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  John’s arched eyebrows and bulging eyes flashed for a quick moment as he leaned forward biting his lip. Hearing Jacob’s full name and the fact that we likely knew more than we were letting on surprised him. “No! I’m sorry. It’s just a complicated situation.” John wrung his hands as he sat at the table.

  “We understand. You seem reluctant to talk about it, but we need to know what you talked about. We need to know everything or we might as well just end this meeting now.” I slowly pushed my chair backward. Playing the tough position wasn’t normally what I would do, but I felt that John needed to understand the situation.

  “Ok. Jacob called Macie and asked her to meet him at the bar where he worked. I wouldn’t let her go alone, but I didn’t want to be there either. Jacob and I have had some words in the past. It didn’t come to fighting, but it was close.”

  Brice scribbled notes in his folder and looked over at John. “Go on.”

  “No, wait a moment.” I interjected. “John, you and Jacob had words? Obviously there is some history you aren’t telling us about. Maybe we need to start from the beginning. The very beginning.”

  “Um, alright.” John rocked back and forth in his chair and nervously looked at each of us as he began recounting everything. “I took this landscaping job at the beginning of the summer. It was mostly just small projects, but the owner got a big contract in this fancy neighborhood, a complete overhaul. They moved me onto that project, doing work in the backyard, landscaping around the pool and stuff. That’s where I first saw her.”

  “Macie?” Aimee jumped in and then looked at me silently, excusing herself for interrupting.

  “Yes. Macie. It was a pretty big landscaping job and I was there for about a week. Every day I saw her there, sitting around the pool. She’d smile and wave, but we really never talked. I’m a bit shy that way. At the end of the job I was put on the normal weekly landscaping job there. Cutting grass, trimming bushes, things like that, and I’d see her. Eventually we got to talking.”

  “So it was at Macie’s house that you met?” Brice had a slightly confused look on his face.

  “Well, I thought she lived there. Until the second week I was there. That’s when I met Jacob. He saw Macie and I talking and told me to get back to work. Eventually I found out that it was his parents’ house. Macie was just hanging out there. I needed the job, so I kept my distance after that.”

  “So, those were the words you and Jacob had? Doesn’t seem very threatening. Am I missing something?” Brice continued to dig as I sat and watched John nervously recall everything.

  “That was the last time I saw Jacob there. Occasionally I saw Mrs. Harritan, but not often. Macie continued to talk with me. Just through a few conversations we realized we had a lot in common and I could kinda tell that things between her and Jacob were rocky. So one day she invited me back to the pool house to cool off. I turned her town, but she insisted. She said no one was home.”

  “Oh yeah?” Brice had a sly grin on his face but immediately became serious as he noticed Aimee staring at him.

  “We didn’t do anything. I only had some water and relaxed a bit. Macie flirted for sure, but as much as I wanted to, I knew it would be a bad idea. Apparently, after I left that day, Mrs. Harritan confronted Macie and told her that the hired help shouldn’t be in the pool house and that she had better watch herself, or else.”

  “So Mrs. Harritan never said anything to you about the incident?” I scribbled some notes, waiting for him to answer my question.

  “No. But I was swapped off the job the next week. Macie called me to apologize for what had happened. You know, we had swapped numbers. One thing led to another and we ended up meeting for a drink. She wanted to make it up to me. That night things got out of hand a little and we—”

  “You had sex?” Brice’s sly grin returned.

  “Yes. She said she was going to break up with him—Jacob—but never did. We kept seeing each other on and off for a month or so, but she was still with him. Then a little later we found out she was pregnant.” John hung his head and looked down at the table.

  “John, I’m sorry to ask this, but are you sure you’re the father?” I tried to be as gentle as possible, knowing how difficult the situation was.

  “Yes. She said I am. I believe her.” John paused for moment and looked up. “A few weeks after she told me, she said she broke it off with Jacob. He kept calling and texting, showing up, but she would never talk to him or return his calls. She said she wanted to be with me, so we could raise the kid together.”

  “Does Jacob know this is your baby? Is there any way that Macie told him that?” I realized that the simple hit and run case we took on a few weeks ago now had turned into a full-on soap opera.

  “I…I think so. The night the three of us met, he was mad I was there. He thought it was just going to be him and Macie. He walked over to the table, brought her a beer, and just kinda sneered at me. She said she didn’t want it, but he kinda made her drink it. She took a sip and then gave it to me. You know, to make him happy. They talked a little and then she told him that she couldn’t see him anymore. I just sat there and listened. She said something about how he should just stop trying to make things right and that his mother was probably happy.”

  “John, that’s really helpful information. I know this is difficult but all of this is really going to help.” I looked at Brice and nodded. “Brice, anything else you think we need from John right now?”

  “Just one last question, John. Why do you think Jacob wanted to meet with Macie that night?”

  “That’s simple. He wants her back.”

  “Even though she’s pregnant with your child?” Brice’s final question fell like a bomb. It was exactly what I was thinking, but there was no need to ask. John sat in the chair and didn’t answer. It appeared to be the first time he had really thought about it.

  “John, I think we have enough info for now. Aimee, can you see John out?” We all stood and I reached across the table to shake John’s hand. He was visibly shaken. Aimee walked toward the door and waited as John still thought about the question.

  “We love each other. Macie is a great girl, and Jacob knows that. That’s why he wants her back, even if his mother doesn’t like her.” John turned and followed Aimee to the lobby.

  Brice and I stared at each other and let the heaviness of the situation linger for just a moment. I had a million things running through my head and not one scenario I had played out a week ago involved any of this.

  “What just happened?” Brice sat slumped in the conference room chair. His usual beaten look had returned.

  “Well, from what I can see, your client isn’t all that observant. Clearly there’s something else going on here. It seems that Jacob Harritan had motive to harm both John and Macie, and it also appears that Macie may be playing one—or both—of them.” I sat back and slumped in my chair, matching Brice’s defeated posture.

  “And now what? I’m beginning to feel much more like a detective than a defense attorney.” Brice smirked and eventually leaned forward.

  “We keep digging until we get the answers we’re looking for. Reese is out getting some information about Jacob. Once we hear back from him we can figure out our next steps.” I pushed out my chair and gathered my notes and files. “Until then, let me know if you hear anything else.”

  Brice stood and hesitated. “Ok…and do we need to finish that earlier conversation?” Brice had a slight smile on his face.

  “Hurt her and I’ll maim you.”

  The smile left Brice’s face as quickly as it had appeared. “Ok then… So…I’ll see you Wednesday morning, at my office, to go over the deposition video for the Jennings case?” Brice knew I wasn’t kidding and I was glad he was taking me seriously.

  “Wednesday morning. I’ll see you then.” I left Brice standing in the conference room alone, wondering what had just happened.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Aimee and I spent the morning review
ing our notes and discussing the meeting. It had been Aimee’s first time in a client conference and her first time seeing how harsh I could be.

  “I have to say, Jen, I’m impressed. I never really understood everything you did, but watching you grill John and get that information out of him…I bet you give Cain a run for his money.” Aimee giggled.

  “Hardly. I only show that side when I need to. He’s only seen it once—that night with Ashley. Honestly, I think I scared him a bit.”

  “I wish I had a side like that. Maybe I wouldn’t get run over by the men I date…which reminds me, did you find out anything else about Brice?” Aimee stared at me, her eyebrows raised, as she waited for my response.

  “A little. My advice, take it slow and easy with him, but I’m confident he won’t hurt you in any way.” I slyly smiled at her as I noticed Reese standing in the doorway.

  “Sorry to break up the girl talk, but do you have a minute to talk about Jacob Harritan?” Reese didn’t wait for my response as he plopped down on the sofa in my office. “I spent the better part of last night and this morning tracking down a few leads and talking to people.”

  “I can’t wait to hear this. Based on what we heard this morning from John, it seems Jacob is quite a character. This is turning into quite the drama.” I shook my head and contemplated all of the twists and turns we had seen already.

  “Well, no doubt I’d have to agree. I sat and watched him at the bar last night for a bit. Quick tempered kid. I watched him lose it with a few of the bar staff, he snapped at a few customers, he laid into one waitress pretty hard. I ended up giving her a nice tip and she had plenty to say about him.” Reese chuckled.

  “Why was she so forthcoming? I mean, she didn’t know you from anyone else.”

  “He used her. Apparently he hooked up with her, trying to make Macie jealous and get her back. It didn’t work. They were on and off again for a few weeks, but this girl couldn’t take it. She said he was obsessed with Macie, he always talked about her and she found out he was following her around.”

  “Sounds like a stalker and a bit of a creep.” I flipped through my notes from the meeting that morning. “Did she say anything else good?”

  “Well, she did say that he was a bit reckless at times and was a mama’s boy. If he wasn’t talking about Macie he was apparently talking about his mother. He would do whatever she said, and she was very controlling. She said that she had only met his mother once and it didn’t go well.”

  “You know, this morning John said something I thought was interesting. He mentioned that Jacob’s mother didn’t like Macie. If he did everything she wanted and she didn’t like Macie, I wonder why he was so obsessed with her.” I leaned back in my chair and thought about it. I thought about Louise Harritan and wondered how much she played a part in Jacob’s life.

  “I followed him home after his shift. He lives in a pretty nice condo downtown. Definitely something a bartender couldn’t afford. I’m guessing he’s still living off of his parents. This morning I followed him out to their house. It’s a huge estate on the north side, sprawling house with a huge greenhouse out back, a nice pool. I couldn’t really see much, but let’s just say that the Harritans don’t appear to be hurting for money.”

  “No. I remember Dad talking about their house a long time ago. Maybe we need to take a little trip out there and have a talk with Dean and Louise.” I thought about what I would say to her or Dean if I had the chance. I wondered if I could keep my cool.

  Reese adamantly shook his head. “Jennifer, I think the first thing you should do is talk with your father about all of this. He needs to know what’s going on and the connection to the case. After that, I think the next thing we need to do is actually talk with Jacob. Right now we only have this waitress’s story. We need his side.”

  As much as I didn’t want to agree, I knew Reese was right. I needed to have a talk with my father. He could probably provide a lot of insight into the Harritans and possibly save us some time chasing down bad information. Deep down I knew it was more likely that Dad would just tell me to keep my distance and let Reese handle this, considering the information Dad had just shared with me. He knew me too well. He knew I wouldn’t be able to let everything he told me about Mom just be.

  “Ok, Reese. You win. I’ll talk to Dad today. I’ll let him know what’s going on but it isn’t going to change how I handle this case. ”

  Reese got up from the sofa and made his way to the door. “Jennifer, I know I shouldn’t stick my nose where it doesn’t belong, especially when it comes to your family business. Just be mindful of your father. Your mom and dad were close to the Harritans. This connection is going to be difficult for your father.” If Reese only knew just how close my parents had been with the Harritans and just how much this might affect my father. It was going to be a difficult conversation all round, and I dreaded it.

  Aimee had managed to not say a word the entire time. She quietly took everything in and, once Reese left, I could see she was about to explode with questions and comments. “He doesn’t know, does he? About your mother?”

  “No, and he doesn’t need to know. I can’t do that to my father, or my mother’s memory. Everyone at the firm remembers them as a happy couple… Wish me luck, I’m going to head upstairs and have a talk with him.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The florescent lights flickered and the buzzing of the ballasts echoed off of the cement-block walls, giving an eerie feeling to the empty stairwell. I had opted to walk up to the twelfth floor, delaying my talking to Dad and providing some extra time to consider exactly what I was going to say.

  I knew the connection back to the Harritans was going to create an issue and the timing of all of this was just a bit much. A part of me, deep down inside, wished I hadn’t asked those questions. I wished that I had just left the memory of my mother alone, but it was too late. There was no undoing everything I had learned.

  The lobby area of Dunning, Durst and Chandler was a stark contrast to our lobby downstairs. Here there was a hustle of attorneys coming and going to meetings, clients waiting for their meetings, and phones ringing. To the left were the partner offices, where my old office was. I quietly waved at the receptionist and headed down the hall to Dad’s office. I could hear his voice before I even arrived at the partially-closed mahogany door. Thankfully, a laugh followed; I could only assume he was in a good mood.

  I peeked around the corner to see Dad on the phone; his large office was empty and I realized I wasn’t going to have an excuse to delay the conversation any longer. I tapped on the door and Dad looked up and beckoned me in. “Come in, have a seat.” He mouthed as he wrapped up his conversation. I pushed the door closed behind me and took a seat in front of his desk. I felt the nervousness set in as I sat and restlessly played with my hair.

  “Ok…good to speak with you too, Craig. I’ll see you next week, bye.” Dad hung up the phone and struggled for a fake smile as our eyes met. “Hey, honey, how are you doing?” It was difficult to tell if Dad was being sincere or he really cared. I felt that my ability to read him was fading. As well as I knew him, I realized that I really didn’t know him after all. I realized he had secrets, likely more than I really knew.

  “I’m…” I fumbled for the right word. “…Ok.” “Good” would have definitely been too strong of a word. I wasn’t good, or well, or even so-so. I was merely “Ok.”

  “I tried calling a few times. I sent you a few texts. I was worried. I finally had no choice other than to reach out to Cain to make sure you were alright.” That was something that Cain hadn’t shared with me, and I wondered how that conversation had gone. It did show me that Dad seemed to genuinely be worried about me, though.

  “I see. I’m sorry. I just needed some space, and to be honest, I really didn’t come up here to talk about that.” Unfortunately, it was all that was on my mind. I found myself looking at my father differently. It made me mad, frustrated and sad all at once. We had come so far in the
last year, after everything, and now all our hard work had been undone. I quietly wondered if I’d ever be able to feel the same way about him again.

  “Jennifer, we should probably talk about it.” It was ironic. Before Friday, it had been the last thing Dad wanted to talk about and now it seemed more important than ever to him.

  “Not now. I only came up to tell you about the case we’re working on with Brice Pennington. There’s a connection that you need to know about, and I was hoping you could give me some information.”

  “What kind of connection?”

  “Well, it seems that Brice’s client and his girlfriend are tied to Jacob Harritan. She used to date him.” I studied Dad for a reaction but didn’t get one other than his furrowed brow.

  “Oh. So how does he fit into this? I thought this was a hit and run case involving Pennington’s client drinking? This was supposed to be a jury selection case.” Dad cocked his head to the side as he looked at me.

  “It was. It’s a long story, but we believe there may be more to it, and we’re just covering our bases. The client—John Doll—admitted he hadn’t been driving and was covering for his girlfriend. Apparently they met Jacob Harritan just prior to everything happening, and we need to get his side of the story to see if he can corroborate what they are saying.” I deliberately held back the other details of the case. I knew Dad would argue against my hunch and want me to just stick with the facts. “Reese and I are going to go talk to him later this week.”

  Dad sat back in his chair but didn’t say anything. He rubbed his temples and let out a sigh through his pursed lips. I could tell he wanted to say something but was holding back. I decided it was best to wait him out before I asked him for more information. The awkward silence finally broke as Dad leaned forward, giving me a stern look. “Jennifer, I think it would be best to just keep your distance on this one. Let Reese handle it. I understand it’s your case, but—”