Tuesday's Child Read online

  “You son of a bitch! You let that young girl go to prison for life! What kind of a monster are you?” Kala shrieked. “I knew it was you! I always knew! Now, when you’re dying, you want to make it right! I hope you burn in hell!” Kala shrieked again.

  Adam Star turned his head on its scrawny neck to Jay, and said, “I’m already on borrowed time, but I assume you want me to be more specific.”

  “Yeah, that would help,” Jay drawled.

  “Well, I’m already on borrowed time, as I just said, so I think it’s safe to say I doubt I’ll be here this time next week.” He turned his head again to look at Kala, and replied to her question, “The kind of man who didn’t have the stomach to be tied down to a paralyzed woman twenty-four/seven. I was never cut out to be the dutiful sort. The doctors said Audrey could live into her nineties with proper care. I didn’t have the guts for that. Audrey demanded my constant presence, even during the night hours. I was tied to her. I couldn’t breathe; she was smothering me. And yes, Ms. Aulani, I’m sure I will burn in hell.” Star leaned back, the constant flow of words exhausting him.

  “Why did you come here?” Kala whispered, her shrieking over.

  “I owed you and your client a face-to-face. You can show her the DVD when you think it’s time. She was an exceptional nurse. She actually cared about Audrey, which is more than I can say I did. Because of that, I want to give you this.” The skeletal hand reached into the inside pocket of his cashmere jacket and withdrew a folded set of papers. “My last will and testament. I’m leaving everything I own, which is substantial, beyond substantial actually, to Sophie Lee. I have appointed you, Ms. Aulani, as my personal representative to see that my will is carried out the way I want it to be.”

  “You can’t inherit if you kill someone,” Jay said through clenched teeth.

  “I didn’t inherit a single dime when she died. Almost immediately after we were married, she put everything in my name. She said it was a wedding gift. We were very much in love. We had our whole lives ahead of us. We were ‘as one,’ was how she put it. She trusted me to handle her fortune for the both of us. The Star fortune already belonged to me at her death and had for some time. Therefore, I can leave it to whomever I choose, and I choose to leave it to Sophie Lee to make up for what I’ve done. I know Audrey would approve.”

  “Ryan Spenser?”

  “I always suspected he knew I killed Audrey, but he was never able to prove it. On more than one occasion, he said the media would love the other-woman part of it, as they would never believe that Sophie and I were not having an affair. More meat, more fodder for the nightly news. He was right, and it was the trial of the century.

  “Ryan Spenser became the golden boy. He rolled along, winning every case he tried after that one. I never saw him after the trial, but about six months ago I got a personal letter from him asking me if I would consider backing him in his run for governor next year. He, of course, didn’t know I was ill, and I’ve been housebound since. If what you’re asking me specifically is if he knew he was prosecuting an innocent woman, I would say yes. But that is just my opinion. He had the facts going for him. It was either her or me, and like I said, he couldn’t prove I did it. That left only Sophie Lee, and he convinced a jury of seven men and five women that she did it.”

  This time the words did exhaust Adam Star. Before he closed his eyes, he pressed a button on his watch. Two male nurses barreled into the room, took one look at their patient, and scooped him up. They were out the door in thirty seconds, their patient in their arms, leaving behind three stupefied lawyers.

  Kala was the first to speak, her eyes wide with wonder as she stared at the box on the top of her desk labeled SOPHIE LEE in permanent black marker. “My mind isn’t working right now, so will someone please tell me what day today is?”

  “Your retirement day, Kala,” Linda said.

  Jay knew exactly what Kala meant. His voice was pitched so low, Kala had to strain to hear the words. “It’s Tuesday, Kala.”

  Kala lowered herself into the leather chair with the crack running down the middle. Gradually, she was able to focus. She reached for the stiff blue paper that covered Adam Star’s last will and testament. She had to clear her throat twice before she could get the words out past her tongue. “Set up the DVD. I want to see what’s on it. But first I want to read this will. If that bastard lied to us, I will kill him myself.”

  It took no time for Kala to read through the short, simple will. Everything appeared to be in order. She sifted through the legalese. Two persons had signed, attesting to having witnessed Adam Star’s signature. It was in order and dated exactly one week prior. Everything Adam Star owned, compliments of his dead wife, Audrey Star, now belonged to Sophie Lee. Or would belong to Sophie Lee one moment after Adam Star’s passing. Everything he owned amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars in stocks, bonds, real estate, and, of course, 51 percent of Star Enterprises, whatever that happened to be. Somewhere there was a yacht moored, a corporate Learjet parked somewhere else, a helicopter grounded on some helicopter pad God only knew where, two cigarette boats worth $100,000 each, berthed in Key Biscayne, Florida, and a fleet of high-end cars to the tune of $5 million. Among the listed real estate were the mansion Audrey Star had died in, a ski resort in Aspen, Colorado, and a mountaintop estate in Hawaii, overlooking the Pacific. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. The real-estate holdings ran to six pages and represented so many zeros, Kala felt light-headed.

  The joke was feeble at best and didn’t even draw a smile from Kala, when Jay said, “Guess Sophie can pay our bill now if this is on the up-and-up.”

  Kala shook her head. “We took the case pro bono, and that’s the way it stays. My God, how do we tell this to Sophie?”

  “Well, I don’t think we should say anything at all to her until ... until they shovel the last bit of dirt on that bastard’s coffin. I’m not sure I’m buying all of this,” Jay said.

  “What part aren’t you buying, Jay?” Kala asked.

  Jay threw his hands high in the air. “The whole damn thing. Guys like Adam Star don’t have a conscience. They take crap like this to their graves. The man didn’t give two shits that a young girl got sent to prison for life. For life, Kala! Now, because he’s dying, he wants to make nice. Be forgiven! Like Sophie is going to forgive him for taking ten years of her life, leaving her with no hope for a future? She has to hate his guts. How could she not hate that bastard? I don’t think the word forgiveness is in her vocabulary these days.”

  Kala leaned back and steepled her fingers. “I think you’re wrong. Sophie’s bitch is going to be with Ryan Spenser, not with Adam Star. She knew just the way we knew that Adam was guilty. All three of us tried to convince Spenser of that, and he turned a deaf ear. Sophie will take the position that Adam tried to make it right in the end, mark my words. When Spenser finds out, if he doesn’t already know, he’s going to blow a gasket. And you can take that one to the bank. I think now that this has happened, it’s why he was planning on attending my retirement luncheon. To see if I knew about it.”

  “Boy, what a shame that you’re leaving for that six-month retirement vacation tomorrow,” Jay said slyly as he winked at his wife. Linda did her best not to laugh out loud at Kala’s expression. “Okay, let’s view this cinematic masterpiece.” Jay pressed a button, and Adam Star’s face filled the screen.

  No more than three minutes in length, the video was painful to watch. Everything Adam Star had said in the office was now verbalized, with a face to make it real. At the end, his lawyer, a man named Clayton Hughes, and two witnesses verified the date, the time, and the fact that they were in attendance when the DVD was made.

  Jay turned the machine off, popped the DVD, and slipped it into a plastic sleeve. “I think this should go in the safe. I also think we should burn maybe, let’s say, three extra copies. Just for ... whatever.”

  Kala nodded in agreement. “And to think today is Tuesday!” she said. “You’re right, we’ll
sit on this until ... well, until Mr. Star goes to meet his maker. In the meantime, I’m canceling my reservations for tomorrow. Linda, do me a favor and call Ben and tell him I’ll meet him outside the courthouse in an hour.”

  “It will be my pleasure, Kala. Are you sure we can’t let Sophie know?” Linda asked.

  Before Kala could say anything, Jay piped up. “We’re sure.”

  Again Kala nodded.

  Chapter 2

  NOW THAT SHE WAS ON THE COURTHOUSE STEPS, KALA ASKED herself why she had picked this destination to meet with her longtime significant other. “Because I’m in a state of shock and not thinking clearly, that’s why,” she muttered to no one in particular. She hoped Ben wouldn’t keep her waiting, because it was just too damn hot to be standing out in the boiling sun.

  She saw him then, and he looked just the way a judge is supposed to look. Well, a retired judge. Ben Jefferson was tall, six foot two in his bare feet. He was lean and trim, with snow white hair and a deep tan. He had a killer smile that he was fond of saying was just for Kala. Oh, he could scowl with the best of them but never at Kala, the love of his life. He was smiling now as he waved from the bottom of the tier of steps. “Missed you at your going-away party, my dear. My car is full of exquisitely wrapped presents. Just for the record, no one believed even for a minute that you had a belly ache. You don’t, do you?” he asked, suddenly concerned.

  Kala could never lie to this man; she loved him too much. “I didn’t at the time, but I do now. Let’s walk over to Snuffy’s. I need a drink. A big drink.”

  Ben grabbed her arm. “What’s wrong? What happened? Tell me right now! Now, Kala.”

  “Do not touch my person, Ben Jefferson! I said I need a drink, and when I have that drink in my hand, and not one second before, I will most definitely tell you exactly what is wrong.” To make her point, Kala walked away in the direction of Snuffy’s, the hangout of all lawyers and paralegals in the area. Many judges were known to frequent Snuffy’s but usually later in the day. Ben had to jog to keep up with her. When he came abreast of her, Kala asked, “Was Ryan Spenser there?”

  “He was, all decked out in summer cashmere. It looked like he’d had his teeth cleaned and polished for the occasion. His present, according to all the females there, was the most exquisitely wrapped, if that means anything.”

  Kala let loose with a string of profanities that forced Ben to cover his ears. “Well, if you didn’t want to know, then why did you ask me?” he snapped.

  “Was the package ticking?” Kala snapped back.

  “I didn’t check it. Will you just please tell me what the hell is wrong?”

  “Not until Jim Beam and I have a long-awaited reunion. Oh, thank God it is cold in here,” Kala said as she stepped through the door that Ben was holding open for her. She sailed past the bar and headed to her favorite booth, calling over her shoulder, “A double on the rocks and make it snappy!”

  Not to be outdone, Ben placed the same order for himself.

  The drinks appeared as if by magic. Kala reached for hers and downed it in two long, gulping swallows. Her eyes watered and her throat burned, but she held up her glass for a refill. She stared at Ben with tears running down her cheeks.

  “Will you please tell me what’s going on? In all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you drink more than one drink, and you nurse it all night long.”

  “Adam Star came into the office late this morning. He’s dying, Ben. He’ll be lucky if he makes it through the week. He came with two male nurses. He confessed to me, Jay, and Linda that he killed his wife and that he let Sophie go to jail for life. The son of a bitch actually made a DVD of his confession. He gave us a copy. We played it after he left. His lawyer is Clayton Hughes. And that’s not all of it, either.” Kala looked at her fresh drink, picked it up, and downed it. This time she squeezed her eyes shut as the liquor blazed a trail down her throat. When she could find her voice, she shouted to the barmaid to bring her a large glass of ginger ale and two cups of coffee.

  Ben Jefferson stared across the table at Kala as he tried to make sense out of what she was saying. The only thing he knew for certain was that they were not going to be leaving for a six-month trip tomorrow. All he could say was, “If you drink all of that, you are going to be sick.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “So, what’s the rest, the part that has your panties in a knot?”

  “The son of a bitch gave me a copy of his will. He left his entire fortune, or I should say Audrey’s fortune, to Sophie Lee. Hundreds of millions of dollars. To make up to her for what he did. You need to say something, Ben, and you need to say it now.”

  “Does Ryan Spenser know?”

  “I don’t know. How was he acting at the luncheon?”

  “Like a pompous ass, the way he always acts. If I had to guess, I’d say no, he doesn’t know. He did get up and say something nice about you. He said you were one of his most worthy opponents and how it hurt him to the depths of his soul that he won a case against you and broke your undefeated record. He said you were one of the finest attorneys in this fair state and he was sorry you were retiring.”

  “And he didn’t choke on the words?”

  “Nope.”

  “I hate that bastard’s fucking guts, you know that, right, Ben?” Kala singsonged.

  Ben knew Kala was blitzed because she never swore. Well, hardly ever. And when she did swear, it was typically because her twenty-pound cat Shakespeare had peed on the foyer rug.

  “Forget all that other stuff. You’re going to get Sophie out of there, and she can get on with her life. It’s wonderful, Kala. Getting her out as soon as possible should be all that you are thinking about right now. Forget the trip, forget Ryan Spenser. Let’s take the will and the DVD, go to Judge Gamble for a writ of habeas corpus, and head to the prison and spring Sophie. My God, Kala, this is the best news I’ve ever heard.”

  “It is good news. It’s wonderful news. It’s the best news in the world, but we can’t do a damn thing until that man dies.”

  “What? Why?”

  “What? Why?”

  “Because that’s the way Adam Star wants it. He doesn’t want to be arrested to die in prison. I guess he wants to die in what he thinks is his idea of peace. He made things right is the way I’m thinking he’s thinking.”

  “But, Kala, if he killed his wife, he can’t inherit her fortune. The will won’t hold up.”

  “Oh, yes, it will hold up. It turns out that Audrey Star had transferred all of her holdings to her husband long before her accident and her death. Right after they were married, to be exact. It’s all legal. The fortune is his to do with as he sees fit. Sophie is going to be so rich, she won’t know what to do.”

  “It won’t erase the ten years of her life she spent in prison, though,” Ben said quietly.

  “No, it won’t. You understand I can’t go away with you right now. I have to be here to help Sophie. She’s going to need me like never before. I have to make a plan. I don’t want her going through a media blitz. I’m going to hire a private detective to sit outside Adam Star’s hospital room. I think he’s in a hospital room, but I’m not sure. Those male nurses could be caring for him at his home. I know how ghoulish this sounds, and I don’t care. The moment he expires, I want to be on my way to the prison to formally present that writ of habeas corpus and get Sophie released. This is where you come in, Ben. I want you to drive up to the prison, take a copy of the will and the DVD, and explain the situation to the warden and anyone else who has to be told so we can have the paperwork all ready to go and get her out of there within minutes of his receiving the writ of habeas corpus. You have to swear the warden to secrecy. Can you do that for me, sweetie?”

  Sweetie. The only time Kala called him sweetie was when she wanted something she herself couldn’t do or didn’t want to do. He nodded agreeably. He’d lived with Sophie Lee’s ghost for the past ten years just the way Kala had. He’d long ago lost count of the times Ka
la had dragged him with her to the prison to visit Sophie on visitors’ day until Sophie herself put a stop to it by telling Kala she didn’t want her to visit anymore because it was too painful. Even then, Kala had continued to make the trek to the prison, only to be turned away. The letters that she wrote faithfully were invariably returned. In the end, she had to give up. From that point on, all Kala could do was pray for the young girl she’d come to think of as a daughter.

  “Okay, I think I’m going to go home now, Ben. You have things to do. Listen, you won’t hurt my feelings if you want to start off the trip by yourself. I can always join you later.”

  “Oh, no, it doesn’t work that way. I’m with you all the way on this one. I’ll drive you home, and we can pick up your car later.”

  Outside in the sultry air, Kala looked up at Ben, and said, “This is a good thing, isn’t it, Ben?”

  “From Sophie’s point of view, it’s a home run. For Star, not so good. And I don’t have an opinion as yet on Ryan Spenser. This is going to play hell with his run for governor next November. He’s gearing up. He was pressing the flesh big time at your luncheon, trying to drum up support off your reputation. And just for the record, I hate his guts, too. Come along, sweetie, let’s get you home.”

  Kala reared back. The only time Ben called her sweetie was when it was time to go to the bedroom. Ben laughed out loud at her expression.

  An hour later, Kala had changed her clothes, made a pot of coffee and a sandwich, and carried it out to her shaded deck. The fat cat that she adored snuggled up against her bare ankles and purred so loud it sounded like a tune to Kala’s weary ears. Then he climbed onto her lap and continued to purr. She talked to him the way she always did. He listened the way he always did, then went to sleep as Kala wound down. She still felt woozy from the two double shots of Jim Beam, but she was starting to feel better.

  Sophie was going to be set free. Sophie was going to be one rich young woman. Thirty-four years of age still meant she had the best years of her life ahead of her. Yes, she’d lost most of her glorious twenties, but maybe this next decade would somehow make up for it.