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  Everyone in the courtroom rose from their seats. The judge left the courtroom. Reporters raced outside to make phone calls. Spectators began talking amongst themselves.

  Kathy turned to look at Erin and Charles. They looked like they wanted to get into a discussion of the afternoon’s events. She shook her head. “Not here. Wait until we get back to the office. First, we have to deal with the press. No comment all the way. I don’t care what they ask you. There will be no getting angry or defensive or indignant on camera – no gratuitous comments. Do I make myself clear?”

  Charles and Erin nodded. They packed up their stuff and left the courtroom.

  ***

  An hour later, Kathy met with Charles in a conference room at GRH. She was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to leave the office for the day, sort out everything she was feeling and figure out her next move in privacy. Unfortunately, privacy was a luxury she could no longer afford. She sat back in her chair, tipped her head back and gazed at the ceiling for a moment. Then she brought her chin down and looked at Charles.

  He was watching her. He did that a lot when they were together. It was difficult to mask your emotions when someone was always watching you. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. He smiled back at her, bringing out those dimples and that cleft in his chin that she loved so much. She shook her head. She must be more tired than she realized. It was that sort of thinking that had gotten her in this mess to begin with.

  “What a hearing,” Charles said. “After that epic battle, you must be tired.”

  Kathy tilted her head. Considering how the hearing had gone, she had half expected him to gripe and complain. Instead, he thought about her. “Yes. I must confess that I am a little tired. But, as one writer put it, I have ‘miles to go before I sleep.’”

  He leaned over and touched her arm. “Listen, I didn’t fully appreciate how difficult our relationship would make life for you - both personally and professionally - until I saw what happened in that courtroom today. I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for my part in all this.”

  She stared at him with mixed emotions. Part of her wanted to crawl into his arms and be comforted. Part of her wanted to run from the room to avoid feeling anything more for him. Part of her knew it was already too late.

  She decided to mask her emotions with humor and to keep it light. She shrugged, which had the added effect of dislodging his hand from her arm. “I’m a big girl. It takes two to tango and I knew better. I really can’t blame anyone but myself for this mess.”

  He sat back in his seat, his eyes searching her face. “So, where do today’s rulings leave us in terms of the case?”

  “Not in great shape, I’m afraid.” She got up and began to pace the conference room. “We’ll discover more about the full ramifications of the Court’s ruling on the motion for sanctions later on as we prepare for trial. But, as it stands now, we can’t use any of the documents mentioned in the reporter’s article to prove your claims. That includes the travel records you used to track Wilkes’ movements and the incident reports with Manning’s name and fax number on them.”

  “But that’s crazy. The incident report produced by Peachtree in this case redacted out the fax number and any references to Manning. In fact, all of the documents were so heavily black-lined that the only useful ones were the travel records. It wasn’t until I got clean copies of Peachtree’s records that I was able to put two and two together. And even then, Judy wouldn’t go to print until she got corroborating evidence that the fax number belonged to the C.I.A.”

  “How did she do that?” Kathy took her seat.

  “I don’t know. She said she had a friend at the telephone company.”

  Kathy was quiet for a moment as she formulated strategies in her mind. She got up to pace again. “On one hand, we don’t need those documents to prepare your case for trial. We already have Peachtree’s admission that Wilkes was driving the company car that hit your wife’s and that he was engaged in company business at the time. We have our expert’s testimony about the rate of speed at which he must have been driving to cause the damage he did. All we need to do is to take the deposition of Peachtree’s corporate representative, Wilkes and any expert they designate to avoid any surprises. With that, we’ll probably get a verdict in our favor. The question then will be one of damages.”

  “But I don’t just want damages,” he said, “I want a finding that Peachtree was involved in illegal activities at the time of the accident.”

  Kathy stopped pacing and turned to him. “I know. The Court’s ruling stops us from being able to use the leaked documents. But the ruling is wrong. Peachtree never produced clean copies of those documents in our case so they were never subject to the confidentiality order in the first place. You may have violated a dozen laws getting the documents and giving them to your reporter friend, but not the confidentiality order.”

  When he opened his mouth to speak, she raised a hand and shook her head. “I don’t want to know.”

  He closed his mouth and grinned at her.

  “So,” she said, “our next move is to file a motion asking the Court to reconsider its ruling on the motion for sanctions. We have strong grounds for getting the order reversed on appeal but we can’t appeal it until after the trial. Judge McCarthy has a good record. She doesn’t like being overturned. If that happens, she’d have to try this case all over again.”

  “That sounds like a plan,” he said. “Who knows, after inspecting the documents, she may decide they were never confidential to begin with. That might get her to change her mind too. And if she orders Peachtree to produce clean copies of its records, we might find other documents linking Peachtree to the C.I.A.”

  Kathy shrugged. The odds were not in favor of that happening. But having beaten the odds on numerous occasions, she knew that getting lucky wasn’t impossible. “We can only hope.”

  ***

  Peachtree ground his teeth as he listened to Weisman’s report. He glared at his counsel.

  “So what you’re saying is that the Court could order us to produce clean copies of the documents we already produced some of which this Morgan fellow has already leaked to the press? What’s to stop him from leaking additional documents to the press or even the F.B.I.?” he asked.

  “Well, the confidentiality order prohibits him from disclosing the records to third parties --.”

  “So far, the only thing that confidentiality order’s proven to be good for is wiping my ass,” Peachtree said. “It didn’t stop that boy from disclosing those documents to that reporter. Do you have any idea what problems I’ll have with the C.I.A. if I have to produce those records? What good is a defense contractor that can’t keep secrets? You need to do something about this.”

  “It may not be possible for us to change the judge’s mind –.”

  “Then what the hell am I paying you all this money for?” Peachtree asked.

  “However,” Weisman said, as if he had not been interrupted, “we could file an emergency appeal and try to get the order reversed.”

  Peachtree stroked his chin with his fingers. The lawsuit had become a train wreck. If he couldn’t find a way to get it under control, Manning would make good on his threat to clean house. Peachtree didn’t need a dictionary to figure out what that meant. He didn’t plan to stick around for the fallout. He had some money stashed away and a little hideaway on an island off the coast of South America for just this sort of contingency. Maybe he’d take Giada with him. His mind drifted a little at the thought. He realized that Weisman had stopped speaking and was staring at him. He pointed a finger at his attorney. “File an appeal, bribe somebody, hell, bump off a witness, I don’t care. You just do whatever it takes to get rid of this case. Do you hear me?”

  Weisman nodded.

  “Good,” Peachtree said.

  CHAPTER XVIII

  A week later, Kathy read the Court’s order granting their motion to compel and smiled. She picked up her telephone headse
t, put it on her ear and dialed Charles’ number. He picked up on the second ring.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, it’s Kathy. I have great news.”

  “Good. I could use some of that right now,” he said.

  “The Court granted our motion to compel,” she said.

  “What? Oh that’s great! What does it say?”

  She could hear the smile in his voice. It was good to hear. “I’m e-mailing a copy to you as we speak.” She clicked her mouse on the “send” button. She could hear Charles walking, presumably to his computer. Soon, she heard the click of computer keys. “Basically, she ordered Peachtree to turn over clean copies of all the documents they produced to us. She found that the documents did not merit protection from discovery under national security interests.”

  “I can see that,” Charles said. “This is fantastic. But the documents are still designated ‘Attorney’s Eyes Only’ which means that I can’t see them. So, what’s our next step?”

  “We file a motion challenging Peachtree’s designation of the documents as highly confidential and a motion for rehearing of their motion for sanctions. If the Judge decides that the documents aren’t highly confidential, she might be willing to rethink the harsh sanctions she imposed on us.”

  “Alright then, that’s what we’ll do. You’re a damned good lawyer Kathy. Don’t let this business with the Bar complaint make you believe otherwise.”

  She smiled. It was nice to have his support. “I was going to say that compliments will get you everywhere but that’s how we got into this mess to begin with.”

  He laughed. “It’s nice to hear you joke about it.”

  “It’s either that or cry and I’m not big on tears.”

  “Me either.”

  The conversation was getting a little personal. It was probably time to end it.

  “Okay then, I’ll get right on those motions. In the meantime, I’ll have Erin make arrangements for us to get the documents.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  “Yes. Well okay. Take care.” It was awkward. She didn’t really want to hang up. She got the distinct feeling he didn’t either.

  “You too,” he said.

  “Bye.” She ended the call and sighed. She was tired of analyzing her feelings for him and wishing things weren’t so complicated. What she needed was a distraction. She decided to call her sister and invite her out to dinner. She needed to get out and clear her mind of this madness for a little while and Ivy always made her laugh. She picked up the telephone and dialed Ivy’s number.

  ***

  Across town, Peachtree slammed the telephone receiver down. He took a deep breath and struggled to regain his composure. Weisman had just called to tell him about the Court’s order. He knew his almost violent reaction to the bad news was due to fear - of Manning. He couldn’t figure out why he was so afraid of the man, but he was. It bothered him. In all his years as a soldier, he’d never succumbed to fear and he wasn’t about to now. He had a problem and he’d fix it. Right now, that problem was getting rid of this damned lawsuit. The best way to do that was to get rid of Morgan. It was high time he did what needed to be done.

  He hit the intercom button.

  “Yes?” Giada asked.

  “Get McAllister in here,” he barked.

  “Right away,” she said.

  Moments later, McAllister walked in. “You wanted to see me, Sir?”

  Peachtree waved him in. “Yes. Come in and close the door behind you.”

  McAllister did as instructed. He sat in one of the visitor’s chairs and looked up at his employer.

  “We just got some very bad news. That bitch of a judge ordered us to turn over clean copies of the documents we produced.” Peachtree grimaced. He was getting upset all over again when he needed to be calm. He rose from his chair, pushed it toward his desk and began to pace back and forth behind it. He glared at McAllister when he saw him raise his eyebrows. “You think this is funny soldier?”

  McAllister snapped to attention in his chair. “No Sir. It’s just that, as long as we’ve been working together, I’ve never seen you so agitated.”

  “I am agitated - agitated as hell. I should have handled this my way from the very beginning. And look where that’s gotten us – out of the frying pan and into the fire. It reminds me of something my father used to say: If you want something done right, do it your damned self. He was a bastard, but a very wise man.” Peachtree placed his hands on the back of his desk chair, leaned over it and glowered at McAllister. “Listen to me. I want Morgan gone. I don’t care how you do it or how much money it takes. I want that bastard eliminated. I want that bitch of a lawyer taken out too. Since they were sleeping together, there’s no telling how much he revealed to her over pillow talk. And we all know how much whores love to run their mouths. Are we clear?”

  McAllister nodded. “Yes Sir.”

  “Good. Get to it then.”

  After McAllister left, Peachtree pulled out his desk chair and sat down to think. He didn’t have any illusions. The deaths of Charles Morgan, Jr. and his attorney would be viewed as suspicious by the powers that be. Even if the F.B.I didn’t have enough proof to pin their deaths on his company, it was likely Manning would still see him as a liability. It was time to put his contingency plan into place. He pushed the intercom button again.

  “Yes?” said Giada.

  “Giada, please come to my office.”

  “Right away.”

  ***

  That evening, Kathy walked into Sushi Samba on Lincoln Road. It was her favorite restaurant. She was meeting her baby sister for cocktails, dinner, laughs and some much needed recreation. Since Ivy was twenty-five years old, she probably needed to stop thinking of her as her baby sister; but that was easier said than done. Kathy was the oldest of four sisters, Ivy was the youngest and their mother lived in New York. Despite the ten year age difference between them, they were very close.

  Kathy spotted her immediately. She was hard to miss since her tall, busty frame was encased in a bright red dress with a plunging neckline. Her hair was dyed a honey blonde color, braided and done up in an elaborate up do that must have cost a fortune. She was seated at the bar next to a Caucasian man who stared at her chest and nodded occasionally as she talked. Kathy smiled and shook her head as she walked up to the bar. “Hey baby sis.”

  Ivy turned to look at her, a big smile on her face. “Kathy!” She hopped off the bar stool, teetered over on ridiculously high heels, wrapped her arms around Kathy and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

  When Ivy released her, Kathy stepped back to take a good look at her sister and raised her eyebrows. “So, where’s the rest of your dress?” The frock was so short it barely concealed Ivy’s private parts.

  Ivy giggled and waved a hand at her. “Silly woman. This is South Beach. I’m supposed to be half naked. You’re the one about to be arrested by the fashion police. What? Did you come here straight from work?”

  Kathy glanced down at her sleeveless top, black slacks and sandals. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing? I didn’t think I needed to change into a hoochie mama outfit to hang out with you.”

  Ivy laughed. “Like you even own a hoochie mama outfit.”

  “I’ve got a couple of sexy dresses in my closet,” Kathy said. “I seem to recall you trying to take some of them the last time you came over.”

  Ivy’s eyes widened. “What are sisters for if not to borrow the occasional outfit?”

  Kathy laughed. “Mmmhmmm. And the occasional pocketbook, necklace, earrings, shoes . . .”

  Ivy rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth to retort, but closed it when the hostess came to tell them that their table was ready.

  After they were seated and had ordered cocktails and appetizers, Kathy turned to Ivy. “So, what have you been up to lately?”

  “No good of course.”

  Kathy laughed and kept laughing while Ivy regaled her with highly entertaining stories of her very active dating
and club life throughout dinner. It was good to forget about her problems for a little while.

  Kathy picked up her spoon and dove into the chocolate dessert they had ordered to share. “Thanks for coming out tonight, baby sis. I needed this.”

  “Thanks for inviting me. You know I like to hang out with you. You looked a little down earlier. What’s going on with you? And don’t tell me it’s nothing because I know better.”

  Kathy grimaced. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  Ivy smiled. “If you told me what? You always think the world will end if you step one foot out of line. I bet it’s nothing.”

  Kathy sighed. “I wish it were nothing. I messed up big time and now I’m paying the price.”

  Ivy’s brow furrowed. She leaned forward. “What did you do?”

  “I slept with a client.”

  Ivy’s mouth fell open. She covered it with her hand. “You did what? Not you. See – all anyone can talk about is me and my exploits. I always tell them you’re the one they should watch out for. But they never believe me. So, you slept with a client. Why is that the end of the world?”

  Kathy shook her head. “No Sweetie. You don’t understand. There are ethical rules prohibiting attorneys from sleeping with their clients. I could lose my license over this.”

  Ivy’s eyes widened. “Oh no,” she said. “You mean like the rules preventing psychiatrists from sleeping with their patients?”

  “Yeah. Something like that.”

  Ivy nodded slowly. “Okay, but you only have to worry about losing your license if someone finds out you slept with him. All you have to do is stop seeing him.”

  Kathy grimaced. “If only it were that easy.” She picked up her glass and drained the rest of her Lemon Samurai cocktail.

  “What do you mean? It is that easy. I’ve had some good sex in my lifetime, but none worth losing a law license over.” Ivy picked up her martini glass.

  “I mean the cat’s already out of the bag. You know that big case I’ve been working on? The Peachtree case? Well they’ve got me and the client on video doing the nasty and they filed a Bar complaint against me.”