. He was born to be a lawyer and it was obvious in every word and movement. Her heart swelled with pride…and love. She loved him with her whole heart and it wasn’t just because he was so darned sexy either. No person in her life had ever filled her with such confidence in herself and made her feel worthy the way he did.
But, was she holding him back? He had the world by the tail and she was inching closer to middle age and insignificance. She was over the hill before she even graduated.
Melanie squeezed her arm after Griff made a particularly good point. “He’s doing great!” she whispered in Ali’s ear.
Ali smiled back at her and nodded.
Over Melanie’s shoulder she saw Dirk glaring at her. It was a look she knew well and instinctively fear welled inside her. She took a deep breath and refused to look away first.
Finally Dirk pretended to speak to his client, but Ali felt a sense of pride knowing she hadn’t knuckled under the way he’d expected her too.
She couldn’t help but chuckle over the fact that they were in court on a Saturday. True to his word, Professor Dearing had set it up so that a retired judge presided over the case. She knew Dirk was mad about working on a Saturday, especially now that the country club golf course was open for the season, and that gave her a bit of vengeful pleasure.
Griff finished his opening statement and took the seat next to her. “You were great,” she whispered to him and caught herself before she kissed him.
Next it was Dirk’s turn to give his opening statement to the judge. There was no jury for this case, so the entire thing would be decided by the balding gent
leman sitting on the bench. There was so much riding on what happened in the next few hours, but she kept her focus on her client.
She’d given Melanie a legal pad and pen before the trial started. “Use this to write notes and questions and we can talk about them. If you try to whisper in my ear while the trial is going on, I won’t be able to follow everything that’s happening.”
One of the many useful pointers Professor Dearing had given them was being put to good use in her first trial.
In addition to Professor Dearing, several members of their Trial Advocacy class were seated in the two rows of benches in the courtroom. Their triumph or failure would not go unnoticed, that was for sure.
She tried to pay attention to Dirk’s opening statement but the sight and sound of him made her stomach wretch.
Fortunately, he shut up and sat down, though she knew he’d have plenty to say as the day progressed.
The judge turned to their table. “Call your first witness.”
“We call plaintiff Melanie Clayton,” Ali said, thankful that her voice didn’t crack.
Melanie took the stand and was sworn in. Ali stood and went to the podium in the middle of the courtroom.
After a few preliminary questions to help Melanie relax, Ali asked her to describe the accident and the aftermath. She purposely gave her an open ended question because she wanted the judge to see what a sincere and sympathetic witness Melanie was.
Melanie was perfect on the stand. Ali peeked up at the judge as Melanie described the accident and how it affected her life, particularly the financial devastation that was heaped upon her by first her louse of a husband who cancelled her insurance and then compounded by the lies of Kevin McCarthy.
When Melanie finished with her testimony, Ali turned the witness over to Dirk for cross-examination. Anticipating a grueling cross-examination, Griff and Ali had spent hours and hours preparing their client for the very worst. Ali gave Melanie a reassuring look before turning to Dirk to say, “Your witness.”
She took her seat and braced herself for whatever antics he might have planned.
To her shock, Dirk said, “I have no questions for this witness.”
Melanie’s eyes went large and she glanced at Ali and Griff who looked at each other confused. “You may step down,” the judge said and Melanie resumed her seat next to Ali.
“Call your next witness,” the judge’s voice boomed from the bench.
Ali and Griff recovered from their surprise. “We call defendant, Kevin McCarthy, as if on cross,” Griff said, his voice clear and confident.
The defendant took the stand and Griff took his position at the podium to question him. “As if on cross” meant that although they had called the witness and usually a witness is called for direct examination, because he was an opposing party, he would be cross-examined and later his attorney would question him on direct examination. It was slightly backward from the usual, but it was common practice in civil cases where the defendant could be called as a witness. In criminal cases, the defendant’s Fifth Amendment Privilege against self-incrimination prevented him or her from being called as a witness by the opposing party.
Ali took a deep breath and said a silent prayer for a miracle. Their only hope was that the defendant would be such a poor witness or contradict himself with his lie so they could attack his credibility. They had no evidence to prove he was a liar. They had to hope he’d be his own worst evidence.
It was a dicey strategy, but it was the only one they had.
“So, it’s your contention, Mr. McCarthy, that on the very day Ms. Clayton’s car was totaled by your vehicle, your car, with your wallet in it, was stolen. Is that what you are asking this court to believe?”
Clearly Dirk had rehearsed with his witness too because McCarthy simply smiled and said, “Yes.”
“Doesn’t that strike you as an incredible coincidence?”
McCarthy shrugged. “I suppose.”
Professor Dearing had instructed them that if the witness was uncooperative to go to a few easy questions and get him chatting in hopes of loosening his tongue. Griff took that approach.
It didn’t work. Kevin McCarthy had a story and he was sticking to it. Panic welled up in Ali and small beads of sweat formed on Melanie’s upper lip. “Are we losing?” she wrote on her legal pad and pushed it in front of Ali.
To her vast relief, the judge called a recess. Ali wondered if perhaps he’d taken pity on them.
Inside the conference room, Ali did her best to calm their client and then suggested she wait in the hallway while she and Griff worked on their strategy for the rest of the trial.
Once they were alone, she turned to Griff, misery oozing from every pore. “What have we done? Maybe this is a frivolous suit. What were we thinking taking this case to trial?” She paced the room waving her hands in the air, doing her best to keep her voice, and hysteria, under control. “This is all my fault. I’m so sorry.”
Griff grabbed her by the upper arms and forced her to look at him. “Ali, we made this decision together. We are both responsible. Furthermore, the trial isn’t over.” He released his grip on her arms. “More importantly, what have I told you about saying you’re sorry?”
Instinctively Ali covered her bottom with her hands. “Griff, no. Not today.”
His dark gaze held hers. “Yes, Ali, especially today.”
He pulled a heavy wooden chair to the center of the room and tipped her over his lap, wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to his middle. Strange as it all seemed, Ali found comfort in being over his lap, even if she was wearing her best suit and shoes.
“We only have a few minutes. And remember to keep quiet. I know, that’s contrary to my usual rules, but this is an unusual circumstance.” He lifted her skirt and swatted the cheeks bared by her thong. Quick slaps peppered each side of her ass.
Swat after swat stung her rear end and Ali began to wonder if she’d be able to spend the rest of the trial seated at counsel table without squirming. In the pain, she found comfort and her frustration and stress poured out between whacks from Griff’s firm palm.
“I can’t believe we did this. We’re going to be disbarred before we’re even barred,” she blubbered into his pant leg. “Why Dirk of all people? I hate looking at his smug face, sitting there watching us bumble around like a couple of amateurs.”
“We are amateurs, Ali. But that’s no excuse for not doing our best.” He landed a hard crack to her sit spot. “I can’t believe that you are bailing out on this case already. Is that all it takes to make you give up?”
“N-no.” She sniffed. Two fast swats heated her left cheek.
“Really? Because that’s what it looks like to me. I thought we were partners. How can we be partners if you give up at the slightest bit of adversity?” He smacked down her thighs and she kicked her legs in an effort to get away from the sting.
Griff lifted her to sit on his lap and tipped her face up to his. “I love you, Ali. I want to be your partner in everything. Forever. But you need to have some faith. Faith in me. Faith in you. Faith in us.”
“But, we’re going to lose.”
“Ali, I just told you that I love you and all you can think about is losing a trial?” Griff tapped her on the nose. “I don’t want to lose either, and we haven’t yet. But if you don’t get a better attitude, we’ll fall apart, in more ways than one.”
The bailiff tapped on the door. “Five minutes.”
They both stood and stared at each other. “What’s it going to be, Ali?”
She dug in her purse for a tissue to wipe her eyes. In the bottom of her purse she found a bright yellow piece of paper. The parking ticket she’d gotten the first night she’d spent with Griff. She’d forgotten to pay it. Had she completely lost her mind?
“Ali, did you hear me? Are you with me on this or not.”
Ali stared at the traffic ticket, then hugged Griff. “Let’s go kick some ass.”
Griff had no idea what
Ali had up her sleeve, but she glowed with confidence as she called their next witness, Officer Claypool, who had investigated the accident.
Completely gone was the whimpering scared woman he’d spanked in the conference room. Ali stood at the podium, a look of serenity on her face as she questioned the witness.
“Officer Claypool, you wrote a ticket to Kevin McCarthy at the scene of the accident that is the subject of this lawsuit, is that correct?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Can you identify Kevin McCarthy here in the courtroom?”
They knew the answer to this question and Griff gripped his pen waiting for the officer’s response.
The officer pointed to the defense table. “I assume that’s Kevin McCarthy sitting next to Mr. Stewart, but I cannot say I remember giving that man a ticket.”
To Griff’s surprise, Ali took his response in stride. Seated next to him, Melanie Clayton gripped his arm. “What’s she doing?” she asked, panicked.
“Have faith, Melanie,” he said. “Ali’s got a trick up her sleeve, but I don’t know what it is.”
“I sure hope so,” Melanie said.
Me too, Griff thought.
He returned his attention to Ali.
“Tell me Officer Claypool, did you run a driver’s license check on Mr. McCarthy before appearing here today?”
“Yes, it’s standard procedure. That way if there’s an outstanding warrant or other issue, we can take action.”
Griff noted the imperceptible grin playing at the corners of Ali’s mouth, but still could not figure out what she planned to do.
“And did you find any warrants for Mr. McCarthy?”
“No.”
“What about his driver’s license?”
“Valid.”
Griff glanced over at Dirk and wanted to slap the stupid grin off his face.
“Can you tell the court, Officer Claypool, what happens if someone doesn’t pay a traffic ticket?”
The officer shrugged. “Their driver’s license is suspended.”
“So they wouldn’t have a valid license, is that right?”
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