“Well, actually, Abby likes a boy. I told her that she could have a party over here and invite him. She’s too shy just to come out and ask him to go out with her. I know that girls do that now, but Abby doesn’t. She’s way too insecure. But she wasn’t too shy to ask him to come to a party, so that’s why I decided to have this party for them.”
His smile broadened and I melted just a little. I felt like this ice cream cake after it had been left out in the sun. “Mate, that’s brilliant,” he said. “Having a party so that her little crush can come over.”
“Yes. So, if you don’t mind, I need somebody to make this spinach dip while I set everything up outside. And I don’t really know how to set that heater up outside, and you’re a guy, so I have to assume that you probably know things like how to set up heaters and things like that. I hope that I’m not wrong about that.”
“You’re not wrong. I am well-versed in guy things like putting up outdoor heaters, so I’ll be happy to help you out there.”
For the next hour, Axel and I worked together to make sure everything was set up, and Abby and Rina did the same. They were totally excited about their party, and so was I, in a way. It was an excellent distraction for me, and it was a healthy way for me to direct my excess energy. I still hadn’t slept, except for about two hours the night before last, so I didn’t know why I was still so energetic. I only knew that I was, and that I was feeling as if I could do anything at all. It was a weird feeling.
“So, who is on the guest list?” I asked Rina.
She rattled off a bunch of names, and, for some odd reason, one of the names caught my attention: Amelia Stone.
“Wait a second. Amelia Stone. You mentioned her before. You said that she had broken up with her little boyfriend, and that all the kids were talking about it. Right? That’s the same girl, right?”
She shrugged. “That was like a million years ago. She likes this other boy now, but he’s not going to be here. Why do you care?”
I furrowed my brows. “Who are her parents?”
She dipped a chip into some dip and forced it into her mouth. “I don’t know. Her dad is some rich dude. Some really rich dude. Her mom is somebody. I don’t really know. Why do you care?”
I remembered reading, on the prenuptial agreement, that the Stones had no children. I had a feeling that Amelia Stone was Gerald Stone’s child. I didn’t know why I thought that, but that was the first thought that popped into my head.
Kayla Stone and Gerald Stone had been married for 13 years. Amelia Stone was in the same grade as Rina and Abby, which meant that she was 11, going on 12. Might Amelia have been born to a different mother? And, if so, how was that significant to this case? Was it significant?
I shook my head. “Nothing, nothing. But what do you know about her? Who does she live with?”
Rina rolled her eyes. “She lives with her mother. They live in Hallbrook. Her mother stays home with her and doesn’t work. That’s all that I know. Her mother doesn’t have the father around anymore. I don’t know if the father has ever been around. I only know that he’s some really rich dude that gives Amelia’s mother a lot of money. That’s all I know. Why? Do you want to meet her parents?”
“Actually, I do. I would love to meet her mother.”
“Okay. Her mother is going to bring her here, so you can meet her.”
“Thanks.”
Axel came in after Rina left the kitchen. “I overheard you talking to Rina,” he said. “What’s going on?”
I sighed. “Oh, Axel, I haven’t spoken with you about the Michael Reynolds case. I’m getting so close to breaking it wide open. I have to do some more investigation, but I think that things are going my way.”
“What do you mean? Are you saying that you’re finding evidence that will solidly exonerate your client? Or are you saying something else?”
“I’m saying something else.” I sighed. “I know that you’re not going to like what I’m doing. Hell, I don’t even like what I’m doing. I’m happy about it, but I don’t like it.”
He sat down at the table and pulled me down on his lap. I threw my arms around his neck and put my head on his shoulder. “Harper,” he said. “Tell me what’s going on? Are you trying to undermine your own client?”
I nodded my head. “I’m a horrible person, aren’t I?”
He laughed. “No, of course not. I’ve never heard of an attorney doing that, but I don’t blame you for doing that. That’s a bad bloke you got there. Are you sure that it should be you who is going to make sure he goes down, though?”
“Yes,” I said. “I spoke with the prosecutor and I know that she’s not going to figure out what happened in this case. She’s a good prosecutor, but she’s busy. She has investigators out there looking at the facts of this case, but I don’t think that they’re going to figure out what really happened. I know that the cops aren’t going to figure it out. So it falls on me.”
“Why aren’t the cops going to figure it out? I’m a cop. A detective. I think that my brothers in blue are going to be all over this case. After all, the media’s all over it, so they’re under a lot of pressure to perform.”
I shook my head. “I spoke with the cop who was the first responder. I wasn’t encouraged. I got the feeling that they stopped looking after my client was arrested. Which is fine, but they’re not looking hard enough. They aren’t looking at the big picture.”
“What is the big picture in this case?”
“The big picture is that there is a conspiracy going on. I can’t say anything just yet, but I think that it involves a large corporation who stood to lose millions, hundreds of millions, if the case went the wrong way. And the case was going to go the wrong way under Judge Sanders. The ironic thing is that the person involved, Gerald Stone, has a daughter that I didn’t know about, and she’s going to be at this party tonight. So is her mother – her mother is bringing her here. I’m going to get a chance to speak with her, but probably only briefly. I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to say much to her. I don’t even know what it is that I’m going to ask her.”
Axel looked skeptical. “Lass, tell me what you think happened in this case. And how does it tie into your client?”
“I’ll tell you later. Believe me, it’s a long and sordid tale. One that can’t really be told in a short period of time, which is what we have right now. The kids are going to be here in a half hour. We have to get moving on this.”
For the next half hour, Axel and I put the finishing touches for the party. The outdoor tables were set with snacks and he checked the outdoor heaters to make sure that they worked properly. We also set up stations for the laser tag and I tested out the karaoke machine.
Axel laughed as I sang an Adele song on the machine. “You’re voice is very nice,” he said. “You should be a lounge singer.”
“Ha ha.”
“No, really, you should. You’re very good.”
I blushed. “I can’t carry a tune to save my life.”
He joined me and we sang a duet, looking into each other’s eyes. Rina came out and saw us singing to each other and she rolled her eyes. “Gross. Get a room.”
We both giggled. “We’re only trying it out, Ladybug.”
She came up to me and whispered. “Don’t call me that around my friends. It’s embarrassing.”
“Okay.”
As she walked away, Axel put his arm around me. “Don’t feel bad. She’s going to get to the age where you’re going to be embarrassing to her no matter what you do. Trust me. In a year or two she won’t even know you if you’re out in public with her. Fair warning.”
“Yeah, I know. I did the same thing to my parents. We used to go to the mall and if I saw some of the kids from my class, I hid from them. I didn’t want them to see me with my parents. I know that Rina is going to be the same way. Abby maybe won’t, though. She’s just a little doll.”
“Oh, Abby will disown you too one day, mate. Just trust me on this.” He kissed
my forehead. “I think that everything is good to go.”
I looked around and knew that Axel was right. Everything was in place and I think that I didn’t need anything else. The kids were going to have fun.
The doorbell rang, and about three kids, and their mothers, came in the door after I answered it. I greeted all the mothers, and shook their hands and made small talk while their daughters ran into the living room. They were energetic and bouncing around excitedly and I heard more than one shriek.
Over the course of the next half hour, all the kids came in with their mothers. Amelia Stone was the last one to come through the door with her mother.
Amelia was a pretty girl - tall, thin, blonde and somewhat awkward. She had the slightly slouched posture of a young Taylor Swift, and she was gangly like her as well. She looked, for all the world, like a young lady who would blossom into supermodel status at any moment, but, at present, she just looked like an awkward tween girl. Complete with braces.
Her mother, whose name I didn’t yet know, looked like an older version of Amelia. Tall, long blonde hair, sophisticated. Carried a designer purse, wore designer shoes and she was tanned. Since it was November in Kansas City, the only way that she could have attained a tan was through a tanning bed or a long vacation in a sunny place.
I guessed the latter was the case.
“Hello,” she said. “My name is Megan Baker. I’m Amelia’s mom.”
I nodded and shook her hand. “Harper Ross. This is Axel Springer. He’s my right-hand man in this. My partner in crime.”
She nodded at Axel appreciatively, and they shook hands.
Amelia reluctantly joined the melee that was happening in the living room. Somebody had turned on a music video station, and the girls were dancing and singing along while the boys stood around awkwardly.
James was one of the boys, and I thought Abby had decent taste. He was a cute kid - skinny, with floppy copper-colored hair and freckles. I saw him looking over at Abby more than once and I saw him go over to her as she stood off to the side. Abby looked like she was embarrassed, because her face was turned down towards the floor and I saw him lightly punch her in the arm as she giggled.
No doubt about it, he was digging her too.
I wished the best for her.
“Well,” Megan said. “I’ll pick up Amelia around 11. Would that be okay?”
“Yes.” I hesitated. “But I would like to discuss something with you, if you don’t mind.”
She looked perplexed, but nodded her head. “Okay, sure.”
She followed me into the sun room and I beckoned her to sit next to me. “Would you like something to drink?”
“No,” she said. “I really can’t stay long. I’m meeting a guy at McCormick and Schmick’s on The Plaza at 8.”
“I won’t keep you long. I just wanted to ask you something. I hope that I’m not prying.”
She looked uncomfortable when I said that. Her eyes didn’t meet mine and she looked around the room. “This is a cute room,” she said. “I love the colors you chose. The yellow walls are very bright and sunny, and the green curtains go very well with the walls. The rug pulls it all together. Very nice.” She picked up her purse and clutched it to her chest.
“Yes, this room wasn’t me, unfortunately. I don’t have a good eye for such things. I hired an interior decorator. I think that she did a pretty good job of making my house not look like a color-blind person lives here.”
She smiled weakly and nodded her head. “Yes. I’ll have to get her name from you.”
I took a deep breath, knowing that there was a time limit on what I was going to ask from her. She indicated that her date was at 8, and it was presently 7:30. The Plaza wasn’t very far away, but it was a Friday night, and parking was always hard to find at this time. “Yes, I’ll give you one of her cards before you leave.” I hesitated. “But I didn’t want to talk about my decoration of my house. I wanted to…”
She looked at me, her eyes quizzical.
“I wanted to ask you about Amelia’s father. Her father is Gerald Stone, isn’t it?”
The color drained away from her face and she clutched her purse tighter to her chest. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business. I just met you. Why are you asking me these questions?”
I leaned back in my chair. “I’m an attorney. I’m working a case. A murder case.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“I’m working a theory. It involves Amelia’s father. I know that you don’t have to answer questions from me now, but if you don’t, I’m going to have you subpoenaed to answer questions under oath. I don’t really want to do that. I know that Amelia and Rina are friends, and I don’t want to drive a wedge between them, and believe me, if Rina gets wind that I’m grilling her friend’s mother, she’s going to hate me for sure.”
“You’re grilling me now.” Her fingers on her purse were quivering and her leg started to twitch. “What is the difference between grilling me now and you subpoenaing me to come into your office for a deposition?”
“You’ve done depositions before?”
“Of course. Gerald didn’t want to acknowledge Amelia as his own. I had to have a DNA test ordered and paternity established, and then I had to drag him into court to get support.”
“I see.” I raised an eyebrow. “Tell me about Gerald. What is he like?”
“I’m not going to answer these intrusive questions.”
“I’m going to find out anyways. I have ways of finding things like restraining orders you might have filed against him and court records regarding your custody case. So you might as well speak with me, so that you have a chance to defend yourself.”
She looked at her watch. “I have to go. I have to be on The Plaza at 8. You know how parking is.”
“I do. But I want to ask you one question.”
She rolled her eyes. “What is that question?”
“You don’t work, is that right?”
“I do. I’m a homemaker. I raise my daughter. Believe me, that’s work.”
“Oh, I know. I have a nanny to help me raise my two girls, but I know that children are a lot of work. But that wasn’t what I wanted to know.”
“What are you getting at?”
“You don’t work outside the home, but Rina told me that you live in Hallbrook. You just told me that you had to drag Gerald into court in order for him to even acknowledge that Amelia is his child. I would think that he would be the type of guy who would give you what is owed for child support, under the law, and not a penny more. That would necessarily mean that you wouldn’t be able to afford a house in Hallbrook. Not unless you somehow got a nice settlement from Gerald.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. She looked furious, but, at the same time, I saw in her eyes that she wanted to tell me the whole story.
“How do you know that I didn’t inherit money from my parents?”
“Did you?”
She shook her head. “No. My parents live east of Troost, if that tells you anything.”
“It does.”
She sighed. “I really have to go. I’ll meet you, though, in your office on Monday if you like. I don’t really want to be put under oath, however. But I’ll tell you anything that you need to know.”
“Thank you. I’m very sorry that I have to ask these questions. I’m just trying to get to the bottom of something.”
She nodded. “It’s okay. Gerald…is not a good person. Not a good man. I found that out too late. But that’s all I’m going to say for now.”
“Let me walk you out.”
The two of us walked to my front door and I put my hand on her shoulder. “Thank you. How about 2 PM on Monday? Here’s my card, so you know the address.”
“Yes, I see.” She looked at my card. “Looks like you’re in one of those high-rises on The Plaza. Do you like working there?”
“Oh, I love it. Thanksgiving is around the corner, so the lights are going to be coming on. My absolute
favorite time of year.”
She laughed softly. “Mine too. Well, I’ll be seeing you Monday at 2.”
“Monday at 2.”
Twenty-Six
Monday rolled around and I went to my office, in anticipation of meeting with Megan Baker.
The party with the girls went well. Everybody seemed to have fun, and there weren’t any major fights, so I counted that as a success. Best of all, Abby and James seemed to bond that evening. It appeared to me that he liked her as much as she liked him, so she was very anxious about seeing him at school today.
“What if he doesn’t talk to me?” she asked me anxiously over breakfast.
“He will. Be positive. I think that he really likes you.”
Abby shook her head. “I don’t know, Aunt Harper. I think that he still doesn’t know that I’m alive.”
“Don’t be silly, Buttercup. I saw the two of you at your party. I think that he’s really digging you.”
She smiled. “If you say so.”
For once, Rina didn’t say anything nasty to her sister. In fact, she said something nice. “I think he likes you, Abby. I think that he does. But if he ignores you in school, I’ll get Axel to punch him in the mouth.”
I laughed. “I don’t think that he’s going to do that, Rina. But you never know.”
Pearl poked her head through the door. “Megan Baker is here to see you.”
“Please send her in.”
At that, Megan came into my office, looking unsure and just a little bit lost. “Hello,” I said, standing up and shaking her hand. “Come on in. Thank you for making time for this.”
She nodded her head and said nothing. “I’m very nervous,” she finally said. “If Gerald knew I was here…” She shook her head. “I worry about what he would do.”
“Have a seat,” I said, gesturing to the chair in front of my desk. “Would you like something to drink? Bottled water, raspberry iced tea, or pop?”
“I’ll have a bottled water.”
I then buzzed Pearl and asked her to bring Megan a water. She popped in a few seconds later, handing Megan the drink. She opened the water and took a nervous sip. Her hand on the bottle was shaking and I felt badly for her.
Justice Denied - A Harper Ross Legal Thriller Page 20