See Me(16)

“I didn’t call you here to quibble over the details,” he said, cutting her off. “Would you care to explain what happened?”

Caught off guard, Maria stammered out an admittedly pathetic account of her attempts to find a suitable garage and the events that had followed.

When she was finished, he said nothing for a moment. “You do understand what we do here, right? And why you were hired? Our clients expect a certain level of professionalism.”

“Yes, of course I do. And I know our clients are important.”

“Did you know that Barney was thinking of allowing you the opportunity to act as lead counsel on this matter? And that you took this opportunity off the table because you felt the suddenly urgent, desperate need to change your tire during business hours?”

Maria flushed, her thoughts spinning at this new revelation. “No, he didn’t mention that,” she sputtered. “And like I said, I wanted to get it done after work, but every place would have already been closed. I honestly thought I could get back in time. I knew there was a risk, but —”

“A risk you were clearly more than willing to take,” he observed, again cutting her off.

She opened her mouth to respond, but by then, she knew already that there was nothing she could say to appease him. In the silence, Maria felt a knot form in her stomach as Ken finally took a seat at his desk.

“I must say that I’m very disappointed in your decision,” he said, sounding in control. “We took the risk of hiring you because I, among others, went to bat for you. Your work at the DA’s office was hardly relevant to our practice here, as you know. But I thought you had potential. Now, I’m not sure what to think or whether I made the wrong decision.”

“I’m really sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“I hope not. For your sake, not mine.”

The knot in her stomach grew even larger. “What can I do to make things right?”

“For now, nothing. I’ll talk to Barney and find out what he thinks and then we’ll let you know what we decide.”

“Should I call the clients? Perhaps try to apologize?”

“I think you should do nothing for now. I said that Barney and I will discuss it. But if something like this ever happens again…” He leaned forward, turning on his desk lamp.

“It won’t,” she whispered, still trying to get her bearings. Barney was thinking about making her lead counsel? Why hadn’t he mentioned that to her? In that instant, the phone on the desk rang and Ken picked it up. After announcing his name, he nodded before covering the mouthpiece.

“I’ve got to take this call. We’ll finish our talk at another time.”

The way he said it left no doubt that they’d talk again and Maria rose from her seat, humiliated and panicked. Her thoughts in disarray, she stumbled out of Ken’s office. Passing his secretary, she was grateful that the woman ignored her. When she reached her office, she shut the door and ran through the conversation again. Despite herself, she wondered just how long she would be able to continue working there. Or whether she’d even be given a choice.





CHAPTER 3





Colin





O

n the Monday after his fight, Colin stepped out of his apartment and was ambling toward the old Camaro when he suddenly spotted Detective Pete Margolis. The cop had parked in the street out front and was leaning against the hood of his sedan, holding a to-go cup of coffee, a toothpick in his mouth. Unlike most of the officers Colin had dealt with in the past, Margolis spent almost as much time in the gym as Colin did. His sleeves were rolled up, the fabric straining against his biceps. He was in his late thirties, his dark hair swept back and greased in place with God knows what. Once, sometimes twice a month, he would show up unannounced to check on Colin as part of Colin’s court-ordered deal. Margolis clearly enjoyed the power he had over his charge.

“You look like hell, Hancock,” he said as Colin drew near. “You do anything I should know about?”

“No,” Colin answered.

“You sure about that?”

Colin watched Margolis instead of answering. He knew the guy would eventually get around to whatever he wanted to say.

Margolis moved his toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other. “There was a brawl in the parking lot at Crazy Horse a little after midnight. A bunch of guys swinging bottles at each other; a few cars in the lot got dented up and there was a man knocked unconscious. Witnesses said he’d been kicked in the head after he was on the ground. Right now, he’s in the hospital with a cracked skull. That’s assault with a deadly weapon, you know, and as soon as I heard about it, I thought to myself how familiar that sounded. Didn’t I arrest you for something like that right here in Wilmington? Just a few years ago? And haven’t you been in a couple of scrapes since then?”

Margolis already knew the answers, but Colin answered anyway. “Yes to the first. No to the second.”

“Oh, that’s right. Because your friends intervened. The goofy guy and the hot blond chick, right?”

Colin said nothing. Margolis stared. Colin continued to wait until Margolis finally went on.

“That’s why I’m here, by the way.”

“Okay.”

“Just okay?”