“Phoenix. She was at a military expo, I still have the flyer at home. I only stopped in on a whim, I was wasting time before I had to meet my wife. I was just walking around, I had to stop to rub my leg because my previous prosthetic was rubbing me wrong. Staci approached and asked if she could look at it. In her booth, she had me remove it, and she adjusted it, then we talked about how she could make me a new one. We decided to meet the next day, and I commissioned her to make me a new one. It took a year, but I figured if it was going to be as good as she said, then I could wait.”
“And was it?” Ilsa asked. “Was it as good as she promised?”
“Better.” Jake grinned as he held his leg out andpointed his toes. “That’s the prosthetic, I couldn’t do that with the old one.”
“Were the professors around?”
“No, Staci was all by herself, and said as much. That’s why it would take a year to make it, because she worked alone.”
“When was this?”
“Two years ago?” Jake scowled as he looked at Staci. “I’ll have to dig up that expo flyer.”
“Thank you, I’d like to see it and any correspondence between the two of you. This doesn’t matter, but how did you receive the finished leg?”
“Caleb Lassiter brought it to me the day before he started working over at Broken Two. He said he had been helping Staci with it.”
Jason nodded in satisfaction. He looked at Staci. “If you know of anyone else that you helped could you get me their contact information?”
“I’ll have to check my files, but wouldn’t there be a doctor- patient confidentially clause?”
“There could be, but I will reach out to them and briefly explain what the professors are trying to do to you. If you acted alone with them, like you did with Jake, then I’m hoping they’ll step up to the plate and testify on your behalf. I’m not saying we’ll need it, not with all the other information I’ll be presenting, but it wouldn’t hurt to have more than we’ll need.”
“I only have one more question,” Staci said into the silence that followed his statement.
“What’s that?”
“Will this take place in Seattle? The court case?”
“Yes, because the injunction was filed there. I’ve been working with Paula and she’s been keeping me abreast of what’s going on.” He turned to Duane and Jake. “Are the two of you still doing background checks on the professors?”
“We are, I’ve reached out to my boss, Hank Patterson, and he’s helping.”
Jason only grinned and nodded. “Good.”
The meeting broke up after that, and on the way back to Staci’s cabin, both she and Tony were quiet, lost in their own thoughts.
CHAPTER 16
The people standingon the front porch of the house waited until the homeowner opened to their knock, and as soon as the front door was opened, Kevin Lassiter stepped back and welcomed everyone inside.
“Son,” he said with a gigantic grin and hugged Caleb, then Katherine. He shook hands with Jason, and gave a side hug to Ilsa. “Come in, come in,” he said with enthusiasm and moved his arm wide.
“Dad, what the hell happened?” Caleb turned to his father with a frown after looking around briefly to the home he grew up in.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not so crowded in here. I like it.”
“Honestly? I got rid of all your mother’s shit. I was sick and tired of looking at it, and asked my neighbor to help me take it out on the lawn. I put a ‘Free’ signon it.” He grinned. “For two weeks. No one took anything, so on the third week, I dragged it to the curb for trash.”
Caleb laughed and shook his head, then stopped in his tracks. “Oh, hello,” he said to the woman standing behind the counter, fussing with the coffee cups and food on the trays.
“Paula?” Staci asked from behind him and pushed him out of the side to rush toward the other woman. They hugged and laughed, and with her arm around the older woman’s waist she turned to Tony, Caleb, Katherine, Jason, and Ilsa. “This is Paula Carson, she was my lawyer for the first trial.” Staci pointed to the others as she introduced them. “Caleb Lassiter, you know him, he’s also Kevin’s son. Next to him is his girlfriend, Katherine Miller. That’s Ilsa Miller, Katherine’s mother, and beside her is Jason Black, my current lawyer for this new case. The guy over there is my boyfriend, Tony Jacobs.”
The first one to step forward was Caleb and he hugged the other woman, and stepped aside for the others to shake her hand.
“Thank you for all your information over the last few months,” Jason said as he accepted a cup of coffee from Kevin.
