Page 55 of Passionate Defense

Three times in the past month, this had happened and each time, poof! He seemed to vanish into thin air. Could it be Boston had a Morton Deevers look-alike who worked or lived nearby? If not, what was the explanation except her own warped perception of reality?

She kept tabs on the appeal he’d filed. The local news had reported this past weekend that his case was on the docket for this week. Maybe that had triggered this latest manifestation.

A rattling noise drew her gaze downward. When she saw her hand shaking, she pushed the cup and saucer away. While caffeine wasn’t usually a hallucinogen, she’d read that sometimes large amounts could cause them. A study of high users at a college in England reported an increase in seeing things that weren’t there, hearing voices, and sensing dead people.

How much had she had today? A venti with a refill on the way to court and another cup just now. She didn’t recall what determined “high usage,” but she was freaked out enough not to tempt fate.

“Decaf from now on,” she declared.

***

THE AFTERNOON SESSIONdidn’t go well, the prosecution’s witness putting on a stellar performance with the judge shutting down every single one of her objections. Lanie headed back to the office. She needed to regroup and prepare for tomorrow.

When she walked in, Penny looked up from behind her desk, eyes wide, and Beth, Angie, and Sarah all popped out of their offices. They all stared at her without a word. Thinking a button was undone, or she had pigeon poop on her jacket, she looked down. Seeing nothing, she gazed back at them and demanded, “What?”

“You haven’t heard?” Beth asked.

“I’ve been in court all day.”

“Simons filed a countersuit against Marcy today.”

“That was expected. He’s trying to intimidate her.”

“He also named you, charging you both with defamation.”

Lanie sighed. “Great. Now I have to hire a lawyer.” Suddenly amused, she asked, “Do we know anyone good?”

“Ethan.”

This startled her. “Not you, Beth?”

“I do contract law. Give me an embezzler and let Sarah follow the money trail and I’m your woman any day of the week. You need someone cutthroat against Wanker, Wiener, and Schlong.”

Sarah burst into laughter. “Sorry. I’m new here and hadn’t heard that one. It’s perfect.”

Her amusement cut through the tension as easily as a knife through butter.

“If not Ethan, he’ll know the best attorney we can get,” Lanie announced as she strode toward her office. “And don’t worry about the practice. We formed the LLC to keep from losing everything we’ve worked so hard for if someone sues.”

Beth followed her in and closed the door. “You’ve been on edge all week. Why are you so calm about this?”

“Because you can’t defame the truth. Simons is going down and he knows it. He’s just up to his old tricks, but they won’t work this time around. He’s already on thin ice with his partners for all the law suits filed against the firm as well as him, and bluster is all he has anymore.”

“I have faith in you.” She threw up her hands as if hearing herself for the first time. “What am I saying? The Ice Queen is going to win against that asshole. I don’t know why I ever doubted it.”

“I’m glad you believe in me, Beth. That goes a long way.”

“We all do, or none of us would be here. You’re our badass standard bearer for girl power.” She held up a fist in solidarity then sailed out of her office.

Lanie sat down hard behind her desk and blew out a tired breath. She wished she felt as badass as Beth and her staff thought she was because she couldn’t shake the anxious feeling that came over her at all these Deevers sightings.

Her desk phone rang. With barely enough energy to move, she answered it. “Lanie Fischer.”

There was a long pause and the image of Morton smiling his creepy smile on the day of his acquittal flashed in front of her.

“Bad day?”

“Ethan,” she breathed, shaking with relief at the sound of his familiar, always reassuring voice. “You can tell what kind of day I’ve had from my name?”

---