Joseph nodded and left the apartment. He used the key Jack left for emergencies to unlock the door. Jack’s apartment was immaculate, clearly decorated by a man who understood art. Joseph put the boxes on the floor and looked around. He hadn’t the first clue where to begin, but he wanted a beer, so the kitchen was as good a place as any. He grabbed the tape and one of the boxes and went into the kitchen. Looking at Jack’s state of the art kitchen, it was hard to believe that they’d lived in the same building. But Jack had been a chef. In the kitchen, he would have nothing but the best.
After he assembled the box, Joseph realized that he needed newspaper to wrap the dishes. He searched the utility closet since that was where he stored his old newspapers. Luckily, he and his friend had that in common. Joseph grabbed the paper and put it on the counter. He pulled the dishes out of the cupboard and wrapped them individually. Because Jack had just enough for a single man, it didn’t take long to pack the dishes.
Joseph moved on to the pots and pans which Jack kept in the lower row of cabinets.
He sat on the floor with tears in his eyes and pulled them out, one by one. He was smacked with the memory of his nine-year-old friend digging holes in his mother’s backyard to make mud pies. It was then that Jack had revealed that he was going to be the most famous chef in the world. And before he died, he’d been well on his way. Jack had studied all over the world with some of the greatest chefs on the planet. As one of the chefs who’d cooked for Jimmy Carter’s Inaugural Ball, he was able to add cooking for a president to his resume.
Jack was talented, ambitious, and dedicated to perfecting his craft. The world suffered a loss when American Airlines Flight 191 crashed to the ground.
* * *
KATHERINE
Katherine grabbed a six pack from the fridge. She had a feeling Joseph could use a beer or two. He’d offered to pack Jack’s things for Jack’s family, but it couldn’t have been easy for him. So, she was headed across the hall to give him a hand.
Katherine turned off the living room light and opened the door to leave, but what met her on the other side of the door caused her to scream. A large man in a ski mask lunged at her, grabbing her by the throat. She swung the six pack at his head, but it didn’t deter him. His thick finger squeezed her throat, cutting off her air supply. Katherine was choked into silence, but she kept fighting, yet kicking and punching him was doing no good. She clawed at his fingers and begged with her eyes, but her attacker was relentless. He lifted her off her feet and slammed her body to the floor. A shard from a broken beer bottle pierced her side. Spots of red clouded her vision. She was weak and her arms went limp, but Katherine wasn’t ready to die. She felt around the floor until she found a piece of glass and plunged it into her assailant’s face. He howled out in pain, but he didn’t loosen his grip.
“Die, bitch!” he growled.
Katherine felt that death was near. She was in a cloud, no longer able to move her limbs. There was nothing left to do but lie there and die. She closed her eyes and reconciled with the inevitability of her death when she was suddenly granted a reprieve. Her attacker was no longer on top of her. Katherine didn’t know how or why; she just took the opportunity to gulp as much air as she could.
Assuming she wasn’t out of danger, Katherine rolled to her side and searched for her attacker. What she found was Joseph on top of the masked man, inflicting a vicious beating. With every punch given, he shouted,“Who sent you?”
Joseph savagely beat the man until urine trickled to the floor.“Who sent you?”
“Nobody!” the man cried.
“Bullshit!” Joseph barked. “Not one of those rich bastards would have the balls to do their own dirty work!” Joseph landed a blow to his ribs. “You’re gonna tell me who sent you or you’re not leaving here alive.”
He punched him in the face again.
Katherine jumped at the sound of bones cracking in the man’s nose and gasped. “Joseph!”
Joseph whipped his head around and looked at her. What she saw in his eyes was scary. She saw a man capable of keeping his promise if the man didn’t give him the name he was asking for.
“He was trying to kill you, Katherine,” he snarled. Joseph turned back to the man and struck him again.“Give me a name!”
The man must’ve seen the same thing in Joseph’s eyes that Katherine saw because he surrendered and revealed the name of the person who’d dispatched him to their home. Joseph was winded when he climbed off the would-be assassin and sat against the wall. He looked up at her and wiped the seat from his forehead.
“Call the police,” he instructed through a heavy breath.
Chapter Twenty-Three
KATHERINE
Katherine paced outside the courtroom while waiting for Henrietta to arrive. She walked over to the window and looked down at the busy downtown street for a distraction.
“Katherine.”
She turned to the sound of Henrietta’s voice and smiled. “Thank you so much for coming. Did you bring the case law?”
Henrietta nodded. “I brought that and more.”
Henrietta gestured toward the elevator, just as Colette Kaplan and Jared Harlow stepped off. Katherine’s jaw dropped. The senior partners’ presence was shocking.
“You’re here,” she said, stating the obvious.
Colette smiled. “We’re here.”
