Advice of Counsel (The Samuel Collins Series Book 1)

by Trueman, Debra

  I knocked on Maddie’s door after Mrs. Howard dropped off my muffins that morning and I couldn’t help laugh when she opened the door. Maddie was still wearing her outfit from the day before and she had a tremendously sexy case of bed-head.

  “Nice hair,” I said, walking past her into the front room. “Want a muffin?”

  “I threw up,” she said pitifully.

  “Gross. So I guess that means you don’t want a muffin?”

  “Nuh uh.” She lay down on the sofa just like she’d done the night before and looked up at me like a little kid. “I feel horrible.”

  “You don’t look that bad,” I said, popping a cherry bran muffin into my mouth. “Do you have any milk?”

  “I have two small children. Of course I have milk.”

  Maddie was sitting up when I came back in with my glass of milk. “Can I have the day off? Or at least the morning?” she whined.

  I laughed at her and sat down beside her. “Yes, you can take the day off. You probably wouldn’t be very much good anyway. I’ll be in Larry’s depo most of the day and Penny can handle things at the office. I’m surprised she hasn’t called to check on you already.”

  “She has,” Maddie said sheepishly. “I told her I got sick from food poisoning. Will you please not tell her that I’m hung over?”

  “What a prevaricator!” I exclaimed.

  “Come on, Samuel. Pleeeease.”

  “Oh, all right. Your lie is safe with me,” I said, shoving her head to the side.

  “Ouch!” she whined. “You gave me a headache.” I got up and Maddie lay back down. She covered her eyes and peeked through her fingers. “Is there anything about last night that I need to be embarrassed about?”

  “Other than spilling drinks all over everyone at our table, no.”

  “Thank God.”

  I left Maddie on her couch and called Landra on the way to the office. The grand jury was scheduled to convene on Monday and I knew she was nervous. I didn’t relish the thought of telling Landra that I’d had drinks with Maddie the night before, but I knew better than to try to hide it. Too many people had seen me out, and although I hadn’t done anything wrong, Landra had a way of making me feel guilty anyway. As it turned out, she wasn’t at all upset. I had never liked having to answer to someone, which was probably why I’d never been married. And while no one was going to tell me that I couldn’t go celebrate with a client, I found myself more relieved than I cared to admit once I had told her. We made plans to have dinner that evening and I was still thinking of her when I made it to Dick’s office. The reception area had dark ugly paneling and the sorriest excuse for artwork hanging on the walls.

  Just looking at Larry put me in a bad mood. He was such an asshole. I tried my best to be civil as I started deposing him but I kept replaying the scene when I thought he’d killed the Siamese and I could feel my blood pressure rising. I had to keep reminding myself that I’d gotten even on that score.

  The other thing was that Larry was a liar. And he wasn’t a good liar either. A jury would see right through him, but it was making my job more difficult.

  “Have you ever had sex with Madeline Griffin?” I asked.

  “Many times,” he said, and his left eye twitched.

  I didn’t flinch. “How many?”

  “Too many to count,” he asserted.

  “When was the first time?”

  “I’m not sure. Some time last year.”

  “Was it during last year’s reduction-in-force?” I asked.

  “I couldn’t say.”

  “Did you tell Ms. Griffin that if she had sex with you, she would survive the reduction in force at Datacare?”

  “I never told her that.” Twitch.

  “How did it come about that you and Ms. Griffin had sex? The first time,” I clarified.

  “She came in my office one day and took off her clothes.” Twitch, twitch.

  “Did you know that your eye twitches every time you lie to me?” I asked, and Dick stood up and thundered, “OBJECTION!”

  “Do you play poker?” I asked Larry hopefully.

  “OBJECTION!” Dick repeated.

  “Settle down Dick,” I said laughing.

  “You are way out of line!” Dick exclaimed. His face was beet red and the veins in his neck looked like they were about to pop.

  “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t resist,” I said, trying to quit laughing. I looked back over at Larry. “Dates and places of every time you had sex with my client.”

  He stuttered for a second. “I’d have to reconstruct that.”

  “That’s fine.” I put my pen down and sat back waiting and Larry gave me a stupid look. “Do you want me to get you a calendar?” I asked.

  “You want me to do it right now?” he said confused.

  “Please.”

  “I . . . I can’t do it right now. I’d have to have my own calendar with me.”

  “Well, tell me some of the places these many sexual encounters occurred.”

  “In my office, in her office, different places.”

  “Does Datacare engage in surveillance against its employees?”

  “No,” he said, clearly thrown by the question.

  “Do you have a lock on your office door?”

  “No.”

  “But you had sex in there?”

  “Yes.”

  “You weren’t afraid someone would come in?”

  “We mainly did it in her office,” he said.

  “But that first time . . . when you claim that she came in your office and . . . what did you say?” I looked back in my notes like I’d forgotten, “Oh yes, that Ms. Griffin took off her clothes. She wasn’t concerned that someone might walk in?”

  “She didn’t care because she was a slut.”

  I pointed my pen at him. “Twitch, twitch,” I said shaking my head.

  “OBJECTION!”

  “We’re not in court Dick,” I reminded him. I turned back to Larry. “Do you have a video camera?”

  “No . . . uh . . . I mean . . .yes.” He shot a quick look at Dick to see his reaction.

  “Ever videotape any of your employees?”

  “No.”

  “Ever videotape Madeline Griffin?”

  “No.”

  I turned to Dick. “Do you want to remind your client that he’s under oath?”

  Dick was squirming every which way in his seat. I’d done the same thing to him the last time he was my opposing counsel. That time, I insinuated in my questioning that there might be compromising photos of his client. I was only bluffing, but he fell for it completely. He had to know Larry was a liar, but he couldn’t be certain whether he was lying about the existence of videotapes or not.

  “My client is well aware that he’s under oath,” he said angrily. He shot a look at Larry. “I think it’s a good time to break for lunch.”

  I went to my office to catch up on phone calls during the break and I was shocked to find Maddie there.

  “You made it in!” I said, not attempting to hide my surprise. Maddie looked embarrassed. I turned to Penny. “Maddie got food poisoning last night,” I informed her.

  “I know, bless her heart. And she came to the office anyway. She’s such a dedicated employee,” she cooed.

  I liked Penny, but whenever she talked about Maddie, I wanted to throw up. Her precious Madeline could do no wrong. I was dying to tell her that there was no food poisoning – that her little darling had gone out and gotten commode-hugging drunk and was nursing a whale of a hangover. But even if I told her that, I knew exactly what she’d say. She would use that sickeningly syrupy-sweet tone that she always used when she talked about Madeline, and she would say that Madeline was entitled to a night out after what she’d been through the day before. Hell, she’d probably even suggest that I let her go home . . . no . . . that I pay her to go home, and get some much-deserved rest. I decided it was best to let the lie stand.

  “How’s the depo going?” Maddie asked anxiously.r />
  “Let me make a couple of calls and I’ll fill you in,” I said heading to my office. “Do we have anything to eat here?”

  “I’ll make you something,” Maddie said to my back.

  When I finished my calls, I found Maddie in the kitchen watching some stupid soap opera. “Why do you watch that crap?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe because their lives are always more screwed up than mine.” She sat back and pushed her plate in front of me.

  “What’s this?” I said looking under the bun.

  “A meatball sandwich. I can’t eat it.”

  “You’re giving it to me?” I asked and Maddie nodded. “You want to split it?” I offered.

  “Nuh uh,” she said, looking kind of green. “Just the smell is grossing me out.” She rested her head on the table. “Tell me about Larry’s deposition,” she said without enthusiasm.

  “Why’d you come in, Maddie? I said you could have the day off.” I took a bite of the sandwich and was pleasantly surprised to find that it tasted worlds better than it looked.

  “I need the money.”

  “I’m not going to dock you for one stupid day! Now go home before you throw up all over the office.”

  “Why are you being evasive? Tell me about the deposition,” she repeated.

  I put the sandwich down. “It’s going fine. Larry’s a liar. But the jury will see that.”

  “Like what’s he lying about?”

  “He’s lying about everything. He said that the two of you had sex all the time.” I held my breath waiting for her to erupt.

  “He said what!” she exclaimed, eyes wide with shock.

  “I knew he’d say something like that. Don’t let it upset you.”

  “Upset? Upset!” She’d balled both hands into fists. “I am so much more than upset! I’m . . . I’m . . .” She was looking around for something to throw and I felt like I needed to take cover. “I’m so mad I don’t even know what to call it!” she yelled.

  I fully expected her to turn the table upside down so I grabbed my plate and scooted back in my chair, but instead she burst into tears. I was almost relieved. She sat down wearily in her chair with tears rolling down her cheeks. I scooted back to the table and set my plate back down.

  “Maddie, don’t let him up-” I almost said it again. “Don’t let him get to you. Larry has lied throughout his deposition. It’s gonna come back to bite him in the butt. You can’t tell that many lies and not get tripped up in them. I promise you. If I had to say how the deposition was going, on a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give it an 8 or 9. Now stop crying and go home and get some sleep.”

  She looked a little pacified. “The thought of . . . never mind.”

  “I know. But Larry’s going to get what’s coming to him,” I assured her. “One way or another.”

  She was sitting there looking so sad that I felt like I had to do something. I started singing.

  “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.”

  Maddie looked at me like I was an idiot. I nudged her elbow for her to pick it up. “Come on,” I encouraged.

  Maddie wiped the tears off of her cheeks. “Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,” she sang quietly.

  I didn’t know the next line so I sang “blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah,” while she sang the words, then we picked it up together and finished the chorus. Thank goodness we were both laughing too hard to continue.

  “You’re so weird,” Maddie said.

  “I’m weird? You made me sing the whole damn soundtrack with you last night!”

  Maddie leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “That’s what I love about you, Samuel Collins,” she said. “I’m going home now.”

  “Go home,” I told her, and as she walked out, I shouted down the hall, “And don’t come back ‘til you can play nice!” She left me with a huge smile on my face and I could hear her laughing all the way down the hall.

  I was in a bad mood when I got back to the deposition. Dick looked nervous and Larry looked smug. I felt like beating the shit out of both of them. Up to that point, I wasn’t sure which way I was going to go with the videotape of Maddie I’d taken from Larry’s office. I’d made a couple of still shots from the video and I tossed one across the table at Larry.

  “You ever seen anything like this?” I asked.

  He couldn’t cover his shock. “Where did you get this?” Larry said clearly rattled.

  “Let me see that,” Dick ordered, but Larry was hesitant to turn it over to him.

  Old Dick sat there with his hand out waiting, and when Larry finally gave it to him he was stunned into silence. He stared at the photo for a good 30 seconds before he said anything.

  It was a shot of Maddie in her office at Datacare, shirt unbuttoned and all hooked up to the pump. It was obvious from the angle of the shot that it was taken from a camera that was mounted in the ceiling.

  “What’s the meaning of this?” Dick asked me.

  “That’s what I’m asking your client, Dick.”

  “Why wasn’t this turned over yesterday with the documents your client was requested to produce at her deposition?” Dick asked angrily.

  “It just came into my possession,” I said straight-faced. Unlike Larry, I had a damn good poker face when I needed to.

  “What’s the story?” I asked Larry.

  “I don’t know anything about that picture.”

  “What do you know about the camera that took it?”

  “Nothing.”

  “I’m going to remind you that you’re under oath Mr. Roeberts. Has your attorney advised you of the penalty for perjury?”

  “Excuse me,” Dick said, clearly unnerved by the photo. “I’d like to consult with my client off the record for a moment.”

  They left me sitting in the conference room for 15 minutes, and when they came back in, Dick made some lame excuse about an emergency that had just arisen that he had to deal with. He wanted to postpone the remainder of Larry’s deposition until the next day, which was actually fine with me. I’d had enough of both of them. The CEO’s depo was scheduled for the next day at 9:00 a.m. and he wasn’t available in the afternoon, so I’d have to depose the CEO first and then go back and finish Larry’s. Ideally, it would have been better to have Larry’s concluded, but I knew it wasn’t going to affect the outcome of either depo, so I agreed to the change.

  Chapter 19

  I felt like I needed to take a shower after being with Larry all day. The guy was slime. I called Landra as soon as I left their office. It was only 3:00 o’clock but I didn’t feel like going back to the office.

  “I’m done. Can I come over?”

  “Already?” she asked.

  “What do you mean, already?” I said irritably. “Do you mean because I’m already done, or because I want to come over already?”

  “Uh oh. Did someone have a bad day?” she asked.

  I didn’t say anything for a second then I decided to start over. “Landra?”

  “Sam?” she said mocking me.

  “What?” I breathed out heavily.

  “Why don’t you come over?” she suggested.

  “I’d love to.”

  She hung up, but I could hear her laughing as she set the receiver in its cradle. I was at her house within 10 minutes and she was waiting outside on her porch. She met me halfway down the path and wouldn’t let me pass.

  “How are you?” she asked, putting her arms around my neck.

  “Now I’m great,” I said, and I hugged her tightly and kissed her. She was so cool. I could always count on her to forgive me when I was a jerk. I hooked my arm around her and we walked side-by-side to her house. “Can I take you to dinner?” I asked her.

  She shook her head no. “I’m making you a special dinner, but I’m not quite finished. That’s why I said already,” she said.

  “Oh. Now I really feel bad.”

  “No you don’t.”

  “Well, kind of, I do.” We go
t inside and the house smelled awesome. “What is that?” I asked, breathing in, taking in the heavenly aroma.

  “Come see.”

  I followed her to the kitchen and Landra lifted the lid on the heavy pot that was simmering on the stove. I looked over her shoulder and she turned around and smiled.

  “Oh, my God! You’re making Osso Bucco?” I said in disbelief. “That’s my favorite food!”

  “I know.” She put her arms around my neck and sort of climbed up me, wrapping her legs around my waist. “I called your mom.”

  “You called my mom?” I asked skeptically. She nodded and kissed me and the Old Fella instantly sprang to life. “What’s the occasion?” I asked.

  “There’s not one. It’s my way of thanking you for everything you’ve done for me.”

  “You’ve done as much for me as I’ve done for you,” I pointed out.

  Landra smiled. “You know that’s not true, Sam.”

  I squeezed her then put her down and kissed those incredible lips. “How long before that’s ready? I feel the need to ravage you,” I told her.

  “Yeah, I couldn’t help notice your friend down there.”

  “You mean your friend,” I corrected.

  We had plenty of time to kill so we played around in Landra’s bedroom until almost 5:00 o’clock then I made Landra go with me to my house so I could shower and change clothes before we ate dinner. We got within a block of my house and I could see flashing lights down the street, and it looked like they were right in front of my house.

  “That’s the rescue vehicle,” Landra said, sitting up straight in her seat. “And the ambulance. Oh my God, it’s at Sara’s house! Hurry up, Sam!” she exclaimed.

  I put the pedal to the floor and when I got to my driveway, Landra didn’t even wait for me to pull in.

  “Landra wait!” I shouted, but she was already out and running towards Mrs. Howard’s.

  I parked the Suburban and raced out to the street. The Johnses and Maddie were out there and some other neighbors that I didn’t know, and they all had the same concerned look on their face. Mrs. Howard was on a gurney and they were loading her into the ambulance. She had an oxygen mask on and I couldn’t tell if she was conscious or not.