by Roy Glenn
“Good afternoon, can I help you?”
“Good afternoon, Marcus Douglas to see Mr. Ferguson, please.”
“Would you mind signing in?”
The receptionist called for someone to escort them to Roland Ferguson's office. Once their escort arrived, he led them to the desk of Connie Talbert. When she saw Marcus coming, Connie stood up. Her eyes became as round as oranges when she noticed that Carmen was walking beside him.
“Carmen!” Connie exclaimed, as she rushed up to Carmen. She gave her a big hug. “It's so good to see you, Carmen. It's been how long.”
“How are you, Connie?” Carmen asked trying to free herself from Connie's vice like grip.
“Oh, I'm doing just fine. I didn't know you were in town. What brings you here?”
“I'm here to see Roland,” Carmen paused and glanced at Marcus, “with Mr. Douglas.”
“Oh,” Connie said as if some of the enthusiasm seemed to have been drained from her. “Well in that case, if both of you will follow me, please.” Connie led them into a small conference room, “Mr. Ferguson is on a call, but he knows you're here and he'll be with you as soon as he's off.” She said, closing the door behind her.
“What'd you think about that?” Carmen asked.
“About what?” Marcus replied, taking a seat at the table.
“That reception.”
“Seemed like Connie was real glad to see you.”
Carmen held up her hand. “Me and Connie aren't that tight.”
“She did seem surprised that you were here with me, but that's to be expected. So relax Carmen. There aren't bad guys around every corner.”
“Maybe just around this one,” Carmen commented as they made themselves comfortable in the conference room, where Roland kept them waiting until almost two-thirty. The door swung open and Roland Ferguson entered the room.
“Marcus, how are you?” Roland said, stopping to shake his hand.
“I'm fine, sir. How are you?”
“Not bad for an old man. And Carmen, this is a surprise. When did you get in?”
“I got here Tuesday night. I came to give a deposition for your trial.”
“I wish I had known that you were in town, you could have come by the house. I had a few friends over,” Roland said as he took a seat at the conference table. “Carmen, I never did get a chance to tell you how sorry I am about Desireé. I know the two of you were very close.”
“Thank you, Roland.”
“You know, Carmen, sometimes I don't know if I can go on without her. There were times during the past year that I wish she were there to tell me that everything will be alright. That we'll get through this together, like we do everything else,” Roland said sadly. “I don't really think anyone could understand that, Carmen. Except you.”
“I do understand, Roland,” Carmen said sincerely. “I've found myself thinking the same thing. I feel so alone without Dez.”
“I know how you feel, Carmen,” Roland said and reached out his hand to Carmen. “I know that this might not be my place, but if you ever feel the need to talk, I hope we can be there for one another,” Roland said, taking off his glasses, and placing his hand over his eyes. “We both suffered such a terrible loss.”
“Some days it's harder to deal with than others.”
Carmen looked at Roland as he shed tears for their loss. Her attitude softened. She had come there that day prepared for an angry confrontation with the man responsible for her sister’s death. She was going to tell him, point blank, that she knew that he killed Desireé and she would see him rot in hell for it. But look at him. Carmen thought. He's hurting. Marcus looked at Roland and then to Carmen, still holding hands, now both were crying.
“I'm sorry, Marcus,” Roland said, wiping his eyes. He put his glasses back on. “Sorry if we embarrassed you.”
“No need to apologize. Like you said, both of you have suffered a terrible loss. I should apologize for intruding.”
Roland cleared his throat and dabbed his eyes with his handkerchief. “That's no reason for me to act unprofessionally, I mean really, crying in front of my lawyer. So, tell me, what brings you two to see me? I wasn't aware that you two knew each other.”
“Actually we met only yesterday,” Carmen said. “To be honest with you Roland, I was very upset when my father told me that you were found not guilty. I was sure that you did it. I'd talked to the police and the DA and neither of them seemed to have any intention of pursuing this any further.”
“Yes I know, I spoke with Ms. Hawkins and Detective Benjamin yesterday and I got the same impression.” Roland paused. “Somebody killed Desireé and they don't care. You were right Marcus, no high profile trophy, no interest.”
“It seems that way,” Marcus said.
“I had an appointment to see Marcus and after we talked about it, he agreed to look into it on my behalf.”
“That's an excellent idea, Carmen. Since Marcus is intimately familiar with the details of the case, perhaps his investigator, what was his name?”
“Garrett Mason.”
“Yes, yes, Mason. Perhaps he can uncover something that the police haven't. Well, Marcus, I want to help in anyway that I can. And don't spare any expense; I'll gladly cover your fee. I just want some answers,” Roland said looking at Carmen. She nodded in agreement. “Tell me what I can do to help.”
Carmen started to speak, but Marcus cut her off. “I just wanted you to know what I was doing. I didn't want you to feel like my working for Carmen was a conflict of interest.”
“Nonsense. Finding Desireé's killer is my only interest.”
“Can you think of anybody who might want to kill Desireé? I know you already talked to the police about this in your first interview, but that was almost a year ago. Maybe in that time you remembered something.”
“I can't think of a soul who would want to harm her. I've racked my brain, trying to think of a reason for anybody to do such a thing.”
“How much do you know about Rasheed Damali?”
“Not much, he was a friend of Desireé's, I met him a few times, but I couldn't tell you much about him.”
“Know anybody who might?”
“Not that I can think of, I'm sorry, I'm not much help, am I?”
“That's alright, Roland, I know this must be difficult for you to talk about. I think we've taken up enough of your time,” Marcus said, as he rose to his feet and nodded at Carmen.
“Sorry I wasn't much help. If you have any more questions, Marcus, please call me at home. Were all family here,” Roland said as he got up to show them out. Since she was now the only one still sitting, Carmen got up too. “No need to be so formal.”
“There is one more thing you can help us with. Carmen was looking at the case file and she noticed that the police never talked to Desireé's friend, Suzanne Collins.” Carmen was confused by the way Marcus posed the question. He knows Suzanne is dead. “Carmen thought that was odd seeing that they were best friends.”
“You don't know. Carmen, Suzanne is dead. She died sometime before Desireé did.”
“No Roland, I didn't know that. Dez never mentioned it to me,” Carmen said, following Marcus's lead. “Which is strange, because you know we used to talk everyday. Maybe we weren't as close as I thought.”
“Desireé took Suzanne's death very badly. She practically threw the police out of the house when they told her about it. She didn't want to believe it. She was in denial about it. She wouldn't talk to me about it. I had to literally drag her to the funeral. So, please, Carmen, I can assure you that there was nobody closer to Desireé then you. She loved you so much. And she was so proud of you. So you get that thought out of your head,” Roland said as they reached the elevator. Roland put his arms around Carmen.
“Thank you, Roland. You take care of yourself,” Carmen said.
“Are you going back to Europe soon?”
“No. I'm thinking about staying here for a while,” she said and glanced at Marcus.
Carmen smiled, “I'd like that.”
It was obvious to Marcus that Roland had touched Carmen's heart. He could see it in her eyes. They said nothing to one another until they reached the car.
“Well, what did you think?” Carmen asked as they drove away.
“I don't know, I've never seen Roland so, so, so passionate.”
“Are you kidding, that was vintage Roland. He was always very passionate about Dez.”
“I'm not saying that he's not; I've just never seen him like that, is all I'm saying. I spent the better part of a year with the man and this is new to me.”
“You heard what he said, no reason to act unprofessionally, I mean really, crying in front of your lawyer,” Carmen mused.
“What did you think of his explanation about Suzanne?”
“That was vintage Dez.” Carmen laughed a little. “I remember we used to have a dog named Mercedes. Dez loved that dog. He was part of the family. One day Mercedes got out the house and got hit by a car. For months after that Dez was in denial. She wouldn’t admit the dog was dead. Everyday she'd put food out for him. My father would have to come behind her and throw it away. She'd talk to Mercedes and this went on for months.”
“What brought her out of it?”
“My mother. Dez said she was going for a walk and called for Mercedes to come with her. I guess my mother had had enough. She yelled, 'Desireé Marie Taylor, if you say one more word to that dead dog I'm taking you to a psychiatrist' and that got that. Dez never mentioned Mercedes again.”
“Yeah, when your mama calls you by your full name you know she's serious. What's your middle name, Carmen?”
“My middle name is Aneale. It's a family name. My grandfather's name was Neal. My mother's middle name is Aneale and so is mine!”
“What's you mothers name?”
“It’s Dominique. You'll meet her.”
“Dominique. I like that name.”
Carmen rolled her eyes and looked away. “So what do we do now, Marcus?” she asked as they approached the connector.
“Not much to do until I hear from Garrett. So after I drop you off, I was going to go home and take care of some unfinished business,” Marcus said thinking about having that long overdue talk with Randa.
“Believe me, I can understand that. I have something's I need to put behind me, too,” Carmen mused, thinking about her mother. “But I'm not quite ready to do that just yet. So, since your gonna drop me off,” Carmen frowned and rolled her eyes. “I guess I'll go back to my room and call some old friends. Maybe I'll try to find Porsche Temple.”
“That sounds like a good idea. Call me later on tonight, hopefully I'll have heard from Garrett and we'll compare notes,” Marcus said, without taking note of Carmen's apparent disappointment with his plan for the evening. The phone rang. “This is Marcus Douglas.”
“Marcus, this is Garrett. I got some information about Suzanne and Frank Collins for you. Meet me at your office and I'll lay it all out for you. Oh, and Marcus, is the client with you?” Garrett asked excitedly.
Marcus looked at Carmen while she stared aimlessly out the window. “Yes, she is.”
Carmen glanced at Marcus. “What?”
“You are gonna bring her with you? Right?” Garrett asked.
“I can be there in half an hour,” Marcus smiled at Carmen, who was once again staring out the window. She is beautiful. Marcus thought.
“Yeah, yeah, I'll be there,” Garrett said. “But you are gonna bring her?”
“Half hour it is, Garrett,” Marcus said as he pressed end on his phone.
“What is it?” Carmen asked.
“Garrett has some information about Suzanne and Frank Collins.”
“What did he say?”
“He's gonna meet me in my office in half an hour.”
“Oh,” Carmen said in a manner that reflected her mood.
“You wanna hear what he has to say?”
“You know I do,” Carmen said, and the life returned to her smile. Marcus smiled back at Carmen, making a mental note of her apparent change in mood. He attributed it to her enthusiasm about the case. Carmen watched as he got off at the next exit and headed for his office, totally unaware that she had her eye on him.
2 NO U
Marcus opened the car door for Carmen and extended his hand to her. Carmen accepted his hand and got out of the car. His hands are so warm and soft. Carmen thought for a moment. She stood in front of Marcus and looked in his eyes.
“Thank you, Mr. Douglas,” she said finally releasing his hand.
“We're back to Mr. Douglas, huh?”
Carmen smiled. “No, I just like a gentleman, that's all.”
“My father raised me to be a gentleman,” Marcus said as they walked. “I had two older sisters and my father insisted that I treat women with respect.”
“A very wise man,” Carmen flirted.
They entered the office and the first person Marcus saw was Tiffanie Powers. “Marcus, can I talk to you for a minute, please.”
“Your office, five minutes,” Marcus barked as he walked passed her on his way to speak to Janise. “Is Garrett here yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Let me know when he gets here.”
Marcus led Carmen into his office and asked her to wait there for him while he went to talk to Tiffanie. He knocked casually on her door as he walked in. Tiffanie jumped to her feet. “Sit down Tiffanie. This won't take long.”
“Marcus I just wanna say—”
Marcus held up his hand to stop her. “Tiffanie, I'm not going to tell you what to do with your social life or try to tell you who you should be friends with.”
“Marcus I—”
“But, if I ever hear your name mentioned as the source of information about my personal life, I swear, Tiffanie, I will fire you. I don't care how good a trial lawyer you are.”
“Marcus, I'm sorry.”
“Save it, Tiffanie,” Marcus said as he turned to leave her office.
“Marcus, wait.” Marcus turned around. “I want you to know that I'm sorry about this and it won't happen again. Everything I am, I owe to you. You hired me right out of law school. You saw the lawyer in me that even I didn't know existed. I wasn't trying to get in your personal business but when you disappeared for months, some of us were, you know, concerned, that's all. But Marcus, Randa really does love you. All she wants to do is talk.”
“Thank you for being concerned, Tiffanie. By the way, watch your billing, before somebody complains.”
“I will; you can go to trial with that,” Tiffanie said with a smile as she watched Marcus walked out of her office to rejoined Carmen. Glad that she had seemingly dodged a bullet.
When she arrived at the office that morning she was greeted by Janise. Who, Tiffanie noticed seemed a bit more excited to see her when she walked through the door.
“Good morning, Janise,” Tiffanie said wearily.
Janise smiled and simply said, “You're fired. Your services are no longer required. Turn all of your work over to Simon.”
“What?” Tiffanie dropped her briefcase.
“That's what Marcus told me to tell you.”
“Are you serious?”
“That's what I asked him.” Janise was enjoying this a little too much. But she knew impact was important if she was going to make her point.
“What did he say?”
“He said that he hadn't decided yet. Then he said never mind, Janise. I'll handle it myself.” Trying her best to sound like Marcus.
“Did he say why?”
“No. But I can tell you why. That is, if you really wanna know?”
“Of course I want to know. At least I'll be prepared, Janise. Tell me.”
Janise looked around the office and motioned for Tiffanie to come closer. “You need to stay out of Marcus and Randa's business.”
Tiffanie didn't think Marcus would fire her. But she c
ouldn't be sure. As of today Randa was cut off from any more information about Marcus. She had no doubt that Marcus would fire her if it happened again. Keeping Randa up on what color tie Marcus was wearing with which suit wasn't worth her future. Like everybody else, Tiffanie saw the possibilities that would open up as a result of the Ferguson case. She knew she was a good lawyer and was glad to hear Marcus that he thought so too.
The wait wasn't long before Garrett came in the office all smiles and walked straight up to Carmen. He reached for her hand, bowed at the waist, and kissed it. Marcus shook his head and laughed quietly.
“Ms. Taylor, my name is Garrett Mason. It is an honor to meet such a beautiful woman. I'm just sorry that it has to be under these circumstances.”
Carmen accepted the gesture in stride, but looking at Marcus through the corner of her eye the entire time. “Well, thank you Mr. Mason, it's a pleasure to meet you as well.”
Garrett kissed her hand again.
“You two want me to leave and give you some time alone?” Marcus asked.
“No.” Carmen said quickly and louder then she needed to. Carmen eased her hand out of Garrett's. “That won't be necessary.”
“Well in that case, Garrett, what you got for us?”
“Suzanne Collins, real estate agent, dealt exclusively in the residential properties starting at five hundred thousand. She worked out of a small office in Dunwoody. Just her and a secretary. According to the secretary, she left Suzanne working and when she came in the next morning, she found her, naked.”
“Naked?” Marcus asked, unbuttoning his top shirt button and loosening his tie.
“That's what I said, naked, bent over, face down at her desk. There were bruises all over her upper torso. And there was quite a bit of internal bleeding,” Garrett stated glancing at his notes.
“Was she raped?” Marcus asked.
“There was evidence of,” he paused and looked at Carmen. “of vaginal penetration, but there was no trauma associated with it, so they believe the sex was consensual. Rough sex that went too far, maybe.”