“Prema is here,” Kit said . Caja stopped in her tracks and stared at the other woman. Kit’s hair was disheveled and was that a coffee stain on her prim silk blouse? Caja had never known her assistant to so much as have a hair out of place and right now she looked as though she’d been through a wind tunnel. No time to ask about that right now, though.
Caja frowned. “Prema? What on earth is my lawyer doing here?”
“I have no idea,” Kit said. “She’s been here for about twenty minutes. She asked for personnel records.”
“And you didn’t call me back?”
“I did call you. You didn’t pick up.”
Caja pulled her phone out of her pocket. Damn she hadn’t charged it last night and now it was deader than hell.
“Sorry. Did you give her the records?”
“Without your permission?” Kit arched a brow proving that her schoolmarm look was still effective despite her disheveled appearance.
“Can you just cancel my morning schedule? I don’t know why she’s here, or how long she’ll be. No point in keeping clients waiting unnecessarily. If there are any trainers available you can re-assign them if they’re willing.”
Kit nodded. “Already done, boss.”
“Of course, I don’t know what I was thinking.” She turned to enter her office, but had to turn back to her assistant. Kit’s appearance was simply too out of character to ignore. “And by the way, what the hell happened to you?” Caja said, gesturing toward the coffee stain and bird’s nest hair.
Kit’s initial response was nothing more than a puzzled frown. Then she followed Caja’s gaze down to her blouse. With a gasp of dismay she dashed off to the adjoining bathroom. Caja shook her head. She’d have to probe that mystery later. She opened the door to her office to greet Prema, her attorney, who was pacing in front of the window of Caja’s office.
“I didn’t know you were keeping banker’s hours these days, Caja.”
“I didn’t know you made house calls. Since I’m sure you’re billing me for this, let’s get to the point, what are you doing here, and why on earth do you need my personnel records?”
“I work out here.”
“Not in those clothes, you don’t,” Caja said nodding toward the other woman’s well-tailored black suit and shoes that made her feet ache just from looking at them. Despite its severe lines, the suit didn’t totally disguise Prema’s short, well-rounded figure. Prema Upchurch had been a legend in local legal circles almost from the moment she stepped out of law school. A local girl made good , she came out of Harvard Law right into one of the most prestigious firms in town. She didn’t come cheap, but she always brought her A-game. Despite having a mind Clarence Darrow would envy, she had a tendency to look as though she should be at home baking cupcakes, rather than eviscerating opposing counsel before breakfast. Kit called her Suzy Shark, and the name certainly fit. The only pastries Prema would bake would be laced with arsenic. Still, Caja considered her a friend, an expensive friend, but a friend nonetheless. Typically she took her fee in gym membership, which was great for Caja’s bottom line. She’d proven invaluable during Caja’s struggle to retain control of her company and they’d been together ever since.
“Delby Jensen,” Prema said.
“The yoga instructor? What about him?” Caja said putting her bag and coffee down on her desk.
“Did you know he was sleeping with one of your clients?”
Caja sank down into the visitor’s chair distracted for a moment by the new perspective. From here her large chrome and glass desk looked enormous and fairly impressive. Due to her diminutive stature she’d deliberately chosen one that was on the smallish side, or at least she thought she had.
“What?” she said as she realized she hadn’t answered Prema’s question.
“I asked if you knew Jensen was sleeping with a client.” Prema said again with a sharp tilt of her head.
“I had no idea,” Caja said, suddenly feeling as though she’d been dropped off on an alien planet.
“Well, that’s not what this lawsuit says,” Prema said handing Caja the papers she’d been holding when Caja entered the room.
“Lawsuit?” Caja took a deep breath. She wasn’t unaccustomed to lawsuit threats. In her business they were fairly common, but typically from people who’d been injured in some way. Usually her insurance company took care of it, and as of yet none had resulted in an actual suit. “Someone slept with Delby and now they’re suing me? Was he that bad in bed? Can they really sue me for that?” The joke fell flat as Prema didn’t crack a smile.
“You can sue anybody for absolutely anything. Doesn’t mean a judge will entertain it, but you can sue. She’s suing you because she claims Jensen used yoga to seduce and mesmerize her and that you knew about it. Not only that, you encouraged it to keep clients.”
“How the hell do you seduce somebody with yoga? Yoga is a lot of things, but sexy isn’t one of them. Have you seen some of those poses? It makes you pass gas. This couldn’t possibly be legit.”
“Some people believe that it is. That yoga can put you into a trance-like, highly suggestive state. Similar to hypnotism. If she can convince a jury of it, under state law this would be considered rape.”
“What?” Caja had never thought of yoga as anything more than a way to improve flexibility and strength.
“Some believe yoga is intrinsically tied to Hinduism and can induce hallucinations and the like.”
“Oh good grief. Why on earth would anyone believe this? Surely a jury wouldn’t.”
“As your attorney I can tell you that a jury will believe pretty much anything. I strongly suggest you settle.”
“Are you kidding me? Settle a case where someone is accusing me of helping a guy rape a woman for profit? That would absolutely destroy Brickhouse. My investors would lose their minds. And you know I have plans beyond the Madison expansion. I want to get into the Birmingham market and maybe even Atlanta. That will never happen if I settle this case. No woman in her right mind would come to one of my gyms. Besides, it’s a lie. I didn’t know Delby was doing this. Who is this woman?”
“We would require a confidentiality agreement,” Prema said.
“In a town this size? Please. Everyone would know. And those who don’t know would make up something even worse. How did you find out about this, anyway?”
“What, you think I got where I am today by letting my clients get caught flat-footed by these type shenanigans? I have my sources. Still, I almost dismissed this one as a nuisance suit. Fortunately, the name rang a bell, and I looked more deeply.”
Caja shook her head, amazed as always by Prema’s resourcefulness. “Who is the woman that Jensen supposedly slept with?” Caja rubbed her stomach, which had suddenly started to ache. The breakfast sandwich had settled like a stone and she feared it might come back up at any moment. She picked up her coffee cup and took a long swallow.
“Well, here’s the kicker. Her name is Madeline Spraggins,” Prema said with a tilt of her head as though she was waiting for the awful reality to settle in.
Caja frowned. Why did that name sound familiar? Brickhouse was far too large now for her to know all the members by name...then it struck her. “Please tell me she’s not married to Bill Spraggins.”
“The pastor of one of the largest mega church in the southeast? Close friend of the mayor, the governor and pretty much the entire congressional delegation? The guy who hosted a fundraiser for the president when he last campaigned? Yeah, that Bill Spraggins.”
Caja lowered her face to her hands. “Oh my God.”
“It gets worse,” Prema said as she walked over to her briefcase which she’d placed on the credenza next to Caja’s desk. She removed some papers and handed them to Caja. “And he wrote this.”
Caja read the article title out loud. ““Why Yoga is a Threat to Your Christian Faith.” Now that I think about it, I do remember some Christians being opposed to yoga. I think they developed their own yoga, where they don
’t do any chanting. But if Spraggins wrote this, why on earth was his wife taking yoga in my gym?”
“That’s a good question. I’ve always said you were much too smart to be a gym rat. That’s the kind of question I would ask in discovery, if we were going to trial. Which I won’t be doing because you’re going to settle this.”
“I am not going to settle this. Is that how you big shot attorneys make your money? Do you make a habit of having clients settle every crackpot claim that comes along? Do you have any idea how many slip and fall claims I get every year?” Prema didn’t respond, but of course she knew the answer to that question. After all, she was the one who dealt with them. Caja continued. “I would’ve gone bankrupt a long time ago if I gave money to every jackass who came down the pike. It’s out of the question. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“They’re charging Jensen with rape,” Prema said. The lines of tension around her mouth let Caja know that her words had gotten to the attorney, but she didn’t address them.
“What? Delby’s in jail?” Eating breakfast had definitely been a bad idea. It took all her self control to keep the meal down.
“I don’t know if he’s been arrested yet, but yes, she filed charges against him for rape. They might charge you as an accessory. Settle this and they’ll go away.”
Caja stood and walked over to the large window overlooking the beautifully landscaped patio behind her gym. The trees, plantings and small fountain were surrounded by a quarter mile long walking track which Caja used as often as possible. She watched as a small bird flitted about the fountain, then finally landed in the pool below for a quick ablution before winging away again. “This sounds like a set up to me, Prema. The wife of a well-known and politically connected anti-yoga advocate doesn’t just casually enroll in a yoga class. I think they plan to use this for publicity.”
Prema responded with a melodramatic sigh. “Like I said, all those brains wasted running a gym. I can’t say I hadn’t considered that. Still, for enough money...”
Caja took deep breaths to stave off blind panic. Discovering that she was a pawn for a very powerful man was one of the scariest things she’d ever encountered. Even so, trying to settle made no sense. “This man fundraises for the President. I don’t think I have enough money to buy him off, even if it were possible, and I don’t think it is,” Caja said. When Prema didn’t respond she turned and looked at her with a brow raised in inquiry.
Prema sighed again. A real one this time. “You’re right, of course. I think it’s a good idea to move forward as quickly as possible. We might catch them off-guard, but somehow I doubt it. Something tells me these old boys have this thing planned to the nth degree.”
Caja nodded. “What do you think is the likelihood that we’ll be able to keep the publicity down? My shareholders are going to lose their minds if this hits the major media. I do have a few markers I can call in, and we’re kind of isolated here in Huntsville. It’s hard to get here from Atlanta...”
Prema shook her head firmly. “You’re kidding, right? I don’t think anything less than a burning bush is going to shut these people up. You’ve got sex, religion and politics wrapped up in a neat little package, no way in hell we can keep this quiet. We’ll be lucky if they don’t end up making a goddamned Lifetime movie out of it.”
Caja dropped her head in resignation. Prema was right, of course, it had been pretty much hopeless from the start. “I need to call my investors as soon as possible. I don’t want them to hear this from anyone but me.”
Prema took her hand. “That’s probably a good idea. I need to be at that meeting. In fact, from here on out, unless you’re asleep I probably need to be there. I know you’re smart enough to know better, but any little slip can cost you a fortune, or even land you in prison. I still think we should tender a settlement offer, if for no other reason but to show the judge that we’re trying to be accommodating. If at all possible I want to make them look unreasonable if not batshit crazy.”
“No way in hell am I going to give these bastards one penny I’m not ordered to give them in court.” Caja raised her chin in defiance.
Prema sat down in Caja’s large desk chair, a look of resignation crossing her dark sienna hued face. “You do realize you’re in for the fight of your life?”
Caja turned to face her attorney. “Haven’t I always been?”
* * * * *
With a sigh of relief Caja unlocked her front door some sixteen hours later. Just glad to be home she hadn’t bothered to stop for food or anything. For one thing, she wasn’t hungry and for another she could always eat some cereal. Right now all she wanted was her bed. As Prema predicted the fight had already begun. While Prema was still in her office the District Attorney called to advise that Caja was being charged with being an accessory to the rape of someone who was temporarily incapacitated. Prema had negotiated her surrender to authorities and subsequent bail. Delby had already been arrested and would presumably be in custody soon. The Spraggins had immediately made it clear that they wouldn’t entertain a settlement offer. Caja looked down at her palms, despite the police department’s best efforts they hadn’t been able to remove all the ink from being fingerprinted. She shuddered. She definitely was not going to think about that. Heading to her bedroom she was brought up short by the ringing telephone. It had to be her parents as they were the only ones who called her landline. Amazing how despite hating one another they managed to have so much in common. The call reminded her that she hadn’t told her family about the lawsuit. She had to rectify that before it hit the media. Both her parents were retired, but they were avid newshounds. Hearing that their daughter had been charged with rape would cause them to have a seizure. She squared her shoulders, prepared to receive a good “talking to.” When she picked up the phone she was surprised to hear Michael’s voice.
“Why did you call me on this phone?”
“You’ve been ignoring my calls on your cell all day,” he said.
Caja sighed. “I’m sorry, I’ve just been -- ”
“Crazy busy. I know. Kit told me.”
“Kit told you what’s going on?” Caja asked , wondering if her assistant had lost her entire mind. Prema was clear in her instructions that this case was not to be discussed over the phone.
“Nope. She just told me there was some type of problem you were having to deal with.”
She leaned against the sideboard, a lovely old French Provincial piece her parents had given her years before. It didn’t match her Danish Modern pieces but she really didn’t care. Other than her bedroom it was the only piece of whimsy in her entire house. She really needed to make a move to rectify that. Something about Michael brought out all her nesting instincts. That probably wasn’t a good thing either, but there wasn’t a whole helluva lot she could do about it. In spite of her misgivings, more than anything she wanted him here. All day long she’d had to maintain her composure, but right now she wanted, no needed someone she could lean on, but no way in hell could she tell him that. The very fact that her need was so strong led her to her next decision.
“I’m sorry, Michael, but I’ve had a really long day. I’m going to take a shower and head straight to bed.”
“Have you eaten?”
“What?”
“Have you eaten? You know, dinner? I know you didn’t have lunch.”
“How...” Then she answered her own question. Kit had told him. She remembered her assistant nagging her about lunch at one point during the day, but the thought of eating just made her sick. “Listen, I’m really too tired, but I’ll have a bowl of cereal. Promise.”
“How about I come by and bring you dinner?”
“It’s after 11:00,” she said fighting against her own need to see him.
“I know what time it is. There’s no traffic and I can be there in fifteen minutes. I picked up a great grilled shrimp salad earlier, I’ll bring it. You get in the shower and by the time you’re done I should be there.”
Caja gave
in. she had no real interest in the salad, though she knew she needed to eat, but her need to see him went far deeper than any physical hunger. “Hurry.”
“I will , baby.”
“But be careful.”
“Always.”
CAJA had just finished her shower and was toweling off when she heard Michael’s key in the lock. She finished drying and pulled on some soft cotton pajamas. Despite her exhaustion she took a moment to pull her hair into a high ponytail atop her head. Turning away from the mirror with a sigh, Caja headed toward the kitchen. Michael had set the salad on the kitchen bar and was pouring glasses of sparkling water she was sure hadn’t been in her refrigerator before. Spying a couple of grocery bags on the counter she realized he must have gone grocery shopping at some point.
“Really, Michael I don’t need you to shop for me,” she said taking the glass of water. Cool and refreshing it did stimulate her appetite and she took a seat at the table. The shrimp salad looked delicious and she immediately removed the clear plastic lid and dug in.
“I just picked up a few extras when I shopped earlier today. I didn’t make a special trip.” He watched her eat for a long moment, then nodded as though satisfied with her progress. “Are you going to be okay?”
Caja looked up, startled, thinking he was about to leave. It was all she could do not to grab his arm. “I’m fine, are you leaving?”
“I hadn’t planned on it. At least not yet. My mother would be appalled at my poor manners, but I must say you look like hell, and you didn’t look that way when you left this morning.”
Caja paused. God had it only been this morning he’d cooked breakfast for her? It seemed like months ago. When she’d left the house that morning she had been absolutely beside herself over the way he’d turned the tables on her. It had seemed like the worst thing in the world. Her definition of “worst” had tilted on its axis in less than twenty-four hours. Amazing.
“I’m sure I don’t look so hot. Today was...” Before she knew it Caja found herself telling Michael about all the events of her day. It was almost like watching someone else on a video. He listened, only speaking to clarify a point or to ask a relevant question. The tale was long in the telling and when she finished. There was absolute silence for so long that she was beginning to wonder if he’d respond at all. She lowered her head to look at the suddenly unappetizing salad. After popping a slice of crisp radish in her mouth she looked at Michael again, raising a brow in an unconscious miming of Kit.
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