The Grass is Greener (11 page)

That night, they were having grilled salmon seasoned with lemon pepper and thyme, served with a garlic mash and steamed vegetables. Horace had brought out sauvignon blanc from his personal cellar downstairs, because the Franklins had wine with dinner every night.

As the delectable meal melted in her mouth, Bronwyn couldn't help but notice how quiet everyone was. The clinking
and scraping of cutlery was the loudest sound at the table. There was none of the laughter or raucous debating she had experienced in the past. Perhaps it was because both Claudia and Jack weren't there, two siblings who were more alike than they knew, especially when it came to pride. Or perhaps because the trouble that had been festering in the Franklin family for years was now running too deep to talk about anymore. She had her job cut out for her, that was for sure.

If she hadn't been thinking about it so closely she might have enjoyed her meal more. And she also might have remembered to call her mother before she went to bed that night.

A law firm wasn't exactly the safest place for an identity fraudster like her. Swimming with corporate piranhas, she knew there was more than a few who would like to take a little bite out of her … if only they knew how.

On her first day she recognised a couple of faces from law school. Unlike Claudia, they hadn't taken two years out of their career to work in their parents' vineyard. Instead, they had been building solid reputations at Hanks and Eddings, hoping for a promotion like the one that had been handed to her on a silver platter. Claudia cringed inwardly when she discovered that working exclusively for Sebastian Rowlands was the position most coveted by the young bloods of the firm. They were not happy to see what they considered their opportunity handed over to someone new and, in their opinion, less deserving.

If Cyril was number one at the firm, then Sebastian was most certainly number two. He brought in the most clients, handled the most cases and was the source of the most work in the office. It didn't take Claudia more than a day or two to discover that sucking up to Sebastian Rowlands was a matter
of course. The lawyers did it, the secretaries did it, even the mail clerk went above and beyond to look good to the man. It was no wonder he was so full of himself. He had people falling arse over tit to please him. There were more than a few looks of jealousy that followed her in when she took her seat beside Nelson Rubin, Sebastian's other protégé.

Luckily, Nelson seemed genuinely pleased to see her.

‘You'll take the pressure off me,' he confessed. ‘I don't think I've been working fast enough for Seb. I can feel his frustration through the glass walls sometimes.'

There was certainly
something
coming through those glass walls. It was strange to be able to fully observe Sebastian in his fish tank of an office without being able to converse or communicate with him. That first morning, when she arrived, he didn't even come out to greet her, just kept fielding calls. His jacket was off, hanging on a hook by the door. His white shirt moulded around his broad shoulders when he reached for the phone and outlined his generous bicep. It looked like Sebastian's strength was physical as well as corporate. Blinking fast and turning away to halt this unsettling train of thought, she refocused on Nelson.

‘So what do I do?' she whispered. ‘Do I knock on his office door and ask for work?'

Nelson looked horrified. ‘You never interrupt Sebastian unless invited to do so. I reckon, if you want to know what's going on, ask Juliet. The secretaries know everything around here.'

It was a universal truth of most law firms that if the partners ran the show, it was the administrative staff who held the balance of power. A secretary was a lawyer's right hand. He or she handled all his files, knew all his secrets and was closer to him than a spouse … if he had one. Most lawyers were divorced or in the process of becoming so.

Claudia sighed. That was one aspect of this career she wasn't planning on adopting, but it didn't mean she didn't get the rules. Juliet Nesbit sat on the other side of Nelson. She'd had a set of
earphones on while they were talking and was busy typing a document. Claudia tentatively approached her desk.

Juliet's eyes remained on her screen, but she held up a finger to Claudia while she inserted a full stop and then a comma into the text, before pulling off her earphones and addressing her. ‘You must be Claudia.'

Claudia held out her hand cheerfully. ‘Yes, very nice to meet you.'

‘Likewise.' Then Juliet cut to the chase. ‘Seb wants you to look at these.'

She drew three huge black foolscap files from under her desk and placed them on top with a loud thwack. Claudia took a breath.

Day One. Three cases.

‘Wow,' her eyes widened. ‘That's a lot of work.'

‘What were you expecting?' Juliet's eyes narrowed.

Rule number one when it came to this profession was that work was your friend.

Your best friend.

A good caseload meant good billables, good billables meant a healthy timesheet, and for a lawyer who wanted a positive career trajectory, the numbers were
all
that mattered. She hadn't thought Sebastian would be this kind to her, though she wasn't going to tell his secretary that.

‘Okay.' Juliet leaned heavily on the files. ‘Let me give you some idea. You work for Sebastian Rowlands. That means long hours, no weekends, no boyfriend, no social life to speak of except for the occasional takeaway dinner in a meeting room with myself or Nelson or the man himself,
if
he deigns you smart enough to keep up with him. You live work, you breathe work. At no point in the day do you not think like a lawyer because that's the point you will get screwed. And if you get screwed the firm gets screwed and we all suffer. Get it?'

‘Absolutely.' Claudia stood straighter, unable to keep the grin from her face. She was definitely not complaining. This
was why she was here, to submerge herself in the profession she loved, like it was a nice hot bubble bath. ‘Thanks.'

Juliet Nesbit sniffed as though she were hoping for a little more snivelling and Claudia quickly scraped the files off her desk, turned tail and made her way back to her desk.

She worked solidly for the next couple of hours before lunch. Then when the other lawyers left their desks to buy sandwiches, she rang Casuarina Prison. Bronwyn had, after all, charged her with the task of dropping in on Peter Goldman. She had better see what she could do. When she tried to make an appointment to see him, however, she got a rather disturbing piece of news from one of the prison officers.

‘Peter Goldman went into hospital this morning with a couple of broken ribs after being attacked at breakfast by one of his fellow inmates.'

Claudia did not like the sound of this at all. She sat up straighter. ‘Was the attack provoked?'

‘We are still investigating but from what we know of Bruce Carle, the attacker, he's a loose cannon. He picks fights like this all the time. He said he didn't like the way Peter looked at him.'

‘Right,' Claudia swallowed. ‘Thank you for your time.'

She put the phone down, chewing hard on her bottom lip.
What now?

Her fingers brushed over her keyboard and she brought up Google. Fifteen minutes and several old news articles later, she had a much clearer picture of who Bruce Carle was. The man was in prison for murder, though it wasn't the only death he was suspected of causing. Bruce Carle was a minion of Leon McCall, an organised crime boss who had fingers in all sorts of illegal pies. Drugs, prostitutes, smuggling. Claudia knew his name as soon as she read it. His face was always being splashed over the media. He was one of those celebrity criminals who shamelessly flaunted his ill-gotten gains with extravagant and eccentric spending. Leon McCall had interests
in precious gems, luxury cars and women half his age. He'd been married at least five times. She'd heard the latest spouse was an ex-swimsuit model eager to make a name for herself on the charity scene.

As for Leon's illegal activities, the police hadn't been able to nail him because he hid behind his legitimate businesses, letting his followers, such as Bruce Carle, dirty their hands instead.

Any connection to Leon was not good news.

She looked up the court documents that detailed Peter's trial and sentencing, which were now part of public record. His crime was fraud. Setting himself up as a land developer, he'd siphoned money from his clients' investments. There didn't really seem to be any connection between him and Leon McCall … yet.

She sent Bronwyn a brief text message which read, ‘Is there any way Peter Goldman could be connected to Leon McCall?'

A second later her phone rang. It was Bronwyn, so she quickly picked it up. ‘Leon McCall!' her best friend cried. ‘Are you trying to freak me out?'

‘Sorry. There's just been a bit of a development here.' She quickly outlined for Bronwyn what had happened.

‘Oh.'

‘So you see, it's just one path of investigation I have to rule out. Please tell me I can.'

‘I … I
think
you can,' Bronwyn said slowly, as though she were ticking off boxes in her head. Just as Claudia was starting to breathe a sigh of relief, Bronwyn corrected herself. ‘Wait! He's a gambler.'

‘A what?'

‘Peter is a high-stakes gambler. He used his fraudulent earnings to fund his habit. Loved the casino, was there all the time when he wasn't ripping people off. It's no wonder his wife hates him.'

Great.

Leon McCall was notorious for this vice as well. His wins and losses at the Crown were legendary.

‘Do you think they ever played each other?' Claudia asked.

‘I have no idea.'

‘It still makes no sense. If Peter owes Leon money, then what does that have to do with Elsa?'

‘Well, we're just guessing here,' Bronwyn suggested. ‘Maybe we're guessing wrong. Maybe it has nothing to do with Elsa. Maybe it's all just a big coincidence. After all, didn't the prison officer say that Bruce Carle had a quick temper and was notorious for causing trouble just because?'

‘Yes.'

‘Then?'

‘Then I hope you're right, but the only way to know for sure is to question Peter myself. I'm going to have to go to that hospital and ask him.'

Bronwyn sighed. ‘I'm sorry I'm putting you through all this, Claud, especially on your first week at work. Maybe you should just leave it alone.'

‘Why on earth would I do that?'

‘Well, I'm perfectly safe here. Nobody knows where I am, except for you. I haven't been to Oak Hills in a couple of years so it shouldn't fall under immediate suspicion,
especially
with those people who don't even know me.'

Claudia snorted. ‘I'd rather be safe than sorry. Don't give it another thought, I'm doing this. So you better let me get back to calling Casuarina Prison. I'll have to see if I can schedule that appointment with their inmate, after all.'

They said their goodbyes and rang off.

‘Hitting the ground running, I see?' Nelson smiled as he returned to his desk, a ham and salad roll in one hand, a juice bottle in the other. ‘Already working through lunch.'

‘Er … yeah.' She clicked the article about Leon McCall she'd been reading off her computer screen, hoping he hadn't
heard her mention Casuarina to Bronwyn either. As she drew a large black file to the front of her desk, he bent his head to read the spine.

‘The Cornwall case. That's a good one.'

‘Yes it is,' she agreed, glad to have diverted his attention.

‘So where did you work before this?' Nelson asked as he sat down. ‘I haven't seen you around town before.' He flushed. ‘I mean, at court that is.'

She knew he was referring to the day they'd first met at Seashells under very different circumstances.

Nelson winced. ‘I should, er … probably apologise for my behaviour that day. Seb and I … we were out of line.'

He's apologising!

Claudia couldn't help but see the irony in this when his boss, the main culprit, had offered her no such courtesy at all.

‘That's all right. I know
you
didn't mean to insult me.'

Nelson paused, eyeing her uncertainly. ‘I know you were furious at Seb and probably still are but I'm sure he feels bad about his mistake.'

Claudia choked.

‘He's not really that mean a guy,' Nelson rushed on. ‘He's been really kind to me and …' He trailed off, reddening again, which piqued Claudia's interest.

‘And what?' she prompted gently.

‘It's just that,' Nelson shrugged rather self-consciously, ‘I'm not quite sure why he picked me.'

If Claudia was brutally honest with herself, she wasn't sure why Sebastian had picked Nelson either. Of all the junior lawyers she had met so far at Hanks and Eddings, Nelson was actually nice, which was an attribute that didn't work strongly in his favour. He'd been friendly, charming and extremely helpful since she'd arrived, if a little anxious. Until now, she had thought that Nelson had been allocated to Sebastian perhaps by Cyril, to lift the young man's self-esteem. She had heard Nelson speaking several times on the phone and winced. He stammered hopelessly through his instructions with clients.
He apologised far too often to people he was suing and he seemed to be driven by nerves all the time. She'd even seen him jump a couple of times when the email alert sounded on his computer.

It was very odd that Sebastian had chosen Nelson to mentor. The knowledge did kind of mess with the two-dimensional image of him she had in her head.

‘I mean,' Nelson wrung his hands self-consciously, ‘you should meet some of the other lawyers on this floor.'

Claudia already had.

There was one girl called Anna Mavis who fancied herself the alpha of the group and had already tried to make sure that Claudia was aware of her place in the pecking order.

After introducing herself, Anna pointed out how lucky she was that
her
desk was facing a window. It wasn't a particularly good view, Anna could only see into the building next door. However, by contrast, Claudia's desk faced a wall. A wall on which hung a fire extinguisher and the safety warden's helmet. There was no comparison.

Like Nelson, Anna too tried to dig deeper into Claudia's past, though with more sinister intent. Claudia told her exactly what she had told Nelson. She named the firm she had worked for as a graduate and then said she'd taken a couple of years off to spend time with her family.

All of which was perfectly true.

There was no need to go into details and, given Cyril's mistake, she hoped to steer clear of that topic as much as possible. As for the interview mix-up, Sebastian had so far made good on his word. There was no hint of her deception floating around the office. And she was finally starting to feel safe that it would never come out.