Chapter 4
Janie waved to Rosie through the glass partition walls as she came around to the door of the conference room and took a deep breath before she went in. Rosie’s smile didn’t look anywhere near as genuine as it usually did.
“Are you sure you’re still okay to do this?” Rosie asked as soon as Janie closed the door behind her.
Janie bit her tongue instead of clenching her jaw.
The movement was imperceptible to anyone watching, which she’d long ago discovered was useful to disguising her emotions.
“Of course. I wouldn’t let you down after offering to help.
” She bit down even harder as the words left a trail of acid in their wake.
But you’ve let your family down easily enough, haven’t you?
She blinked, choosing not to re-engage in the ever-present diatribe in her head, and took a seat opposite Rosie.
She hit the remote, and the glass walls turned opaque.
“Are you sure you still want me involved? I don’t want things to be awkward. ”
“I’m good if you are.”
Rosie adjusted her blazer, her actions belying her real feelings.
No matter. Janie had to take Rosie at her word, and even if this took half a year to resolve, they wouldn’t have to meet all that often.
“Most of our communication over the next six months can be via email after this initial meeting,” Janie said, expecting the disappointed expression Rosie failed to hide.
“Six months?” Rosie ran her hand through her hair and leaned back in her chair. “How is it my mom is still able to mess with my life even though she’s dead?”
Janie gave her the patient, professional smile every lawyer had to learn, because clients almost always expected miracles. “It’s a process, I’m afraid. Luckily, your case isn’t all that complicated because there isn’t a broader identity theft problem beyond the loan being taken in your name.”
Rosie sighed and nodded slowly. “So how will this work?”
“Obviously, you’ve already told your bank that a fraud has occurred, but we need to report it officially, to them and to the major credit bureaus. We also have to report the crime to the FTC, which—”
“FTC?” Rosie held up her hand.
“Sorry, the Federal Trade Commission. We have to file an identity theft report with them.”
“Even though the woman who stole it is dead?”
Janie inclined her head at Rosie’s dispassionate delivery.
The memorial for Rosie’s mom had only been two days ago; was Rosie in denial?
Hannah hadn’t shared much in the way of details about Rosie and her mom’s relationship, but Janie supposed that, if the woman was prepared to put her daughter into $50k worth of debt, it couldn’t have been that pleasant.
Her own familial connections were complicated, and money had been an issue with them too, but at least she’d never had to deal with something quite like this.
“That’s correct,” Janie said. “Then I’ll need you to gather any and all evidence that shows you couldn’t have been the person who opened the account.”
Rosie frowned. “Like what?”
“Sworn statements from colleagues, clients, friends, or anyone you might’ve seen or interacted with over the time period when the account was applied for and opened.
Photos with metadata showing your location.
Any receipts for anything you purchased during the same time: coffee, gas, restaurant bills.
” Janie smiled again, recognizing Rosie’s growing impatience.
“Whatever you can think of that will provide tangible evidence. All of it will help.”
Rosie nodded slowly again as she made notes on her phone. “And then what?”
“The bank will have to investigate, and that can take up to three months. That’s one of the reasons I said this might take six months.
Their wheels can move slowly, and it depends on how many cases they’re handling at the time.
I’ll keep the pressure on, and that usually encourages them to move quicker.
Most people don’t tend to have lawyers deal with these things for them. ”
Rosie looked up from her phone and frowned. “Are you sure this isn’t an imposition? I’m happy to pay for your time.”
“You say that, but you don’t know what my hourly rate is.” Janie smiled, but this time, she gave Rosie a real one. “You don’t want to find yourself in even more debt.”
Rosie shrugged. “I guess not.”
“And my assistant will be doing most of the work, because it’s really very simple.”
Rosie raised her right eyebrow, and her jaw clenched slightly. “So I should be able to do it myself?”
Janie inclined her head. “You could absolutely do this all yourself, no problem. But this way, you can put it to the back of your mind for a few months, and we can apply pressure when necessary and push for a faster resolution. I’m just saying that you don’t need to worry about it being an imposition.
I’m happy to do it for,” she said and swallowed, “a friend of Hannah’s. ”
Rosie’s expression softened, and she put her hand on the table between them, not quite reaching for Janie. “Are you okay?”
Janie recognized Rosie’s change to therapist tone and instinctively drew back a few inches.
There was something about the softness of it that pulled at the emotions she was trying to keep out of view.
She couldn’t give them free rein, especially at work.
And she was already thinking of canceling her session later this week with her actual therapist; she didn’t need another one trying to get inside her head.
Janie didn’t want to be there, so why was everyone else so eager to join her?
“I’m fine,” she said and didn’t hold Rosie’s gentle gaze.
Rosie pulled her hand away slowly and settled back in her chair. “When someone you trust asks that question, I hope you can give them a more honest answer.”
Janie sighed. “Probably not.” She couldn’t trust herself anymore, so what chance did anyone else have? She realized the implication of her words when Rosie half-smiled. “Not that I don’t trust you. It’s just—”
“Don’t worry.” Rosie held up her hand. “I know what you mean, and there are levels of trust. We’ve met once, and we hardly know each other.
I wasn’t expecting you to pour it out, but please tell me that you do have someone to talk to.
Someone who isn’t a therapist. Hannah has her team, but who do you have? ”
“I have friends,” Janie said, careful to control the speed with which she answered, so she didn’t sound defensive.
“But thank you for asking.” She didn’t have friends, unless she counted Maria and Mirta.
And her work colleague Austin? Did he qualify as a friend?
She’d talked to Maria for hours yesterday, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had that kind of flowing, in-depth conversation.
She and Hannah used to talk like that all the time.
Before the triplets. Before everything changed.
But established friends, like Hannah had?
She’d never had one, and her other lawyer colleagues would just as soon cross-examine her than cross the line into friendship; competition to make partner didn’t foster a supportive atmosphere.
There was a knock at the door, and the expression on Rosie’s face switched from pitying to poisonous.
Janie frowned and turned around to see Katherine Hill standing in the opening, her expression equally scornful.
She was a perfect example of the colleagues Janie was surrounded with, although only Katherine attempted to bed Janie when she’d first started work here.
She hadn’t even attempted to hide the fact that she was married.
“I have this room booked for a client in ten minutes, and I need to prepare,” Katherine said when she finally looked at Janie.
Janie nodded. “We’ll be out of here shortly.”
Katherine gave an exaggerated sigh. “Two minutes.”
She shot another look at Rosie before attempting to slam the door shut.
Clearly, she’d forgotten it had a soft-close mechanism.
Janie suppressed a smile, knowing the failure of her aggressive exit would irritate Katherine, who took any and every opportunity to express her power, such that it was.
She was a wannabe alpha who was all swagger and no substance.
“I didn’t know she worked here,” Rosie said.
“I’m afraid so.” Janie turned back to her and raised her eyebrows. “How do you know her?”
Katherine was a real estate lawyer, and Janie couldn’t see how she might have crossed paths with Rosie. Unless she was one of Katherine’s conquests that had failed epically.
Rosie narrowed her eyes. “You really don’t know?” she asked, then shrugged. “I suppose her name might not have made it down the gang’s grapevine, especially since Lori’s only just started to use it again.”
Janie shook her head. “I really don’t.”
Rosie wrinkled her nose. “That’s Lori’s ex-wife.”
“Lori was married?” she asked. And divorced. Wasn’t Lori only thirty-two? Janie chastised herself for being so judgmental. Being a lesbian didn’t automatically make someone better at marriage than heterosexuals.
Rosie nodded. “Lori found her—” She waved her hand, clearly stopping herself from oversharing or revealing her best friend’s personal business. “She cheated on Lori. At least once, though it was probably more.”
Janie schooled her expression, lest she stoke Rosie’s fiery hatred. It was definitely more. Katherine had slept her way through the firm’s whole paralegal team, as well as several other lawyers in the three years Janie had worked there. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Please tell me she isn’t one of your trusted friends,” Rosie said and narrowed her eyes.
“No, she isn’t.” If Janie ever were to have friends, she’d choose better than that. She tapped her fingernails on Rosie’s folder before picking it up and rising from her chair. “Anyway, you can leave this with me, and Amanda will get things moving.”
Rosie stood too. “Thank you for this,” she said. “I know things are awkward right now. I hope everything works out for you.”
Awkward was an understatement. She’d been forced to abandon her children and her wife because… Not now. She rubbed at her forehead and pushed the unspeakable reason away.
“If your head’s hurting, it’s probably due to the proximity of that Beetlejuice bitch,” Rosie said, inclining her head toward the meeting room door. She opened her purse, pulled something out, and pressed it into Janie’s hand. “Take these and put some distance between you and the devil woman.”
Janie looked at the single-dose pill packet and nodded.
“Thank you.” It was easier to accept the Advil than explain that the unbearable ache in her head came from the fact she couldn’t be trusted to raise her own children.
Lawyering was the one thing she was still confident she could do, but if she didn’t concentrate fully, she’d lose that too.
“Amanda will send you an email with a link for you to upload the evidence you gather to prove you didn’t take out the loan, okay? ”
“I’ll watch for it,” Rosie said and headed for the door just as it opened.
An uncomfortable moment followed as Rosie and Katherine faced off, inches from each other, in the doorway.
Thankfully, Katherine’s vaguely chivalrous sensibilities kicked in, and she stepped aside for Rosie to pass.
Janie had a feeling that Rosie had no intention of kowtowing to Katherine and would’ve stood there for hours if necessary.
“Thanks for waiting,” Janie said as she followed Rosie out of the meeting room, unwilling to get caught in there with Katherine and the privacy glass still activated.
Katherine adjusted her tie and gave a little bow. “I’ll wait for you anytime.”
Janie shuddered at the return of Katherine’s usual schtick and hustled as fast as she dared in heels back to her office.
She collapsed against her closed door and began to sink slowly to the floor but stopped herself.
“Don’t you dare.” Her whole life had collapsed around her, but she had to keep working. If that stopped too…
She pushed away from the door, tossed Rosie’s file onto her desk, and called for Amanda. Burying herself in her latest case was the only way she had a hope in hell of surviving this.