Page 9 of The Defense Rests
“Why didn’t you? I could have used a friend.” Now I feel like shit for staying away.
“Oh, baby, you should have reached out to me. I didn’t want to disturb your studies, and after some time passed, I wasn’t sure if you were still into the whole age-play thing or not. Also, I kind of thought you would have had a boyfriend by now.” My fingers curl into a fist on my thigh because I don’t like that idea at all.
Kai shakes his head. “No. I focused intensely on school, my internship, and establishing a reputation for myself in the law firm. No time to really play. I miss it, especially on hard days like today. After I left for school…”It wasn’t the same without you. Mybrain supplies the rest of the sentence when he stops.
I don’t ask about his hard day because I’m sure it has to do with me and Mr. Malloy.
“I don’t want to talk about the case,” I tell him honestly. “I will be going back to Rockport Ridge in the morning. I have some patients to see tomorrow afternoon, and hopefully I can meet with my lawyer.”
“I’m meeting my parents this weekend for lunch in Rockport. Do you have plans?” He looks like he wants to say more, but doesn’t.
“I think spending more time together sounds nice. As long as we keep it personal and not professional,” I add with another wink, and the blush on his cheeks pops a deeper shade of red.
He nods his agreement.
After dinner, I take care of the check, and we say our goodbyes when my Uber pulls up to the valet booth.
I have no idea what’s going to happen in this case, but the one thing I’m glad about, is that it brought Kai back into my life.
Five
Kai
Three days. It's been three days since I saw Shaun for dinner, and all those old feelings I had came floating right back to the surface.What would it be like to have him as a daddy now?Would he read me bedtime stories and make me nuggies for dinner? He's a doctor, so he would probably make me eat little green trees, too. Grownups always want you to eat your veggies.
Shaking the thoughts out of my head to refocus, I click on a folder containing documents that I scanned from Shaun's file. I've reviewed these a dozen times, but there has to be something I'm missing. This nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach. I click on the first document—Heather's initial intake form.
Scanning down the page, it looks like our client, Heather Maddison, visited Dr. Whitmore for an initial consultation after learning she was pregnant. Further reading of Shaun’s notes, it all seems like standard stuff you would do at a doctor's appointment.
Height: 5 ft 3 inches, weight 145 pounds, blood pressure 118/68, O2 99%.
The pregnancy test came back positive, confirming the patient's reason for the visit. The doctor performed an ultrasound indicating that Heather is ten weeks pregnant. The patient was referred to a nutritionist and prescribed vitamins.
Now this is interesting. Dr. Whitmore ordered a set of labs, but the patient refused to have them done at the clinic and wanted her primary doctor's office to run them. Dr. Whitmore agreed, and the patient filled out a medical release form–lab results only from this date forward.No other medical records were to be released.
Clinical observation: The patient presented with tremors and continually looked at the door. The patient apologized and stated that she gets nervous in new surroundings. Follow-up appointment scheduled.
Perhaps since she was new to the clinic, she didn't want to disclose all her information right away, in case she decided to switch to another OB/GYN later. That would be my assumption, since she became jittery during the appointment.Unless she was hiding something.
My cell vibrating on the table startles me since I am so far into the abyss in this case. I can see how lawyers get off on this type of thing. It's like being a mini-detective. So many secrets to uncover.
When I glance down at the phone, it's a number I don't recognize, but my instinct tells me to pick it up. A woman's voice, crisp and efficient, identifies herself as Heather Maddison.
How the fuck did she get my cell number?
"Heather, hi. What can I do for you?" I ask hesitantly but firmly.
"I tried calling the office, but Mr. Malloy said you were working from home and that it would be okay if I called you on your cell. He gave me your number." Did he now? That was nice of him.
"I was actually just reading over some notes on your case. How can I help you?"
"Mr. Malloy said we have a meeting on Monday at ten in the morning, and that the case will be over and the settlement will be signed by Dr. Whitmore. I wanted to hear it from you since you are now the lead." She sounded hopeful. "Do you think we'll get the whole settlement amount?" You mean the one and a half million? No, lady, I do not.
"I can't promise anything, but there will be some new updates for sure by Monday." I try not to reveal my hand, regardless of the type of case I'm working on. You never know when something will come back to bite you on the ass or get leaked.
"That's wonderful. I'll see you on Monday. Thank you for taking over for Roberts. He was nice and all, but he just wasn't getting the job done, and Mr. Malloy said he would reassign the case to someone a little hungrier, if you know what I mean." Wait. What now?
Hide your hand.
