4. The Jury Read online

  “The Honorable Robert Krackhoff. The one who likes a pretty face and a nice show of leg. Kracker himself,” Maddie said, referring to the judge’s courthouse nickname. “He plays golf with the Barringtons. He should have recused himself, but he didn’t. There are grounds for appeal all the way around.”

  “And the Barringtons are back in business, is what you’re telling me,” Nikki said.

  “Yes, they are back in business, Nikki. Myra and I think they will relocate as soon as they can find a suitable horse farm. They’ve become pariahs here in town. As far as I know, the only person who will associate with them is their attorney. There are rumors circulating that the farm is up for sale, but no realtor will handle the sale so they’ll have to do it privately. They’ll be squeezed out sooner or later,” Charles said.

  Nikki compressed her lips into a grim line. “That isn’t good enough for me. How many horses do the Barringtons have now?”

  “Twelve. Five are serious contenders for the Derby. If you want a price on the horseflesh, I’d say he’s got over twenty million dollars tied up in those horses. I don’t think he’s going to have an easy time selling them at this stage. He might have been acquitted, but the right people have been spreading the word in the circles he and his wife travel in. You know the rule, Nikki, mis-treat a horse and you’re down for the count. Pictures don’t lie.”

  “Then how the hell were they acquitted?” Nikki snarled.

  “They blamed it on their foreman. A foreman with no name who vanished into thin air. We saved all the newspaper articles for you,” Myra said quietly.

  Nikki slipped her arms into her windbreaker as she stalked over to the door. “You’ll see me when you see me,” she called over her shoulder.

  “Follow her, Maddie. She’s going to the office. I’ve never seen her so angry. Please don’t let her do anything she’ll come to regret later,” Myra pleaded.

  Maddie rushed out the door but by the time she got to her car, Nikki was blasting through the gates and flying down the long drive to the main road.

  It took all of fifty minutes for Nikki to drive back to the District, park her car in the lot and storm her way into the law firm she’d started with her own blood and sweat. The four lawyers clustered around her, welcoming her back.

  “Where is she?” was all Nikki said. The women pointed to a closed door in the middle of a long carpeted hallway. “Go! You don’t want to see this. Later, I don’t want you to have to lie for me.” The women scurried and were out the door in seconds.

  Nikki stomped her way to her office and was surprised to see a pot of colorful chrysanthemums sitting on her desk. A small card said WELCOME HOME. She unlocked and yanked at the drawer of the file cabinet behind her desk, then rifled through the folders looking for Allison Banks’s résumé and employment application. When she couldn’t find them, she cursed under her breath. She turned to see Maddie with the folder in her hand. Nikki grabbed it. “You need to leave too, Maddie.”

  “Nah. Why don’t you let me beat the shit out of her? The Bar Association can’t disbar me.”

  “I’ll take my chances, Maddie. Go! I don’t want any witnesses to this.”

  “See, that’s where you’re wrong. You do need a witness. I’ll just sit out here in the reception area. Leave the door open.”

  Nikki knew when she was up against a brick wall. “What do you suppose she’s doing in there?”

  Maddie snorted as she finger-combed her short curly hair. “Reading Vogue.”

  Nikki walked down the hallway and opened the door quietly. What she really wanted to do was rip it off by the hinges. She gaped at the young woman sitting behind the shiny, glass-topped desk. She looked nothing like the woman she’d hired five months ago. Maddie was right, she was definitely what Jack would call “a looker” and she had good taste in clothes, too. Nikki walked over to the desk, delighted when the young lawyer looked up with a sheepish as well as guilty expression on her face.

  “Well, hi there, Nikki. Welcome back.”

  “You’re fired. I want you out of here in the next two minutes. You take nothing but your purse when you leave. Do we understand each other?” Nikki reached down and grabbed Allison’s arm to drag her out of the chair. Allison squealed her displeasure as Nikki gave her a shove that sent her sprawling across the carpeted floor.

  “What are you doing? Are you insane? I have a contract! You can’t fire me, but you can buy out my contract.”

  “Ha! That will be the day! If you’re referring to this,” Nikki said, holding up Allison’s contract, “it doesn’t exist. You were a temp and now it’s time for you to leave.”

  “Wait just a damn minute. I billed mega hours for this firm with the Barrington case. Which I won, in case no one told you.”

  Nikki continued the moment she shredded the employment contract. “You were told by Maddie and the other members of this firm that the Barrington case was a conflict of interest. You took it anyway. That’s not how this firm does business. Myra Rutledge is my mother. Get your ass out of here now.”

  “Look, I didn’t know that when I took the case.”

  “I don’t want to hear it. I told you, you’re fired. Leave now before you really make me angry.” To make her point, Nikki’s foot snaked out. An instant later, Allison was looking up at her from the floor.

  “I’ll sue you and this damn firm. I’ll sue every lawyer until they bleed for money and I’ll sue you for assault and battery. I’ll ruin you. I’ll own this firm when I’m done!” Allison screeched.

  Nikki laughed. She watched as the young lawyer managed to get to her feet. Allison took a moment to straighten her designer suit before she moved right up to Nikki’s face. “Read my lips, Nicole Quinn. I will ruin you!”

  Nikki laughed again. “How about this?” Her clenched fist shot out and landed square on Allison’s nose. Blood spurted all over the pale-blue Armani suit. Nikki pushed her toward the door and made sure blood smeared the door-frame. “I’m one person you don’t ever want to mess with, Miss Hotshot. Now, get your ass out of here and don’t ever come back.”

  “You broke my nose! I’ll have you disbarred for this. Give me my files.”

  “Maddie, show Ms. Banks to the door and then lock it. You’re on a slippery slope, Ms. Banks. If I ever find out you took a kickback from the Barringtons, it will be you who will be disbarred. You think about that for a while.”

  “You!” she screamed at Maddie. “You were here all this time and you didn’t do a thing! I’m suing you, too. You heard and saw everything, so that makes you an eyewitness.”

  “I didn’t see or hear anything. I was in the bathroom. You’re bleeding on the carpet. We’ll have to send you a bill for that. Blood is hard to get out,” Maddie said quietly.

  “Oh, shut up! I’m leaving and I’m coming back with the police! I want my files and my correspondence.”

  Nikki and Maddie both laughed, but stopped the minute Maddie locked the door.

  “I’ll switch her computer with one she used from time to time in the library. You take the files. It will be our word against hers. Hurry, Nikki. She might really bring the police back.”

  “No, she’ll go to the hospital first so she has something to add to the lawsuit she’s going to file. Then she’ll go to the cops. She’ll get a free nose job out of it.”

  “You don’t look worried, Nikki. This firm doesn’t need a lawsuit. None of us needs a lawsuit. Do you know something I don’t know?”

  “Nope. Doesn’t it feel good that she’s gone? You know, Maddie, she really snowed me, and she had such an exemplary résumé. I thought she would be an asset to the firm. Well, this isn’t the first time I’ve made a mistake. My gut feeling is she isn’t going to do anything. I’m thinking the Barringtons promised her money but she couldn’t accept it as long as she was still working here. I may have done her a favor by firing her. Time will take care of everything. By the way, how is Jennifer doing?”

  “She’s been on bed rest for the past three
weeks. The baby is due in a few days. Her mother is staying with her. She’s fine otherwise. She had more than one run-in with Allison.”

  Nikki clicked on the replacement computer and booted it up. “It’s ready to go, Maddie. You better download a few files in case she comes back. Wait a minute. No, no, don’t download anything. I’ll say she took it and her files with her. You realize this makes you an accessory, don’t you, Maddie?”

  Maddie’s chin jutted outward. “I think I can live with that. I’ll bring everything out to the farm on the weekend. For now, I’m going to take everything over to Josh Appleman’s office and stash it there. He’s out of town till next Tuesday. I’ll use the rear door. Go back to Pinewood, Nikki. I have it under control.”

  “Maddie…”

  “Nikki, everyone in this firm is solidly behind you. Sometimes drastic measures are called for.”

  Nikki hugged her office manager. “Whatever would I do without you?”

  “You’d have to make your own coffee and pick up your dry-cleaning,” Maddie said and laughed. “I haven’t forgotten all you’ve done for me. The others feel the same way. Now go on, get out of here.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Four

  Nikki sat in her car, her thoughts chaotic. What in the hell had gotten into her back there in the office? She wasn’t a brawler. She looked down at her clenched fist and saw blood on her knuckles. Allison’s blood. She had nothing to clean her hands with unless she wanted to go back into the office, which she didn’t.

  She slid the key into the ignition but she didn’t turn it. Instead, she picked up her cell phone, looking at it for a whole thirty seconds before punching in the number she knew by heart. She continued to stare out the windshield. It puzzled her that a small brown bird would settle on the hood of her car. The phone at her ear was still ringing as she eyeballed the little bird. Six rings, seven, and then finally there was a connection.

  “Jack…”

  “Yeah?”

  “Jack…”

  “Yeah, yeah, this is Jack.”

  “Jack…”

  “Where are you, Nik?”

  “Jack…”

  “Nik, where are you?”

  “I’m in the parking lot at the office…”

  “I’m on my way, Nik. Stay put. Wait for me. Will you do that?”

  “Jack…”

  “I’ll be there in ten minutes. I’m in town. Ten minutes, Nik. Wait for me.”

  “Jack…”

  This time Jack shouted into the phone. “Nik, I’m on my way. Listen to me. Just sit there and wait for me. Will you do that?”

  Jolted by Jack’s tone of voice, Nik reared backward. “Yes, I’ll wait. You don’t have to shout.”

  “Don’t hang up, Nik. Keep the line open. I’m almost there. Just a few more minutes.”

  Nikki didn’t respond. She tilted her head to watch the small bird, which now had three companions and they were all prancing around on the hood of the car. From time to time they stopped to peer at her through the windshield. She wiggled a finger in their direction and didn’t feel silly at all.

  She knew when Jack arrived because the birds squawked and flew off in all directions. The squeal of his tires would have been her second clue. Her hand found the door handle and then she was standing in the bright sunshine. How wonderful he looked in his jeans and tee shirt, his out-of-office uniform. His sandy hair was tousled with the whipping wind as he loped toward her, his arms outstretched. Nikki fell into them. She closed her eyes at his scent, at the smoothness of his freshly shaven cheeks. He didn’t kiss her; he just held her. What seemed like a long time later, a swirl of orange and yellow leaves whipped past them and only then did they move.

  “What’s wrong, Nik? Talk to me. Let’s be Nik and Jack again, OK?”

  Nikki turned and stared into Jack’s dark brown eyes. “Nik and Jack. Can we ever be just Nik and Jack again?”

  Jack held her tight. “If we both want it bad enough, we can. Do you want me to take you back to Georgetown? I can leave my car here and pick it up later. Does that work for you?”

  Nikki looked toward the hood of the car. The birds were back pecking at their reflections. “Yes, let’s go back to my place. Can you take the time off?”

  “Well, sure. This is my last week of being self-employed. I go back to work on Monday. Things are slow right now. I just came into the District to tidy up some last-minute details. That’s how I was able to get here so quick. Get in, Nik. I’ll drive.”

  Nikki obediently climbed into the passenger side of the car, buckled up and then handed over the keys. She pretended not to see Jack looking at the blood on her knuckles.

  The birds flew off when the car’s engine turned over.

  They made the ten-minute drive to Georgetown in silence, although Jack reached over to hold Nikki’s hand. He squeezed it from time to time. Nikki returned the pressure.

  When the cell phone on the console rang, both Nikki and Jack looked at the display number. Pinewood. Nikki turned and looked out the window. Jack said nothing but his mind raced in all directions as he remembered times when Nikki would drop whatever she was doing to take a call from Myra. He wished he knew what was going on in Nikki’s mind. He squeezed her hand again. She returned the pressure and even smiled. Jack’s spirits soared as he imagined all kinds of wonderful things that could happen between them.

  The minutes ticked by as Jack maneuvered Nikki’s car up and down the cobblestone roads. “We’re here, Nik. I guess I have a question. Am I dropping you off or am I invited inside?” He wiggled his hand free of Nikki’s to set the hand-brake the moment he’d backed into a parking spot.

  Nikki looked puzzled for a moment. “Come in. I’ll make some coffee unless you want something stronger or unless you have someplace to go. I really don’t have much of anything since I’ve been away.”

  “Coffee will do. Do you need to take anything in the house? Anything in the trunk?”

  Nikki crossed her arms over her chest as she looked up and down the street. “Just my briefcase. It’s really chilly out here. We can make a fire if you like.”

  If he liked. Well, hell yes, he liked. For a moment Jack thought he’d died and gone to heaven. The only thing that bothered him was the flat tone in Nikki’s voice. Ever hopeful, he bounded out of the car and ran around the side to open the passenger door. Together they walked up the steps to her town house.

  Once inside, Jack smacked his hands together. “Tell you what, you make the coffee and I’ll make the fire. Then we can talk. By the way, you left your cell phone in the car. Do you want me to get it?”

  “No. I left it in the car on purpose.”

  Well, hot damn! Jack didn’t break his stride as he made his way to the living room and the stack of birch logs that were nestled in the wood box at the corner of the fireplace. The dry wood caught fire immediately, sparks shooting upward as it crackled and spit. Satisfied, he sat back on his haunches and looked around at the scene he’d just created. All it needed was Nikki at his side, and a glossy golden retriever. Back when they were together, they’d had a dream of owning a golden retriever, but not until they returned from their honeymoon. Their mutual love of animals was one of his and Nikki’s strongest bonds.

  When his calf muscles started to protest at the position he was in, he gingerly lowered himself to the floor and wrapped his arms around his legs. Was he getting ahead of himself here? His thoughts of happier times had carried him away. He was so lost in his memories he didn’t hear Nikki until she was standing right next to him. He reached up to take the tray out of her hands. She sat down next to him while he poured the coffee.

  “Talk, Nikki. I’ve always been a good listener. If I can help you, I will.”

  Nikki chewed on her lower lip. “First, give me a dollar. Attorney-client privilege. If you don’t want to do that, then we just sit here and drink the coffee. It’s your call, Jack.”

  Jack didn’t hesitate. He fished out a crumpled dollar bill and
handed it over. Nikki smoothed it out and stuck it in her pocket. She pointed to the coffee cups. Jack shook his head. She didn’t want coffee, either.

  Nikki cleared her throat. “That blood you saw on my hands earlier…I assaulted Allison Banks, the lawyer who defended the Barringtons in the horse abuse trial. I shredded her employment application and Maddie confiscated her computer. I broke her nose. She was bleeding all over the damn place. She said she was going to sue me, the firm, and each lawyer individually. Maddie, too. She went ahead and tried the case even after Maddie told her it was a conflict of interest. There is a rumor out there that the Barringtons are going to pay her a kickback of some sort. It’s just a rumor. She claims she didn’t know Myra is my adoptive mother. By the way, Jack, I heard your old boss wanted you to try the case but you refused because Myra was involved. I want to thank you for that, but I think if you had tried it, you would have won. Maddie said you were in court every day of the trial.”

  “That’s because I was pissed to the teeth. Kracker stacked the deck. The DA is appealing the verdict. That bastard fined Donna Abrams three different times. I have to tell you, Nik, Donna is damn good, almost as good as me in a courtroom. Kracker drooled, even lusted after your gal. Hell, the whole courtroom could see it. She played it like a pro. The media had a field day bashing your firm. Every day the press wanted to know where you were. That horse set you belong to think you bailed out for the money and the high profile case it turned into.”

  Nikki snorted. “And ruin my firm? Where’s the logic in that?”

  “Nothing else was going on in the news so the reporters ran with what they had. Myra wouldn’t give any interviews. Your firm just kept saying ‘no comment.’ Banks gave out interviews every day after court. Hey, she made good copy and she showed up well on the six o’clock news. The press loved her. Well, most of them loved her. My old buddy, Ted Robinson at the Post, blasted her every chance he got. He saw what was happening in the courtroom. He told me something he can’t prove and he tried his damnedest. Seems a friend’s sister’s aunt claims she saw Judge Krackhoff and Allison Banks at a little hideaway inn in Fredericksburg one weekend toward the end of the trial. Unfortunately for Ted, he can’t nail it down. As you know, a reporter needs two sources and his one source is iffy at best. Ted’s like a dog with a bone and he won’t give up, but that’s about the only thing that might help. Kracker should have recused himself but he didn’t. His peers didn’t like that, but they aren’t going to turn on one of their own. It’s like the cops with their blue wall.”