by Nick James
Bobby recognized her but didn’t know her name, she worked on the acquisition side of things, companies buying other companies. He’d noticed her before, a bleached blonde who appeared very capable. Right now she looked more than a little upset. Red-faced Noah Denton looked like he was ready to commit murder.
“Noah, come on back to your office and we can sort this out,” Bennett Hinz said and took Denton by the arm.
“Get your hands off me, damn it, I’m perfectly capable of returning to my office. I want her desk cleaned out and her ass out of here within the hour, do you hear? Within the goddamn hour.” This brought another collective gasp from the growing crowd.
Bobby caught a brief glimpse of Denton as he staggered back down the hall mumbling. After he entered his office he slammed the door.
“Alright, alright, everyone calm down, back to work. Jeannie, maybe help Elizabeth into the conference room for a little privacy. I’ll join you in a few moments.” Bennett said.
No one really moved although there were more than a few murmurs and heads shaking. The bleached blonde Elizabeth walked past Bobby in tears. Another paralegal, apparently Jeannie, had her arm around her shoulder, attempting to comfort her. They entered the conference room and closed the door behind them.
Bennett Hinz just stood there looking flushed, staring at Noah Denton’s office and shaking his head.
Bobby smiled to himself remembering the ecstasy tablet he’d placed in the water bottle a few days ago. He walked over to Bennett who wore a stunned look on his face.
“Ben, you okay?”
“I’m not sure.”
“What was all that about, it certainly seemed out of line.”
“Out of line? A room full of lawyers, none of whom are too fond of Noah Denton to begin with, my God we’re going to have an assault case on our hands, not to mention sexual harassment. What in the hell got into him?”
Ecstasy, Bobby laughed to himself. “I don’t know. He’s been acting rather strange lately. Actually, ever since that incident the other day. Do you think he might be having a breakdown?”
“Mr. Hinz.” Two women and a man approached from behind. Bobby recognized them as paralegals, but he didn’t know their names. “Sir, this is beyond out of line. This is no longer a safe work environment with Mr. Denton here. We don’t know if he’s having a breakdown or what, but this erratic behavior simply cannot be condoned.”
Another paralegal joined the group, four against one. “Mr. Hinz you had better get him out of here, for his own good not to mention that of the firm. I’m afraid this latest episode is going to become a police matter.”
Bennett’s face grew almost crimson and he looked back and forth clearly without a clue as to what he should do. Bobby held his tongue and let him sweat. He was standing behind Bennett and he made eye contact with two of the paralegals and nodded in agreement.
Eventually Bennett bit his lower lip and nodded. “Are Mr. Allan or Mr. Sawyer in?” he asked no one in particular.
“Mr. Sawyer’s in Chicago,” a voice called from behind one of the cubicles.
“Mr. Allan’s in court,” one of the four paralegals added.
Bennett sighed.
“Maybe check on Elizabeth, after that assault,” Bobby said making sure everyone made note of the term. “I’ll check on Mr. Denton.”
One of the paralegals, a guy with a thin mustache gave him a quick look that suggested “Who the hell are you?” but he recovered just as fast and didn’t voice an opinion.
Bennett Hinz waddled off to the conference room while everyone else watched Bobby make his way toward Noah Denton’s office. The foursome who’d confronted Bennett remained where they stood. A growing number of heads peeked out from their cubicles as Bobby passed by. He approached Denton’s office, knocked softly and entered.
Noah Denton was seated in his office chair, he glanced in Bobby’s general direction, but his eyes looked to be at half mast and he gave no indication Bobby’s presence even registered with him. Gradually his head drifted back, his mouth slowly opened and he began to softly snore.
An almost empty plastic water bottle sat on the edge of his desk. Bobby grabbed the bottle and quietly poured the remaining contents onto a potted orchid plant. The open file on Denton’s desk was the Summer Bank file and Bobby guessed Denton had been looking for the Attorney General documents that he had removed the other night.
Chapter Fourteen
“But I just don’t get it. I mean, yeah we all know he’s a crabby old jerk, but he was always such a polite crabby old jerk, Mr. Manners actually, and obviously highly successful,” Angie said and then took another sip of wine. She wore a summer dress, a flowered pattern with buttons all the way down the front. Bobby had on his navy blue trousers and a long sleeved, starched light blue shirt. Just two workmates discussing the day.
They were in Kincaid’s, a trendy downtown bar and restaurant, rehashing the chaotic work day. Bobby figured everyone in the firm was talking about exactly the same thing right about now, well, except for Noah Denton who had been readmitted to Regions Hospital.
“Elizabeth is extremely competent, highly regarded and she doesn’t have anything to do with the Summer Bank debacle. I mean, he literally went off the deep end. By the way, just so you know,” she said then leaned forward and placed her hand over Bobby’s. “Everyone really appreciates you keeping him in his office for almost two hours to get him calmed down and then calling the paramedics and the police. Mr. Hinz was worthless, no surprise there, he basically just told Elizabeth not to worry then disappeared. He’s probably drinking his brains out in some private room over at the Capitol City Club for happy hour.”
“Well, based on the little I know she can probably sue on a number of counts, not the least would be assault, harassment, mental anguish, I mean, Jesus Christ the list goes on.”
“Plus the sexual harassment, I guess he kinda grabbed her, you know,” Angie said and followed with another sip.
“She’d come out well, I’m guessing a possible seven figures.”
“What? Really?”
Not to mention that prick Denton would be finished, he thought. “Oh yeah, and the firm would beg her to settle out of court. You add a clause that says neither party makes the settlement public, she could retire.”
“She’s thirty-six.”
“Like I said, she could retire, nice work if you can get it.”
“God,” Angie said and drained her glass.
A server appeared out of nowhere and asked, “Another glass, ma’am?”
“You got anything going tonight?” she asked.
Bobby shook his head and drained his glass. “I think another round would be perfect. You sure your husband won’t mind?”
“Dennis? You kidding, he’s on another seventy-two hour shift this weekend. I could fly to Vegas for two days and he wouldn’t know or even care for that matter.”
Bobby made a mental note but didn’t comment.
* * *
Later they were nibbling at an overpriced starter of rye bread and three different types of cheese. Angie was telling Bobby about growing up in a small Minnesota town. She was the first woman he’d had a real social conversation with in close to five years and he was enjoying himself when he spotted the two of them.
He’d heard a little about him, even looked him up online in the prison library once a few years back, but had never met him. In fact he couldn’t even remember his name or what he did.
She was a different story. He met her in Madison, Wisconsin, while he was getting his undergraduate degree. She was what they called a townie, a local girl, attending the university. She’d never come to visit him in the four-plus years that he’d been incarcerated, never so much as a Christmas card, but then again she’d divorced him the year before his trial.
He remembered she loved the money, loved the travel and as he watched the two of them being led to a table he recalled her final words to him. “Don’t you get it, I don’t love you, Bobby. I
haven’t loved you for years, and now you are going to pay.” And he did.
“… University of Minnesota, but I just couldn’t see myself falling a hundred grand in debt to go to law school so that’s how I ended up becoming a paralegal and working the file gig at the firm,” Angie said then drained her glass and smiled.
Bobby smiled and wished he had a grenade to toss into the dining area. “Hey, would I be too forward if I asked you back to my place for a glass of wine? I mean, unless you wanted dinner somewhere, we could do that, but no pressure.”
“Your place sounds perfect, let me just run to the ladies room for a moment and we can go.”
Bobby watched as Angie made her way across the crowded barroom before he hurried over to the dining area where his ex-wife sat.
“Fran? Long time no see.”
She looked up with bloodshot eyes and attempted to focus. A wave of disgust seemed to wash over her face. She appeared to have aged more than the five-plus years since he had last seen her. There was a definite puffiness under her eyes, crow’s feet at the corners. Her face appeared fuller, maybe the beginnings of a second chin or jowls. Her hair was dyed, but brassy rather than blonde. She wore a large diamond on her left hand.
“What the hell are you doing here? Did you escape?” She didn’t sound like she was joking.
“Sort of a special program, Fran, thanks for asking.”
“I’m Frances, now. I’ve been trying to put everything involving my relationship with you behind me and just move on. By the way, this is my husband, Jonathan. Jonathan Bannon,” she said in a tone that suggested that would mean something to Bobby. It didn’t. “He owns a software company,” she added and seemed to snuggle just a little closer. Jonathan placed his arm around her meaty shoulder.
“Nice to meet you, Jonathan,” Bobby said and extended his hand all the while wondering if Fran still liked sex in the bath tub.
Jonathan glanced at the extended hand, nodded in a way that suggested everyone enjoyed meeting him, and kept his arm around her shoulder. “So, the convicted criminal,” he said. and then the two of them laughed.
“Looking for work?” Frances asked after she sipped from a chilled stemmed glass. There were two olives in the drink and he recalled how much she had loved her gin martinis.
“No, actually I’m with a firm,” he said and caught a glimpse of Angie returning to their table.
Frances seemed to choke for half a moment on her drink, then quickly recovered and asked, “What firm would even consider having you?”
“Denton, Allan, Sawyer and Hart, I’m not practicing, yet, I’m ‘Of Counsel.’”
“God, amazing,” Frances said and took another healthy sip.
“And you, are you doing anything?”
“I’m thinking of doing some volunteer work,” she said giving the same answer she used to give when they had been married.
“Well, didn’t mean to intrude, just wanted to say hello. I’ll see you around,” Bobby said and nodded politely then turned and went back to join Angie.
Chapter Fifteen
It was a little after midnight and they were seated on the couch in front of the fireplace, Bobby had some nondescript music playing in the background. Angie was facing Bobby with her legs tucked partially beneath her. Her arm rested on the back of the couch just close enough so she could casually rub her index finger against Bobby’s shoulder. She was sipping another glass of wine and the effects of the ecstasy tablet he’d put in her glass could be heard in her slurred speech and demonstrated by the fact that her dress had edged up almost to her waist while she remained oblivious.
She seemed to be having trouble focusing so Bobby took a long sip of wine then casually reached over and rubbed his hand back and forth across her right breast. Angie closed her eyes, smiled then leaned back to allow him better access.
“God, it’s about damn time, mmm-mmm,” she moaned. Bobby set his glass down and began to massage both her breasts.
He took hold of her wineglass so she wouldn’t spill, but instead of setting the glass on the coffee table he raised it to her lips and forced her to swallow the remainder of her doctored drink until the glass was empty. She drank most of the wine, gulping noisily. Some of the wine ran down either side of her mouth and dripped onto her dress, but she never opened her eyes and seemed to remain completely unaware.
“Good,” she finally said, but the word was slurred and came out sounding forced, as if it had been an effort to speak. Over the next few minutes her head lolled from side to side while her eyes remained closed with a smile on her face. Bobby settled her back on the couch then unbuttoned her dress, pulled it wide open and gently began to rub her.
Angie raised her hips and fumbled briefly in a failed attempt to remove her thong before she settled back and then began to softly snore. Bobby pulled the thong down her legs and off one of her ankles. Angie’s eyes remained closed, although she adjusted her position slightly and spread her legs.
He stood and pulled his trousers down, then positioned himself between her legs and waited, he nudged her a couple of times, but she didn’t respond. He lifted her limp arm then let go and watched it drop to the floor. She had suddenly gone comatose.
Chapter Sixteen
He was on his second cup of coffee when he heard her stirring out in the living room. He’d dressed her as best he could sometime after three in the morning. He was struck by how far behind he’d been in the sex category and how quickly he’d gotten caught up.
He could hear her coughing now, followed by a long groan. He walked out to the living room carrying a tall glass of orange juice. “How’s the head, party animal?”
“Oh God, what a headache, I feel like I’m going to die.”
“Drink this, a little hydration and some sugar is what your body is craving right now.”
“Thanks,” she said then did her best to hide behind the glass of orange juice. As she set the glass down she noticed the splotches of red wine running down the front of her dress. “Oh God, look, my dress it’s ruined. How much did we have to drink last night? God, I can’t seem to remember a thing.”
“I didn’t think you had that much to drink. I went into the kitchen for a minute and when I came back you were sound asleep, snoring. Figured it wouldn’t be the best idea for you to drive. I put your car keys up here,” he said stepping over to the fireplace mantel. “I hope you’re not going to be in any trouble with Dennis.”
She shook her head. “No, fortunately he’s on call this weekend and won’t be home until Monday. God, I can’t believe it, we were at Kincaid’s, I remember coming in here, kicking my shoes off.” She glanced along the side of the couch and spied her shoes.
“With everything that happened yesterday, plus you only had a couple of pieces of bread and some cheese to eat, you were just exhausted. Relax, Angie it happens.”
“Did we ahhh, well, you know, do it? I mean make love.”
“No. Not that I didn’t want to, but I thought it would be nice if maybe you were awake and able to participate.”
We didn’t make love. What I did do was fuck your brains out a half dozen different ways, take about thirty shots of you in various positions with my cellphone and basically made sure that from now on you will have to do exactly what I want or I’ll post those damn images all over the internet and you will never, ever be able to get a job again not to mention keep your husband.
“Sorry,” she said not sounding too sure.
“Not like I didn’t want to, but look, don’t worry about it. What I might suggest is that you finish that orange juice, and I’ll make you some breakfast. It’s going to take me a few minutes, do you want to grab a shower? I’ve got a robe you could climb into.”
“Thanks, but I think under the circumstances I’ve imposed more than enough for one night, or day. If it’s okay I think I better just go home. Could I maybe use your bathroom for a minute?”
“Sure, right down the hall. You remember? You were in there last night.”
She paused for a long moment, thinking. “Actually no, I really don’t remember,” she finally said sounding like she was about to cry.
“I’m not kidding, finish that orange juice it will speed up your recovery.”
She was in the bathroom for the better part of a half hour. When she finally came out her hair was sort of combed, most of the mascara that had settled beneath her eyes had been removed and it looked like she had washed her face. She stared at Bobby for a long moment with a questioning look.
“Everything okay, feeling better?”
“You’re sure we didn’t have sex last night?” It was the sort of question that was almost an accusation.
“Like I said, not that I didn’t want to, but you were out. I’ll gladly take a rain check if you’re offering.”
“I look like shit, feel even worse and I think I better just go home. Thanks for taking care of me, sorry. This has never happened to me before, ever. Honest.”
“Relax, don’t worry about it. Just chalk it up to the stress of the day. It was a pretty tough day for everyone and I’m sure beginning Monday we’ll start to see the repercussions.”
“Yeah,” she said, then headed for the living room. She slipped on her shoes, grabbed her keys off the mantel and slung her purse over her shoulder.
“See you Monday,” Bobby said.
She gave a slight wave of her hand but didn’t turn to look at him, instead she just opened the door and left. Bobby smiled and watched her through the peephole until she stepped onto the elevator. He pulled out his cellphone and headed for the kitchen to sip some more coffee while he reviewed the almost three dozen images of the past nights activities.
Chapter Seventeen
He was in the office by midmorning. It being Saturday, there was a light crowd working. By two in the afternoon the crowd had changed to just a handful of folks. Three or four of the acquisition attorneys seemed to be sequestered in one office. Bobby figured they were discussing yesterday’s Noah Denton events and how to proceed.
