Tug Of Law (Bernadette Mackenna Cases Book 4)

by D. R. Bailey

  “I know, I can’t help worry and I’m sorry, I know I should not.” Tears sprang to Bernadette’s eyes.

  “You know you are a very rare thing, a jewel. We all know it, darling, and we cherish you. Without you there would be no law firm, none of us would have jobs, Eve wouldn’t have launched her art career. I would never have found you and been your friend. I’ve never talked like this before, but you need to be told for your own sake.”

  “Where did I find a friend like you?” Bernadette said wiping her hand across her eyes.

  “Come here, come to Imogen.” She took Bernadette in her arms, as she had many times before, and Bernadette cried softly into Imogen’s shoulder.

  “Let it all out, darling, you’re tired, you’ve had an emotional weekend,” Imogen said softly stroking her hair.

  Bernadette nodded clinging to her friend. It was cathartic and after a while, she felt better and sat up.

  “OK?” Imogen said gently.

  “Yes. Thank you. I do feel better. God, I’m forever crying on your shoulder.”

  “That’s what friends are for. Now, do you promise to let this go about the money?”

  “Yes, yes I do.” Bernadette nodded.

  “Good.” Imogen smiled. “And if you don’t, I’m going to tell Eve, then you’ll be in trouble.”

  Bernadette laughed. “Oh don’t, I’ll be up in the bedroom for an hour with my hands on the wall.”

  Imogen laughed too. “How awful, I’m not sure I could do it either.”

  “Are things OK, with you and D’Arcy?” Bernadette asked, changing the subject.

  “Yes, I acted like a bitch as you know. She accepted my apology. I offered her the paddle, but she declined to use it, thank goodness. She said she would only consider it if I did something really bad.”

  “Oh my God, what’s really bad?”

  “I don’t know. And I don’t want to find out either.”

  They laughed at this and Bernadette felt better, lighter. She had to let things go, she knew it, and she determined not to worry about the cost of the wedding again or who had paid for any of it. The universe would set the balance right if needed, Eve had always told her this, and she had to trust her wife’s innate wisdom.

  “So, turning back to work,” said Imogen with a sigh, “What’s the plan?”

  “We need to finalise what we’re going to do about Callum’s affidavit. I think we have to go ahead with texts, as we said, and put it in at the last minute. It won’t give them time to marshal their defences too much.”

  These were standard lawyer games. Going at the last minute was a trick many used to prevent the opposition from reacting to it. Bernadette wasn’t above these types of strategies when it was warranted.

  “OK, and we’ll file Anh’s affidavit?”

  “Yes, we can do that, give them something to chew on, we need to make the arrangements for her to video conference for the hearing.”

  “I’ll talk to Damsa.”

  “Then there’s Olivia, maybe Brogan will have given them some help to move things forward.”

  “Yes. Let’s hope. See if she gets in contact.”

  “We need to prep up the questions for cross examination.”

  “OK, it all seems straightforward now.”

  “I think we’ll be in good shape for the hearing. There’s not much else we can do but go in guns blazing.”

  Imogen laughed at this analogy. “I guess if you put it that way.”

  “It’s the only way, darling. We have to destroy their witness and their case, if we can.”

  “I’ll get onto Micky and we can sort out the texts, maybe we should go through them ourselves.”

  “Perhaps we should, if they are on the server.”

  “I’ll talk to Micky.”

  “OK, darling, well, we’d better get on with it I suppose.”

  “Yes, indeed.”

  Imogen got up from the sofa, took the coffee cups and left the office. Bernadette reached for her phone, she wanted to send her wife a text. The thought of it sent chills down her spine. Eve was her wife, hers… for always. She smiled and composed a sexy but loving message.

  ✽✽✽

  By Friday, most of the preparation had been completed for the hearing, although they had not heard anything from Olivia. On her drive home, Bernadette wondered if this operation was going to be a write off as far as the hearing was concerned, in spite of Brogan’s avowed intention to help it along. He wasn’t a miracle worker, however, and in any case, the investigation may not assist them at all. She also wondered about Oisin but again, he had probably exerted as much influence over it as he could. The judge for the hearing was definitely annoyed by his interference and this had worked in favour of the defence.

  One excellent outcome was the emergence of a campaign in the press supporting Callum and questioning why the UK was trying to extradite one of their citizens on flimsy evidence. A Facebook Free Callum page has been started up which was garnering much support. There was little to worry about justice wise since this was not a jury trial. Public opinion would be unlikely to influence the judge, but it was raising the stakes against Oisin’s undercover shenanigans, and she hoped it might help to neutralise his efforts.

  With that in mind, she pulled up at home, and went inside looking forward to seeing Eve. She wasn’t disappointed and had just put her bag down when Eve bowled into the hallway almost knocking her off her feet.

  “Oof,” said Bernadette, “I’m glad you’re pleased to see me.”

  She was silenced by her wife’s eager kiss for several moments.

  “Hello, my darling wife,” said Eve smiling once their lips had parted.

  “Hello back, my beautiful wife.”

  “I never get tired of saying that.” Eve led her by the hand into the living room.

  She gave Bernadette a glass of wine and sat down next to her on the sofa.

  “So, how was your day?”

  “Oh, nothing special, just prepping up for court and we’re pretty much done. Not anything exciting, what about yours, darling?” Bernadette sipped her drink gratefully.

  “Well, I,” Eve announced, brimming with news, “Had lunch with D’Arcy.”

  “Oh? Somewhere nice?”

  “Just her favourite, you know. Chapter One, downstairs in the basement. Private.”

  “And was it good?”

  “Oh yes.” Eve smiled a knowing smile. “Very good, we’re best of friends now.”

  “Weren’t you before?”

  “But not like this,” said Eve in conspiratorial tones.

  “And I thought I was your best friend, especially now we’re married,” said Bernadette with a mock pout and a sotto voice.

  “Oh, silly, next to you, of course. You’re my very bestest of friends, my lover, my life, my everything…”

  “I know, and I love it, I was joking,” Bernadette laughed, “But what about Imogen, she’s your best friend too, isn’t she?”

  “And Imogen, of course! Stop it! Darling, I’m trying to tell you something interesting,” Eve said giggling.

  “Sorry, I’ll be quiet, go on.” Bernadette pretended to put on a straight face and tried not to laugh.

  “Well, anyway… she confided in me,” said Eve with a secret smile.

  “Oh? What about?” Bernadette was now interested and took another sip of wine.

  “All about the spanking,” Eve said dramatically.

  “Oh… really?” Bernadette raised an eyebrow.

  “Yes, yes, she had been wanting to tell someone.”

  “What did she say? Doesn’t she like it or something?”

  “Oh no, she loves it. I mean, not totally while it’s happening, but she assured me she really does like it.”

  “Oh, oh I see.” Bernadette was doubtful hearing this but waited for Eve to tell her some more.

  “Yes, she told me how it all started, you know after she kissed me in the courtr
oom. Imogen was very angry with her, she said. She was scared Imogen would leave her but instead, well, you know what happened.”

  “That was really the first time?”

  “Yes, and she said how it felt almost cathartic. You know she’s oblivious sometimes to other people’s feelings, and she said Imogen had taught her to become more attentive, caring, paying more attention to how Imogen feels.”

  “And all this across Imogen’s knee?”

  “She said so.” Eve shrugged.

  “She found it helpful?”

  Eve chuckled. “Well, in a manner of speaking, but she said it also makes her as horny as fuck.”

  “There we are then, that’s a payoff, I guess it’s a win-win.”

  “Yes.”

  “And presumably you told her about us in reciprocation?”

  “Of course, how could I not? You tell Imogen everything. She knew about the Shibari anyway, she’s seen us having sex while I was tied up.” Eve’s tone was a little challenging.

  “I know, and it’s OK. Don’t look at me like that. This was bound to come out in the end. We are all good friends after all. It couldn’t remain a secret forever.”

  “Yes, sorry. I didn’t mean to be defensive.”

  “Don’t be silly. It was probably a big deal to D’Arcy to confide in you.”

  “Yes. It was, I think she feels the need of a friend, you know, not just Imogen.”

  “You’re right, and it’s your right to have a friend to talk to apart from me, and I accept that.”

  “As long as you’re not… jealous,” Eve said tentatively.

  “No, no I’m not, silly.”

  “Thank you.”

  Eve put out her hand and took Bernadette’s in hers.

  “So, you’ll be doing lunch with her a bit more often?”

  “I think so, yes, and shopping sometimes.”

  “That’s great, I think it’s a good thing. And can I tell Imogen that you know about their secret?”

  “I guess so. I mean, I’m sure D’Arcy knows I’ll tell you because I tell you everything… well, most of the time, but from now on, you know what I mean.” Eve coloured up.

  “Put it in the past, we said no more secrets and we meant it.”

  “Yes.” Eve nodded.

  “So, what should we do now?”

  “Dinner?”

  “Mmm, and let’s have a relaxing weekend, just you and me. Especially after the one we’ve had.”

  “We will, I’ve made you Stroganoff.”

  “Oh God, sex on a plate…”

  “Followed by sex off the plate.”

  Bernadette laughed and allowed Eve to pull her up and take her to the dining room.

  ✽✽✽

  The weekend passed in a lazy fashion. They went out for a run, and then a walk on the beach had lunch at a country pub. Eve spent time drawing, and Bernadette watched her lazily from the sofa. She didn’t really feel like doing anything much except enjoying Eve’s company. She had also recently rekindled a taste for romance novels and was making her way through Jane Austen. It was perhaps the wedding which had precipitated this mood.

  On Monday, she was back in the office with Imogen, for their morning chat.

  “How was the weekend with the family?” Bernadette asked sipping her coffee as usual.

  “Oh, God, don’t… just don’t,” Imogen said dramatically with her hand across her brow, “It was fucking exhausting.”

  “Was it so bad?” Bernadette cocked an eye.

  “It was better than I expected but they just kept on asking so many questions about us, how did we meet, when did I find out I was gay, on and on and on like a fucking bunch of Torquemadas or something,” Imogen said crossly.

  “Oh dear.” Bernadette was sympathetic, she knew Imogen had been dreading it.

  “It’s my fault really.” Imogen sipped her coffee. “I hadn’t told them anything, so they would be curious at the very least, I just didn’t expect then to be that fucking curious.”

  “How did D’Arcy get on with them?”

  “Oh, they love D’Arcy. D’Arcy the wonder woman entertained them for hours with stories about her life in the movies. They watched two of her films in the theatre. Swam in the pool, all that stuff.”

  “So really it wasn’t that bad.”

  “No, D’Arcy likes them. She thought my mum was very sweet, and my dad too. My sister and my brother were there, asking all manner of awkward questions.”

  “You know I’ve never met your family,” Bernadette said suddenly, “What a terrible friend I must be.”

  “No, you’re not,” Imogen protested, “Why should you? I don’t really like them all that much if I’m honest. I never made a big deal of it.”

  “Why? Were they mean to you or something?”

  “No, nothing like that, it’s just I suppose nothing was ever good enough for them.” There was a bitter note to Imogen’s voice.

  “Oh.”

  “I don’t feel they ever supported me. My mother and father really wanted me to get married I think, not become a barrister.”

  “What about your siblings?”

  Imogen sighed. “Oh well, they’re both a lot older than me, I was an afterthought. My sister is ten years older and my brother twelve years older. They weren’t even at home for that many years. Just when I was growing up and then they were gone. I felt like an only child. Just me. A mum and dad who never really wanted me. Accidental Imogen they called me. Their little accident.”

  “Oh, Imogen, I’m so sorry.”

  Imogen shook her head. “Oh no, I’m over it. Fuck that. It made me stronger and more determined to do well and show those fuckers what I am made of.”

  “Well, you certainly showed them now!”

  “Oh, they were impressed alright by all the finery, of course. The money, it talks their language.”

  “Were they… did they?” Bernadette didn’t know how to say it.

  Imogen filled in the blanks, “Embarrassing? Vulgar? No, thank God. They were quite circumspect really. Though I’ll no doubt become the favourite child or sister when they want something.”

  Bernadette laughed. “Give them nice presents at Christmas, that will keep them happy.”

  “Oh fuck, Christmas, what am I going to do then? They’ll want me to invite them, oh God.”

  “You don’t have to, of course, why not have them the weekend before,” Bernadette said reasonably.

  “I want you and Eve to come for Christmas. The four of us to spend it together. I don’t want anybody else. I mean, I know it’s a long time away, and it’s not fair of me asking you and…”

  “We’d love to come,” Bernadette exclaimed at once, “I’m sure Eve will agree.”

  “Oh, fantastic, wait until I tell D’Arcy. How exciting. Oh, it’s going to be so lovely. D’Arcy is going to be so happy.”

  Bernadette smiled.

  “There you go. Oh, and there’s something I should tell you,” Bernadette began.

  Imogen cut her short, “D’Arcy told Eve about our games, yes I know. D’Arcy told me.”

  Bernadette let out a sigh of relief.

  “Well, I hope you don’t mind.”

  Imogen shrugged. “Why should I? it’s not a secret now so that’s quite good really. I can be more open, all of us can.”

  “As long as you’re OK with it.”

  “It had to come from D’Arcy, and it has.”

  “So, we’re all good?”

  “Yes, we are.”

  Bernadette smiled, reached out and squeezed Imogen’s hand affectionately. She wondered what being more open entailed but did not like to ask. She felt quite strongly some things were best kept behind closed doors.

  Just then Alison put her head around the door.

  “That detective, Olivia, the one who likes the tea, she’s here to see you, I’ve put her in the meeting room complete with… tea.”

  “Oh, y
ou’re a gem, darling, an absolute gem,” said Bernadette.

  “I guess we’d better go and say hello, see what she wants.” Imogen stood.

  Bernadette paused for a moment. “Alison, I’ve been meaning to say we’ve got the go ahead to get another PA, so we need to prep up some adverts, you know. Sorry with everything that’s been going on, I just didn’t...”

  “Oh, good, it’s fine, honestly,” Alison said, “I’ll liaise with Andrew, put something together, run it by you.”

  “Great.”

  “I’ll get you two some coffees,” said Alison as they went to the meeting room.

  Olivia was sitting at her usual place on the sofa stirring her tea. She was looking very pretty, Bernadette thought, wearing a black suit, court shoes and a light pink blouse.

  “Ah,” she said, looking up at them, “Good to see you again after such a wonderful occasion at the weekend.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it,” said Bernadette as they took a seat.

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it, both of you. A stunning pair and beautiful ceremony, well, all of it really.”

  Olivia nonchalantly sipped her tea. Alison came in briefly to hand them their coffees.

  “So, anyway, I didn’t come here to talk about your wedding, as pleasant as it was,” said Oliva when Alison had gone.

  “OK.” Bernadette sipped her coffee and waited for Olivia to come to the point.

  “Your case, well, my case really. Balik Transport.”

  “Yes,” said Bernadette sitting up a little.

  “It seems some important people suddenly took a great interest in them.” Olivia sipped her tea and delicately took a biscuit from the plate thoughtfully provided by Alison.

  “Oh?” Bernadette said innocently, while Imogen could not resist a slight smirk.

  “Yes, they did, all of a sudden, out of the blue. You wouldn’t happen to know about it would you?” Olivia shot Bernadette a questioning glance.

  “I… err…” Bernadette demurred and hid her face behind her coffee mug.