Chapter 28 #2
“I have a meeting I need to go to this afternoon.” Victoria checked her watch. The meeting with the attorney was in only one hour. She’d need to leave in thirty minutes to allow for traffic.
“Maybe Cillian can stay with me.” Sydney smiled, a joyful light in her eyes now. “Or Warren. Oh, but he’s working.”
Cillian would be a respectful and safe guardian for Sydney, but the pregnancy center guidelines would not approve of her leaving Sydney alone with any unrelated male, for the safety of both parties.
She needed an available female. Spring would be at classes today. But… “Treese.”
“Huh?”
“My sister, Patricia. I think she usually has Monday afternoons off. I’ll text her.”
Male voices entering the house by the back door paused the thought.
“After we speak with the police.”
Poor Max would have to wait a bit longer to get out of his crate. Though he wouldn’t want to until all visitors were gone, regardless.
As Victoria walked through the hallway and toward the voices, she sympathized with Max. If only she could hide in a safe room until it was all over, too. Lord willing, no one had called Detective McCully.
Although given the break-in and the menacing threat scrawled on her mirror, she apparently had far worse things to fear.
“Thank you for taking my case.” Victoria sat as straight and stiff as a pole in the leather chair next to Cillian’s in the attorney’s impressive corner office.
The middle-aged Craig Lymp relaxed behind his big desk in a chair sized for his large body. “Of course. I’d do anything for your father.” He smiled, but there was something slick about the expression.
Reminded Cillian of a guy he’d met in Dallas who’d tried to separate Cillian from his bike with a knife. Why that particular association jumped to mind, Cillian couldn’t say. But his instincts were never wrong.
The lawyer rested his fingers on some papers in an open file on the desk in front of him. “I’ve looked over your case, and I think we can get a very good plea deal.”
“A plea deal?” Victoria’s tone lifted with surprise. Apparently, she hadn’t picked up on the vibes this guy was giving off. “Wouldn’t that involve pleading guilty to the crime?”
Lymp raised his gaze from the papers to her. “Well, yes.”
“But I didn’t murder Thomas Briscoe.”
The attorney pushed out his thick lips as he stared at her. “I see.” He brought his hands up in front of himself and slowly rubbed his palms together. “The evidence that you did is very convincing.”
“Now hold on.” Cillian leaned forward. “Weren’t you hired to be her defense attorney? Not the prosecutor?”
“Yes, of course.” That weak smile curved Lymp’s mouth again. “And as such, I must give her the best counsel possible.”
“Gentlemen, I am right here.” Victoria sent a glare in Cillian’s direction before returning her attention to the lawyer.
“I’ll thank you not to discuss me as if I’m not here.
But Mr. Doherty’s question is valid. You do sound like you believe the prosecutor’s manufactured case against me rather than the truth I’m telling you. ”
“Evidence is how we know the truth, Ms. Weston.”
“Not in this case, apparently.” She delivered the comeback without hesitation, though she kept her tone free of irritation or fight.
“I did not kill my friend, Thomas Briscoe. And we’ve found evidence to suggest who did actually murder him.
We’ve been targeted by that person because we know what he did. ”
“Really?” Lymp tented his fingers near his double chin. “Have you shared this evidence with the police?”
“Yes.” She looked at Cillian.
He took the signal and faced Lymp. “I delivered the evidence to Lieutenant Willis this morning myself. He’s going to follow up on the information.” Hopefully. At least that was what Willis had said.
“Good. But if your ‘evidence,’” Lymp curved his fingers for air quotes, “doesn’t hold up, then we need to deal with the situation at hand, whether or not it aligns with what we’d prefer it to be.”
“Meaning?”
Victoria threw Cillian an annoyed glance, but he couldn’t help it. This attorney was getting very irritating, very fast.
“Meaning,” Lymp shifted his gaze from Cillian to Victoria, “the case the DA has built against you is so strong, we couldn’t prove otherwise, and if we went with a plea of ‘innocent,’ we would lose.”
“That’s crazy.” Cillian pushed to his feet, glaring down at the sorry excuse for a defense attorney. “Your job is to defend her and defend the truth. Not to roll over and play dead so you can keep your winning record in court.”
“Cillian.” Victoria’s eyes flashed. “Sit down.” Apparently, she didn’t mind losing her temper with him. But she was all sweet and patient with every bully in her life.
“We need to leave.” He held his ground. “This guy is not going to defend you.”
She swung her head toward Lymp. “I don’t believe my father would have hired you if you weren’t good at your job, Mr. Lymp.”
The simpering compliment in that gentle tone crawled under Cillian’s skin. How could she placate someone who’d just called her a liar and murderer to her face?
“Perhaps this is simply a misunderstanding.” She moved her hands to grip the top of her purse on her lap, the only sign Cillian could detect that she might be having to restrain some frustration.
“I assure you, I’m innocent of all the charges against me.
Since that is the case, why would you suggest I plead guilty? ”
“Because we can’t win otherwise.” Lymp held up a thick hand to stop a response from Cillian, though he hadn’t launched one yet. “And that has nothing to do with maintaining my record, though it is perfect.” He threw Cillian a taunting glance.
Anger spiked through Cillian, and he clenched his fist at his side. Maybe if he let Lymp keep talking, Victoria would see what Cillian did.
“It has everything to do with getting you the best deal. If we try to say you’re innocent, and we lose, you could get up to life in prison.” He paused, probably hoping to scare Victoria by letting it sink in.
Cillian switched his gaze to her.
She still sat tall and straight, no paling or signs of fright. Hopefully, that meant the attorney’s tactics weren’t working.
“But if we go for a plea bargain, I’m confident I could get you a very good deal.” Lymp smiled as if he’d just won the argument.
“We’re not interested.” The response burst from Cillian’s mouth. He couldn’t stand it any longer.
“I’ll make that decision.” Victoria shot him another glare, then stood, facing Lymp. “But it does seem as though I’ll need to return at a different time, alone.”
Really? Cillian bit his tongue to keep from voicing the frustrated response. She was too dug in for him to get anywhere, at least in front of the lawyer.
“I’ll consider what you’ve said and set up a meeting for a different day. Thank you for your time.” Her elegance and poise as she turned away and left the office was something to behold, even if Cillian was irritated enough with her to glare at the back of her head as he followed.
He stretched his stride to reach her side in the hallway as they headed for the lobby of the large firm’s office building. “You’ll need to come back alone? Really?”
She quirked an eyebrow at him. “You were not behaving.”
“I wasn’t behaving? What do you call what he was doing?” Cillian flung his hands out in the air. “You know he accused you of murder and lying, right?”
“Not in so many words. But, yes, I am perceptive enough to understand what he was implying, thank you.”
“Okay, so then I assume you also realize you need a lawyer who believes you’re innocent.”
She didn’t respond as they passed the third-floor receptionist and stopped by the elevators.
He punched the down arrow button before she could, trying to catch her gaze. “You do know that, right?” He faced her directly, his back to the elevators.
She finally looked at him. “I’m not going to dismiss the lawyer my father hired who is also his good friend.”
A ding sounded, and she stepped around Cillian.
So that was it. Daddy pulling the strings once again. A tennis ball’s worth of frustration clogged Cillian’s throat as he joined her in the thankfully empty elevator where she was pressing the button for the first floor.
“So that’s it? You’ll lie, say you’re guilty, and go to prison to avoid crossing your dad?”
“Of course not.” She flung an exasperated glare at him.
“Then what?”
“I’m simply saying I won’t defy my father that way. I’m already in hot water with him right now. He won’t answer my texts or my voicemails.” Her voice pinched. “Firing his lawyer friend would be like a slap in the face.”
“So what?” Cillian didn’t try to hold back his disbelief and anger. “That’s what he deserves for hiring a lawyer like that.”
She shifted toward Cillian and stared at him, her eyebrows clustered. As if he’d said something to hurt her. But he was only talking about her dad. “You would like that, wouldn’t you? To hurt him?”
The elevator doors opened, and she broke her stare, stalking away at a fast clip.
Cillian hurried to catch up, but he held his tongue.
She was apparently still more loyal to her dad than he’d thought.
At least when it came to this situation.
That didn’t have to mean she was still as much of her father’s puppet as she was before.
She’d been going against his rules and what he would want more and more recently, often in favor of Cillian.
He’d been able to persuade her to do a lot of things her dad would disapprove of in the last few days.
Cillian just needed to be patient and not get ahead of himself. After she calmed down, he could get her to see things clearly again. And to want what was best for her instead of worrying about pleasing her dad.
He just needed to remind her of what she could have if she were free of her dad’s control. The life they could’ve had and could still have now if she followed her own desires instead of her father’s.
A plan started to take shape in Cillian’s mind. Some time to relax and de-stress away from the pressure of her responsibilities and the danger could be just the thing. Throw in a walk down memory lane, and Victoria would see what she was missing.
And maybe, she’d agree with Cillian that they should make up for lost time and go after the future they wanted, together.