Wearing the Spider (A Suspense Novel) (Legal Thriller) (Thriller)

by Schaab, Susan

“Helen, could you do a favor for me? Could you find out if Alan was in Dallas during the time I was? You know, the trip that resulted in that erroneous expense report.”

  “I can ask Beverly,” answered Helen.

  “Try to make it real casual … like part of everyday coffee-break chat. Put it in a general context. Say you were asked whether we had any Texas clients or if we had ever traveled that far south to represent a client. Something like that. Can you do that? Don’t draw a lot of attention to the fact that you’re asking and don’t make it seem as if we are asking about Alan specifically. And keep all the details of this little conversation between us?”

  “Yes, of course. Is everything okay?”

  “Everything’s fine, Helen, just checking on some things.”

  “I’ll take care of it. Here’s your mail from yesterday afternoon.” Helen extended her hand full of envelopes of various sizes.

  “Thanks, Helen.” Evie took the stack and stuffed it into another pocket in her briefcase to look through in transit.

  “Can I do anything else, Evie?” asked Helen with a concerned look on her face.

  “That’s all. Thanks for everything, Helen. I’d better go.”

  Evie arrived at Broadway and 44th Street and took the elevator up to the thirty-seventh floor. As she exited the elevator, she was surrounded by the cherry paneling and antique furniture of Bartlett, Warren and Ivy, a national firm headquartered in New York. Ramona and Diane, the software sales team from Cardinal Blue, stood up from their seats in the lobby, greeted her and briefed her on their planned presentation. The trio followed a Bartlett Warren attorney down a long corridor to a large glassed conference room adjacent to an open foyer. Dominating the room was a long mahogany conference table adorned with star-shaped telephonic speakers at each end. There were windows overlooking the Majestic Theatre and leather armchairs numbering twenty. They were offered coffee, orange juice and croissants and all participants clustered at one end of the large table, Evie and her clients on one side facing the open foyer, the Bartlett Warren lawyer and his clients on the other, facing the window.

  As Evie listened to Ramona describe Cardinal Blue’s proposal, she glanced up through the glass wall of the conference room into the foyer where busy lawyers hustled in each direction. One man stopped briefly and faced her direction. A chill shot up Evie’s spine and she felt a jolt of fear. It was the same face she had seen peering through the glass window at Starbucks Friday night.

  27

  Her eyes fixated on him through the glass wall of the conference room. Even though he looked quickly away, she recognized the face that had been searching the interior of the coffeehouse so intently that night. He had roundish eyes under heavy brows and his facial features were youthful yet stern, with high cheekbones and an angular jawline. And now, as he moved away in profile, she remembered watching the jerkiness of his bodily movements, first at Starbucks and later, on the corner outside her building as she studied him from her apartment window. Was this man an employee of Bartlett, Warren and Ivy or had he followed her into their offices? Was this man tracking her?

  She leaned over and whispered to Diane that she had to make a quick trip to the ladies’ room. Diane nodded and Evie rose from the conference table and walked out into the foyer. She casually glanced in each direction but the man was no longer visible, so she started down the corridor in the direction he’d walked. Her eyes pierced all hallways and open doors, but there was no evidence of him. After searching all areas she could without bringing suspicion on herself, she returned to the conference room and forced herself to concentrate for the duration of the meeting with Cardinal Blue, her head throbbing and her heart twisting in knots. She excused herself abruptly after the meeting and walked quickly back to her office, turning often to glance behind her back.

  Breathing heavily, she dumped her briefcase onto a chair in her office and closed her door. She would have completely forgotten about her ten o’clock a.m. meeting with Paul except that Helen had left her a note taped to her telephone receiver. After splashing her face with water in the ladies room, she walked to Paul’s office.

  Paul stood, greeted her, then walked to the door of his office, told Beverly he did not want to be disturbed and closed his door. Evie detected a softness to his demeanor that was missing at their last meeting and wondered if it was born out of a belief in her version of the Chicago incident.

  “Evie, Jack asked me to sit with you and go over a few things. I want to inform you that for the firm’s record-keeping purposes, this conversation is being recorded. You may have a copy of the recording if you like.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’ve talked to a great many in the firm. Especially with what’s happened in the last few days,” he began in a routine tone of voice.

  She nodded and looked directly at him.

  “I want to reiterate that the firm owes you a tremendous amount of gratitude for your excellent work over the years. You have been described as a steady performer and a client favorite. The majority of the partnership had many positive things to say about you.”

  Evie didn’t like the way his little speech had started, but remained quiet.

  “Now I know there was an incident in Chicago last November. An unfortunate occurrence on a trip you took with Alan.”

  An unfortunate occurrence? Yes, RATHER unfortunate, she thought.

  “You were apparently under the impression that Alan made a pass at you?”

  “Well, I don’t know what you mean by ‘pass.’ He kissed me. I don’t know if I would call that my impression.”

  “Yes, well, Alan was asked about that incident. He said that after a successful client presentation, the two of you had dinner together and, by the way, he fully admits it was a mistake, he said that the two of you gave into a weak moment and kissed each other in the hallway of your hotel.”

  “I didn’t … I can’t believe he … Paul, I didn’t … there was nothing mutual about it. He kissed me!”

  “Well, perhaps it was a misunderstanding.”

  “Paul, there was no misunderstanding. No mistake. Alan grabbed me and kissed me. It took me completely by surprise. And then he tried to push his way into my hotel room.”

  “He did?” He raised his eyebrows and shifted in his seat. “Then why on earth didn’t you report it?”

  “Because I didn’t have any proof. I wasn’t sure the partners would take my word and then I would be branded a woman who makes such claims. Anyway, I should have reported it. It was a mistake not to.”

  “Frankly, I have been surprised by some of Alan’s behavior in the past. I did not approve of him taking you to any of those campaign events. It did not serve the firm well for the two of you to be socializing as a couple in that manner.”

  “We were not a couple. We were not … I just attended a few campaign-related celebrations because I worked on Senator Arbeson’s campaign. We were just two colleagues from the same firm attending a public celebration. So, was that … ? Did the partners think that because I went to a few of the same events that Alan attended that I was somehow romantically involved with him?”

  “Well, it did factor into the discussion when Alan claimed the incident in Chicago was a mutual lapse in judgment. You did apparently go to at least one event with Alan. He said you arrived with him.”

  “That Chicago incident happened just this last November. My meager involvement in Senator Arbeson’s campaign was several years ago. I would’ve never agreed to go anywhere with Alan after he assaulted me. I have avoided any situation that would cause me to be alone with him. Except, of course, here in the office when I had no choice but to be in his presence for work-related discussions.”

  “Well, I’m afraid that even the female partners had difficulty with the knowledge that you’ve continued to work with Alan, in isolation at times, if you were afraid of another personal encounter.”

  “Alan begged me in Chicago not to report the incident. He promised it would never happen again. I
wasn’t really afraid of him. I thought I’d be a team player and let it go. I realize now that it was a mistake, but I’ve insisted on professional behavior since that time.”

  “Well, Evie, Alan said that you made some comment to him recently about … Well, this is not easy to discuss … something about not wearing underwear?”

  Evie flashed hot with rage and swallowed hard.

  “Paul, that was a stupid response on my part after Alan asked me what color underwear I was wearing. He’s the one who brought it up. It was after that presentation I gave to the partners that day at your request. He stopped me on the way out of the conference room and said instead of listening, he was preoccupied with guessing the color of my underwear or something like that. I reacted stupidly out of disgust, but I never initiated any conversation or contact with him after that and I’ve tried to conduct myself with absolute professionalism.”

  “Well, as Jack may have told you, the partners were split on which version of the Chicago story was the more likely to have happened, but the partnership has agreed to give you the benefit of the doubt. The consensus was to presume some type of harassment occurred. However, without direct proof we cannot seek further redress against Alan. It’s certainly not enough to ask for his resignation. He’s an equity partner.”

  “Hmmm,” said Evie. She knew at that moment her career with Howard, Rolland & Stewart was effectively over one way or another, voluntarily or otherwise.

  “We would like to avoid any unpleasantness and we realize that it will be up to you as to whether you feel comfortable remaining employed with this firm, given that Alan is, and will remain, a member of the partnership. In any event, we are prepared to offer you, in terms of a settlement of any potential claim, an amount of $1.5 million. You will of course sign an agreement foregoing all potential claims against the firm and any member of the partnership, and you may continue your employment with the firm if you so choose.”

  Evie was frozen in place in the chair. Anger and frustration held her motionless and empty. A wave of exhaustion washed over her. I don’t want your hush money, she thought.

  Paul leaned forward and placed his elbows on the edge of his desk, supporting his chin on his clasped hands. He spoke more softly now, with a hint of fatherly reproach. “If you stay, you will be treated no differently than you would have been otherwise. As I said in our prior conversation, you’ve been a consistent performer in prior years, but lately, well, lately it seems that you’ve had difficulty concentrating on your work. And you may have made certain choices that are inconsistent with the tenor of this firm.” She couldn’t help but think she heard something else in his voice … something … it was as if he was trying to convince himself of what he was saying.

  “Can you be more specific?”

  “Well, in addition to the incidents I described to you in our prior conversation, you have apparently been somewhat pre-occupied lately with some personal agenda.”

  “Are you talking about my reports to you concerning Gerais Chevas?”

  “Yes, in part. Listen, Evie. I don’t see the point in detailing grievances. Why don’t we focus on the core issues.”

  “Okay.” This should be interesting.

  “Evie, Alan suggested that the misunderstanding between the two of you may have caused you to pursue some sort of vendetta against him.”

  “What are you referring to?” So we’re not detailing grievances?

  “You’re understandably upset about these negative performance reviews. The incident in Chicago must’ve been difficult for you. You have to admit that there’s ample motive to want to discredit him.”

  “Discredit him! But I haven’t done anything to undermine him. The Gerais Chevas deal I was telling you about has nothing to do with what happened in Chicago … at least from my perspective. I’ve been trying to alert you about an active deal that contains some problematic terms. Ones that could potentially put the firm in jeopardy.”

  “Evie, I looked at this Schedule B7. It looked fairly straightforward. There was nothing in the description of the attorney’s role that I found to be improper. Alan did say that Gerais Chevas was a client he brought to the firm, through some of his South American contacts. That said, he had no familiarity with the specifics of this deal to sell its GC Quadra business unit. He said that you were assigned the deal and that you were running with it. Incidentally, he said Gerais Chevas was quite complimentary about your stewardship on the deal.”

  “With all due respect, no one has ever informed me that I was assigned this deal! I’ve never been introduced, assigned or billed any time to that client. I only know about it because I’ve sought out information on my own time. I was concerned about what I’d overheard and some of the specifics that came to my attention. Specifics I certainly didn’t negotiate. That expense report I told you about—it’s wrong. I never made or received those telephone calls to anyone in Brazil and I have never been present for any meeting on this transaction.”

  “You did bill time to them last month. Fourteen hours. And the access lists for all these password-protected files include your name. Alan showed me a handful of emails from your email address on the matter. He said he was carbon-copied, but hadn’t yet paid much attention since the deal was not finalized yet. He said you were negotiating it quite nicely on your own.”

  “He’s lying. What can I tell you? He manipulated the electronic files and communication. I didn’t include them on my time report and I didn’t send any emails. He’s lying just like he’s lying about Chicago. Wait a minute. What did Hanover say about all of this?”

  “Jack is back in the hospital with complications.” Oh, she thought. He probably didn’t have a chance to look into any of this himself as he promised he would. The expense report … and the billing records …

  “He’s fully supportive of you,” Paul continued, “but cannot make sense of the he-said she-said over this Gerais Chevas matter. It’s unconscionable that this firm has a runaway deal with no one at the helm and the client confused over who their attorney is.”

  “As I told you before, Alan’s plan is to discredit me! He made all of you question my competency so when I denied involvement with Gerais Chevas, I wouldn’t be believed. He’s using me as a scapegoat for a …” Evie lost her thought. She was running out of energy to defend herself and she knew word choice was of particular importance. It was clear that Paul was one of the fence-sitters at best. How could she convince him?

  “Paul, let’s call the client.”

  “What?”

  “Did someone call the client and ask them who they’ve been dealing with? There’s this guy, Adinaldo, who sent me an email, but I’ve never talked to him or anyone else from Gerais Chevas.”

  “Yes, actually Evie, we did speak to Adinaldo. He said you’ve been negotiating the deal for them by telephone and by email.” That’s apparently what he told Helen, too.

  “I swear I’ve never talked to any of them. Don’t you think that’s strange that he’s never met me in person? I’ve never been to Brazil and they’ve never been here to meet with me?”

  “Not really. You know we’ve conducted many deals remotely, especially when the client wants to keep costs down. In this case, they specifically requested that Alan limit the time he billed to the matter because of the expense.”

  “I can prove I’ve spent all my billable time elsewhere. I have a document that I put together showing all the time I spent working on other client matters.”

  “Okay, send it to me and I’ll look at it. I don’t understand why they’d say they’ve been working with you if they hadn’t. So, you’re telling me someone has been impersonating you?”

  “I don’t know. I guess that’s what’s going on. All I know is that someone has hijacked my email address, sent emails, charged me with making telephone calls to Brazil and created files that I’ve had nothing to do with negotiating.”

  “I’ve never in thirty years of practice heard of anything like this.”

&
nbsp; “Paul, I can’t explain, because I don’t know what’s going on either. All I know is that because my identity has been stolen for this deal, I can’t imagine that it’s a legal, boilerplate sort of transaction …” Evie suddenly stopped talking.

  “Evie, are you okay?” asked Paul.

  It occurred to her that the email Joe intercepted, with the reference to a conference call about a government project, proved that Alan was familiar with the details of this deal. She could catch him in a lie, but to do it she’d have to explain how she intercepted the email. And that seemed certain to deepen the hole she’d already dug for herself.

  “I’m just suddenly exhausted,” she said.

  Paul leaned back again in his chair. “All the more reason that what I’m about to propose is necessary. I was thinking and the partners agreed … that maybe you should take a brief leave of absence. Just to think things over and evaluate your options. Fully paid, of course, in addition to the settlement amount.”

  Well, that’s that, she thought. I’m done protecting the firm. “Okay,” she said. “I understand. I understand that maybe I should take some time—”

  “Evie, I’m not asking you to resign, you understand. I think you’re just suffering from the effects of stress. I know you have been working extremely long hours for quite some time.”

  “Yes. Okay. I uhh … maybe I do need some time.”

  “Of course, since Gerais Chevas is Alan’s client, he’ll be looking into the specifics of this deal in your absence. He’ll take care of any required action to satisfy the client.” Yeah, I’ll bet he will.

  Paul shifted again and crossed his legs. “So, do we have an agreement on the settlement?”

  “May I have some time to think about it?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “And I would like a copy of this taped conversation, please.”

  “Yes, of course. And, please keep your laptop and come and go freely. Just take some time off.”

  “Do I need to contact my clients about my absence?”