Page 101 of Maddy's Justice

“Do it,” Melanie said. “Find one.”

Less than half an hour after their meeting in the jury room, Cliff was in Brandon Stafford’s office. They were having an impromptu meeting with eight senior partners. Melanie was not among them.

“What do you think this bitch lawyer, Quinn, will ask for?” Brandon asked Cliff.

“I don’t know, but whatever it is, we need to pay it. Could be fifty million but we need to get this over with.”

“Are you out of your mind?” one of the men practically screamed. “We’ll be swamped with women claiming all kinds of bullshit!”

“We’ll insist on non-disclosure agreements,” Cliff said. “There are serious considerations and anxious people that want this over with.”

With that, the room went silent.

THIRTY-TWO

Marc and Connie were almost back to where Marc had parked his SUV when Marc suddenly stopped. He stood still for several seconds without saying anything staring at the back of his vehicle.

“What? We gonna leave or what?” Connie asked.

Ignoring her question, Marc said, “There’s something that’s been bugging me. Something in the back of my mind I don’t understand and can’t shake off.”

After a few seconds of silence between them Connie said, “And?”

“Do you have Melanie’s cell phone number?”

“Are you going to tell me what this is about?”

“Yes, do you have…”

“It’s on my phone,” Connie said.

“I need to call her,” Marc said turning and walking away from the car.

“About?” Connie asked as she retrieved her phone from her briefcase.

They were in a parking ramp across Fourth Avenue from the Government Center. To get good phone reception, Marc went to an open-air end of the building.

“Here,” Connie said. “It’s dialing.”

When Melanie answered, Marc quickly said, “Melanie, it’s Marc. Are you with Cliff, yes or no?”

“Um, yes.”

“Walking back to your office again, don’t let on who you’re talking to.”

“Okay, yes,” she replied.

“We need to see you. Go back to your office. We’ll be right behind you. Don’t tell Cliff.”

“All right,” Melanie said.

Hurrying along Sixth Street, Marc explained what he was up to.

“What if Cliff sees us when we get there?” Connie asked.

“Unless I’m wrong, Cliff Spenser will be in a very private meeting with the others, the boys’ club reporting what happened in court today. We’ll have time to talk to Melanie.”

“Melanie’s expecting us. I just talked to her two minutes ago,” Marc told the receptionist as he walked right past her.

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