Trust Me (6 page)

The week went by quickly and Alaina found herself on a
plane to Washington D.C.  Since any investigation of terrorist activities
is considered a Federal matter, the issue of the subpoena for Tom Simmons'
papers was being heard in a Federal Court.  She would be representing her
father's estate while another lawyer would be present from the historical
society.  While it was her intent to argue her father's constitutional
right to privacy, the historical society intended to argue for donor and
archival privilege.  Both arguments were fairly solid, but whether the
judge would consider them solid enough to disallow the disclosure of potential
evidence related to acts of terrorism remained to be seen.  A
representative from the OAS was conspicuously absent from the proceedings.
Although asked to send legal counsel, by both the historical society's lawyer
and by Alaina, they had refused to participate.  The OAS had insisted that
the papers of Tom Simmons were not those of the organization.  Alaina was
sure their claim was invalid having seen the file lists relating to the
collection.  The file lists she had seen clearly described the papers as
minutes and correspondence records of the OAS.  However, the organization
was currently denying that these types of records existed.

By placing the documents in the historical society for
archival preservation Tom Simmons had been attempting to preserve those records
for future historians.  The fact that the OAS was denying that these
papers were part of the organization's records was suspicious.  Had her
father known there was information in the papers that could prove detrimental
to the organization?  Alaina had been appointed guardian of the papers to
grant access to them.  The instructions left by her father had been very
precise: individuals who were permitted to view the documents were listed by
name or by profession, such as scholarly historians.  Alaina herself was
not allowed access to the documents, a fact that until now had not struck her
as particularly strange.  For the first time she was beginning to question
her father's motivation for choosing to store his papers under restricted
access conditions.  However, now was not the time to analyze her father's
motives.
  It was essential that she concentrate on the
matter at hand, which was her impending appearance before a Federal judge in
two days.  She was flying to Washington DC and would be in court the day
after that.  It was her first time appearing before a high court, and
although Alaina knew she was adequately prepared, she couldn't help but be
nervous.

The Washington courtroom was old and very traditional
in its appearance, Alaina thought as she entered its intimidating walls. 
Dark wood paneled the entire room.  She saw Donovan Prentice as soon as
she entered.  He rose from his chair and walked towards her, and as he
approached, Alaina was once again hit with that overwhelming attraction she
felt for him.  He was wearing a black suit, which emphasized his broad
shoulders and narrow waist.  Did he have to look so attractive in
everything he wore? In an effort to appear as professional as possible and
downplay her femininity she had chosen to wear a pant suit, but next to his
overwhelming masculine appearance she felt downright girly.  Alaina
simmered inwardly, angry with herself for even noticing.  She felt a
growing resentment toward him for the attraction she felt, but quickly reminded
herself to concentrate on the case and not that dimple or his deep blue knowing
eyes. 

He held out his hand when he reached her. “Alaina,
it’s good to see you again.  I've looked forward to seeing you.”

Alaina shook his proffered hand, and he held onto hers
just a bit longer than necessary.  She removed her hand from his and
returned sardonically, “I'll just bet you have counselor.  I suppose I
should wish you good luck, but I really wouldn't mean it so I think I'll
refrain from doing so.  I hate hypocrisy.”

Donovan Prentice laughed
good
naturedly, refusing to take offense at her comment. “This battle is going to be
interesting,” he paused giving her that charming smile. “Good luck, and Alaina,
I do mean it.” He turned and went back to his seat.  Alaina watched him
go, aware that they would soon be presenting their opposing arguments to the
judge and regretted that they were destined to be antagonists.

The morning seemed to drag endlessly as she waited to
be called before the court.  Her motion to override the subpoena was finally
going to be heard.  She stood in front of the judge appearing confidant,
but far from feeling it, and began her arguments.  Judge Wallace appeared
to be in his early fifties and presented an intimidating presence especially to
a lawyer such as herself with only two years of experience.

Alaina began speaking hoping her nerves were not
evident to the judge, “Your Honor, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was
refused access to the papers of Tom Simmons by the Eastern United States
Historical Society on the basis of a donor-repository agreement between the
Society and the late Tom Simmons.  The FBI, in reaction to the refusal of
access, issued the subpoena.  Your honor, I have two arguments on which to
justify the continued denial of access to the Tom Simmons papers: 1) allowing
access would violate Tom Simmons First Amendment rights of association, free
speech, and privacy; and 2) that the Tom Simmons’ papers should be protected by
an “archival privilege” not unlike the attorney client privilege.

“The attempt by the FBI to gain access to Tom Simmons’
papers is nothing short of a harassment tactic on their part.  The
Organization
Against
Surveillance, of which Tom
Simmons was a member, was formed to halt harassment and surveillance by
authorities.  The essence of the right to privacy is protection of the
individual from government abuses.  There are several precedent cases,
outlined in my brief to the Court where civil rights organizations have had
their records protected through limited subpoenas.”

Donovan listened to her, impressed with her archival
privilege argument, but fairly convinced that the Judge wouldn’t buy it. He
knew she was stretching it, but really it was a brilliant attempt on her
part.  Damn, what was sexier than a smart woman?  He sure as hell
didn’t know.  As she continued to speak, he once again focused on her
words, and maybe a little bit on her ass as well.

“To return to my argument of archival privilege,
although an archival privilege is currently without precedents, there are
similar cases which recognize researcher privilege. 
Your
Honor, if archival repositories do not have the right to control access to
their collections, historical information will be lost for future
generations.  The right of freedom of expression also includes the right
of the listener to hear.  It is clear that if an archive is inhibited from
collecting material the public will suffer.  My Client, the late Tom
Simmons, was only trying to preserve the free flow of information for future
researchers.  We ask that the subpoena for his papers be denied. Thank
you, your honor.”  Having finished her arguments (which had been clearly
outlined in her brief submitted earlier to Judge Wallace), she returned to her
seat and waited to hear Donovan
Prentice’ s
arguments
with a little trepidation.

As Donovan rose from his seat, she couldn't help but
notice how he looked more like an FBI agent than a lawyer, although, she
thought that probably came from working for the Bureau.  One thing that
didn't coincide with the FBI image was his looks.  He was just too
striking to be with the FBI, weren't they all supposed to look alike? 
Thankfully, the Judge wasn't a woman, because certainly no woman could go
unaffected by his imposing presence.  Alaina was an example of that since
she was sitting here concentrating on him during the most important court
appearance of her life.  Maybe, she thought derisively, I'm becoming
obsessed with him.

Donovan now stood before Judge Wallace and began the
arguments for the FBI, “The public and the judicial process are entitled to
every man's evidence.  Full disclosure of evidence on the part of all
parties is necessary for the judicial system to work.  The OAS is being
charged with responsibility for several terrorist bombings across the country. 
Tom Simmons' papers represent part of the OAS' records and as such may contain
evidence pertaining to the bombings.”

“Any archival privilege asserted was canceled by the
act of allowing scholars to access the papers.  My brief clearly outlines
the number of times access has been granted by Alaina Simmons under the
specific instructions left by Tom Simmons.  There are numerous cases
illustrating that once information is disclosed outside of a privileged
relationship that the action of disclosure nullifies privilege.  The FBI
advocates that there is no legal basis for denial of access and asks that the
Court uphold the subpoena.  Thank you, your Honor.”  Donovan Prentice
finished his argument and returned his seat awaiting, as Alaina did, the Judge's
comments.

Judge Wallace shuffled some of his papers and
addressed both Alaina and Donovan.

“I will take both your arguments into consideration on
this case and provide you with my decision by the end of next week.  Until
that time, no access to the documents in question will be allowed.”

Alaina collected her coat and briefcase and left the
courtroom.  As she exited she was halted by a familiar voice.  She
had thought she had fled quickly enough to avoid Donovan, but it was obvious
she was wrong.  They stood outside of the doors to the courtroom facing
each other.

Alaina sighed as she said, “Yes Mr. Prentice?” 
Her tone definitely transmitted her feeling of annoyance at being delayed by
him, but Donovan chose to ignore it.

“I just want to tell you that you did an excellent job
arguing your case.  I was surprised considering your lack of experience in
this area of law.  Maybe you should consider changing your
specialization.”

“Mr. Prentice I wasn't even aware you knew I had a
specialization or what experience I had in a courtroom.”  Alaina was
annoyed with both his knowledge of her and his patronizing compliment.

“Please don't take offense.  Your court
appearances are a matter of public record and there’s a pretty thorough
description of your practice on your law firm’s website.   I always
make it a habit to know everything I can about my opponent and Google makes
that pretty simple.  Listen, the motion is over, and it's just a matter of
a week until the judge makes his decision and our courtroom relationship will
be over.  I'd like to try and put it behind us.  Why don't you join
me for lunch now?”

Alaina couldn’t imagine having to sit through an
entire lunch with this man.  She was convinced that her attraction to him
was only going to cause her trouble; after all, look at the effect he had on
her after only two meetings.  Was she a complete idiot?  She should
just go for it. When had she ever been this attracted to someone?  She was
definitely feeling conflicted, but she found herself looking up into those
fathomless blue eyes and saying, “I'd be happy to join you for lunch Mr.
Prentice.” She shrugged before adding, “I guess I don’t have anything better to
do.”

“Well don’t you know how to crush a man’s ego? 
I’m not one to question my good fortune so I’ll just pretend you’re thrilled
with my invitation.”  He paused briefly giving her one of those heart
stopping smiles before asking, “Don't you think you can call me Donovan
now?” 

What was it about the smooth tones of his voice that
could convince her of almost anything?  He had managed to almost make her
completely forget he had accused her father of terrorism, no small feat to be
sure.

“All right, I promise to call you Donovan, but don't
think I’m ready to put everything behind us.  This has not just been a
case, it's personal.”

Donovan gave her one of those intense stares that both
frightened and excited her. “You're right about one thing, it's personal, but
it’s nothing to do with your father.  We've both felt it from the moment
we met, or do you always drool over strange men you run into in the
drugstore?”   He wasn’t sure why he was deliberately provoking her,
but he really loved watching her get pissed.

Maintaining her composure to his question was
difficult, but somehow she managed it.  “I wasn’t drooling over you in the
drugstore you arrogant jerk.  You’re sooo off base!”  Okay so maybe
he wasn’t off base, she thought, but she wasn’t going to let him know that.
 She had been turned on from the beginning and it was nothing short of
pathetic.  She had to put a halt to it now since there was no possibility
of her developing any type of relationship with the man who was trying to prove
her father and his associates had been responsible for the horrific
bombings.  Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his laughing.

“Sorry, but you’re so easy to get a rise out of, I
just can’t seem to resist, “ he said with a shameless grin, “Why don't we go
get lunch now, and forget I said anything?  Besides we’re even, I was
drooling over you too.”  And just like that he had diffused her anger. She
couldn’t help but notice that he looked like he wanted to take her to his hotel
room instead of lunch. Alaina admitted to herself that part of her was tempted
to go wherever he wanted while the rational part of her rejected the
idea. 

With these traitorous thoughts passing through her
mind, she knew that the wisest thing to do would be to graciously decline
lunch.  Much to her chagrin, her mouth refused to listen to her sensible
mind so she said, “Well, I guess I've got to eat. 
Where
to?”