Reasonable Doubt (3 page)

April thrust a bottle of red into her arms. “It’s bold enough to stand up to a lot of spice. I assumed you’d make a spicy chili.”

Ellery did her best not to cringe at the poorly delivered innuendo. She took April’s coat and hung it in the closet. “Are you hungry?”

“Starved.”

“Then follow me.” Ellery led the way into the kitchen and motioned for April to have a seat while she gave the chili a final stir. Satisfied it was ready, she opened the bottle of wine and poured a single glass. When April raised her eyebrows in question, she raised her own bottle of stout in a toast. “Cheers to whatever suits you.” She clinked the bottle against April’s glass and took a deep drink.

“You do casual well,” April said.

Ellery looked down at her worn jeans and rag wool sweater, a far cry from the sharply tailored suits she used to wear. April’s attire wasn’t much different from what she’d seen her in before. Her version of casual was high fashion—skinny black pants tucked into tall suede boots and a crimson sweater designed to hug every curve.

Ignoring the sexual undertone, Ellery handed April a bowl and pointed her in the direction of the large pot of chili. The family recipe was designed to feed a mob, and she’d made enough for a dozen dates, figuring she’d freeze whatever they didn’t eat. As April dished chili into her bowl, Ellery pointed out a line of small serving dishes. “Cheese, sour cream, cilantro, jalapeños. Have some or all.”

April held the bowl to her nose. “This smells divine. You never said you could cook. Your list of talents seems to be never-ending.”

“Hardly. I’ve always liked to cook, but I haven’t had time until recently.”

April ate a spoonful and groaned. “Cooking is all you should do. Seriously, this is amazing.”

“I’m glad you like it.” Ellery smiled at April’s unabashed enthusiasm. She hadn’t really picked April as the chili type. Ellery had been selling her furniture from a pop-up shop when her friend and former colleague, Meg, stopped by with April in tow. They’d been checking out a fresh juice vendor a few booths down. April, looking like she’d stepped from the pages of a fashion magazine, seemed completely out of place at the outdoor market, but that night Meg called to say that April had asked for her number and she figured what the hell. They’d been on two dates, both of them the kind of dates she’d used to have—high end, high energy, and high profile. Sushi, steaks, champagne, and clubbing. Tonight was designed to see if April would fit into her new life where things were much more low-key. So far, she measured up.

They sat at a low table by the roaring fire and devoured the chili. April, a cardiologist with a thriving Dallas practice, was keyed up, and she dominated the conversation with stories about her hectic week. Ellery leaned back into the large cushions she’d propped up around the table, letting the heat of the fire and the flood of words flow around her. It wasn’t that April’s tales weren’t interesting, but she feared if she listened too closely, she’d get swept back into the frantic style of life she used to lead as a high profile criminal defense attorney. Too much OPD, other people’s drama, had consumed her every waking moment. For years, she thought she thrived on the constant frenetic energy of her busy practice, but over the course of the past year, the pace had culminated into a series of incidents that convinced her to make a break or lose her sanity.

Her former law partner, Meg, hadn’t believed her when she said she was walking away, even went so far as to have a new firm logo designed with both of their names and ordered a boatload of new stationary. But Ellery had ignored Meg’s attempts to get her to stay on, paid the cost of the new stationary, and taken the necessary steps to dissolve the partnership. So far, she hadn’t regretted the move for a second.

“And that’s when I told her no way would I sign off on that kind of procedure,” April said.

Ellery looked up, oblivious to the subject of April’s diatribe, but certain she was supposed to offer some affirmation. Luckily, the phone rang. April looked toward her cell phone, but Ellery pointed toward the kitchen.

“It’s the house phone,” Ellery said.

“Go on and get it. I can check in with my service.”

Ellery picked up the extension and looked at the caller ID. She didn’t recognize the number, but very few people had her home number so she answered the call. “Hello?”

“It’s Meg. You throw your cell phone away with the rest of your life?”

Ellery laughed at the gruff sound of her former law partner’s voice. “No, I’m just not tethered to it anymore. You should give it a try. Might stop you from having to pop antacids like they’re candy.”

“What, and give up all this glory? Not a chance.”

“Suit yourself. I’m on a date, so make it quick.”

“A date? At your house? Wow, you have changed. How will you get her to leave when you’re ready for the date to end?”

Ellery glanced down the hall toward the living room. She hadn’t actually thought that part through. Part of her new life was playing things by ear, but she wasn’t about to discuss dating strategy with Meg while April was sitting in the next room. “Did you actually want something or do you just miss me?”

“Both. I need you to handle a tiny little thing for me in the morning.”

Alarm bells went off and Ellery dug in. “If you need me to make you a piece of furniture, I’m in. Anything else, no way.”

“I wouldn’t ask, but it’s Amir. I’m set for trial on another case in Denton, and he won’t show up with anyone else. He trusts you.”

“That’s nice, but like everyone else, he’ll have to learn to let go.”

“It’s not his fault you deserted all of us. It’s for his son Naveed’s case. Come on, just this once.”

Ellery sighed. Amir Khan wasn’t necessarily a difficult client, but he did expect personal attention to all of his business matters and his expectations could be trying. His son had picked up a case around the time that she’d first decided to quit the practice. Although he’d wanted her to represent him, she had introduced him to Meg and made it clear from the start that she would take over when she was gone. “What do you need me to do?”

“Nothing major. It’s just an appearance. Hold his hand, see if the prosecutor has a rec, sign a pass slip, get a new court date, and you’re on your way. An hour tops. I’ll even pay you.”

“Don’t. I’d rather you owe me one.”

“So, you’ll do it?”

“This is it, Meg. Nothing else. Are you sure you want to blow the only work favor you’re going to get from me on something this simple?”

“I promise I won’t bug you again unless it’s for lunch or drinks.”

“Fine. I’ll meet him at the courthouse, but I’ll have to come by the office and get the file, so let him know it will be around ten before I make it down there.”

Ellery hung up and instantly started sorting through details. All her suits were clean since she hadn’t worn one in months, but she’d probably have to iron a shirt. Taking into account the fact she had to run by the office before going to court, she’d have to get up early. So much for having another beer.

“Everything okay?”

She looked up to see April standing in the doorway. “Just an unexpected change to my plans for tomorrow.”

“Me too. Actually, mine has to do with tonight. I need to run by the hospital. I shouldn’t be too long though if you’re going to be up late.”

“Sorry, looks like I have an early morning in store. Guess we should call it a night.”

April’s smile held a tinge of regret. “I had a good time. And don’t worry, I completely understand about wacky schedules. This happens to me all the time.”

Ellery managed a smile in return, but she wasn’t feeling it. Interrupted dinners and late night phone calls used to happen to her all the time too, but she’d sworn off those things in exchange for a quiet life. She made a silent vow that she wouldn’t let Meg talk her into any more favors. This would be the very last one. Former clients would stay former clients. The serenity of her new life was worth protecting.

So far, Sarah’s first day at the Dallas FBI field office had been duller than dull. From the moment she arrived, the rest of the fraud unit eyed her as if she were an alien creature. She’d shown up in a suit, ready to make new friends, and engage in the kind of work that didn’t involve gory crime scene photos and bullets whizzing past her head. Everyone else in the unit wore what was likely some version of business casual and, without exception, seemed unreasonably territorial about the incredibly boring work assigned to them. After a morning meeting with the field office director’s secretary to get security issues squared away, the director, Robert Mason, introduced her around, and then showed her to a desk loaded with boxes full of paper and computer hard drives.

“You’ll want to get started on these. Liz will be happy to fill you in.” He waved to a woman seated in a cubicle across the way and left Sarah on her own. The expression on Liz’s face told Sarah right away that the boss was exaggerating Liz’s happiness about anything. She sighed. These people didn’t know her, and it was probably going to be a lot harder to develop relationships with them since this assignment was more of a nine-to-five than an always on call job, but she was determined to make it work. She plastered a big smile on her face, walked over to Liz’s desk, and stuck out her hand. “Sarah Flores, nice to meet you.”

“Special Agent Elizabeth Dawson.”

Dawson delivered the title with just a hint of tone and the firmness of her handshake was punishing.
Great, someone’s got a bit of an insecurity issue.
Sarah kept smiling to hide the whir of personality processing going on in her head. Someday maybe she’d learn to shut down the constant need to analyze everyone around her, but it was more than a habit, it had been her life. “Mason says you’re in charge of this project.” She motioned to the stack of boxes on her desk. “What would you like me to do?”

“Mason’s in charge, not me, but I suppose you can do what the rest of us are doing. The hard drives contain various bank records we obtained in conjunction with an investigation into several tax and investment fraud schemes. We’re looking for unusual activity. There’s an evidence log with the boxes you can use to organize your searches. You find something, you let us know, and we’ll compare it to records the rest of the team is reviewing.”

A dozen questions popped into Sarah’s mind, but Liz’s face was an impenetrable wall. Sarah decided to start digging into the records and, if the answers weren’t readily apparent, when things got a little more comfortable with the rest of the team, she’d pose her questions then.

A couple of hours later, she had pages of notes, none of which amounted to much without some context. In between reviewing the records, she’d watched the group around her operate in an attempt to learn what she could about the existing dynamics. At least three other agents were working on this project with Liz, but no one stuck out as being on equal footing with her. Sarah saw them all converse and managed to catch snippets of what they had to say. Apparently, what they were working on had to do with the recent government crack-down on entities applying for non-profit status and the records review was supposed to root out those entities that didn’t truly qualify for the tax privileges they’d received as a result of their status. Would have helped to know that from the start. She was going to have to figure out a way to uncover information on her own until the rest of the group started accepting her.

Around eleven, a low rumble from her stomach told her the coffee she’d had for breakfast was no longer doing its trick. She remembered the lunchroom that Mason had rushed her past earlier. Not likely any of these not-so-friendly types was going to ask her to lunch and she wasn’t in the mood to stick around here anyway. She reached for her phone and dialed a familiar number. When the voice on the other end answered, she said, “Tell me you have time to meet me for lunch.”

“Flores! Is that you? Are you here in town for real?”

Sarah warmed to the welcome in Danny’s voice. “Got here last week. Tried to reach you, but your office said you were out of town.”

“Rare vacation, but I’m back now. I can make lunch work if we can do it around here. Vacation means I’m kind of behind on work.”

“Great. I’ll come get you.”

Sarah grabbed the keys to her car and checked out with the receptionist. She didn’t bother saying anything to any of the other agents, figuring they probably wouldn’t notice she was leaving and she didn’t want to make them feel like they should’ve included her in their plans. Maybe it was time for her to expand her horizons and make friends outside of the job.

Danny Soto was a Dallas County prosecutor she’d met while working a serial killer case in the area last year and they’d become friends during the course of the investigation. Okay, so her friendship with Danny wasn’t exactly expanding her horizons, but at least they didn’t work in the same office. And Danny’s wife, Ellen Davenport, was the executive director for a national sorority office—not the least bit involved in crime, so that was something. As she sped to the courthouse, she vowed she would find something to do this very weekend that didn’t involve work of any kind.

*

Ellery looked in the rearview mirror before carefully backing her truck into the tiny space in the parking garage of the Dallas County Courthouse. Once the truck was parked, she took a second look in the mirror, unaccustomed to the reflection staring back at her. For the past six months, she’d spent most mornings roaming abandoned buildings, junkyards, and flea markets or working in her studio. Except for a few dates, none of her activities required combed hair or a business suit. Today, instead of her usual Levi’s and T-shirts, she sported a light-weight black wool suit and a crisp pale blue shirt, both of which she’d had custom made while traveling in London a couple of years ago. Once upon a time she’d reveled in the feel of the expensive fabric and the well-tailored fit, but now the clothes were suffocating. Or maybe it was this place that was suffocating. Determined to get this errand over as quickly as possible, she grabbed her handmade leather briefcase and walked to the side entrance of the courthouse.