by Roxie Odell
More or less, that was precisely Thomas’s prediction, that the robed one would find it laughable to suggest that a woman her size could have somehow bested the gunman. Like any good lawyer, the attorney advised her to dress a certain way, in a suit that was neither too frumpy nor too sexy. “It’s all about impressions,” he advised, “to immediately make yourself look better than the other guy, to make him look, by comparison, like the deadbeat criminal he is.”
Unfortunately, the attorney still insisted that it would be better if she had an eyewitness. “You know, if you could just get that guy…” he said, reiterating the same old tune.
The mere mention of Thomas turned Cheri to stone, and she hated feeling that way. She wanted to beam herself ahead in time, to the point where all of it was over, but she didn’t have that option. “I, uh…connected with him,” she finally admitted. Connecting with Thomas wasn’t even the half of it. Her heart sank like a cannonball to the middle of her insides, and she hurt badly every time she even thought of him. What should have been a sweet, sweet remembrance of an unforgettable, risqué weekend, the stuff of romance novel interludes, was just an ache she wished to be rid of.
“And?”
“And his answer was no.”
“Why?” the attorney demanded.
As sick as she was about Thomas, and as angry as she was at him for so easily devaluing their time together, she refused to betray his secret. In moments when her fury was its hottest she wanted to throw him under the bus, but she reminded herself that she would only regret it in the end. “There are some factors that just make it unsafe for him to testify,” she said, being vague on purpose.
“What factors?” asked her lawyer acidly.
“I don’t want to say. It might ruin him or get him in trouble, and there’s no point,” replied Cheri.
The lawyer took one look at her and clearly put two and two together. “Are you involved with this guy?” he asked, “As in…bedroom-involved?”
“That’s none of your business!”
That was all the answer he needed to grow silent and shake his head. “Great,” he said with a sigh. “I’m not here to judge, though.”
She watched him and crossed her arms over her chest. “You just did. I can see it all over your face,” Cheri said. “You have judgment written across your forehead.”
“I guess you’re right, to some degree,” he lectured. “I’m all about justice, after all. I mean, remember that guy sitting across from us, that guy who could conceivably walk off with your life savings after he tried to rob you?”
“Yes. Of course I remember.”
“I’m sure even the cops know he’s guilty as sin, but they couldn’t make it stick. That slimy fucker could possibly take ownership of everything you’ve worked for, but you’re more concerned about protecting your witness than you are about yourself.”
Cheri’s eyes grew wide as she was seized with alarm. “You think that could really happen?” she asked anxiously. “At our first meeting you said this is pretty much a done deal, that there’s no way the judge will believe him over me.”
“Yes, it’s somewhat of an open-and-shut case, Cheri,” he replied sternly, “but you know as well as I do that things can go awry in any lawsuit, no matter how much of a slam-dunk it seems to be at the outset. Criminals walk, and justice isn’t always blind. The fact that the plaintiff couldn’t be arrested does not work in your favor. We really need that witness of yours.”
She clutched her attorney’s arm. “If I tell you something,” she began, “do you swear it will go no further than the two of us? If it’s about him, does it still fall under attorney/client privilege?”
“Yes,” said her lawyer. “Go on.”
Even though Cheri didn’t trust him or any attorneys much farther than she could throw them, she had to take the risk. She cupped his ear and whispered into it Thomas’s dark secret about the guns and his felony charge.
The lawyer thought for a moment, then looked at her with a serious expression on his face. “He could sign a sworn statement,” said the lawyer. “We don’t have to mention anything about the weapons. I just need someone to testify that you didn’t cuff the plaintiff. That’s it.”
“But what if the other side mentions the guns?” asked Cheri.
“They’ll risk the same incrimination. The plaintiff is also a convicted felon. I can’t use that against him now, but I might be able to drudge it up later. It’s still possible the judge will drop the whole thing in the next few minutes, but if that doesn’t work your guy needs to be our Plan B… if we can get him to cooperate. I’d hate to have to subpoena him.”
Snake, she thought, peering evilly at him. She couldn’t believe he would threaten a subpoena after she trusted him with Thomas’s secret, that he could legally compel Thomas to talk, whether he wanted to or not. Even though, at moments, she really, really hated Thomas, she certainly didn’t want to drag him into her mess. What have I done? she questioned, feeling as if she’d entirely betrayed him. Ultimately, no matter what kind of jerk he was, he had done a good deed and put himself in harm’s way to save her. Even if he was literally the reason she was sick at the moment, she wasn’t sure she could live with that betrayal on her conscience. She had an irresistible urge to call him and warn him, despite the no-phones rule in the courtroom.
“Please don’t subpoena him.”
“Why not?” The lawyer shook his head, like he couldn’t figure her out.
“You swore it would stay between you and me,” said Cheri.
“I am also ethically bound to defend you,” he said matter-of-factly. “To do that, I may have to force him to admit he was there. I can control his testimony, but I can assure you the plaintiff won’t back down. This thing will go to a jury trial if it’s not dismissed right here and now, and by then you’ll be out the plaintiff’s asking price in fees for me.”
Cheri tensed even more than before, if that was even possible. She stared at him, speechless, and began to tremble.
“Relax,” counseled her lawyer. “Your boyfriend is in a safer position than you are at this moment.”
“He is not my boyfriend!” she nearly shouted in a rage.
The lawyer put a calming hand on her and let out a snide chuckle. “That bad, huh?”
She looked at him in disbelief. What was she overreacting so badly? “He could go back to jail if he helps me.”
The lawyer gave her a cursory glance and shook his head. “So he says,” he replied. “Trust me, there’s always more to a story, and there’s always a way. He may just be feeding you a line.”
“Are you suggesting his story about the guns isn’t true?” Cheri shook her head, not wanting that idea to take root. As much as she was frustrated with Thomas, she didn’t want him to be a liar and an ass.
“I think he has something to hide. I could find out exactly if I had a name.”
Cheri blanched and changed the subject. “Can’t most of these things be solved with letter-writing?” whispered Cheri.
“Only if you want to settle, and the plaintiff won’t sign off on that. He’s tenacious, and I’m sure he’ll see this thing through to the jury if need be. I know his type, and so do you. If we can’t get the judge to see him for what he is today, presumably within the next hour, it’s all going to rest on your boyfriend.”
“I told you not to call him that,” she hissed. Thomas Graham had made it quite clear that he was not hers and never would be, even if that message was blurred a bit during their off-the-hook ecstasy. She had called him a saint, but now she knew he was anything but. He was only a man after all, albeit an intense and unforgettable one. In the end, they were just two people who shared a rare, powerful passion for their mutual pleasure. It took the blunt, direct reminder from him as he dropped her off to make her finally see that that.
Then again, Cheri also knew there was too much on the line, and her request for help was not unreasonable. She had to come up with a strategy, in case the Hail Mary motion didn
’t work. She wanted to talk to Thomas, to warn him about what she’d done, but it was quite risky to disobey the rule about using her cell in court, or she would also have to deal with a contempt charge. Regardless of the warnings and the signs that ordered everyone to turn off their devices, she covertly and coolly held her phone under the table edge and looked attentively forward, as if she was doing nothing amiss. She wasn’t sure why she was willing to put herself on the line for a guy who wouldn’t do the same for her, or why she was acting so impulsively, except that if her lawyer brought him up during the proceedings for any reason, the cat would be permanently out of the bag.
Cheri blindly powered her phone on, and as discreet as she tried to be, she couldn’t avoid the carrier’s ringtone sounding as the phone turned on. She froze, hoping not give herself away while the bailiff scanned the courtroom for the culprit. She was sure it would only be a matter of seconds before he pegged her awkward position.
“Whoever has the phone, please stand,” ordered the bailiff as he walked the room.
Cheri tried to ease the cell under her thigh to hide it, and she carefully straightened her incriminating posture. Stupid, stupid, stupid idea! What if she told him she was only trying to check the time?
The bailiff stood behind her, casting an ominous shadow over her while her lawyer shook his head. “Ma’am, you are in contempt of court,” barked the bailiff.
At that moment the judge entered the room, a handy distraction.
“All rise!” yelled the bailiff.
Sadly, the fact that Cheri had a phone in her hand was not lost on the judge, and he knew in an instant why his bailiff was behind her instead of at his regular post. When all were seated, the judge immediately addressed the issue. “Bailiff, what’s happening here?” he demanded.
“Unauthorized cell phone, Your Honor,” the bailiff dutifully replied.
“I was just trying to turn it off, and it powered back on,” blurted Cheri, turning eight shades of red.
The judge hammered his gavel. Clearly he wasn’t having a good day. “Madam, you are in contempt! Also, Counselor, I suggest you school your client on proper court address, primarily when she is invited to do so and not until then. Bailiff, eject this woman from my courtroom.”
Cheri nearly sobbed as she was led away, feeling like a misbehaving student being dragged to the principal’s office for corporal punishment. Reality didn’t fully set in until the door of the holding cell slammed shut and she realized she was in a whole lot more trouble than that. “Don’t I get a call?” she asked weakly.
“In a while,” answered the bailiff.
How on Earth did this happen? she wondered. There was no luck in world. At least, zero for her. She shook her head. All this again… because of Thomas.
She reviewed the lie about her phone so many times that her own mind began to believe it was just some sort of gadget accident. They put her in a cell because of it? Really? This had to be a bad dream.
As she sat in the cell, remembering the event quite incorrectly, she wondered who she should call when they finally let her use a phone.
Thomas came to mind.
She tried to push the idea away and come up with someone else. But there was no one.
Deep beneath all those layers of hurt and anger, she had a bad, crazed crush on Thomas. In some sort of fantastic alternate reality, she imagined what it would be like if he wasn’t such a total son-of-a-bitch, if he was someone she could rely on. She fantasized about lazing on that sleigh bed on a Sunday afternoon, eating light food and drinking that delicious coffee he made, staring into one another’s eyes, totally taken with each other. Then she remembered the mascara in his drawer and that cruel, lackluster goodbye he threw over his shoulder. The cowboy of her fantasies was not the man she spent the weekend with.
Not only that, but her conscience bothered her because she had betrayed his trust by telling his story to her attorney. He had told her about his past in confidence, but now it was completely out of her hands as to whether or not the court would find out about it, courtesy of her pushy attorney. Cheri made up her mind that if her lawyer threatened again to subpoena Thomas, she would simply fire the lawyer. She couldn’t do anything from that cell, though, so all she could do was wait to see what happened next.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, her attorney showed up. The guard let him into her cell, and by the foreboding expression on his face she knew things weren’t good. They’d gone from bad to worse. She seriously doubted his ability to help her, despite his stellar reputation.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m fine, all things considered,” she said. “Do you have any news for me?”
“It was a no-go. I mean, the judge wasn’t pleased as it was. I called an emergency motion to dismiss, but since my client couldn’t even speak on her own behalf, it was over before it began. Is there anyone who can post your bail so you don’t have to sleep here overnight?” he asked tiredly.
“Wait… What?” she demanded, off her cot in a flash.
“Is there anyone who—” he tried to repeat.
“I heard you!” she interrupted. “Couldn’t you talk the judge down to no bail at all? It was only a phone, not a semiautomatic! I was trying to turn it off! What the hell is going on here?”
“I don’t think you understand,” he said, stone-faced. “You were arrested for contempt of court. That doesn’t exactly put us on good terms to ask for any favors from the judge.”
“So you post the bail then,” she barked. “Surely it isn’t that much, and the way I see it you owe me.”
“Look, Cheri, for now I think it’s best that we focus on your witness. Can you get the guy to make a statement or not?” he asked wearily.
“Not from in here,” she snapped. “Quit changing the subject and get me the hell outta here.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” he said, though he didn’t sound too optimistic at all.
“You’ll see?” She shook her head. “This is ridiculous! You’re doing a half-assed job getting me off the hook here. I was the one held at gunpoint, I was the one charged when I’m not guilty! Can’t you make this stop?”
“I’m not generally in the habit of posting my clients’ bail,” he admitted.
“Why? It’s not unethical, not really a conflict of interest or anything,” she huffed. “Seriously. What am I paying you for?” This surreal incident was worse than a nightmare.
The guard appeared again at the cell door and opened it. “You’re free to go now, ma’am.”
“Excuse me?” Cheri glanced at her lawyer, who just shrugged at her.
“Wasn’t me.”
“Ma’am, you’re being released on your own recognizance, without having to pay bail.”
She stared at him, not sure if she should believe him. Slowly she walked out of the cell and nodded when the guard told her to collect her belongings. He led them down the hall toward a large reception area.
“I guess we all got lucky on that,” she said to her lawyer cryptically.
“We’ll be a whole lot luckier if you can get that witness to talk,” he hissed back, long-stepping it so he was walking down the hall in front of her.
Furious that she’d spilled Thomas’s secret to the wrong person, she didn’t say a word. She couldn’t afford another lawyer at the moment. And she was seriously beginning to doubt she’d have any luck finding a replacement.
For now, all she could do was go home and hide in her house, and hope some sort of answer would come to her.
Chapter 9
Cheri drew the blinds, trying to shut out the cruel world. She had zero appetite and couldn’t possibly settle her mind enough to sleep, so she just sat in her living room binging on TV series and movies, ignoring the constant ringing of her phone.
After countless calls went to voicemail, the text notification noises started assaulting her ears. She reached over to silence the annoying device but glanced at it before she did, as the thought oc
curred to her that maybe it was her lawyer, with possible good news.
“What the…?” she said aloud when she realized it was Thomas Graham himself. Furious, she cleared all the messages without even reading them, then stared at the TV again. Screw you! she screamed silently. You were supposed to be my knight in shining armor, wearing stupid cowboy boots!
Somewhere between the next shows, she dozed off.
She awoke early the next morning, to what seemed like a million new texts from Thomas. She had no idea what he wanted, and she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of reading one of them. She cleared her phone once again, tempted to block him, but she didn’t have the nerve to do that just yet, not quite ready to cut him out of her life completely. She had no idea what was going on. The only thing she knew for certain was that she was heading to work in the foulest of moods.
The day seemed to draw out forever, every minute stretching into a torturous hour all its own. By the end of the day, she was plain whipped, and she wanted nothing more than to go to back to her couch and dive back into her movies and shows, even reruns she’d seen fifty times. Her emotions were taking their toll, and she was not in the mood to talk to anyone.
She was enjoying a quiet moment at her desk when the receptionist buzzed her. “Yes?” Cheri said into the phone receiver.
“There’s a gentleman here to see you,” said the receptionist.
“Why? Who is he?” Cheri asked bluntly.
“He wouldn’t give me his name,” snapped the receptionist, clearly frustrated. “Come see for yourself.”
Cheri didn’t particularly want to get up from her desk, but there was a lull in her work, and she had no excuse to ignore office visitors. As she marched up to the lobby to address whoever it was, her mind worked involuntarily, trying to guess what the unscheduled visit might be about. She was sure it had something to do with the firm, and there was only a short list of possibilities. For whatever reason, she felt very uneasy about it. All that came to mind was that she was about to meet another process server. When she finally reached the hallway that gave her a clear view of the lobby window, she was stunned to find that it was someone else entirely, someone she’d never expected to see at work.