Treasured Past (16 page)

What if Melanie was right? What if Donald Gold had somehow set me up to represent his son because he knew that I was seeing Annie? I didn’t know how he could have found out, but I certainly knew it was possible.

The image of Annie happily married to Donald Junior swam into my mind. I still couldn’t believe it and shook my head, forcing the image away.

Why had Annie lied to me? Had she known more about my association with Donald’s father than I realized? Surely she must have known that I worked for Brown,
Benning
, and Gold. We rarely talked about my work, but there had certainly been dozens of my business cards strewn about the house. My imagination took some creative twists and turns.

Maybe I
had
been set up, but maybe it had been Annie that had been manipulating me. Had she found out that I worked for Donald’s father before we’d started seeing each other? Was it possible that she had seen an opportunity to short-circuit her husband’s demands by ingratiating herself with me?

I allowed my thoughts to drift along these lines. If Annie had believed that she could make me fall for her, then maybe she had planned it all along. As her lover, wouldn’t I do everything in my power to dissuade Donald from going after their home?

I raised one hand and rubbed my eyes. It was beginning to make too much sense. Was it possible that she could be that shrewd? That cold and calculating?

I let out a long whistle while the thought settled over me.

But wouldn’t she recognize the legal obstacles in her way? I should be withdrawing from the case right now, I reasoned. If our relationship came out, Donald would pull me from the case immediately.

Or would he? Maybe it was Donald who had plans for hanging me out to dry.

I was too confused, too uncertain to try to sort it all out. Trying to push my thoughts aside, I revved the engine and slid the car into gear. I couldn’t get home fast enough.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Three days without seeing Annie. Not a single phone call. Not one. I’d left messages at her home and at the shop every day, telling her that she was completely wrong about what she suspected and begging her to call me. But my phone never rang.

Each day I arrived home from work, hoping and praying that she would be in the great room, inspecting whatever work had been completed that day. Each day I was disappointed.

Disappointed
was an understatement.
Devastated
was probably closer to the truth. I stood in the center of the room now. The first Friday evening in months that I wasn’t going to spend with her. The ache in my heart seemed to radiate throughout my body as sadness and frustration overwhelmed me.

The smell of sawdust hung in the air. They’d finished sanding all the woodwork. The white paint had been completely stripped from the stone chimney. It wouldn’t take long for the workers
to finish staining and sealing and applying all the finishing touches.

And for what?
Tears of frustration were threatening as I allowed myself to feel pity. It was true enough that I’d wanted to do something with this room. But it had been Annie’s enthusiasm that had propelled me to have the work done. The sheer thrill and excitement on Annie’s face had been the motivation for me. And now I knew that I could never walk into this room without thinking of her.

I had spent countless hours trying to decide whether or not to show up on her doorstep. I’d driven by Treasured Past at least once each day, only to find the CLOSED sign propped up in the window.

The phone began to ring and I rushed back to the
ljving
room, my heart hopeful as I reached for the phone.

“Hello?”

“Kate?”

My heart sank. “Melanie?” I collapsed on the couch and listened to several moments of silence.

“She fired me, Kate.”

“What?” Could things possibly get any worse?

“Just now.” Mel’s voice sounded hollow. “I received a call from her new attorney, informing me that my services would no longer be needed.”

“Shit, Mel. Did she give you a reason?”

“He,” she corrected me. “Bob Gleason has the case now.” Bob was another old associate that Melanie and I had both worked with or against on many occasions.

“What did he say?”

“That he’d been reluctant to take the case and that he made it plain to Annie that he was dead against what she was doing. But she made it clear to him that she didn’t want me representing her.” I could hear the sadness in her voice. “Apparently Annie told him that she had concerns that the two of us were conspiring against her.”

“That’s ridiculous!” I shouted. “When did she get so
paranoid?”

She sighed. “I’m not surprised, really. You have no idea what that man and his family have put her through. She’s convinced that she’ll never get out from under them, and this just plays into her worst fears.”

“But, Melanie, I had no idea about any of this.”

“I know. But there’s nothing I can do about it anymore.” She hesitated for a moment before continuing. “You should probably know that they plan on petitioning the court, on the grounds that the
Golds
conspired against her, and that you and I went along with it.”

I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I began nibbling on my bottom lip, my mind going in circles.

“That’s the worst thing she could do.”

“I know, Kate. I’m not sure if it’s a stall tactic or if she really thinks they can present a case.”

“I need to get her to talk to me, Mel.” Plans began to formulate in my mind. “You have to get hold of Bob. Let him know that he has to convince Annie to hold off on the petition.”

“And how am I going to convince either of them to do that?”

“I don’t know, Mel. And technically we aren’t having this conversation.”

We were both silent for several moments.

“What do you have in mind, Kate?”

“I’m not even sure,” I admitted. “But you have to convince Bob to give me until Tuesday before he files that petition.”

“That’s the court date.”

“I know that. But if they’re going to file, it won’t hurt if it’s at the last minute.” I had to talk to Annie and convince her that she was completely off base about everything. “Do it, Mel. Call him. Buy me some time.”

“I’ll try.” Her voice sounded resigned.

“Try hard, Mel.”

“What are you plotting over there, Kate? I can practically hear the wheels in your head spinning.”

For the first time in days, I actually laughed. “I’m not even sure myself yet,” I told her. “But whatever I come up with, it’s probably grossly unethical and you’d be better off not knowing anything about it.”

“Be careful, Kate.” She sounded grim.

“I will,” I assured her. “Just convince Bob to put things on hold.”

We said good-bye and hung up. Annie and I were going to have a long talk, and yesterday wasn’t soon enough for me.

I picked up the phone again, hesitating only briefly before punching in Annie’s phone number. I slammed down the receiver when I heard the answering machine pick up.

“Fine,” I muttered. “If you won’t pick up the phone then you’re going to have to slam the door in my face.”

I ran upstairs to change into shorts and a T-shirt. Then I grabbed my keys and headed out the door.

Heading down
Storrow
Drive, I pulled off at the exit nearest to Treasured Past, thinking it might be at least worth another drive by. I cruised by slowly and noted that the CLOSED sign was propped in its place.

Great.
I punched the accelerator and then just as quickly hit the brakes. Something wasn’t quite right. I looked back at the store, trying to see past the sign in the window. The lights were on.

I checked my watch, noting that it was nearly seven-thirty. The store closed at five o’clock every day, and the lights were on a timer that went off at six o’clock. That meant that Annie must be inside.

Steering the car to the curb, I felt my heart begin to race. I didn’t know what I would say to her if she
was
in there. What if she refused to listen to me? The thought of Annie rejecting me gave me a sickening feeling. But I couldn’t worry about that now. Cutting the engine, I took several deep breaths to steady my nerves.

I stole a look inside as I got closer to the door. I could see no movement, but I was still certain that Annie must be here. I gingerly reached for the handle and turned it, hoping that it would turn easily. It was locked.

Now I had a real dilemma. I could knock, in which case she could either choose to ignore me or simply refuse to open the door. Or I could use my key. For a moment I wondered if she’d changed the locks, but the key slid in and turned the lock easily. My heart pounding loudly, I let myself in.

The bell above the door jingled, and I thought my heart would explode. Trying to calm my nerves, I shut the door behind me, making sure that the lock was bolted before I stepped farther inside. Listening closely for signs of life, my ears were filled with empty silence.

Goose bumps began crawling along my skin, and I suddenly felt reluctant about letting myself into the store. I knew that it wasn’t technically breaking and entering. But Annie could certainly make this look bad if she wanted to.

“Annie?” I called her name softly and listened for a reply, hearing nothing. The hum of fluorescent lighting drew me farther into the room, where I heard a faint scraping sound coming from the back of the store.

As I drew closer, it sounded like someone was lifting and moving heavy furniture. I imagined that Annie must be moving some new purchase in from the loading dock outside, and I wasn’t far off in my assumption.

Her back was toward me and I watched her lifting one end of a mahogany dining room table. She was walking backward and pulling the table with her, the legs scraping on the oak floor. She set the table down, and I chose that moment to interrupt her.

“Annie?” She jumped back and raised a hand to her chest when she saw me.

“You scared the hell out of me.”

“I’m sorry.” Seeing her only made me forget about what had transpired over the past week. I took a step forward, palms up, and my stomach dropped when she stepped back and away from me.

“What are you doing here?” Her voice was hard, eyes accusing.

“We have to talk, Annie.” I kept my voice calm and quiet.

“So you just decided to let yourself in?”

“I’ve been letting myself in every day for months.” I fought back sarcasm. “You haven’t returned any of my phone calls, and I had to talk to you before Tuesday.”

“Talk to my lawyer,” she snapped, turning back to the task of moving the table.

I could feel myself growing angry, and it took some effort to try to curb it.

“Don’t be an ass, Annie. We have to talk.” In spite of my efforts, I could hear the frustration in my voice.

“No, Kate.” Her voice exploded as she faced me square on. “Technically I shouldn’t be talking to you at all. You are representing my husband in a divorce case that could absolutely destroy me in more ways than one. Does your client know that you’re here?”

“Of course not.”

“And does he know that you’ve been fraternizing with the enemy for months now?” Her hands were planted on her hips. “Or was I right in assuming that he put you up to this from the very beginning.”