Page 57 of Ashes of Us
Maverick nodded. “Yeah, when I was looking into Amy and Lucy, I found out the reason it took a full week to file the injunction was because they couldn't find a lawyer willing to take the case.”
“Makes sense.” David agreed. “I wouldn't have touched it with a ten-foot pole and heavy-duty gloves. As a matter of fact, if Trista hadn't been so adamant that this was a home run, I wouldn't have agreed to take it on.”
Alex frowned. “Why not?” Danica felt his hand rest on her lower back in an almost protective manner. “Why did it have to be a home run case for you to take it?”
“Well, first of all, I'm retiring at the end of the year, and I've been mostly coasting, taking easy cases that won't get dragged out over a long period,” David admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “And second, the most famous case that was similar to this one happened in Florida in 1998 and wasn't resolved until 2005. It went through the Florida Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court and had political interference before it was all resolved and the poor woman was allowed to die, so you'll have to forgive me for being a little apprehensive to take it on.”
“Oh! I remember that.” Alex nodded in understanding, his hand dropping from Danica's back. “It was different, though, right? She was still alive, just severely brain-damaged with no hope of recovery.”
“It was different, but still, this could have gone a lot differently if just one piece of evidence was mishandled or if there had been even the slightest doubt that Jasper wanted to have the baby. I had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he didn't want the child with Lucy, and if it weren't for those recordings from the dash cam, it would have all been mostly hearsay.” David explained. “That's why I suggested Danica hire Maverick to look into things. He was a damn good detective in New York, and he's probably one of the best private investigators in New England.” Danica grinned as Maverick's face went red at David's praise and raised her glass.
“I'll drink to that.”
Maverick shook his head and smiled, his blush growing deeper as everyone raised their glasses to him. “It was honestly a pleasure. I'm just glad it all worked out for you, Danica, and I expect you to keep in touch, keep me updated on Indie and all that.” He cleared his throat and shifted, still looking a little uncomfortable. “Speaking of the therapy dogs, how did it go at the K9 Comfort Foundation yesterday, Em?”
Danica smirked and shared a look with Alex and David as he shifted the subject away from himself but turned her attention to Emilia. She had meant to ask and felt a little guilty that she had forgotten with everything going on.
“It was incredibly well.” Emilia gushed. “They were so professional, but also very empathic and understanding of our situation. They said once we get the official diagnosis, there is an organization that helps families of special needs kids get the funding for a support dog, because holy crap, they are expensive.”
“Yeah, I know.” Maverick nodded solemnly. “It's a lot for an animal that isn't covered by and doesn't have the same rightsunder the ADA as a service animal, but having seen how Gracie interacts with Watson and Indie, I think it's the right choice.”
“Wait.” Danica frowned in confusion. “ESAs aren't covered under the ADA? What does that mean?”
“Emotional Support Animals aren't covered under the Americans with Disability Act,” Emilia explained, looking a little miffed by it. “So, if a place doesn't allow pets, they don't have to let in an ESA, while a Service Dog, like a seeing eye dog, is considered to be a medical necessity and can't be refused.”
“And, while it's kind of died off now, back when ESAs were more of a novelty, a lot of people were just saying their very untrained pet was an ESA to try to get special treatment.” Maverick expanded on the explanation. “It's set back the process of getting them approved under the ADA quite a bit, although they are covered under the Fair Housing Act. Still, eight grand or more is a lot of money for a specially trained dog that you can't bring with you to school or work without special permission. I was lucky that my benefits with the NYPD covered most of the costs, and it was a little different for me. I adopted Watson from a Bassett Hound Rescue and brought him to the Foundation to have him trained to be both a PTSD Service Dog and an ESA.”
“Watson wasn't from the Foundation?” Emilia practically pounced on him with that information. “They just trained him?”
Maverick nodded, chuckling at her excitement. “Yeah, I've always loved Basset Hounds and wanted one since I was a kid, but with my job as a PI, I needed him trained for specific tasks, like providing support on demand to people who are upset when I talk to them. He helps break the ice or gives me a reason to talk to people whom I have to approach for information without letting them know why I'm there. I also had him trained to aid in search and rescue in cases of lost or missing individuals.Honestly, in the end, it wasn't that much cheaper for me to do it that way.”
Danica stayed quiet while they discussed the ESAs and legalities, David jumping in to offer his two cents from the law's side, pulling out her phone to look up the Foundation's website. “You're going to pay for Gracie's dog, aren't you?” Alex's low grumble from beside her ear made her jump a little, and she looked up to see him looking at her phone.
“I'm going to donate to the organization, and if it helps lower their costs a little, is that such a bad thing?” Danica muttered back, keeping one eye on Emilia and Maverick as she found the Executive Director's contact information and saved it to her phone. Paying for Jasper's hospital bills, his funeral, and for David and Maverick's services would definitely deplete the inheritance she had gotten from Alexander, but the rent she was going to charge Cecil for the house would cover her rent at the condo, and the small life insurance policy she had on Jasper through her benefits at the hotel would help with the funeral and some of the medical costs.
“Not at all.” Alex nodded in agreement, looking impressed. “So, what are you going to do with your late husband's baby batter freeze pop?”
Danica stared at him for a minute, shocked at the way he referred to her husband's sperm, and then started to laugh. “Oh, God, that's so gross. Don't call it that.”
“Yes, please don't call it that.” Emilia wrinkled her nose and pushed her plate away as David and Maverick hid their laughter behind their hands. “But what are you going to do? You guys were trying for a baby; do you want to attempt the IVF process?”
“Are you kidding?” Danica began to cough, choking on her orange juice at the thought of going through the process and pregnancy alone. “And have Amy spend the rest of her life trying to establish some right to the child? No thanks. Besides, I wanted a baby with Jasper; if he's not here to be a dad, then I don't want to do it without him. As soon as I get the ruling in writing, I'll be going to Fenway Fertility and Wellness Clinic and watching them destroy it.”
“Well, Amy has thirty days to appeal, and then you can do what you want,” David assured her. “I doubt they'll try, or even let an appeal get past being filed, unless they find new evidence that blows a hole in our argument, which I really, really doubt they will.”
Chapter Forty-Five: Table for One
The rest of the week flew by for Danica as she got back into the rhythm of working consistently again, got caught up on everything she fallen behind on and got in contact with the hotel in Seattle to confirm her and Alex would arrive Sunday night, went over what they would be discussing, what records Alex wanted made available to him, and let them know she would need a pet friendly room.
She was a little concerned about how Indie would handle six hours on a flight and spent a few hours looking up ways to make flying comfortable for her, including visiting a veterinarian to see about potentially getting a sedative or something for motion sickness, even though she loved going for car rides, not wanting to put her through being sick or uncomfortable while they travelled. She wished they were going to Charlotte first, since it was only a two-hour flight, and wouldn't be as stressful for Indie's first time flying, but had a feeling Alex would not be open to making even more changes to the audit schedule, especially since he had been so accommodating with everythingthat had happened between Jasper's accident and the final day in court.
She was walking back to the hotel on Friday with Indie after bringing her to the park across from the hotel on her lunch for a pee and walk break, not paying much attention to her surroundings as she responded to a text from Emilia about their trip to Salem in the morning, when someone stepped into her path and blocked her. She started to apologize as she looked up from her phone, but saw it was Heidi, and the apology died on her lips. “Oh for -” Danica sighed and pushed her hair back off her face in annoyance. “What do you want?” She noticed that Indie immediately sat on her feet, keeping herself firmly between them. Danica wasn't sure if it was her response to Heidi's presence that made Indie, who usually loved everyone immediately, react that way, or if she picked up something about Heidi she didn't like, but she clearly was not a fan of the other woman. “Don't you have better things to do than bother me?”
“I know you and Alex aren't really together.” She announced it like she had figured out who Jack the Ripper really was, making Danica roll her eyes at her smugness.
“Congratulations, you figured out your ex-husband was so desperate to make you fuck off out of his life, he pretended to be in love with another woman so you'd take the hint.” Danica shifted slightly on the balls of her feet as she pointed out just how badly Alex wanted Heidi gone. “With brains like yours, I don't know why you haven't tried out for Jeopardy yet. I'm sure you'd win back your fortune in no time.” Danica looked her over. She seemed to be clean and reasonably well put together, so she didn't think she was living on the streets or in the airport for the last four days and wondered vaguely where she was staying.
Heidi seemed determined to ignore her sarcasm, because besides a slight frown, she didn't respond to Danica's Jeopardy dig. “Look, I just want to talk to him, that's all.”
