Crash - Part Four (4 page)

Scott showed us into a small meeting room with a table in the middle and four chairs. Despite the room being small, it didn’t feel overly cramped thanks in part to the glass walls letting in an abundance of light. Another young and attractive attorney was already sitting down at the table.

“Emily, John, please let me introduce you to Bethany.”

John and I shook hands with her and we all sat down at the table. Bethany screamed “junior attorney.” She looked like she was in her early twenties and had a soft, timid way about her. She was probably here for the experience of meeting clients, and perhaps she would end up doing some of the research on our case. I knew enough about how law firms worked to know that senior associates didn’t do the research if they didn’t have to. That was fine with me. It usually ended up being cheaper that way.

“I’m here because I will be helping Scott with your case,” Bethany said, confirming my suspicions.

“From what you told me so far,” Scott said, “there will be a lot of litigation involved, and that’s not really my area of expertise. Bethany is a senior litigator at the firm, and she has an excellent record at settling cases and winning them if they end up going to court.”

Senior
litigator? Bethany didn’t look like she was a senior anything, except maybe a senior in college. In addition to looking a little young, I had always imagined that litigators were tougher and more hard-nosed. I had trouble imagining Bethany scaring the expensive lawyers at PharmaTech.

“I always settle cases, if possible,” she added. “Going to court is so expensive for clients, so if we can get a good deal without going to trial, I always recommend to the client that they accept it. But I am more than willing to go to bat for you in court, if necessary.”

“We’d rather avoid court, as well,” John said. “Has Emily explained the motivation behind this case?”

“This isn’t just about the patent and military contract,” I said. “Those are the things we know they have done wrong, but we really want to expose them for something else.”

Scott frowned and looked confused, but Bethany didn’t seem so surprised. Many cases were probably about petty revenge as opposed to legal issues, so she was probably used to it.

“From what Scott has told me,” she said, “PharmaTech has done a lot wrong, and in different areas of the law. That gives us a lot of flexibility here. The best approach is probably for you to tell me what you want to achieve and I will figure out a way to do it. I hate to spoil any illusions you may have at the justice system, but the fact of the matter is that we have a lot of power to do harm without even getting into a courtroom. I’m sure we can help with your objectives, so tell me what you want to do.”

I explained everything we knew about PharmaTech and how they had bribed government officials to get their faulty drugs on the market. If Bethany was skeptical about our claims, she didn’t show it. At the end of the meeting, she explained that we had a good case but that the tricky bit would be getting PharmaTech to talk about the drug. She promised to come up with a plan, yet warned us that the process would take a while and we shouldn’t expect miracles. Unfortunately, Bethany would need a large retainer fee, but she promised to discuss the possibility of a contingency fee with a partner.

“That went about as well as can be expected,” I said as we left the law firm.

“I don’t agree,” John said. “I’m disappointed. Scott is clearly not gay.”

“How do you know that?”

“Didn’t you see the way he and Bethany were looking at each other? There’s definitely something going on between those two. I guess he could swing both ways, but the odds of that are not in my favor, and I don’t fancy getting in the middle of those two. I mean that literally and figuratively.”

“I couldn’t really picture you with a lawyer, anyway. Part of the problem with Tom was that he had a more boring job than you did. You need someone with exotic lifestyle like yourself.”

“I suppose I had better get out on the town tonight, then. Fancy joining me for a drink?”

“Sure, why not? I know Carter could do with a drink.”

“No, don’t bring him. I want to pick up a guy, and I can hardly do that with him around soaking up all the attention.”

“Just make sure we go to an actual gay bar this time.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t be making that mistake again. This place will be all gay males and their girlfriends.”

“I’m leaving as soon as you pick up a guy.”

“With any luck, you won’t even finish your first drink.”

The day of Bella’s funeral arrived quickly. I had assumed her death had been a shock to all concerned like it was to me, but her parents had known it was coming and made the choice to switch off the life-support machine. Carter asked me to accompany him to the burial, but I had to refuse. I wanted to be by his side, but I couldn’t bring myself to go. The whole thought of it seemed more than a little weird, but he insisted it would be okay and that he wanted me there with him. In the end, we compromised and I agreed to go to the reception that took place afterwards. He came by and picked me up on the way there.

“I’m still not sure this is a good idea,” I said as I stepped into the car. “What will her family think of you bringing me?”

“I told you, they are completely fine with it. In fact, they want you to be there. You have to remember that they still feel a great deal of guilt that their daughter was to blame for your brother’s death. And they are happy I have moved on. They’re really nice people, and they aren’t naïve. They know Bella and I were young at the time and we weren’t destined to be together.”

“I just don’t want to upset anyone.”

“The only way you will upset people is by not being there,” Carter insisted. “Now, tell me how you got on the other night going for drinks with John.”

“It was fun, I guess, while it lasted. I finished my first drink and then went to the bar to buy the next round while John talked to some guy he met. When I came back, the two of them were already… hooking up, so I was left holding two drinks with no one to talk to.”

Carter couldn’t contain his laughter. “Only in a gay bar could an attractive woman like you be left standing alone.”

“It was quite depressing. I even had a free drink for anyone who would come speak to me. I suppose it’s better than being harassed all the time in the normal bars.”

Carter seemed in relatively good spirits, considering the occasion. He probably felt as awkward as I no doubt would at this thing. After all, he was technically bringing his new girlfriend to his wife’s funeral reception. Despite what he said about the family being happy for him, the circumstances were no doubt uncomfortable for him, too.

The reception was being held at Bella’s parents’ house. Given how rich I knew Bella’s family was, I was surprised to see that they lived in a relatively modest house. It was probably the family home they grew up in before making it big. That said, the cars in the driveway cost more than some people’s houses and more than made up for the lack of value in the house itself.

I half-expected the room to go quiet and for everyone to turn and look at us as we walked in, but it was filled with the sound of ten different conversations taking place at once. No one even noticed us arrive.

“Come on,” Carter said, “let’s go get the difficult bit done first.”

Carter took me by the hand and led me to the kitchen where we found Bella’s mom preparing food for her guests. I took a deep breath and stood up straight, hoping to make a positive first impression on my boyfriend’s former mother-in-law.

“Teresa, this is Emily. Emily, this is Teresa, Bella’s mom.”

“Pleased to meet you,” I said, offering out my hand. She ignored it, instead kissing me on the cheek and putting her arms around me for a quick, but intense, hug. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered into her ear. “About Bella. I never met her, but Carter made her sound like an incredible person.”

That wasn’t exactly true, but I could hardly have said otherwise under the circumstances.

“It’s very sweet of you to say so, dear. I can’t speak ill of my daughter, especially not now, but I want you to know how bad we feel about the accident. We knew she was drinking more than she should have been at the time, but we had no idea she would drink and drive. I thought we brought her up better than that. After what happened… We just didn’t know what to do. I wonder whether we could have been more strict with her, but—”

“It’s not your fault,” I said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Teresa was on the verge of tears and probably would have already been crying if she were not all cried out from the funeral. “Carter explained about the drugs. I know she made a mistake by drinking, but people make mistakes when they’re young. I would do anything to get my brother back, but I’m going to focus my anger on those who are truly responsible.”

“If I ever get my hands on those involved, you can be sure they will pay.” Theresa had quickly moved from being upset to being angry, but I could hardly blame her for not being in control of her emotions on a day like today. “If you ever find out who they are, just tell me where they live. I’ll see to the rest”

I nodded and promised to get revenge for Bella and William. But even if I did find out where they lived, there was no way I would tell Teresa about it. I believed her when she said she would go and take out her anger and grief on them, and that didn’t seem like it would help our case. I would make them pay, but my idea of punishment would be to strip them of all their money and let them spend their days rotting in prison.

We didn’t stay too long at the reception, but I made sure to meet Bella’s father and speak to Kerry. She must have told her father about the lawsuit, because he asked a lot of questions and wanted to know how it was proceeding. We didn’t have a lot to tell him, but he was pleased to know it was moving forward. To my surprise, Kerry didn’t ask too many questions and seemed more preoccupied keeping various family members from fighting. Bella had had a big family with lots of cousins and aunts and uncles, and it was clear they didn’t all get along. Not everyone looked like they were as rich as Kerry’s family, and I suspected the money had caused a lot of tension between them.

The most surprising news of the day was that Bella had a brother. Neither Carter nor Kerry had ever mentioned a brother. Carter did go and speak to him at one point, but I was never introduced to him.

“See, that wasn’t too bad, was it?” Carter said once we were back in the car.

“No. I’m glad we went. I think I have a better understanding now of what Bella went through and what the family meant to you. I can see that you were close to all of them and not just to Bella. That makes this all a little easier to understand.”

“I’m so glad to hear you say that. I hope you don’t mind, but I’d like a couple of days to myself, just to get a few things in order.”

“Sure. Take as long as you need.”

“Thanks. I’m ready to put this whole thing behind me now. I know we still have the lawsuit to deal with, but as far as I’m concerned, that is now completely separate. My previous relationship with Bella is a thing of the past. Let’s focus on us, okay?”

“You read my mind,” I said, putting my hand on his thigh and leaning back my head back on the headrest where I drifted off to sleep for the rest of the journey home.

Without wanting to get too carried away, it did seem like John had met the perfect man for him. The guy he picked up in the bar, Michael, was casual and laid-back, and he worked as a waiter in one of the trendy bars in San Francisco. This meant he had an erratic schedule, so now John was the one complaining that he was never able to see his boyfriend. It was an interesting switch up, which I took great pleasure in teasing him about.

John had resorted to eating most of his meals at the restaurant where Michael worked just so that he could see him. This worked out well for me, because John often wanted company and meant I got a table without standing outside in the hour-long line. They didn’t take reservations—that seemed to be a common trait for the hipster places in San Francisco—so usually you had to go and write your name on a list and then wait. John and I got to walk right past all that and sit down at a table. I knew John was using me just so that he had someone to talk to, but there were plenty of benefits for me too, so I looked past it.

Unless I was eating at one of Carter’s restaurants, I found it impossible to go out in San Francisco in the evening without feeling overdressed. Even in just a simple pair of jeans and skimpy top, I seemed to look like I had put in more effort than everyone else. Of course, I had actually put in less effort, because while the locals liked to pretend they didn’t care how they looked, the opposite was usually true. It took effort to squeeze into those skinny jeans and the weird clothing combos were actually coordinated with a great deal of thought put into them.

While I felt slightly out of place, it was nothing compared to the man in a suit sitting at a table by himself in the corner of the room. He could have been a poor relation of Carter’s, but fell just short in every department. He was good-looking, but you wouldn’t stop and stare at him. The suit looked expensive, but wasn’t made to measure like Carter’s were. He had an air of confidence or perhaps arrogance about him, though, and might also have been in a similar line of work.

“See that man over there?” I asked John with a subtle nod toward the corner of the room.

“Yeah. Why?”

“I’m going to guess he is only in town for a conference. He looks like he’s from the East Coast, judging by the suit and tie he’s wearing. Probably saw that this place is highly rated on one of those review apps and figured he would pop in. I bet he had quite a shock when he walked into a place like this.”

John smiled. “Yeah, this doesn’t look like it’s that kind of place, does it? But then, I guess we shouldn’t judge by appearances. Carter seems to have gotten the hang of places like this now.”

“I’m not sure I would go that far, but I am trying to get him to broaden his horizons a little bit. I’m not sure whether it’s the food, the people, or both, but he’s getting used to it. Anyway, I’m not giving him much choice in the matter. I love the expensive restaurants he’s taking me to, but I can’t eat at them all the time. I find it kind of exhausting being on such good behavior in public. It’s like you can’t really be yourself, you know?”