Molly swept past the receptionist’s desk. At the door to Brad’s office, she knocked and said politely, “Sorry for the intrusion. Is this a bad time?”
“Molly. Come in. My meetings don’t start for another hour.” Brad motioned her inside and watched her closely. “Have you spoken to Drew?”
“Not since he left my apartment last evening.” She had texted Drew. No response. She’d left a voice mail. Again, no response. Still, she had work to do. A case to conclude. “Have you seen him?”
“I saw him last night.” Brad rolled his chair away from his desk.
An ache pulsed in her chest. Drew had shut her out, but not his brother. She was grateful Drew hadn’t been alone, and yet she hurt. “I need that folder on Gina Hahn.”
Brad twisted, picked up the purple folder from the shelf behind him. He stood and handed her the file. “How can I help?”
“You’ve done enough.” Drew wasn’t alone. He had his brother beside him, as it should be. Family came first for both Drew and Molly. What she accomplished over the next few days on Drew’s case would benefit her small family of two. “I can handle things from here.”
“What about Drew?” Brad’s gaze tracked her with that same shrewd sharpness that Drew possessed.
Drew had walked away last night, refusing to talk. With everything at stake once again, she had to break a promise she’d given to Drew. How else would they prove it was Vinson, not Drew, in the video without Reuben on the stand to officially identify Cory Vinson in the recording? Vinson could just deny it all and push the claims of witness tampering back on Drew. There was no other way to win and thereby get Drew his old life back.
Her heart was always destined to lose. She’d known that all along and still let herself fall for him anyway. “I’m getting Drew exactly what he wants.”
“And that is?” Brad leaned into the corner of his desk and crossed his arms over his chest, his posture casual as if he hadn’t quite taken a firm position. As if he could be swayed. She recognized the stance.
But Molly had already defined hers. Already knew where she stood. “Drew wants his old life back.”
Brad’s eyebrows lowered. “He told you that?”
“Last week on our way to Sacramento.” Okay, Drew hadn’t said it since then, but Molly hadn’t asked either. Afraid he hadn’t expanded his wants to include both herself and Hazel.
Once she called in Gina to testify, and truly broke her promise to Drew, she knew she’d destroy any chance that he would want to be with her. Trust, once broken, was almost impossible to regain. She lifted her chin. “The right decision is to get Gina Hahn to testify.”
“I agree,” Brad said.
No challenge. No argument. Why couldn’t Drew see it, as well?
But she already knew why. Drew protected everyone before himself. And he didn’t want Gina Hahn in harm’s way. He already carried so much regret and guilt for Van Solis’s wrongful conviction. So that left Molly to watch out for Drew. And she would do it her way. “Can I call you if I need more information?”
“You can call me for anything,” Brad said. “I mean that. Anything. You’re not alone either.”
“I appreciate that.” Molly walked toward the door. “I’ll be in touch if anything comes up.”
She slipped out of Brad’s office and headed for the elevators. The glass elevator descended to the lobby, and a different kind of loneliness draped over Molly. As if she’d already lost Drew and so much more. But she’d never allowed her emotions to interfere with her judgment or her decisions as an attorney and she refused to start now.
As soon as she stepped off the elevator, she pulled out the file folder on Gina Hahn, located the woman’s current address and opened her ride share app to request a car. She detoured into Roasted Vibes Café, sent a text to Brooke to check on Hazel while in line, then placed a to-go order with Brandie.
The contents of Gina Hahn’s file studied and absorbed during her ride-share trip, Molly stuck the folder back in her briefcase, gathered her to-go order and thanked her driver. She had the information she required to approach the woman for her testimony. She never reconsidered her plan. Simply descended the stairs that led to Gina’s basement-level apartment and rang the bell.
The front door cracked open. Gina glared at her through the small gap. “I knew you would return.”
“It wasn’t planned or my first choice.” Molly shifted to reveal the twin coffee cups she held. “Can we talk? I need five minutes of your time.”
Gina opened the door wider, aimed her chin at the coffee. “What is it?”
“Double café macchiato. It was always a favorite at my old firm.” Details mattered. Always. Drew had told Molly what he wanted, and her heart hadn’t listened. Details she should’ve heeded.
Molly handed the woman one of the cups, hoping the caffeine might help whatever might be weighing on Gina’s shoulders. “And strawberry lemon cream cheese scones.”
Gina accepted the coffee, opened her door and padded barefoot across the nicked hardwood floors in the modest apartment.
“We received the flash drive.” Molly noticed the stack of legal textbooks on a bookshelf next to an array of kid’s books crammed in the corner. “Thank you.”
“Then you have what you need.” Gina stood in her kitchen and cradled her coffee in both hands. Her shoulders hunched as if she wanted to disappear.
“Not exactly.” Molly faced her over the kitchen’s breakfast bar. Clothes and towels were piled on the only two stools. “Reuben Cote, the key witness, in the Van Solis murder trial passed away yesterday.”
Gina sipped her coffee. The edges of her eyes softened, but nothing else. “That’s sad.”
“And unfortunate.” Molly pulled the bag of strawberry lemon scones from her purse and set them on the counter. “Reuben died before we gained his sworn statement regarding his first video testimony. And now he can’t speak in person at Drew Harrington’s hearing either.”
Gina held her cup in front of her mouth and stared at Molly. Fear tinted the anger, turning her words into an accusation. “You want me to testify at Drew Harrington’s hearing instead.”
“We need someone who can authenticate the video and the identities of the two people in it.” Molly kept her voice calm and her gaze on Gina. “That’s you.”
“You want me to come out and publicly accuse Cory Vinson of misconduct.” More anger rushed into her voice. But the fear widened her dark eyes. “The current and very popular district attorney, who will be up for reelection this fall.”
“I know what I’m asking,” Molly said.
“Do you?” Gina flung her hand out. “You want me to challenge the district attorney. I have a daughter. My whole family’s livelihood depends on that restaurant. I never came forward before in order to protect what little we have. Exposing my secrets exposes them too.”
“I can help you.” Molly indicated the stack of law books in the corner. “That was your dream, wasn’t it?”
“Dreams die.” Gina frowned at her coffee cup.
“No,” Molly said. “You were forced to leave paralegal school because of one man. Blacklisted in the legal community because of that same man. I want to remove that stain you’re carrying around.”
“I don’t care about the stain on me.” Gina flung an arm out, pointing to Harper’s toys. “I left the DA’s office to protect my daughter from her lying father. And that flash drive was my insurance that Cory stayed out of our lives for good.”
Vinson was the father of Gina’s child. Molly more than understood Gina’s motives to protect her daughter. She smoothed her expression into neutral. “But you sent the flash drive to me.”
“Because I trust you to make things right.” Gina raised her chin. “Cory needs to be stopped. He’s done enough damage.”
“I will make things right. For you, too, if you let me help you.”
> “But you need my testimony.” Gina tilted her head as if assessing Molly’s sincerity.
“It’s not complicated, Gina.” Molly reached into the outside pocket of her briefcase.
“It comes down to your conscience. Pokes at your integrity.” Integrity she knew Gina possessed. Molly set her business card on the edge of the counter. She walked to Gina’s front door and turned back. “You need to decide if it’s better to risk everything for someone who deserves it, or to remain silent for someone who doesn’t.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
JUST BEFORE DINNER that evening, Molly opened the door to her apartment and considered her client. No enthusiastic greeting slipped free. No welcome back.
“I tried calling you earlier.” Drew rubbed the back of his neck.
“I had business to take care of.” Molly leaned against the doorjamb and folded her arms across her chest rather than invite Drew inside. She had to restore those boundaries, starting now. “Then I spent the afternoon with the real-estate agent.”
Drew nodded. “Did you find a suitable office space?”
“I have a few options.” And no intention of elaborating further. She’d chosen to cross those boundary lines and she’d only hurt herself in the end. She had to stand firm now. “Why are you here? The hearing is tomorrow morning and you insinuated last night that we had discussed all we needed to.”
“I’m sorry about last night.” He winced, and the corners of his eyes flinched as if his apology jarred him too.
She pressed her lips together and nodded.
He cleared his throat. “I’d like to talk about the hearing. The video will be submitted to Judge Bartlett and the trial counsel at the opening of the hearing.”
“A patient doesn’t get to tell his cardiac surgeon how he wants his pacemaker put in.” Molly narrowed her gaze on him and never budged from the doorway. “The surgeon is the expert. The surgeon knows how to proceed. It’s why the patient chose the best cardiac surgeon in the state.” It was why Drew had chosen Molly.
Drew tucked his hands in his dress pant pockets, rocked back on his heels, but never retreated. “I’m not just a client.”
Nor was she just an attorney. “But you are my client. I’m still your attorney. And I need to advise against this course of action.”
“We have to submit the evidence,” Drew argued.
“And let Judge Bartlett and the trial counsel determine that you are the one in the video with Reuben Cote,” Molly countered. “There’s no one to deny it without Reuben.”
Other than Gina, and as of five minutes ago, Molly hadn’t heard from the woman. She believed Gina Hahn had a conscience; otherwise the woman would not have collected evidence on Cory Vinson over the years she had worked as his legal assistant. And if Gina had intended to use the information to blackmail Vinson, she would never have mailed the flash drive to Molly in the first place.
“What other choice do we have?” Drew tipped his head back and scowled at the porch overhang.
“We need to convince them that their evidence is compromised.” With Gina Hahn’s testimony, that would be a given. Molly wanted to pull out her phone and check to see if Gina had finally called. Molly had other arguments prepared just in case Gina decided to keep silent.
“This isn’t a jury of citizens we hand-picked,” Drew said. “It’s specially selected judges and trial counsel peers who are scholars more versed in the law and all its subtleties.”
“I know who we are facing.” The State Bar Association wasn’t a trivial bunch. Judge Bartlett’s decision tomorrow would be submitted to the State Supreme Court. The Court would have the power to take away Drew’s legal career, past and future, in one final judgment.
“I should go alone to the hearing.” Drew’s voice turned somber, his gaze solemn.
“That’s not how this works.” Molly’s fingers curled into her palms. Frustration swelled inside her. Stubborn man. Always protecting someone else.
His gaze narrowed on her. “Clients terminate their agreements with their attorneys all the time.”
“Is that what you’re doing?” Molly asked.
“Why put yourself in the line of fire?” He speared his hands out to either side, his own frustration clearly showing. “Why risk your reputation too?”
“Because I don’t walk away from my clients or my cases. Because I don’t give up.” She wanted to risk so much more for Drew if only he’d let her. But he wanted to protect her—that was his way. She wanted to scream, be angry with him. She wanted to embrace him and admit she was touched by his worry. Instead she said, “Since when did you start giving up?”
“I’m not giving up.” He shoved his hands back inside his pockets, closed himself off again. “It’s more about acceptance.”
Could he have ever accepted what they shared? What they had together?
“You don’t have to defend me tomorrow.” His quiet words dropped into the evening air.
She didn’t have to defend him, but she would protect him whether he wanted her to or not. “I’ll see you at court tomorrow morning. Don’t forget to polish your shoes and iron your suit.”
As for Molly, she’d hide her heart and concentrate on the hearing in a place where she excelled: the courtroom.
“That’s it?” he asked.
“We both need to get sleep, Drew. And it’s past Hazel’s bedtime.” Molly reached for the apartment door. “We both need to be sharp tomorrow morning.”
That lost look returned. The one she’d seen for the first time at the gala on the patio. She hadn’t seen that look on Drew for a while. She wanted to believe she’d been the one to take away his loneliness. Still wanted to believe once they won that he’d admit how he felt. That he’d forgive her.
She had to face the truth.
He was and had only ever been her client.
“Good night, Drew.” She shut the door, walked to Hazel’s swing and picked up her daughter. The only family she needed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
DREW STOOD OUTSIDE the courtroom and patted his suit pant pockets. No stray coins. No pennies. No matter. The time for wishing had passed.
Soon Judge Bartlett would announce the start of Drew Harrington’s disbarment hearing and invite counsel to proceed.
Clinton Curtis, the State Bar prosecutor, would set out to demonstrate Drew’s misconduct in the Van Solis murder trial, leaning heavily on Reuben Cote’s retraction of his eyewitness account of the murder. Reuben had lied under oath. On the witness stand. That was fact.
Also fact was that Reuben had lied to Drew during their days of pre-trial preparations. Reuben had lied every time he looked at Drew and stuck to his eyewitness account. Only Drew hadn’t known Reuben had falsified that. And that was harder to verify. Not impossible, but not probable without Reuben’s testimony now.
Drew buttoned his suit coat and tried to ignore the unrest deep inside him. He hurt for Reuben’s family and their loss. Hurt for himself. Despised the defeat pulsing in his throat. Encouraged the defiance stiffening his shoulders. And welcomed the pride he couldn’t suppress in his heart.
If he was going to lose his reputation and his career in the next few hours, he would not cower. He’d make his final courtroom appearance count.
He opened the door to the courtroom. His gaze scanned the twin tables at the front of the room, slowed and fixed on Molly. Her bold red suit radiated power and confidence. Her ponytail, sleek and fixed, sharpened her appearance and matched her shrewd gaze.
A different sort of pride roared through Drew for this amazing woman, who stood beside him now, and was prepared to defend him even as the odds of succeeding were against them.
He wanted to take her hand as if she anchored him. But that was wrong. What did he have to offer her? At worst, he had no career. At best, he returned to his former ways, immersed in his work. But his work ma
ttered to people who’d been hurt or worse. He mattered at work. And dedicating his life to that hardly felt wrong.
Molly turned and noticed him. Her eyes barely softened. Her mouth didn’t lift into a warm smile. And that felt entirely wrong.
He wanted her smile. Her laughter. Her affection. But only because he was greedy and selfish.
All that verified Molly McKinney deserved a better man than Drew.
A man that would commit completely to her. Put her first. Without hesitation. Without question.
Drew walked over to the table and set his briefcase on the floor. He faced Molly. “I know how to proceed. The video can be used as linkage evidence. It proves Reuben’s retraction of his testimony is authentic. And the time-date stamp on the video strengthens the argument that I had no knowledge as I became lead prosecutor twelve days later.”
“Drew. Sit.” Molly motioned to the empty chair at the table. “I have this under control. I know what I’m doing.”
But I don’t. I don’t want to lose. Not his career. Not Molly. Alarm and something eerily close to fear weakened his composure. He dropped into the chair. “What are you doing?”
Molly sat beside him and touched his arm. “You have to trust me.”
Trust her with what? His career? His future? His heart?
Drew rose at the introduction of the Honorable Nora Bartlett. He pressed his fingertips into the tabletop as if he required the thick wood to remain standing. Judge Bartlett announced the case and invited the counsel to begin.
Everything proceeded as it should. Until Molly stood and called a witness not on the list.
Molly brought Gina Hahn to the stand. Then everything tilted and blurred as if Drew were watching the proceedings from a very far distance.
He watched Gina place her left hand on the New Testament and raise her right hand, swearing to tell the whole truth.
He listened to Molly question Gina, establishing her identity and connection to the district attorney’s office and her personal, but former, relationship with the current district attorney, Cory Vinson. Then Molly submitted the video recording as evidence and attested to its validity.
Three Makes a Family--A Clean Romance Page 19