Anything You Can Do(66)
"You win the merger deal," he taunted, "but I can tell you one case you're going to lose, though it won't be from lack of trying, will it? I know all about Candy's history."
She pulled back, and he knew he'd struck home. "So you end up being a party to a crime," he pressed on. "So what, as long as you win?"
"Get out of my office," she ordered, her eyes and voice glacial.
He stared at her for a moment, a deep sadness overwhelming him, replacing his anger. The realization hit him like a swift kick to the gut that he hadn't really believed the evidence until that moment, hadn't wanted to believe it. He'd expected her to deny it, tell him he was wrong. He turned away from her and strode out the door.
She slammed it behind him.
Bailey leaned against her door, trying to stop the trembling. She was angry, really angry. Through all their arguments, she'd never before felt like this, her stomach churning, her chest clenching, and, damn it, tears somehow finding their way out of her eyes. This was a fight, not an argument, not a contest. Austin had attacked her, and it hurt.
He must have won. She certainly hadn't.
She had expected he'd be a little upset about the merger, and she'd been prepared—not eager but ready—to deal with that. But apparently he thought she'd known about Candy all along and was so immoral, she'd defend a criminal. Win at any cost. Obviously he didn't have a very high opinion of her. She wasn't prepared to deal with that. She'd thought they were at least friends—well, friends with the added spice of sexual attraction thrown in. She'd begun to feel comfortable with him, close to him, especially after Saturday night. His words today were like a slap in the face. Obviously he didn't share her feelings.
She moved slowly back to her desk, to her work.
She'd pull out a file and get busy, forget the cruel things Austin had said. After all, this wasn't the first time he'd won.
But it was the first time it mattered, the first time it hurt.
She snatched a tissue and blotted her eyes. If she didn't get those damned tears stopped soon, she'd be sobbing. She pressed the tissue hard against the corner of each eye, trying to push the treacherous moisture back inside.
The intercom on her phone buzzed. She took a deep breath and answered it.
"Come see me," Stafford snapped, then hung up. Bailey slammed the receiver down, though it was too late for him to know it. Was there anybody else, she wondered, who would like to yell at her today?
She dug out the original sheet of yellow legal paper covered with names, case numbers, and other information she'd gathered at the courthouse. She was prepared for this confrontation.
She reached Stafford's office dry-eyed. After knocking twice, she entered without waiting for an invitation.
"Come in." He looked up as she flopped into a chair, but then he immediately returned to the paperwork on his desk. As though it were more important than she was, Bailey thought.
"You wanted to see me," she announced, ordering herself to control her temper.
"That girl who's handling Miller—" He waved his arm in the air interrogatively.
"Margaret," Bailey supplied.
"Margaret brought me that file. Said you tried to get her to sign this 'Motion to Withdraw as Attorney of Record.'"
"How nice that she understood my request."
"You want to tell me why?" He flipped through the file.
"I told you why once. Now I have the proof." She tossed the paper onto his desk. To her dismay, it floated gracefully down. A sheet of paper didn't make a good throwing object.
"Hmmph. I can't read this. What is it? Shorthand?" He turned the notes back to her.
"No, it is not." Bailey at least had the pleasure of snatching it away from him. She read off the names, dates, and details of the previous, similar suit. "About the only difference, other than Candy's boyfriend's name, is that she was the one who ran into the boyfriend that time, and her insurance company was the one that got sued."
"And you think that proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she's a fraud?" He rummaged in his desk drawer, came out with a cigar, and began rolling it between his fingers.
"It proves it to my satisfaction. Have you met the woman? She's horrible."
"Horrible people have a right to legal counsel too."
Bailey folded the sheet of paper and creased it firmly between two fingers. "Fine. We're not the only legal counsel in town. Let her go elsewhere."