A Park Avenue lifestyle. With money. Security and total luxury. Alexandra Avellino had absolutely no motive to kill her father. He had given her a dream life. Set her on that path. She was the last person on earth who would harm her father.
Six o’clock came and went. Nobody left the office. This law firm existed on billable hours. If you weren’t billing your share, your ass hit the street fast. Kate started punching in at six a.m., and usually punched out at nine. Four hours on a Saturday morning too. On Sunday she crashed.
It was past seven o’clock when the first associate left for the evening. Kate watched him go, and leaned back in her chair, thrusting her arms to the ceiling and stretching her back. That’s when she heard Levy’s office door open and hurried footsteps on the floor behind her. Scott came out of Levy’s office. A spring in his step and a wide smile on his photogenic face. He got into the elevator and was gone.
Kate returned to the screen in front of her and read through her last sentence, careful to check for any typos. That’s when she heard Levy’s door again. He rarely left his office, usually only to go to meetings, or to go home. He had a private bathroom in there and a small army of secretarial staff to bring him lunch, dinner and endless glasses of chilled almond milk. She turned her head to see Levy coming toward her, hauling his pants up as he walked. He stopped behind her chair, and she resisted the urge to shudder as she felt his hand on her shoulder.
‘Any response from the DA’s office on my counter-offer?’ asked Levy.
‘No, not yet,’ said Kate.
‘Okay. Look, Katie, why don’t you finish this up in the morning?’ he said.
She felt his index finger slid across her collar bone, and not wanting to scream or turn and punch him in the balls, Kate simply swiveled her chair around to face him – forcing him to take his hand away.
‘I can’t, I need to write up my notes for tomorrow’s strategy presentation. I should be finished soon,’ said Kate.
‘But you’ve got to eat. You should take a break. I know a great little Italian restaurant right around the corner from my apartment. And the best thing is it delivers. We could go back to my place, order in, open a bottle of wine and you can tell me all about your case theory.’
For a second – a full second – the thought of going back to Levy’s apartment with him flashed through Kate’s mind. She wanted second chair. She wanted it bad. But the moment passed, somehow leaving an unpleasant taste in her mouth which sure wasn’t there before.
‘I’m a little behind on my notes. Some more legal research to do before I can finish. Sorry, I just really want to finish this and make a good impression tomorrow. I have a strategy that’s kind of unusual, but it could really pay off for Alexandra. I really think I deserve a shot at second chair in the trial.’
Levy stepped back, set his lips into an ‘O’ then cringed as he said, ‘I just gave second chair to Scott. Sorry, I can’t go back on that. I’m sure your strategy is bold, but it couldn’t beat Scott’s theory. It’s kind of genius in a way. Ruthless, which I like, but really thinking out of the box. At first I couldn’t believe what he was saying, but he convinced me. We’re not going to apply to the court to sever the trials. It’s going to be a joint trial. We’ll put Alexandra against Sofia, and Alexandra will beat her weird sister hands down. How did Scott put it? Putting on our Nike’s when we see a tiger in the jungle. We won’t beat the tiger in those shoes, but as long as we outrun the other guy we’re home free. Funny, don’t you think?’
Kate’s heartbeat quickened – she could feel the pulse beating its way through a large vein that stretched across her chest.
‘When did Scott tell you this?’
‘Just now. It’s brilliant. I didn’t see any point in delaying the decision. Scott’s got second chair. If we play along with the prosecution and get a joint trial I can pressure Dreyer into a deal for Alexandra. She’ll accept a felony misdemeanor, no time. So look, you don’t need to have this work done for the morning. Come and have some dinner with me. My apartment is really something, you know? It’s spacious but at the same time it’s … intimate.’
Bile filled Kate’s mouth. She felt dizzy, and turned away from Levy so she could hold onto the desk. She needed to hold onto something right then or she knew she would be sick all over the floor.
If she told Levy this was her idea all along the chances were he wouldn’t believe her. Even with the notes she had made – Scott could say that he brought it up in the meeting and his bimbo buddies would back him up one hundred percent. From somewhere that felt far away, Kate was aware of Levy saying, ‘Well, if you change your mind later you’re welcome to drop by. I just got a jacuzzi tub installed. It’s big enough for two. We could chill out with some champagne, discuss your case theory. You never know, I might need a third chair in this trial.’
She put her head in her hands.
A montage of possible actions flickered through her mind. None of them involved going back to Levy’s apartment.
‘No, thank you,’ said Kate.
Levy backed away, perhaps conscious that he was pushing the envelope now.
Kate wanted to push her laptop up Levy’s ass.
Instead, she flicked her finger across the face of the mouse, brought her screen back to life and checked her emails. She had received Brad, Chad and Anderson’s notes for commentary. She printed them, and another two documents. These she collected from the copier, grabbed her coat and pushed the button for the elevators. While she stood there, she had second thoughts. What she was thinking of doing was dangerous, outrageous. It could kill her career stone dead.
The elevator doors opened and Kate got in on her own. The floor below was where Human Resources was based. She thought about hitting that button, going to the personnel supervisor and making a complaint of sexual harassment, and discrimination. The doors began to close.
She reminded herself she was Kate Brooks.
Kate hit the button for the ground floor. She’d had enough. It was time to take the nuclear option. No complaints against Levy would ever stand scrutiny. It’s nigh on impossible to prove a person has done something wrong when you work in an office with that same person’s name on the letterhead.
There would be no sexual harassment claims.
What she had in mind was far more damaging.
THIRTEEN
EDDIE
I waited at my office until five-thirty, then called Sofia. She was a half-hour late for our meeting, and I wanted to make sure she was coming.
She picked up my call this time.
‘Oh God, I’m so sorry. I must’ve fallen asleep. Can I come over now?’
I checked my watch. I needed to leave in half an hour for Harry’s party, and there was no way out of that.
‘Is tomorrow morning okay?’ I asked.
‘Sure, thank you. And again, I’m so sorry.’
‘No problem. Look, I could come over to your place tomo—’
‘No,’ she said, cutting me off straight away, ‘I’ll come to you. I’d prefer that.’
I hung up, and cursed the thought of the evening ahead. College parties had bored me. When I graduated law school I made a promise to avoid any and all parties, especially ones that required you to dress up for the evening. Any invitation I got that said ‘black tie’ went straight into the trash.