Anything You Can Do(58)
"I believe you," Paula said. "If you were making it up, surely you could do better than that."
"I considered it," Gordon admitted, "but I didn't think you'd believe judges held court twenty-four hours a day and sequestered attorneys or that I'd been in the emergency room at the hospital all night if I showed up with no cuts or bruises."
"Good thinking."
"You believe me? Can I put this down?" When Paula inclined her head, he set the cushion on the dining room table. "And everything's all right." He sounded a little dubious. Paula hadn't moved, didn't appear to be giving him much feedback. "And we can carry on even if it is a few hours later."
"What, exactly, did you have in mind?"
"I can get these great box seats at the Prairie Race Track. How about we go watch the ponies run, then maybe some Italian food? I know this place in Westport—"
"On one condition."
Bailey didn't like the expression on Paula's face, a cross between a smirk and a sneer.
Gordon held one hand over his heart and raised the other. "I promise not to leave your sight the entire evening. If I fall asleep, you can just reach over and tap me on the shoulder."
"Bailey and Austin have to go with us."
"No problem," Gordon agreed.
"No way!" Bailey exclaimed so vehemently Samantha opened one eye and glared at her.
CHAPTER 11
Austin was studying his photographs, contemplating exactly when and how he should spring his latest triumph on Bailey, when Gordon phoned.
"Going to the races sounds like a super idea," Austin agreed, though the "super" part had nothing to do with horses. After last night at the B&B Lounge, he couldn't wait to see Bailey again, and Gordon's offer provided him with the perfect excuse. Now that he'd seen her feelings unmasked, she couldn't again retreat into her glacial persona.
Not to mention that he'd also have the perfect opportunity to drop little hints all afternoon, have her on pins and needles wondering how much he knew about Candy Miller, then save the real surprise for later, maybe even for the trial. Facing Bailey across a courtroom should be a real experience.
He looked at the series of photographs one more time before going in to shower and change clothes. The pictures weren't what he'd expected, but in a way they were even better.
The scam he'd tried to work was an old one, and he'd been a little ashamed of himself for not coming up with something better. But after the fiasco at the bar, he had to do something. So he bought a case of inexpensive wine, taped a bow to the top, and took it to Candy Miller's house early Saturday morning. Leaving it in Candy's front yard beside her newspaper, he parked down the street with his camera equipped with a telescopic lens and waited. And waited. Candy was not an early riser.
Finally, shortly after ten o'clock, when Austin's boredom had reached major proportions and his legs were numb from sitting, Candy appeared. Wearing a magenta robe, hair shooting out in irregular spikes, she staggered through the doorway and scanned the yard. Catching sight of the box, she approached it warily, and Austin readied his camera, hoping for a good shot of her lifting the heavy carton, a difficult task for someone with an injured back. But he was disappointed. Snatching up the newspaper, she tottered back into the house.
Austin lowered the camera. Maybe he should have opted for something not quite so heavy. If she brought out a dolly to carry it on, he'd just be out one case of wine, and Bailey would still have the upper hand.
Then his lips curved upward in a smile and he began snapping away as Candy reemerged from the house with Alvin Wilson, the man who’d run into her car, in his bathrobe. The two of them lugged the box inside while Candy talked and laughed.
And Austin captured it on film for posterity.
He went home, printed out the pictures, had the evidence in his hands, and couldn't wait to confront Bailey. Now the only thing was to figure out how to go about it in the best possible way, a way calculated to let her know he'd won this one.
Austin hummed as he slapped on a little extra cologne. This should be a real surprise. Though he was pretty sure Bailey knew something wasn't right with her client, he couldn't believe she knew the full extent of the woman's duplicity. However pushy and argumentative she might be, he didn't doubt her integrity for a minute. If she knew Candy Miller was a fraud, she'd never represent the woman.