Twice as Dead
Page 23
“Nah, Clark would only let me punch him a few times.”
“This is something I’d expect from Willie and his thugs, not from you and Clark.”
“Speaking of Willie …”
“I knew it!” I dropped Greg’s hand and walked away a few steps, then returned. “I knew his fingerprints were all over this.”
“Actually, they’re not. At least not like you’d think.”
“Huh?”
Greg took my hand. “Clark wanted to tell you this himself, but he got called back to Phoenix before he could. He told me he’d call you as soon as he got back home, but I think you should know now. And this is something Dev doesn’t know and probably shouldn’t.”
Hearing that last phrase told me I was in for a lulu piece of information. I stood in the hallway of the hospital half wishing someone was waiting to throw me into a wheelchair and take me to the psych ward.
“What is it?” I asked Greg, bracing myself.
“That job in Phoenix? The one Clark’s taking?”
I narrowed my eyes at my hubby. “Yeah?”
Greg indicated for me to bend down. I did. When my ear was near his mouth, he whispered, “The job is with Willie’s company. Clark works for Willie now.”
Without saying a word, I strode down the long hallway. When I reached the end, I turned on my heel and strode back, ignoring the curious looks I got along the way. When I reached Greg, I bent down again.
“And what about you?” I asked. “Are you going to tell me next that you work for Willie, too?”
“No, I don’t.” Greg got an excited gleam in his eye. “Why? Do you think he’d ask?”
Steele and I seldom ate lunch together, so when he’d asked if I’d join him at Morton’s, I knew something was up. Not that I minded. Morton’s, a wonderful upscale restaurant, was certainly a lot nicer than my usual brown-bag lunch.
Even though we work literally yards from each other, Steele had said the day before, when he’d suggested the lunch meeting, that he’d meet me at the restaurant at one o’clock. In fact, I hadn’t seen him all morning. I arrived on time and was shown our table. Steele hadn’t arrived yet.
The deal with Lori Ogle’s firm had closed on schedule the week after the Rambling Rose situation. We had worked on it twelve to fifteen hours a day, which helped me keep my mind off of what had happened.
There was a lot of fallout from the service Clarice and her pals had been running, not to mention emotional scars left on those involved on the fringes.
Brad and Amber Straight were facing two murder charges, along with kidnapping and extortion. Clarice and Aaron Gunn were facing their own legal woes. Billie’s Holiday and Rambling Rose were both shut down. Sadly, numerous brides and drag queens were left in the lurch.
With Clarice’s flash drive in their hands, the police were able to find almost all of the people Clarice and her friends had helped to disappear. A few were wanted on various charges in their home states, but some were in hiding for protection. I’m not sure what will happen with those people and hope they can continue to remain safely out of harm’s way.
Through the police BOLO, Scott Johnson was spotted and arrested while picking up supplies at a convenience store. Roslyn Stevens was found imprisoned in a storage unit not far away, drugged almost into unconsciousness and severely dehydrated. Dev told us that when she was informed her stalker in Chicago was dead, she immediately wanted to return home to her family and resume her former life. Although I never got to meet Roslyn, I was thrilled for her happy outcome. I even heard a rumor she might be offered a book deal about her experience.
Joan’s family buried Alfred Nunez for the second and final time in a private graveside service. Steele and I wanted to go, but Joan said her mother requested no one but she and Joan and Joan’s stepfather attend. Joan told me that as soon as the priest put Alfred to rest, he remarried her mother and stepfather. Steele is still working with the insurance company to end the fraud investigation, though he told us that even if they drop the fraud charges, they will insist on getting their money back with interest. He has it in his head to sue Clarice and the estates of Marvin Gunn and Shirley Pearson for the insurance money with interest, along with other damages. I say, go for it.
“Sorry I’m late, Grey.”
I put aside my thoughts and greeted my boss, who looked ultra snazzy in a new suit.
“I had an appointment this morning that took longer than expected.”
He took the seat across from me. When a waiter approached, he motioned toward my iced tea, indicating he wanted the same, but at the last minute asked to see the wine list instead.
“Wine during lunch hour?” I raised an eyebrow. “Then again, you’re a partner; why not?”
Steele scanned the wine list. “You know what you’re having for lunch?”
“I was thinking the grilled shrimp and sea scallops.”
He placed an order for a bottle of wine I’d never heard of and handed the wine list back to the waiter.
I leaned forward. “A whole bottle? You think that’s wise?”
“It’s for both of us, Grey.” He seemed amused.
“Um, I don’t know about you, but I have a pile of work waiting for me back at the office.” After a slight pause, I added, “And my boss won’t like it if I slur over the phone to clients.”
The comment earned me a chuckle. “Don’t worry about any of that today, Grey. Today, you and I will be returning to the office when we’re good and ready—maybe not at all.”
Huh?
I bent down and looked under the table.
“What are you doing?”
I brought my head back up. “Looking for alien pods. I don’t know who you are or what you’ve done with Mike Steele, but it’s okay by me.”
That brought a bigger laugh.
“Seriously, Steele, what’s going on? You’re freaking me out.”
The wine came. The waiter and Steele went through the uncorking and tasting ritual while I squirmed in my seat. After pouring us each a glass, Steele raised his and asked me to join him in a toast.
I lifted my glass. “What are we toasting? Your disbarment?”
He shook his head with a smile.
“Your last sexual conquest decided you’re not the father of her child after all?”
“No, not even close.” He leaned forward. “You’re looking at the newest partner in Templin and Tobin’s Orange County office.”
Templin and Tobin was Lori Ogle’s firm.
Steele tried to clink his glass against mine, but I pulled it back.
“Templin and Tobin doesn’t have an Orange County office.”
“They will soon enough, and I’m its managing partner, providing I take the job.”
My head was swimming, and I hadn’t even had a sip of wine yet. “Providing you take it? So you haven’t accepted?”
The waiter showed up at our table to take our food order. Steele waved him off.
“Not yet. I was just made the offer this morning.” He lowered his glass. “Funny thing is, after my name was in the paper connected to that showdown at Rambling Rose, I thought for sure they’d withdraw their courtship. Instead, it only heightened their interest. They told me they could use a partner with guts.”
Steele winked at me. He actually winked at me. Now I knew I was dealing with a doppelganger.
He gestured with his wine glass again. “Come on now, let’s celebrate possibilities.”
Following orders, I held my glass out. Steele gave it a tap with his own. The two thin glasses meeting in midair gave off a pleasant musical tinkle. Steele took a sip of his wine. I knocked back half of mine.
“Is that why you’ve been grumpier than usual lately, because you’re leaving?” I stared across the table at the man who was soon not to be my boss. “I thought it was because of Lori Ogle—because you had ants in your pants for her.”
Steele let out a solid laugh. “Lori’s gorgeous, but she plays for the same team as Sally and Jill.�
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“Really? I’m surprised Jill didn’t pick up on that.”
“I wouldn’t have known either if I hadn’t asked her out after the deal was done.”
I played with the fine stem of my glass. “Maybe she only told you that to get you off her scent.”
“Very funny, but she has a partner—a doctor at the UCLA Medical Center.” He took another drink of his wine. “I’m sorry I’ve been a bigger ass than usual, Grey. Really, I am. Between the stress of the deal and Templin making overtures, I was on overload.”
My brows scrunched to punctuate the serious nature of my next question. “Do you want to leave Woobie?”
“That’s the struggle I’m having. I really like the firm and the work I do. I wasn’t out shopping my résumé, Grey, believe me. The partners over at Templin took notice of me during this deal and tested the waters. They’d been thinking of opening an Orange County office for some time. I’ve weighed all the pros and cons, even the financial ones, and I still am not sure which way I’ll go.”
He waved the waiter back over and looked at me. “Still going with the shrimp and scallops?” I nodded, and he gave the waiter the order, tacking on the salmon entrée for himself.
The idea of Steele leaving Woobie threw a monkey wrench into my little self-centered world. On one hand, it would be nice to get him out of my hair. On the other hand, if I were truthful with myself, I would miss working with him. We’d become friends over the years, and I took a small amount of sick enjoyment in our surly banter. Okay, I took a lot of enjoyment in it. I wasn’t worried about my job at Woobie. I’d been there forever and would have plenty of work even without Steele monopolizing my time. Someone else would be assigned as my supervising partner, and life would go on.
“If I go, Grey, I want you to come with me.”
I shook my head, uncertain if I heard him correctly. “I’m sorry, Steele, what was that?”
The waiter came by with our salads and refilled our wine glasses.
“I said, if I leave Woobie and go to work for Templin and Tobin, I want you to come with me. Jill, too. They told me I could bring over or hire any staff members I’d like. We even discussed you at length.”
“You discussed me?”
“Yes, of course. They were quite impressed with your work on this deal. And, of course, I sang your praises.”
“And did you sing my praises as a corpse magnet?”
“They know all about you, Grey.” He laughed. “Your name was in the news along with mine, remember?”
Not once in all my years at Woobie had I ever considered changing jobs. Well, upon reflection, that wasn’t true. I had threatened to leave once. That was the day they assigned Michael Steele as my supervising attorney. Instead, they offered a raise and a private office as a bribe to stay.
“Think of it, Grey. You could set up the office from scratch. Have a hand in the hiring. You’d be the office manager of the OC branch of T & T, in addition to doing paralegal work.”
I swallowed the lettuce in my mouth. “I know you think that should tempt me, but it doesn’t. It’s just more work and responsibility.”
“But you’re not totally opposed to it, are you?”
“Where would the offices be?”
“In that new building right across from Woobie.”
We’d all watched that new high-rise go up. It was glossy and modern and filled with amenities like its own cafe and Starbucks, even a dry cleaner and a florist.
“I’d have to talk to Greg about it.” I pointed an index finger at Steele. “That doesn’t mean I’m interested, just that it’s a decision he and I would have to discuss.”
“Of course.”
“And it’s all really moot if you decide not to take the position, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“So when will you be doing that?”
“They gave me until Labor Day to decide.”
Labor Day was about seven weeks away. “That’s a long time, isn’t it?”
“Not really. Not for making a decision of this caliber, especially when I wasn’t looking for a new job in the first place. There’s a lot to consider when a partner leaves a firm. They want the new office opened just after the new year.”
He started to eat again, then stopped. “By the way, please understand this is totally confidential. No sense ruffling people when I don’t know yet which way I’m going to go.”
I nodded my understanding.
“And, Grey, I hope you do come with me if I decide to take the position. I’ve gotten quite used to your adventures and would miss them terribly.”
“Oh, but not the quality of my work?”
In response, Steele smiled and lifted his wine glass again. “Here’s to our futures. May our professional paths continue to travel the same trail, whatever that may be.”
I felt blindsided. This latest development, on the heels of the situation with Clarice and Joan and being held yet again at gunpoint, was about to collapse both my brain and emotions. I wasn’t a creature of change.
We clinked glasses again. Steele took a sip of his wine. I knocked back the rest of mine like a shot of tequila.
The End
Table of Contents
Cover
About the Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
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