Not Dead Yet (6 page)

Mollie smiled at her.  “You know I never had a burning passion to be a lawyer.  I just kind of fell into it, like you did.  But I do like it now that I am doing it.”

“Maybe we should move to Key West and open a bar.  We’ll call it Two Chicks & a Bar.”

“I’m in,” Mollie smiled.

“Well, I have to get back to this stack of work.  You know what they say, ‘So many people to sue, so little time.’” 

After calling the officer about Rose’s phone message, Theia stared out the window, wondering if Rose was still alive.  She kept seeing Donald’s face in her head, then Foster’s face.  Snippets from Rose’s order of protection hearing would flash into her mind, spliced with scenes from Theia’s nightmare.  Donald and Foster danced a waltz of torment on her psyche until she held her head in her hands and tried to force them out of her head.  Wiping a tear, Theia sighed and picked up a file.  She had to overcome this PTSD if she was ever going to have a normal life.  People with normal lives were able to sit at their desks and get work done without crying and without having psychotic images taunting them.  They did not jump when a small child at a courthouse spoke to them.  Theia forced herself to slowly read a document aloud until she was able to turn her attention back to her work.  She was drafting settlement documents in another case when Darcy buzzed her.

“Are you expecting someone named Colleen?”

“No, I don’t have any appointments this morning.  I’m trying to get caught up on work I had planned to do yesterday, before my client asked me to go to court with her.”

“There’s a lady named Colleen here to see you.  She won’t tell me her last name, but she said it is very important that she speak with you.”

“Is she a sales rep?”  Sales reps frequently did cold calls at her office, hawking everything from referral services to insurance to online legal research plans.

“Don’t think so,” Darcy responded.

“Fine, I’ll come out.  Thanks.”

Theia closed the file, stood and tugged at her jacket.  She ran her fingers through her unruly hair then walked out to the reception area.  A distraught woman in her forties stood there, pacing and jangling her keys.  Her skin had suffered years of tanning beds.  The cleavage police would have written her up for a felony, and her jeans looked as though they would weep with relief when she took them off. 

“May I help you?”  she asked the woman. “Mrs. …?”  She paused, waiting for the woman to tell her last name, which she did not.

“Colleen.  My name is Colleen.  You’ve got to help me.  Please.  I don’t know where else to turn.  The cops aren’t going to do anything.  Please help me,” the woman urged.  She was frantic and continued to pace in the reception area, clanging the couple dozen bangles she wore on her  wrists, that mirrored her numerous hoop earrings.

“Ma’am, you will need to fill out an initial intake questionnaire so we can run a conflicts search, to make sure we don’t have a conflict of interest on another client file or case.  And there is a consultation fee that will need to be paid before we begin the consultation,” Theia explained.

“I don’t have any money,” the woman said, twisting the handles of her garish, bright handbag and crying.  “But you’ve just got to help me.  I don’t know where else to go.”

Great.  Yet another person who wanted her to do work for free.  Do these people work for free?  How would they react if someone demanded that they work for free, and for a total stranger? “How did you get my name?”  Theia asked reluctantly.

“You’re my sister’s lawyer.  Rose.  Rose Catalino.  You’ve just got to help.  She’s gone missing.  She tried to call me but I had the damn ringer off.  I think he’s gonna kill her this time.”

“Oh, I thought you were here for your own case.  Yes, I know about your sister.  She left a message on my phone last night.  I called the police and gave them my statement.”  Theia was being guarded, not wanting to divulge any client confidences.

“Those cops aren’t going to do anything,” Colleen snorted.  “Do you know how many times they have been called to that house?  They keep telling her to leave, that they are not a personal bodyguard service.  The last couple times she called them they didn’t even show up.”

“Domestic violence cases are tough,” Theia commented.

“This isn’t just some domestic violence case.  This is my sister.  You have to help her,” Colleen insisted.

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but I don’t know what more I can do.  I have given my statement to the police.   I am worried about Rose, though, so please let me know when you learn something.”

“Yeah, right.  You don’t care.”

“All right, you tell me.  What more can I do?  I don’t know where your sister is.  How am I supposed to help her?”

“I don’t know.  Something.  I don’t know.  I’m not a lawyer.  Can’t you look it up in one of your big books, or call a judge, or something?  Anything?” Colleen pleaded, now less angry and more desperate.

“I’m sorry.  Have you talked to the police?”

“Yeah - fat lot of good that did.  I swear they’re not even looking for her.”

“I wish I could help, but I really don’t know what more to do.“

Colleen turned and headed toward the reception area.  She stopped, turned back around and yelled, “God damn lawyers!  You think you’re better than us working folk.  You’re not one God damn bit better. You can just go to hell.”  She tossed her long, shaggy brown hair that had been highlighted in chunks and streaks of blond, burgundy and white, and stomped out of the office.

Darcy and Theia looked at each other, at a loss for words.  An incoming call rescued them from the awkward moment.

“It’s for you,” Darcy said.  “It’s Lu Capeto.”

“Thank God,” Theia breathed.  “Someone sane.  I’ll take it in the conference room.” She stepped into the conference room, eager to talk with her friend. “You won’t believe the day I have been having,” Theia began.

“Can you tell me about it when I come by?” Lu interrupted.  “I’m already running late for a juvenile hearing but I wanted to see if I can stop by after court.  Will you be in later this morning?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“I’m not comfortable talking about it over the phone.  See you in an hour or two, okay?”

“All right.  Weird, but all right.”

After the odd phone call, the rest of the morning was blissfully quiet.  Theia was able to work on settlement documents without further interruptions.  Theia needed a long time to get back into gear after an interruption, and if there were too many interruptions, it was almost impossible for her to focus.  When it got to that point, she would ride the elevator down the sixteen floors to the street level of her building and then walk up the stairs back to the sixteenth floor.

Theia printed the settlement documents and put them neatly on top of the file on her desk.  She would give them one more review that afternoon.  Just as she was about to pick up the next project, Lu arrived. 

Theia went out to the reception area to greet the short, stout woman.  Lu was a Deputy Juvenile Officer from downtown, or, as they called it locally, “in the city.” 

Short, spiky multi-colored hair poked out of a lightweight hoodie top over a ‘Race for the Cure’ t-shirt, baggy gray gym shorts and flip flops. 

“You went to court like that?”

“No, I changed in the john afterward.  I can’t stand court clothes.”

Lu had been the DJO in a couple of Theia’s cases, including the one in which the guy attacked Theia in court. They had become fast friends.  About six months ago, a co-worker who wanted Lu’s job sabotaged one of Lu’s cases, nearly resulting in a juvenile runaway falling back into the hands of a sexual predator.  Theia represented the child in the case and went to bat for Lu, helping to save her job.

“Hey, Lu!”  Theia welcomed her.  Lu’s name was actually Lucille, but no one dared call her that.  She said she was no Lucille Ball.  “You’re a welcome sight, after the day I’m having.”

“Well crap,” Lu muttered.  “I’m probably not going to make it any better.”

Theia frowned.  “Why not?”

Lu looked around the hallway.  She looked uncomfortable.  This was unusual for Lu, who usually came across as a tough broad.

“Can we talk in your office?” Lu asked, looking down the hall and over her shoulder.

“Sure,” Theia replied. They walked around to Theia’s office, closed the door and sat down.

“I don’t know where to start, so I’ll just jump in.  I got a call from some psycho guy this morning.  Said he got my number off his wife’s phone, that I had been the DJO for one of their kids a few years ago.”

Theia stared at Lu, shaking her head.

“He wouldn’t tell me his name, said you would know who he was,” Lu continued.  “He said to tell you he has her and wants you to come get her.”

“Shit.  What else did he say?” Theia asked.

“That was about it.  He said he’d call me later with instructions.”

“Oh, please!” Theia commented. “This guy has been watching too many cop shows.  Did he say anything else at all, like where she is, if she is still alive, anything?”

“No, just that he would call again with instructions.  What’s going on, Theia?” Lu asked. “Who is she?  I would probably be better off if I didn’t know more details, but the curiosity would kill me.”

“I tried to help a lady who has been a punching bag for years,” Theia explained.  “We were on the adult abuse docket yesterday.  She caved.  The guy was there, and she freaked out.  She wouldn’t tell the judge about any of the abuse, just ran out of the courtroom.  She called my office at three o’clock this morning and left a message.  In the middle of the message he found her and beat the crap out of her until the message timed out.”

“Oh, God.  You had to listen to that?” Lu asked.

“Yeah.  I called 911 and they sent some rude asshole to take my statement,” Theia continued. “He acted as though the whole thing was a big fat waste of time.  I’m sure he’s not going to break a sweat looking for her.  He said they went by the house.  No one was there, but furniture was knocked around, stuff was broken and there was blood on the floor.”

“Blessed Mary, Mother of God.” Lu was very Catholic, despite her irreverent appearance and demeanor.  

“Then her sister came to the office and alternated between cursing me and demanding that I help her sister,” Theia told her.

“Wow.  And I thought my day sucked,” Lu shook her head.

“I guess I’ll have to call the police again,” Thea sighed. “I hope they send out a different officer.”

“No, you can’t!”  Lu shrieked.  “He said if we tell the police he’ll kill her and it will be on our shoulders.”  

“Are you seriously kidding me?  What am I supposed to do?” Theia asked. “I’m not a cop.”

“I don’t know.  Don’t shoot the messenger,” Lu leaned back.  “You think I want to be mixed up with this?”

“Well neither do I!” Theia said with passion. “Why would he want me to come? I’m nobody.”

“I hate to tell you this, but he called you ‘that bitch lawyer’ and said you would pay for helping his wife betray him,” Lu explained.

“But I wasn’t able to help her,” Theia responded, baffled.

“He doesn’t care,” Lu said. “He just wants revenge.”

“What should I do?” Theia asked.  “You know me. I’m no superhero.  I’m afraid of my own shadow half the time.”

“I don’t know.  I guess we’ll figure that out when he calls back.  You never know, you might be a lot stronger than you think,” Lu suggested.

“You must have me mixed up with someone else,” Theia replied. “Why couldn’t your news have been some of that ridiculous celebrity gossip you’re addicted to?  You know they just make that stuff up.”

“Yeah, I know, but what can I say?  It’s my guilty pleasure.  Hey, I can’t read Kafka all the time.”

“And you’re in Mensa.  That’s rich.  Well, I guess I should thank you for delivering the message, even though I hate the message as much as you hate delivering it.”  Theia paused.  “I just don’t understand this, Lu.  My life had finally become sane again.  I have worked hard for five years to have a normal life, and now it is getting crazy again.  I feel as though a black cloud is following me around.  All I want is to go to work, and come home to my cats.  I don’t even go on dates.  I just want a normal, quiet life.  Is that too much to ask?”

“Apparently for you, it is.  Don’t worry.  You’ll figure something out and get through this just fine,” Lu assured her.  “You might have to grow a little self-confidence, but you’ll get through it.  You have been through far worse.”

“Thanks for the pep talk, coach.  I feel so much better,” Theia replied.

“I’ll be in touch.”

“I was afraid of that, but who’s going to rock me to sleep tonight?” Theia asked as she walked Lu out of the office.

CHAPTER FOUR

Mollie walked past Theia’s office door the next morning, then backed up, looked in, and plopped into a chair facing Theia. “What’s wrong?”  Mollie demanded.

“What do you mean?”

“Theia, I’ve known you long enough to know when something is bothering you.  What is it?”

“Nothing.”

Mollie stared her down. 

“Okay, I just had a bad dream the other night,” Theia confessed.  “I’m sure I’ll sleep better tonight.”