Chapter Five
ALICIA
I was numb and in shock when hung up the phone with Adam. I didn’t want to imagine what this was going to do to the firm’s reputation…to all of our reputations. I also had no idea how I was going to tell my parents. It was just all too much. Adam told me he would have the detectives come back in two hours. That would at least give me a chance to arrange lunch for my parents and give them some type of explanation as to why I had to leave them already. This was another conversation that I was not looking forward to at all.
I arrived at the law office a little earlier than Adam told me to. Once again, the sidewalk out front was congested with reporters. I slipped in the back way this time and took the service elevators up to the floor that housed the firm. I went straight to Adam’s office, and although Mac, Kyla, and Nico were there when I arrived, Adam got up and put his arms around me. We stood there like that for several minutes and then I finally pulled back and said,
“Are we working on a plan?”
“That’s exactly what we’re doing,” Kyla told me. “Pull up a chair and help us out. Another great mind is always welcome.”
I sat down and Nico began explaining to me what they were doing. Nico, Kyla, and a few of the junior associates had compiled a list of all my and Adam’s open cases. Then, they separated them into civil and criminal cases.
As it turned out, Miles’ and Nelson’s cases had been the only open ones that Adam or I had been working on as a criminal case. The oil spill lawsuit was a different story. Adam, Mac, and our teams had spent hundreds of hours interviewing and taking depositions on witnesses. Most of that information was in the files that had been taken. They had listed out the names of all of the people involved in those interviews and also had a list of all of the judges involved on cases that have already been assigned and the attorneys representing the other side.
“Wow, you guys have been busy. Great job,” I told them when Nico had finished. “I don’t know that I have anything else to offer until I’ve seen what the damage is in my office. If you’ll all excuse me, I think I’ll take a look now, before the police arrive.”
When I opened the door to my office, I was sickened at the sight. The damage that had been done originally was compounded by the trail left by the police during their investigation. Black powder used for picking up fingerprints could still be seen on the door the desk and other furniture in the office. As I stood there, trying to decide where to start, I heard Adam’s voice behind me.
“What a mess, huh?”
I turned towards him and said, “I’m not even sure where to start.”
He put his arms around me again and held me longer this time. “It’s going to be alright, baby, I promise.”
I didn’t say anything, just stood there with my head resting against his chest. I wished we could go back to when our love was new and business was thriving. I’d even be happy to have to deal with Marjorie’s nonsense again, if it only meant that the old shrew was still alive to antagonize us. Life had gotten so complicated so fast. I was a pro at handling other people’s messes and drama, but I wasn’t quite sure how to handle my own at that point.
Up until a month ago, life had more often than not come easily to me. Yes, my mother could be difficult at times, but my parents had given me every advantage in life and had done an excellent job of shielding me from the bad things.
Adam held me back so he could look at my face. “Is this the final straw?” he asked, looking genuinely afraid that I might say yes.
“Of course not,” I told him. “None of this is your fault. Now, let me take stock of what is missing before the police get here.”
“Okay, but there’s one more thing,” he told me, “I don’t know what if anything this means, but the pictures you have of you and I on the shelf behind your desk were all laid face down.”
My eyes went to the shelf. “Why? That seems a bit…personal, doesn’t it?”
“Yes,” he said. “It does, and I don’t like it.” I got a chill down my spine. I didn’t like it, either. What the hell was going on?
Adam left me alone after that and by the time the police arrived, I had compiled a list of what was missing. I had been working on two civil cases; one was a woman who was suing a large corporation for the wrongful death of her husband. He had been on the company’s private jet on the way to a business meeting when the jet had crashed. The company had not compensated the woman in any way, other than a very small life insurance policy they held on her husband.
I had found out that the pilot who had been flying the jet had been drinking earlier in the day, prior to the flight taking off. The FAA had investigated and found the cause of the crash to be equipment failure, but I thought that the pilot drinking prior to a long business flight was still significant and could be used to force the company to compensate the widow.
My other civil case was a domestic one. The husband hired a private investigator to follow the wife, who in this case was my client. The wife was cheating on him, and the man was trying to use the infidelity to keep basically everything they had accumulated together over a period of fifteen years of marriage. I disagreed with the infidelity, but did not believe it entitled the man to take everything that the woman had helped work for.
The two criminal cases, Miles’ and Nelson’s, were the most complicated. In Nelson’s case, since we were already in the stages of going to trial, I could get most of what we lost from court documents or the DA’s office.
In Miles’ case I’d have no such luck and it was going to suck. We would have to re-interview anyone that had already been interviewed and re-compile a case file. We would probably also have to fight the press. It made me crazy just thinking about it.
In that file were the documents Miles had given me at the beginning, as well. There was background on Vick, information Brett had found for me on David, and most damaging of all was Miles IV’s admission that his son had killed his third wife. It wasn’t enough for the police to arrest Miles V on, but it would be damaging in other ways if the file was in the wrong hands.
I spoke to the detectives when they arrived and gave them a run-down of what was taken. The nature of their job made them inquisitive about who the clients were, but I stuck firm on only telling them what type of case file it had been.
I called my own clients myself. The two women weren’t happy, but they were reasonable and seemed to understand that I was doing all I could. I left a message for Miles and had to reassure Nelson ten times that this wouldn’t be his ticket to jail. It was an exhausting afternoon.
When I finally finished all of that, I said goodbye to Adam and told him I would call him later. I needed to get back to face the music once again with my parents. I could only hope that they hadn’t watched or listened to any news while I’d been gone.
When I got home and opened the apartment door, I was surprised to hear a voice other than one of my parents. It was Jack. I thought about just sneaking back out. I could only imagine what sort of ideas he was filling my Mother’s head with about Adam. I was beginning to distrust him and as much as I hated that my instincts told me it was the safe thing to do.
“Jack,” I said as I walked into the sitting room where they were all having coffee. “What a surprise.”
“Alicia,” Jack said, rising from his seat next to my mother, “I’m sorry to just drop by unannounced. I didn’t realize your parents were visiting. I had just been watching the news, and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“That is actually what phones were invented for,” I said, somewhat sarcastically.
“Alicia,” my mother chimed in. “There is no reason to be rude. You owe Jack an apology for your tone.”
“It’s okay, Lady Winston,” Jack said. Ever the ass-kisser, I thought. “I know she’s had a rough go of it lately. I am the one who should apologize and get going. I’m intruding.”
“You are doing no such thing!” Mother told him. “We were happy to see you and catch up. If my daughter won’t apologize for her rudeness, I will.”
“Mother, I can apologize for myself, thank you.” Looking at Jack and pasting the second non- genuine smile of the day on my face, I said, “You’re right, Jack. It has been rough week. I do apologize if I’ve been rude.”
“No need, Alicia, really,” Jack said, oblivious to the fact that I had said “If I’ve been rude.” I hadn’t actually admitted to anything. I felt he was the one being rude just by virtue of being there.
“All I want is to be sure you’re okay,” he said again.
“I’m fine, thank you,” I said, and took a seat next to my father.
My dad took my hand. “Are you really, dear? We saw on the television that your office was broken into.”
“It’s awfully frustrating yes, but we can deal with it. Now, enough depressing talk. How about I put what I had out for dinner tonight in the refrigerator until tomorrow and we go out to a nice restaurant? I’d love to take you to see Rockefeller Center. You haven’t ever been there around the holidays, have you?”
“No, we haven’t,” my mother said, “What do you think, John? Are you up for a stroll out in the cold tonight?” I knew that my father had had some medical issues lately. It was touching to see that my mother still worried about him after all these years.
“I would love to see all of the Christmas decorations and watch the skaters out on the ice,” my father said, enthusiastically.
“It’s settled then. I know of an excellent seafood restaurant near there. I’ll call for reservations now, and that will give us time to dress.”
“I better be on my way, then,” Jack said, rising once again off of the sofa.
My mother gave me a look that I knew full well meant I was being rude again and should offer Jack an invitation, but I pretended not to see it and said instead, “It was nice of you to come by, Jack. Perhaps we can have you over again before my parents return home.”
“That would be nice,” he said. He kissed my mother on the cheek and shook my father’s hand. I walked him to the door and as he was leaving he said, “Don’t forget that you can call me if you need anything,”
“I won’t, thank you,” I said as I closed the door.
There was something about him that bothered me so badly lately, but I just couldn’t figure out what it was. I shook it off for now, and returned to my parents. I was looking forward to our outing. It would be nice to forget about everything for a while and just enjoy our time together.