CHAPTER 16
Quaid
I looked at the man that was seated at the other end of the long glass table from me and Avett and tried not to let my irritation show. She was stiff as a board next to me and I couldn’t tell if the tension coming off of her in waves was from having to confront Jared’s attorney during this deposition or if it was from the fact that we were close enough to touch. She wouldn’t look at me, but I could see her unease and anxiety in every delicate line of her face. Technically, she wasn’t even my client anymore because the charges against her had been dropped, but when she texted me that she had been subpoenaed and asked what “discovery” meant, I knew that I wasn’t letting her walk into the legal lion’s den alone. Much to Orsen’s obvious and much vocalized displeasure, I had cleared my morning so I could sit with her in this sharply modern conference room located at the courthouse as her ex-boyfriend’s attorney tried to pick her apart and break her down. I knew the deposition was pretty much a dress rehearsal for what he had planned for her when she took the stand, and I could see the calculating intent in the other lawyer’s demeanor as soon as he ushered us into the room.
Larsen Tyrell was dressed better than I was, his shoes were more expensive, and the watch on his wrist was just as ridiculous and pricey as the one on my own. Before Avett crashed into my life and turned everything upside down and sideways, all of that would have rubbed me the wrong way and put me automatically on the defensive. I would have come out swinging and aggressive, trying to make it clear we were on equal ground; now all I could think was that having drug traffickers and clients with ties to the cartel noticeably paid well, but wondered how Larsen could enjoy his posh surroundings knowing that it came from blood money. His suit was perfectly tailored and clearly imported but I couldn’t stop myself from wondering how many people had had to die at the hands of the people he represented in order for him to be able to afford it. There wasn’t an ounce of envy or desire to have any of what Larsen had to be found anywhere, and that was how I knew the woman sitting rigid and unblinking next to me had done as much to save me as I had done to save her. She was a wake-up call I had desperately needed. My eyes were fully open and the man I had been striving to be with such single-minded focus was nowhere to be seen, and instead the man that now looked back at me was one that didn’t feel fake or forced. He also wouldn’t fight over frivolous things, but he would fight for the things that mattered. Right now, nothing mattered more than the pink-haired young woman at his side. The one he knew without a doubt he loved beyond measure and wanted to keep forever.
I leaned back in my chair and moved my elbow over so that it was resting against hers where she was gripping the arms of the chair like she would float away if she dared let go. At the brief contact, she finally let out a long breath and turned to look at me with wide and intimidated eyes. I dipped my chin to let her know everything would be okay and she returned the small gesture and finally started to relax by fractions.
“We finally have a trial date and the jury selection done. It’s in a little under two weeks and you’re the prosecution’s first witness. I’m surprised Townsend didn’t want to sit in on this discovery session.” Larsen flashed an artificially polite and whitened smile at us and I didn’t miss the dig that I was here instead of the D.A.’s office.
“I’m the attorney of record on this case. I’ll pass along anything I think Townsend needs to know before the trial.” I narrowed my eyes at the other attorney as his shark-like smile widened.
“So, is it professional interest in your client’s participation in the upcoming trial that brought you here today?” I stared at the other man without answering him. I wasn’t representing Avett in court any longer so there was no conflict of interest now that our professional relationship had turned personal, but Larsen was making it no secret that he planned on twisting those facts to however they best suited him. The guy was as slippery and shady as the people he represented.
“I’m interested in my client’s interests—period. Get on with it, Tyrell. All this flash and showmanship might impress the prosecution and the jury, but frankly, I’m bored, and both Ms. Walker and I have better things we could be doing with our time.”
The man’s eyebrows arched up as he laced his fingers together and gave me a smile that made my skin crawl. “I bet you do. I also have a full day and a court appearance, so I’ll get right to the point. Ms. Walker, were you upset your father sold the bar that he owned to someone that wasn’t you, the bar he had been grooming you to take over since you were old enough to work legally?”
I felt her body tighten next to me and as much as I wanted to comfort her I knew if I reacted in any way that Larsen would use it against her when he had her on the stand.
“I was upset, but not with my father. I was upset that I was such a mess, that I had never given him a good enough reason to hold on to the bar for me. He never told me that his plan was to turn the bar over to me when the time was right. I think it was an assumption that a lot of people, myself included, jumped to as I got older.”
Her body was stiff and tight but her voice was light and clear. She wasn’t hiding from the truth and I could see that Larsen knew, as well as I did, that her honesty and earnestness would come across clear as day to any kind of jury that was selected.
Larsen scribbled down some notes and then looked back up at us with that creepy smile that I really wanted to rearrange with my fist. “Were you upset when the new owner of the bar, Rome Archer, fired you for stealing from the cash register?”