Look Closely - Laura Caldwell [45]
“I’ll call the arbitrators and Evan Lamey to notify them of our decision, and Beth will file the rejection of the award when she attends the status conference in court today.” I looked to Beth, who nodded again.
McKnight exhaled, as if tired of the conversation. “I want that budget plan and analysis within the next few days.” He rose from his chair and headed for the door.
I held myself back from making a comment about the fact that I had other clients, that I had a life. “Fine,” I said one more time.
He stood at the door, looking at me as if he might speak again. Beth and I both waited for whatever he would say. But he was silent, and for what seemed like a full minute, his gaze never left mine. Then without another word, he turned and left.
As soon as he closed the door, I looked at Beth.
“He’s a freak,” she said. “Don’t let him get to you.”
“You’re right.” I shoved my papers and laptop into my briefcase. “Look, I’ve got a plane to catch. I’ll call the arbitrators and Evan from the cab. You can handle the status conference, right?”
“No problem.” She shrugged her arms into a suit coat. “And just so you know, I think you did a great job at the arb.”
“At least someone around here does.”
Beth groaned. “I know. I wish I could make an excuse for him.”
“There’s no excuse for someone like that.”
I made it to the airport with only thirty minutes to spare. I rushed to the front of the security line, begging the agents to let me cut in, then ran to the gate and was rewarded with a nearly empty flight and an upgrade to first class because of all the miles I had. I tried to relax once the flight took off, letting the layer of white clouds outside my window block out whatever lay below, but there were too many tasks, too many nagging voices in my head.
I pulled out my laptop and went to work on the ludicrous essay on why I wanted to be a partner. I was tempted to write, “For the money, of course,” but instead I went on about how I wanted to be a permanent part of a firm that was a bastion of excellent legal skills and about the way the cyber-law department had increased the firm’s revenues. And then I put my fingers to the keyboard, ready to write about my father and how I wanted to follow his legacy, but suddenly I couldn’t get my hands to type the words. I’d planned this part of the essay for weeks, figuring it would play on the sentiment of the election committee while reminding them that my father had helped put the firm on the map. Yet, although I wanted the partnership more than anything, I felt unsure now whether I wanted to follow the path my dad had walked in life.
I turned off my computer and called Beth Halverson from the plane phone to see how the status conference had gone. I hadn’t been able to reach Evan Lamey from the cab, and I wanted to see how he’d taken the news.
Beth answered on the first ring. “Oh, Hailey,” she said, “I’ve left two messages for you on your cell phone. You are not going to believe this.”
I felt a prickling on the back of my neck. “What is it?”
“The judge expedited the trial. We’ve got four weeks.”
“Are you kidding me?” My voice was so loud I drew a sharp look from a flight attendant making her way down the aisle.
“Unfortunately, no. He’s sick of the press and said there’s no reason to wait since we’re done with most of our discovery.”
“But we’re not. We’ve got all sorts of new discovery we want to do now.”
“I told him that, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He said he had cleared his schedule, and we need to finish everything up within the month.”
“Jesus.” I rapped my knuckles on my closed computer, ticking off in my mind everything we would need to accomplish. “I’ll get some associates researching the marks and stuff. Can you make a few calls?”
I gave Beth the names of two investigators to look into Kingston’s background. I couldn’t help thinking about everything I’d have to put on the back burner, namely my investigation into my mother’s death. I should probably get a flight to New York as soon as I landed. But I knew I wouldn’t. I was too close to Caroline.