Chapter 9
Clark walked into my office mid-afternoon with a couple of printouts. “You’ve hit the paper online and will be in the print edition tomorrow morning.” He tossed them on my desk.
I read the newest headline featuring me:Murder at Anna Albertini’s Home.“Wonderful.” I quickly scanned the article, which more than hinted at my being a suspect. There was a lot of speculation, considering I’d been in a public bar fight with the deceased. “Fantastic. This is just great,” I muttered.
“This probably won’t bring us more clients,” Clark said.
I tried to find a silver lining. “Sorry about this. I’m sure the police will solve the case soon, and we can move on.”
“It’d be great if you could avoid being in the paper for a few days,” Clark said as a parting shot. He retreated back down the hallway.
The article was written by Jolene O’Sullivan. At this point, she owed me half her salary.
I turned back to my paperwork and made diligent notes and plans for a good couple of hours. My phone rang just as I was shutting down my office. “Anna Albertini,” I answered in my best lawyer voice, even though it was my cell phone.
“Have you washed your car lately?” Detective Pierce asked.
I frowned. “No. Why?” We hadn’t had rain in a while and my car looked fine.
“I’m sending over a couple of techs to fingerprint it, just to see if we can find who took the potato gun out,” he said, shuffling papers coming over the line.
I paused. His voice was at a slightly higher pitch than normal. “What’s going on?”
“The case is probably going to get transferred to the federal authorities, and I’d like to get as much evidence as possible first.” Now he sounded frustrated. “I’m being stonewalled by the Feds regarding the victim, so I don’t even have a viable list of suspects. Well, except you and Devlin.”
I leaned against the wall and flipped off the lights, my temples aching. All of my euphoria after the first full day at my new firm evaporated instantly. “Aiden was in Seattle, and I’m sure there’s plenty of proof of that, including airline tickets and recordings from security cameras.”
Pierce sighed. “Yeah. I figured. That leaves you, Albertini. You need to tell me who would’ve wanted Sasha Duponte dead.”
“I have no idea,” I admitted. “It’s my understanding that she worked as an ATF agent for a while, and surely she has enemies. As for her personal life, I don’t know a thing.”
“When does Devlin return to town? I need to talk to him,” Pierce said.
I cleared my throat. “He didn’t say.”
Pierce’s sigh held the sound of heat. “That’s quite the relationship you’ve got. Fine. Have him call me.” He ended the call.
“We’re just starting a relationship,” I said to the empty room. Right? Weren’t we? It wasn’t like we’d hadthat talk, but we seemed to be on the same page. My feet ached a little in the wedges as I walked down the quiet hallway and leaned against Clark’s doorframe.
He sat at his desk, rifling through papers. “It was a good first day.”
I grinned, even though my limbs felt heavy. “Agreed. I have six new clients. How about you?”
He pushed his glasses up his nose. “Five and one of them is a corporation, so we might work out a retainer agreement.” His eyes gleamed.
“That’s great,” I said. “Should we pick a day for office meetings where we can talk about our cases each week? I think the bigger firms do that usually on Monday morning.”
He tugged his tie loose and leaned back in his chair. “That’s a good idea. How about Friday mornings? That suits us better, and I don’t want to do things like the bigger firms.” He shuffled papers aside and pulled out a legal pad. “In fact, how about we don’t schedule client meetings or events for Fridays unless we’re required to be in court?
I stretched my feet inside my wedges. “I like that idea. We can have casual Fridays, where we just pump out the work.” Having project days worked for me. Before I forgot, I handed over the retainers I’d collected that day. “We might need to get an office manager or accountant,” I mused.
Clark reached for a different pen. “Agreed, but let’s wait until we can afford one. I don’t mind working the books right now if you don’t mind handling all publicity and advertising. The logo you came up with for our website and cards looks fantastic.”
“Tessa helped me,” I admitted. My sister had always been artistic. “I told Oliver and Pauley that they could order business cards.”
Clark shrugged. “That’s fair. It’s not like we’re paying them very much.”
I needed food. Like now. “All right. I’ll see you tomorrow. Good job today, partner.”
