“No, you don’t have to,” they both responded at once. Then they chuckled.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt your visit,” Jason said. “Merry knows where I am when she’s free.”
“No, I really have things to do,” Roz said. “But if you want to find this bitch reporter and threaten her with libel, I can hook you up with a colleague of mine.”
“Why wouldn’t you handle it yourself?” Merry asked.
Jason showed a spark of recognition. “Oh, you must be the lawyer Merry gave as a reference.”
“Yes. I graduated from Suffolk Law a couple of years ago. I’m still low woman on the totem pole at Payne, Richards, and Stewart. In the same building where Merry saw you earlier.”
“What kind of law do you practice?”
She and Merry exchanged glances. Merry nodded.
“I used to do civil work, mostly divorces, but now I’m a public defender, and for some reason I get the weird cases.”
“Weird?” he asked. “What kind of weird?”
“Weeeeiiiird. The kind of cases most people find hard to believe. I’d give you an example or two, but… well, never mind. That’s not important. I have a colleague who’s very good at intimidation. I could recommend you to him.”
Jason smiled. “That won’t be necessary, but thanks.”
“I don’t know,” Merry said. “I’d like to see you do it. People shouldn’t get away with that kind of thing. It’s rotten, destructive, and just plain wrong.”
“You know how I feel about rocking the boat, Merry. I’d rather not.”
“Then I will,” she said.
Chapter 7
Lila sat at her favorite bar stool and toasted herself—in more ways than one. Kevin polished glasses, and occasionally glanced her way.
“So, you saved your career?”
She smiled proudly. “Yep, I shertainly did.”
“I hope it was worth saving.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Wha’s dat shupposed to mean?”
Kevin draped the dishcloth over his shoulder and leaned on the bar. “I mean, it doesn’t seem to be making you happy.”
Shocked, Lila lightly rocked back on her stool. “Not happy? What are you, nuts? Here I am shelebrating, and you think I’m unhappy? Maybe you need glashes.”
“Look, Lila, I’ve known you for about two years, right?”
“Uh huh… and?”
“And I worry about you. In that time, I’ve seen you go from bad to worse with only brief moments of what some people call happiness. I call it oblivion.”
I’m feeling positively giddy. What’s his problem?Lila tried to stand to make an angry point, but her ankles wobbled and she wound up on her ass. “Owww… Hey, where’d the floor come from?”
Kevin must have jogged around the bar, because the next thing she saw was his extended hand. “Come on, Lila. Get up. Customers are gawking.”
“Let ’em look. I don’t need your help. I can shtand by myshelf.” She shuffled to a sitting position between two bar stools and leaned against the bar. Using the rails for leverage, she took a deep breath and pushed. When she tried to lift herself, her feet slipped out from beneath her and she sat down hard, legs splayed. “Owww… I need a whoopee cushion.” After a shortdelay to process it, she realized what she had said and began to laugh. Her laughter escalated to hysteria. Soon she was weeping with laughter and her sides hurt as much as her tailbone.
Strong arms hauled her up, dragged her over to a chair, and plopped her onto it. “Stay there,” Kevin said. “I’ll bring you some coffee.”
