“I love Thai food—straight from the take-out container.”
“I can guarantee it’s better from Gabi’s Kitchen. Think about it.”
“I will.”
“I’ll walk you out. Before you get used to the layout, it’s a bit of a labyrinth. But first—”Emilio guided her into the kitchen, and gestured to steaming mugs on a tray.“Another Saturday night ritual—a hot drink to go with the story.”He poured a mug into a travel container and handed it to her.
“It smells like heaven.”Ruby sampled.“And tastes like it smells.”
“Hot Spanish chocolate—one of the finer things in life.”
“This is my kind of fancy.”
“It’s an old family recipe. My grandmother safeguarded it. Back when we lived in Spain, this was one of my mother’s small comforts. She didn’t have enough of them in those days.”He unclenched his fist and gripped a mug.
Ruby’s brow furrowed.“What do you mean?”
He forced a smile.“It’s time for fairy tales and happy endings. Everything else must wait. Thank you again for coming, Rubina.”
“Tell Gabi I had a wonderful time.”
“So did she. She’s already taken you in as one of her own.”
They stepped onto the sidewalk.
He waved a cab, and opened the door for her.“I’ll see you tomorrow, Rubina, under much less pleasant circumstances.”
“Yeah.”Ruby sighed.“Let me know how your fairy tale ends.”
“I imagine Aragon and Tabitha will do something like this.”He leaned down for a gentle kiss and the heat soon melded them together. Breaking contact first, he stayed close, waiting for her response.
“Well, try to keep it G-rated for the kids.”She nudged him back and yanked the door closed.
With a wide smile, he watched until her cab disappeared around the corner.
Ruby returned to her office, sat at her desk, and wondered at the strange feeling. She’d wanted to stay. Shoving it aside, she dove into her work, surfacing at eleven to drag herself home. She thought of a man who’d build a castle for his mother and weave fairy tales for children. Happy endings mattered most to those who’d witnessed the dark. She figured, if nothing else, they had that in common. It was a start. One she was uncomfortable with, but she wasn’t one for denial. Mind occupied with Emilio, she drifted into a dreamless reprieve from the monsters that haunted her while asleep and awake.
Chapter 16
Ruby walked into the meeting room, and stopped at the sight of her potential client.
A young woman clicked the long, swirled orange nails of one hand on the table and twirled her elaborate curls with the other. Her bronzed face hinted of beauty beneath a look-at-me mask. She shot icy daggers at Ruby from beneath a curtain of lashes.“Did you have to meet up so early? I sleep in.”
Ruby sat and returned the frost.“Under the supervision of the Minnesota Department of Corrections, you’d be up at seven, every day.”
“You’re going to keep me out of prison.”
“No guarantee of that.”
“My last lawyer promised he would.”
“Empty promises must not be what you’re after, or you wouldn’t be here. Would you like to start over, Rebecca? Maybe we could set a friendlier tone for this meeting.”
“Sorry, I’m not usually such a bitch. I’m on edge.”She offered her hand with a small smile.“I’m Rebecca. Thanks for seeing me.”
“Apology accepted.”Ruby shook her hand.“Pleased to meet you, Rebeccca. I’m Ruby. Welcome to my law firm. Thank you for sending your case materials over in advance. It gave me a chance to review your file. You’re organized.”
“So are you.”
“I’m a lawyer. What did you expect?”
She pressed her lips together and puffed air.“I had low expectations after Peroni. And he was the best of the creeps I met with before the hire. If he’d have put as much effort into my case as trying to get laid I wouldn’t be here.”
“You didn’t want to be told you’re too beautiful to be a criminal?”
“No, or suck his small dick for payment.”
“Ah, I see. You didn’t want to pay him in sexual favors. Many of my colleagues haven’t earned my respect. And many don’t play by the rules.”
“Do you always follow the rules?”
“Yes, always. If you can’t work with that, I’ll be happy to show you out. I’ll even send you on your way with a travel cup of coffee and a scone—no hard feelings.”
“I’ll have my coffee here, if you don’t mind.”She reached forward and lifted her mug.
“Good. What’s Anthony Priestley like?”
Pain clouded her sapphire eyes. She swallowed hard before answering.“He never missed a Friday night dinner. My parents . . . Well, they’re out of the picture. When he found that out, he started bringing me around. Not as his girl.”
“Would he rabbit?”
“No, not without telling me and Lizzie.”
“His mother?”
“Yeah. He’d at least let us know when we’d see him again. His dad bolted on his mom. Tony would never do that to her. We had plans.”
“Which were?”
“He wanted to get out of the life.”
“Drug dealing?”
“Yeah.”
“Coke?”
“Yeah.”
“Go ahead.”
“Friday was going to be the big night. He wanted to meet before dinner, just the two of us. He had mag news.”
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“Tuesday morning. He wanted to make Friday night special.”
“Was it someone’s birthday?”
“No, it was because of his big news. We went to the antique store.”
“Alfred’s.”
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
“Lucky guess.”
“He sprang for a present for his mom—a necklace.”
“What’s she like?”
“She’s fiery with curls like mine. Well, hers are natural, and red. And she has green eyes like yours, but brighter. Like a cat, Tony says. She’s Irish, and quick to get worked up.”
“And quick to forgive?”
“Yeah.”
“What’d the necklace look like?”
“Rubies and emeralds. I could sketch it.”
“You notice if he wore any jewelry?”
“Yeah, a ring. It was mag. It’s all he had left of his dad. I can draw that, too.”
Ruby handed her a stylus, and opened a sketch app on the guest tablet.
“No, I free style.”She held up her nails.“My work. I need real tools.”
“You mean—”
“Real paper, heavy stock. Charcoal pencils. Don’t I look like an artist?”She smirked at Ruby.
“You don’t, Rebecca.”Ruby tapped a message into her PSC, and sent it before looking up.“Have you worn something like this . . . attire to court?”
“Yes. Skirt, heels, shirt. What’s wrong with it? I look like a vid goddess.”
“Of the porn genre. Court is conservative. It’s serious business. Your future is in the hands of the judge making decisions about your life. I think there’s more to you than this made-up front. You have an eye for detail. You’re organized. You must have paid attention in school. Where did you go?”
“Jefferson. I graduated with honors.”
“Did you always dress like this?”
“No, I was a real Miss Goody. That was before I grew boobs and boys noticed me.”
“Let me put it this way. We don’t want the judge to notice your cleavage and nothing else about you.”
“Prude.”She looked Ruby up and down.
Ruby mirrored her.“Prostitute.”
Rebecca glared at her.
“Rebecca, I know looks can be deceiving, but some people don’t take the time to see past their preconceived notions. Do you want them to imprison you for looking like a hooker? Some people think that’s an offense worthy of a
long lockup. They wouldn’t be too concerned about getting the specifics about this case. Tramps like coke. Case closed.”
“You know, I have a whole lot to say about your frumpy-ass suit.”
“You’d have to get in line. And I’m more interested in figuring out what happened to your friend. It sounds like Anthony saw more in you than cleavage and legs.”
“Yeah. Are you going to take my case?”
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether you’re going to do your part as a member of your own legal team. I’ll explain what’s going on, and what I find. I’ll answer questions. But you have to trust I’m the expert on case strategy. You may think you’re more clever than the cops, but you’re charged with felony drug possession. Let’s start with something simple. Are you willing to dress conservatively for court?”
“You know, this isn’t what that prick Peroni told me to do.”
“What did he tell you?”
“The more skin, the better.”
“Can you think of a reason he’d tell you that? A self-serving one?”
“Sure, I’m not an idiot. I figured he was getting off on it. But I had no reason to think the old guy behind the bench didn’t think just like him.”
“No, I suppose you wouldn’t.”
“So I was right—Peroni’s no good?”
“No one’s been able to catch him falling below the bare minimum, nor rising above it.”
“He didn’t even know the name of the cop that took me in. I tricked him, and asked if he’d talked to Mahowald. He said he’d played tag with him.”
“I see your point. Officer White arrested you.”
“Yeah. Mahowald transferred out.”
“Sounds like someone did her research.”
“I knew my file better than he did. It’s not adding up. Why did they come after me? I’m a nobody. Low-level.”
“When’s the last time you heard from Anthony?”
“He called after he picked up the necklace. He was blazed about it. Couldn’t wait to show it to me. We were still on for coffee.”She dabbed at her eye, careful to not stab it with a sharp nail.“He said he was a new man. I pressed him, but he wouldn’t crack. He told me I’d have to see it to believe it.”
“What did you think about him getting out?”
“I doubted it was legit at first. You want out, you flee and hope both the cops and higher-ups don’t find you. Blood in, blood out. But he swore it wasn’t like that. He was in on the ground level so he’d get rewarded.”She slammed her fist on the table.“I keep flopping between worried and pissed, ya know? The cops aren’t doing anything about some single guy that’s been gone for a few days. A spontaneous vaca, they said. He wouldn’t do that to Lizzie. He pays all her bills. If he doesn’t come back, she’d really be in a jam. And now I’m crunched and can’t help her out. He better show up soon.”She clenched her jaw.
“Anything else make you think he wouldn’t just disappear?”
“Our buddy Cheeze went rabbit. His real name’s Francis. He vanished. No word to any of us. I didn’t put it past Cheeze, but no way would Tony not tell us. Not if he could help it.”She raised her eyes to meet Ruby’s.“That’s the part that worries me.”
Colin knocked and entered.“Paper and pencils.”
“Where did you dig those up?”
“You have no idea what’s behind the front desk.”
“Anton’s?”
“No, we devoured it.”
“Damn it.”
“Anything else?”
“No, thanks for the speedy delivery.”
“Any time.”
Rebecca watched him leave.“He’s cute.”
“He wouldn’t be interested in you.”
“Why?”Rebecca stood, eyes blazing.“Because I’m nothing but a two-bit, drug dealing whore?”
“No, because he’s madly in love with his co-hab Charles who is the perfect specimen of a man—ask Colin.”Ruby said, amused.
“Oh.”She sat, and compressed her lips.
“Want to know what I think of you?”
“I don’t care.”Her captive gaze belied her words.
“I think you feel let down by your parents. You got the grades, went to an elite school on scholarship. The other kids got free rides, fancy stuff. You had to work hard for everything you got, and still you didn’t have much. You wanted nice things—designer dresses, handbags.”
Her eyes popped a bit before she looked away.“Maybe I dealt to pay for my sister’s operation. Did you consider that?”
“The sister you don’t have? You’re an only. And yes, I noticed your poor excuse for clothing isn’t off-the-rack. It makes you look cheap, though. You chose this world of quick cash and brand names. Has it made you happy? Has it given you the status you wanted?”
“I’m not here for a lecture.”
“Neither am I. I’m wondering if you understand what’s important to you, or if you’ve fallen for your own front. What’s been the best night of your week?”
“Fridays.”
“How many purses, designer clothes, and piles of cash would you give up to find your friend?”
“All of it.”
“You haven’t been building a life, Rebecca. You’ve been building a lie.”Ruby held up her hand when Rebecca tried to respond.“Think about it later. Does Anthony have unusual smarts in the chemistry field—like one of those untrained tech whizzes?”
“Yeah, right. He barely passed our chem class, and that was only because I was his lab partner.”
“How organized have you been with your illegal business?”
“Very.”
“How so?”
“I kept notebooks—all my drops, all my connections. I kept records for Tony, too.”
“Excellent. You have the notebooks with you?”
“No, I gave them to a friend for safekeeping.”
“I’ll need that info. Your case hinges on the drugs. They were found in your truck. If the search was legal, they stay in and it’s an easy case for the state to win. If it was illegal, the drugs are suppressed and poof, the case goes away. The legality of the search was decided. You lost. The drugs stay in.”
“So I’m screwed.”
“You’re not walking away from this. Now we do damage control.”Ruby caught a flash in her eye.“You pay attention to details. Did the big fed bust six months ago disrupt supply?”
“Yeah, it did. The higher-ups changed. That’s when Tony got in on the ground.”
“Notice any change in quality when the supply stream commenced?”
“Yeah, it was prime. Not like the shit we were selling. It’d do the job, but not like the new stuff.”
“You use your own product?”
“No, I’m no addict.”
“Good, saves me from talking you into treatment. What kind of training do you think you’d need for that caliber of product?”
“Any idiot could find the recipe and basic cooking instructions. But this stuff was pure, refined. That’d require creating a new formula, top-grade equipment, and deep know-how of the process.”
“Could you do it?”
“No way in hell.”
“Or you’d already have done it, and cut out the middle. More profit for you. You’d be queenpin of your own organization.”
“Yeah, I would have. It’s the kind of thing I thought I wanted once.”She studied her nails.
“A chemist could do it?”
“Yeah, definitely. A good one.”
“We have our work cut out for us. We have to convince the prosecution you’re worthy of a chance at redemption. We may have some bargaining chips to work with. Anthony was going straight. He wanted to give himself a better life. Do you want the same for yourself?”
“Yeah.”
“I like that you didn’t hesitate. Are you willing to work for it?”
“Yeah.”
“Welcome to your own legal team, Rebecca.”Ruby tapped the sket
chbook with a pencil and held it out.“Here’s your first assignment.”
They locked gazes.
Satisfied by what she saw, Rebecca nodded and grabbed the pencil.
“I’ll give you some space, Rebecca.”
“Becky.”She started to draw with a flourish, and paused to give Ruby a sassy grin.“Go team.”
“That’s the spirit.”
✧
“Let’s get this meeting started,”Ruby said.“Emilio?”
“Colin and I deployed Jaspyr to the farm property of Susan Combes. The farmhouse itself has fallen into disrepair and appeared to be in disuse. The main barn was a different story. We obtained access through the hay loft and captured footage of the activity on the main level.”
Ruby posted stills on-screen.“These images show this unidentified man working in the lab. Its setup is peculiar. Patient beds line one area. Elsewhere, there’s piping and glassware, and bulk chemicals on shelving units. What was Jerald Combes doing in this lab? And what is this man doing in the lab of Jerald Combes?”
“We had to look closer,”Emilio said.“At the tools, the setup.”
“Come on, you two,”Colin said.“Enough with the suspense.”
She held up her hand, and continued.“Another man comes onto the scene. One we all recognize.”
“Stuart Johnston,”said Jasmine.
“Yes, Mr. County Attorney—best buds with Jerald Combes. And there he is with another man.”
“Who?”Colin prompted.
“Anthony Priestley. I recognize him from the missing-person report.”Kottke grinned.“Taking a little thunder back from yesterday.”
“Well done,”Ruby said.“I sent this still to Alfred, and he confirmed it’s Priestley. So it seems we have Jerald Combes in the pawn shop yesterday morning, and dead in his cabin less than twelve hours later. We have Anthony Priestley disappearing on Friday, and reappearing on Saturday.”
“Busted! We have the killers!”
“I appreciate your enthusiasm, Jazz. We’re not quite there yet. All right, team. How do we wrap up these bastards with a bow for the feds, and spring our client at the same time?”
“Let me guess,”Colin said.“You have a plan.”
The Veiled Cage (Lady Lawyer Series Romantic Suspense Novels Book 1) Page 17