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“Okay. So tomorrow morning we pay Mr. Richard Harvey a visit. It’s a place to start.”

“That it is,” replied Melina, feeling a bit hopeful. “That it is.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

After agreeing to meet the next morning, Tessa departed and Melina spent the rest of the day lying around her apartment. The pain throughout her body continued to come and go in waves as did the level of intensity. There was one point in the evening when it grew to be so bad she thought it was truly the end for her. The severe pain eventually made her pass out, and about an hour or so later she came to, feeling absolutely exhausted. She took a long, hot bath, which helped ease the lingering pain down to a dull ache, and then she dragged herself to bed.

Once again, she had a restless night’s sleep with the pain still coming and going in intervals. A little after six, she woke with only a slight amount of pain and decided to get up and get ready for the day. She took her time, fearing that if she moved too quickly, it might cause the pain to suddenly spike, and before she knew it, Tessa was there.

“How are you feeling?” Tessa asked as she walked through the front door, her bright blue eyes full of concern.

“Tired,” replied Melina as she stifled a yawn.

“You didn’t sleep very well?”

Melina shook her head. “The pain woke me up every couple of hours. It’s pretty subtle right now, though. Hopefully it will remain that way while we’re visiting Mr. Harvey. I’m not sure how I would play that off in front of him.”

“Well, if it doesn’t, then I guess we’ll deal with it.” Tessa smiled as she reached out for Melina’s hand.

Melina quickly slid on her coat and wrapped a new gray scarf around her neck. She then grabbed her purse and allowed her friend to help her down the stairs and out the back door. Tessa offered to drive, and within twenty minutes they arrived downtown.

“Where’s Mr. Harvey’s office located?” Tessa asked as she tried to concentrate on navigating through the Monday morning traffic.

“I looked it up last night,” said Melina. “It’s a brick building, a block past the courthouse.”

Tessa nodded and headed in that direction.

About five minutes later they spotted the office, and since there were no other cars around, Tessa was able to park on the street right out front. The decent-sized building looked fairly new and was well kept with neatly manicured bushes lining the front and sides. A large black sign that hung to the left of the front door was emblazoned with big, gold letters that read,
Richard A. Harvey, Attorney At Law.

Melina looked through the buildings windows but couldn’t tell if any lights were on or not. “I’m not sure if his office is open yet,” she said.

“Well,” said Tessa, glancing down at the clock on her dash, “it’s almost a half past eight. Let’s go and find out.”

They both stepped out of the car, and as they walked up to the front entrance, Melina fidgeted nervously, hoping the pain would remain at a manageable level for a little while longer. She was also nervous about what to say to Mr. Harvey. If he had any information that might help her with Lee, she had to somehow get him to trust her so he would give her that information.

Should I be direct or ease into it? As an attorney, he’s probably used to direct questioning, no being around the bush. Direct it is.

She reached out and turned the knob, but the door didn’t budge. “Must not be open yet.”

They both turned and started to make their way back to the car when she heard the door open.

“May I help you, young ladies?” a man’s voice called from behind them.

Melina spun around and saw an older-looking man, who she assumed was Mr. Harvey, standing in the doorway, smiling at them through a pair of thin-rimmed glasses. He had on a brown tweed suit with matching brown shoes, and his wavy gray hair was neatly combed to one side. Melina could tell that he prided himself in physical appearances, both of himself and his office building, but his warm expression told her he wasn’t arrogant. Maybe he was going to be easier to talk to than she'd thought.

She gave a quick glance to Tessa and then cleared her throat. “Hello, sir. Are you Mr. Harvey?”

He gave them a small nod. “I am.”

Melina smiled at her correct assumption. “My name’s Melina. My friend Tessa and I were hoping to talk with you for a bit, but we thought you weren’t open yet.”

“I was actually coming to unlock the front door when I saw you two walking away. I usually don’t accept walk-ins, but as it turns out, I have about thirty minutes or so before my first appointment is to arrive.” He motioned inside his office as he took a step back and opened the door a little wider. “Come in, come in.”

Melina and Tessa walked inside to see a dimly lit reception area.

“You’ll have to excuse me,” Mr. Harvey said as he rushed ahead of them, flipping on more lights as he went. “My receptionist is coming in late today, and I’m afraid I’m not as efficient as she is in opening up the office.” He let out a little chuckle and then gestured for them to follow him into a room off to the right.

His office was a spacious one and appeared to be very well organized. Papers and file folders were neatly stacked on top of his large oak desk, a matching bookcase was filled with carefully placed legal encyclopedias, his college and law school diplomas hung perfectly on the wall next to his desk, and his coat and briefcase were both hung on hooks next to the door instead of lying on a chair. Everything was in its own perspective place.

Mr. Harvey invited the two to have a seat as he walked around his desk and took a seat of his own. “Now, the initial consultation is free but—”

“I’m sorry,” Melina interrupted. “We’re not here about a legal matter.”

“Oh,” Mr. Harvey said, a bit taken aback. “Then what is it you’d like to talk to me about?”

“Well…” Melina paused and looked over at Tessa, who nodded her head encouragingly. “I’m here to talk to you about Charles Atwood.”

“Charles Atwood? Did you know him?” Mr. Harvey asked.

Melina nodded. “Yes, I’m a local business owner myself, and I shopped in his jewelry store from time to time.”

“I see,” said Mr. Harvey as he folded his hands together and leaned back in his chair. “So why do you want to talk to me about Mr. Atwood?”

“I’m trying to help his son, Lee, with something. And since you were Mr. Atwood’s attorney, I thought you might be able to help as well.”

Mr. Harvey narrowed his eyes at her but remained silent.

“I’m not sure if you know or not, but ever since Lee’s parents divorced, he wanted nothing to do with his father.”

“Anyone who was close to the Atwoods knew that,” said Mr. Harvey. “What are you trying to get at?”

Melina cleared her throat and continued. “Okay, well, he wanted nothing to do with his father because he thought his father was the one who initiated the divorce and walked out on them. It wasn’t until he saw the divorce papers, which were amongst the items you gave to him after his father passed, that he realized it was his mother who'd actually filed for the divorce. He’s been in agony ever since then because he believes his father went to his grave thinking that his son hated him for something that wasn’t even true. I need to find a way to prove to him that his father didn’t feel that way.”

Mr. Harvey leaned forward in his chair again and placed his arms on his desk. “I can sense that it’s very important to you to prove that to Lee. Why is that?”

Just be direct and honest,
she thought to herself. “I care for Lee and his well-being. I don’t like seeing him so upset, and his behavior and attitude have started to jeopardize his family’s store.”

Mr. Harvey’s expression was one of genuine concern. “Really? The store isn’t doing well?”

“I’m afraid not,” said Melina.

“I’m sad to hear it. Charles was not only my client but a dear friend, so of course I would like to help Lee. Actually, I’m pretty sure I can help him, but I’d first like to know why you thought to even come to me for help.”

Melina shrugged. “Lee won’t listen to anyone else, not even his mother or sister. It seems like he thinks they’re only saying that to make him feel better. I thought if he heard it from someone who wasn’t that close to him but was to his father, then he might actually listen.”

“Very clever, very clever,” Mr. Harvey said as he nodded his head. “But I can do you one better.”

“Really?” Melina looked excitedly at Tessa and then back over at Mr. Harvey. He actually had some information that he seemed confident would help, and he was going to tell her, just like that. It was almost too easy. She waited anxiously for him to start talking again, but the pain that was throbbing throughout her entire body suddenly decided to skyrocket at that very moment. “Ahh!” she screamed as she leaned over and buried her head in her hands.

Mr. Harvey jumped up from his chair. “Miss, are you all right?”

Tessa stood up from her chair and tried to help Melina up from hers. She glanced back and forth between Melina and Mr. Harvey as she attempted to spit out a believable explanation. “She’s been experiencing horrible migraines lately. Sometimes they come on suddenly. I’m sorry. I need to get her home to rest. Thank you for your time.”

Melina saw Tessa give him a brief smile and then felt her friend's arm wrap around her waist as she tried to walk her out as quickly as they could. Melina resisted, trying to turn back to Mr. Harvey.

“No,” Melina said in a quiet voice that suddenly turned louder. “I have to know what you were going to tell me first. Please, I must know.” She broke free from Tessa’s grasp and turned back around toward Mr. Harvey, looking up at him slowly with pleading eyes.

Mr. Harvey, who seemed a bit rattled by her behavior, took a step back as he stared at her. Finally he found his voice. “Lee’s father left him a letter. I’m not sure of the exact details of it, but I think it’ll help. It was with all the documents I gave to Lee. I never got the chance to tell him about it because, well, after I informed him that he'd inherited the store, he didn’t want to talk much anymore. So I gave him the documents and let him go. I guess I thought he would find it.”

Melina cried out in pain again and almost fell to the floor, but Tessa’s quick reflexes stopped her just in time. Tessa lifted her back up and placed her arm around her again.

“Thank you once again, Mr. Harvey,” Tessa said over her shoulder as she strained to get Melina to move. “We need to get going now.”

Mr. Harvey nodded slightly as he watched, wide-eyed, as they left his office.

Tessa let out a loud grunt as they made their way out the front door toward her car. “I feel like I’m carrying deadweight. Melina?” Tessa asked, a slight panic in her voice. “You’re not about to pass out, are you?”

Melina was silent. She didn’t have the strength to talk.

A few seconds later, she felt Tessa gently lay her down into the passenger seat and buckle her in. The door slammed shut, and when her friend plopped down into the driver’s seat, she sounded exhausted and out of breath. Melina knew that Tessa probably needed to rest after carrying her all that way, but the pain was only growing worse. “Please, go,” was all she could muster the strength to say before letting out a low groan. She curled up in her seat and buried her face in her arms. She had to make it all stop, and soon.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

About halfway through the ride back, Melina sat up in her seat and pushed her hair back from her face. “Where are we going?” she asked as she gazed around out the windows. “Are we going back to my apartment?”

“Um, yeah,” Tessa said, a bit surprised that her friend was sitting up. “You were in a lot of pain and could barely walk. I thought that was probably the best idea so you could rest. Are you feeling okay now?”

“No, but I’m not in the amount of pain that I was. You need to take a left up here,” Melina said as she motioned toward the upcoming street.

“What? No, Melina. You need to go home and—”

“No, I don’t need to go home,” Melina interrupted. “I need to go and see Lee at his store. Mr. Harvey said there was a letter from Lee’s dad amongst the documents he gave him. I don’t think Lee ever read that letter. Actually, I’m not sure he even knows he has it, and I have a feeling it’s the solution to everything. And it all needs to end now.”

“Okay, okay,” Tessa said as she turned the car left. “But how could he not know that he has the letter?”

“It’s just a hunch, but I think that once he found his parents' divorce papers and saw that his mom was the one who'd filed, he didn’t care about the rest of the documents and probably never looked through them again.”

“So what’s the plan once we get to his store?” Tessa asked.

Melina opened her mouth and was about to tell Tessa that she could handle it on her own, but then thought otherwise. She knew how much her friend wanted to help. “We need to convince Lee to come and talk to us. We have to tell him about the letter.”

“Wait. Convince him? I thought he was okay with allowing you to still help him.”

“Yes, that’s what he said on Saturday, but that was right after I dumped everything on him and then, once again, left hastily,” replied Melina. “Who knows what he’s thinking now that he’s had a couple of days to process it all.”

“Then let me go in by myself,” said Tessa. “He only saw me briefly at the Fall Festival. I’m sure he won’t even remember me.”

“Okay, but what are you going to say to get him to come and talk to you?”

“I’ll think of something,” Tessa said as she turned onto another street.

About five minutes later, they arrived in front of Lee’s store. Luck must’ve been on their side that morning because they were able to find a parking spot right out front, just like they had at Mr. Harvey’s office.

Melina tried to peer through the front window as she said, “I hope he’s here.”

“Why wouldn’t he be?” asked Tessa.

“I don’t know, but if he’s back at his apartment, then we’re going to have a much harder time trying to get to him if he doesn’t want to talk. He’ll make sure that his doorman doesn’t let us in, and I don’t think I could bear to teleport right now.”