Equivocal Death (11 page)

early-evening sleet. It reminded her of something, some ancient 33

memory that she couldn’t quite place. For a moment, she wanted 34 sh

to bury her face in its roughness. Then she took hold of herself.

35 re

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“Thanks. But I’m okay. I mean, I can get a cab myself.”

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Justin gave her a quizzical look. “Of course you can.” But he was 3

already flagging one down. It screeched to a stop by the curb.

4

“Well, thanks,” Kate said. As she leaned forward to give Justin a 5

peck on the cheek, she breathed in a musky scent, aftershave min-6

gled with wool. Justin placed a hand on her shoulder. The familiar 7

smells seemed to pull her toward him. For a moment, she was 8

tempted to relax in his arms, just like in the old days, when he’d 9

lent her a shoulder to cry on. But instead she quickly pulled away.

10

“ ’Night,” she said, stepping into the cab. “That was fun.”

11

Justin pushed the door closed behind her. “See you tomorrow,”

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he said.

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Wednesday, January 6

1

2

A cold bright morning. Carter Mills leaned back in his chair and 3

gazed out at the sparkling city. Everything seemed possible today.

4

As usual, he’d arisen at six-thirty. After half an hour of calisthen-5

ics, he’d showered before retiring to the breakfast room, where 6

Molly, the latest in a string of maids, served him his standard 7

breakfast of raisin bran, coffee, and fresh orange juice. Diane was 8

probably still sleeping. She rarely came downstairs until he’d left 9

for the day. After reading the
Wall Street Journal
and skimming the 10

Times,
he’d gone to his study for an hour. He’d left home promptly 11

at nine in his Mercedes S500, late enough to miss the morning 12

rush hour. The drive from Greenwich to midtown had taken just 13

forty-five minutes.

14

Glancing at the grandfather clock by the door, he saw that it 15

was almost ten-thirty. Still plenty of time to prepare for this after-16

noon’s meeting. Sipping his customary water and lemon, his eyes 17 sh

lingered on the clock’s carved case. How his father would hate to 18 re

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find this heirloom installed at Samson & Mills. Which, of course, 2

was why he’d brought it here. An exorcism of sorts. And yet it 3

hadn’t worked out that way. More than five years later, the clock 4

was still redolent of his childhood in Boston, of those dreaded Sun-5

day meetings in his father’s study. It seemed to stand apart from the 6

rest of the room, taking its measure, judging.

7

Just as his father had.

8

Again, Carter stared out the window. It was a long time since 9

he’d thought about his childhood, those endless weekly talks. He’d 10

been eight or so when the meetings began, small enough that he’d 11

needed to place his feet on a stack of books to keep his legs from 12

swinging. The movement annoyed his father. From his perch on a 13

hard wood chair, he’d listen to his father’s words.
I’m proud of you,
14

son. But remember, each day is a new beginning. Never rest on your
15

laurels.

16

As a child, Carter had feared his father. As an adult, he’d come 17

to scorn him. A complicated scorn, it was true, never entirely free 18

of trepidation. Still, the contempt was there. Who was his father, 19

after all? A historian. A scholar. A collector of Americana. Some-20

one who’d spent his life comfortably wrapped in family wealth, 21

with little to show for his years on earth but a couple of history 22

books. Some years back, Carter had picked up an autobiography of 23

Clarence Darrow. Flipping through the opening pages, a single 24

phrase had caught his eye. “For my part, I seldom think about my 25

ancestors; but I had them; plenty of them, of course. In fact, I could 26

fill this book with their names if I knew them all, and deemed it of 27

the least worth.”

28

And deemed it of the least worth.

29

The words had stayed in his mind. He’d been enchanted by the 30

tossed-off line, a cavalier dismissal of everything his father lived 31

for.

32

It was now more than five years since James Mills’s death. How 33

he’d struggled to come up with a eulogy, a fitting farewell to this ort 34

trivial man. It had been an arduous task. He’d been hard-pressed to reg 35

fill the time. After all, his father had prided himself on never 9858_01_003-152_r5hb.qxd 9/28/00 3:57 PM Page 61

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standing out, on never being the first. He liked to tell his children 1

how their forebears hadn’t rushed to this country on the 2

Mayflower.
Instead, they’d waited for reports to filter back. When 3

they finally set sail some ten years later, the risks and rewards had 4

been carefully weighed.

5

And even then, listening to the story from his father’s lips, 6

Carter Mills had thought to himself,
What a fool.

7

He’d always known that it was better to be first.

8

And where better to be first than Manhattan? Even as a child, 9

he’d been drawn to the city. To the noise, the competition, the 10

scent of money. His own inheritance, while useful in its way, had 11

nothing to do with his plans. He saw it as a simple convenience.

12

Like being dealt a good hand at cards.

13

It was during his second year at Harvard Law that Carter had made 14

the break, informing his father that he’d spend the summer at the 15

law firm founded by Grandpa Si, as Silas Mills was known. James 16

Mills had been nonplussed. He’d fled that world without looking 17

back. The decision, Carter thought, had been a master stroke, 18

playing off his father’s reverence for family against his hatred for 19

New York City. In the end, he’d given his blessing, as Carter had 20

known that he would. For all his seeming reverence for tradition, 21

James Mills was as mesmerized by money as the rest of them. The 22

hypocrisy was astounding. Yet another reason to hate his father.

23

But all that was in the distant past. It was time to get down to 24

work. Turning away from the window, Carter picked up a Mont 25

Blanc pen.

26

First on the agenda was Bill McCarty. Carter paused for a mo-27

ment, recalling McCarty’s accusations during that astonishing en-28

counter on Monday. McCarty, the dogged workhorse, always docile, 29

always compliant. Who would have thought he had it in him? But 30

the reflection was only fleeting. After all, McCarty didn’t really in-31

terest him. The only thing that mattered was the source of his 32

information.

33

Carter sat still for several moments, waiting for the answer to 34 sh

come clear. As he knew that it ultimately would. His mind was re-35 re

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liable that way, moving with the same smooth precision as his car.

2

It was a sensitive issue, with no room for error. After considering 3

several options, he finally settled on a plan. He’d start by con-4

fronting Martin Drescher. One-on-one and as soon as possible. A 5

first step toward setting things straight. His mind made up, Mills 6

jotted a note and moved on.

7

Next on the list: this afternoon’s meeting with Holden and 8

Thorpe. A much more enticing prospect. Already, he could feel 9

the adrenaline high, the intimation of a battle to come. He loved 10

that feeling, the sense of impending conflict. A conflict he was des-11

tined to win. Not simply because he was right — a relative term, 12

after all — but because he was the best player. Litigation was a 13

sport. And he was one of its champions.

14

Yes, everything was shaping up beautifully. He’d been worried 15

about Madeleine, annoyed that Chuck Thorpe had insisted on her 16

involvement. But he’d taken care of that now. So why this subtle 17

pressure, something pushing at the back of his mind? It was so faint 18

that he might have ignored it. But that would have been a mistake.

19

His instincts were one of the reasons for his success. Over the 20

years, he’d learned to listen.

21

So what was it? What issue was demanding attention? The ques-22

tion tossed in his mind. And then the answer emerged.

23

Kate Paine.

24

Madeleine’s scornful words seemed to echo in his mind.

25

That associate. Kate. Kate Paine. You hired her, didn’t you?

26

Are you wondering how I knew? Just look at her.

27

Mills frowned. He could still see Madeleine’s face, that damned 28

smile pasted on her mouth. He had no idea what she’d meant. Not 29

that he’d let on at the time.

30

But now he wanted to know. He tried to picture Kate Paine. Dark 31

hair. Fashionable attire. Pretty. But the image wouldn’t come clear.

32

Just look at her.

33

What had Madeleine seen when she looked at the younger ort 34

woman? Mills tapped his pen on the desk, his exasperation rapidly reg 35

building. He didn’t have a clue. Well, to hell with Madeleine.

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What could it really matter? Besides, whatever she’d been think-1

ing, she was wrong. He’d requested Kate Paine for this case for the 2

obvious reasons. Because it involved claims of sexual harassment.

3

And, quite simply, he’d needed a woman. Prospective female wit-4

nesses needed to see a woman on the team. A tacit reassurance 5

that they were not alone, that they were not betraying their sisters.

6

And the selection of Kate Paine herself, why that, too, was easy 7

to explain. He’d interviewed her on campus at Harvard, been 8

struck by her energy and drive. It was only natural that he’d cho-9

sen to work with her. It all made perfect sense.

10

It all made perfect sense.

11

So what had Madeleine been getting at?

12

w

13

Chuck Thorpe slammed his hand against the conference table.

14

“Goddamn it,” he said. “What the hell’s going on? Don’t we pay 15

this law firm enough that she can at least manage to show up? First 16

she stands me up for dinner, and now she can’t even make it to a 17

business meeting.”

18

“Now, Chuck.” Jed Holden placed a restraining hand on the 19

younger man’s arm. “I’m sure there’s some good reason.” He looked 20

questioningly at Carter Mills.

21

“Let’s give her five more minutes,” Mills said calmly. His gray-22

blue eyes moved from Holden to Thorpe and back again. “This 23

isn’t like Madeleine at all. There must be some good explanation.”

24

Kate looked at her watch. It was twenty minutes after one, and 25

repeated calls to Madeleine’s office had failed to elicit a response.

26

Kate herself had placed a call ten minutes ago to be sure there 27

wasn’t a mix-up. Madeleine’s secretary had assured her that the 28

meeting was on her boss’s schedule. “We talked about it right be-29

fore she left for dinner last night,” Carmen Rodriguez said.

30

An undercurrent of tension filled the room. Lowering her gaze 31

to the yellow legal pad in front of her, Kate pretended to flip 32

through notes as she furtively studied the scene. They were six al-33

together. She and Peyton were seated on Carter Mills’s left. With 34 sh

his finely tuned sense of protocol, Peyton had left vacant the seat 35 re

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immediately next to Mills, allowing for the Samson team to be 2

seated in descending order of seniority. As senior associate on the 3

case, he’d be seated next to Madeline, assuming she ever arrived, 4

with Kate bringing up the tail.

5

Across the table was the WideWorld contingent. The all-6

powerful Jed Holden, WideWorld’s CEO, sat directly to Mills’s 7

right. On Holden’s right was Chuck Thorpe, a thick fireplug of a 8

man with powerfully developed upper arms. Completing the party 9

was Richard Epstein, a thin, dark figure who was WideWorld’s top 10

in-house lawyer.

11

Kate had been stunned by her first sight of Jed Holden. For all 12