‘He’ll announce he’s standing down within the next forty-eight hours, claiming it’s temporary, for personal reasons. As soon as I get the case dismissed, he can pick up where he left off.’
I feel like I’ve been given a front-row seat from which to watch the wheels of power and privilege work. And my sister is one of the key cogs in the whole mechanism. Justice for all – as long as you have pockets deep enough to pay for it.
‘What has Tobey got to do with Daniel Jeavons?’ I ask. ‘How do the two of them even know each other?’
I would’ve thought their paths were very unlikely to cross.
‘They grew up together,’ Callie informs me.
My eyebrows shoot up. ‘Tobey told you this?’
‘No, I have first-hand knowledge,’ she says. ‘I grew up with both of them.’
By now I’m bug-eyed. ‘What? You know … knew Dan Jeavons?’ The words squeak out of me. ‘What the hell? You never said. How come I’m only finding out about this now?’ Hearing that Callie knew Dan Jeavons is like hearing that my sister was friends with Jack the Ripper.
‘Troy, it was no biggie. I grew up with Dan. He got into some things he shouldn’t’ve, went on the run, gave himself up, served his time and came out of prison. And after that he made sure never to get caught again.’
Well, that says a lot.
I look at my sister like I’m seeing her for the first time. Never before have I felt our age gap as keenly as I do at this moment. Eighteen years means a lifetime of experiences for her that were way before my time. Eighteen years of doing and being, living and loving that I know nothing about – unless Callie or Mum chooses to tell me.
Callie says, ‘I’m surprised you’ve even heard of Dan Jeavons, to be honest. Since when have you taken an interest in criminal lowlifes?’
Is she kidding? ‘There isn’t a person in the country who hasn’t heard of Daniel Jeavons,’ I reply. ‘You should’ve told me before that you knew him personally.’
Callie is unrepentant. ‘Like I said, we were sort of friends a long time ago.’
‘Sort of?’ Funny sort of friend who my sister labelled a criminal lowlife.
‘To tell the truth, Dan gave me the creeps,’ she admits. ‘He was always looking at me like he didn’t need X-ray glasses to see what was beneath my clothes. Take a tip from me, Troy: don’t stare at girls like that. It gets old real fast.’
As if! Besides, if I stared at anyone in my class like that, I’d get a mouthful of scorching verbal – at the very least.
‘If you’re worried about the fallout from this case, can’t you palm it off on someone else?’ I ask.
Callie scowls like I’ve just insulted her. ‘Tobey is my true friend and I’m not going to turn my back on him. I guarantee a lot of his so-called friends will be doing that in the weeks ahead. I won’t be joining them.’
Why did Callie have to be so noble all of a sudden? But then I realize something – it wasn’t all of a sudden. Media reports and throwaway gossip about my sister always talk about her integrity, taking on cases that no one else would touch so that justice could be properly served. She’s gained a lot of admirers that way, but has also made some powerful, outspoken enemies.
‘Let me guess, you’ve already started receiving threats about taking on Tobey as a client?’
Callie nods. ‘The trolls have begun to crawl out of their slimy holes. Threats have started coming into chambers, and Sol, my boss, is livid that I took on the case without discussing it with him first.’
‘What kind of threats?’
Callie’s eyes roll. She’s trying to make out that it’s no big deal, but her actions speak far louder than her words. ‘Warnings to back down. Step up. Drop it. Don’t drop it. Take the case. Don’t take the case. Or else.’
‘How does anyone even know about it when it hasn’t been in the news?’
‘I told you I took out a super-injunction to suppress the story so the press aren’t allowed to report on it, but the officers who arrested and charged Tobey are bound to tell their families who blab to their friends.’
‘Hmmm … You’ve had threats before—’
‘Not like these. There’s a new tone to some of them …’ Callie’s voice trails off.
‘Threatening me and Mum as well as you.’
‘Exactly,’ she admits. ‘I’m big enough and ugly enough to take care of myself, but I’m not going to risk anyone trying to harm you and Mum. If by some miracle the prosecution manage to get the super-injunction overturned, I’ll assign a close-protection officer to look after you and Mum. Until then, just be vigilant. OK?’
‘Callie, you’re probably worrying about nothing. I’m not gonna start looking over my shoulder everywhere I go.’ Bugger that for a game of soldiers.
‘Look, Troy, this isn’t a joke or a game. I’m taking these threats seriously. So are the police – and so should you.’ Callie’s tone is sombre. ‘There are people out there who wouldn’t hesitate to hurt you and Mum to get to me.’
Her razor-wire words slowly but surely sink in.
‘How is Gabriel taking all this?’
Gabriel Moreland is Callie’s knob of a boyfriend. I’ve only met him twice, but each time he spoke to me like my shoe size and IQ were a matching pair. With his power suits and his power fade and his power-toned muscles and his power-plucked eyebrows, he was all about money and the status that synchro-swam with his job title. The last time we’d met was at the Mafanikio Ball, a big, glossy annual dinner-dance for lawyers, which also included a charity auction of donated gifts. Callie had unexpectedly invited me to go with her and I’d snatched her hand off. It wasn’t often I got to attend formal functions. My sister and I sat at a table of ten, including Gabriel. Our meal was over and the auction due to begin. My first auction. I couldn’t wait to see how it worked. Some of the submitted gifts included a spa weekend, a flying lesson, driving a Formula One car for an afternoon, a few paintings, rare books and a trip in a hot-air balloon. I could’ve gone for any of those – except the spa weekend. Hard pass on that one. Not that I could afford any of the auction items if the guide prices were anything to go by.
While waiting for the auction to start, for the first time that evening Gabriel spoke to me. ‘So, Troy, what do you plan to do once you’ve left school?’
‘I don’t know,’ I replied honestly. ‘I wouldn’t mind teaching chemistry or maths, but I haven’t decided yet.’
‘Teaching?’ Gabriel looked me up and down with disdain. ‘You know what they say – those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.’
I glanced at Callie. Had that been a frown on her face? It had come and gone so quickly it was hard to tell.
‘I mean really – don’t you have any ambition?’ Gabriel said with contempt.
I replied, ‘You wanna know the difference between a mosquito and a lawyer? One is a blood-sucking parasite and the other is an insect.’
Gabriel’s eyebrows shot up at my retort.
‘Troy, you’re sitting at a table of lawyers,’ Callie reminded me pointedly. ‘And we’re not all like that.’