Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 173733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 869(@200wpm)___ 695(@250wpm)___ 579(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 173733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 869(@200wpm)___ 695(@250wpm)___ 579(@300wpm)
“But you rehired her.”
“Despite the fact that she tried to get me to do something for money that compromised my morals, because Dan has none, this is her job. It’s to make money. She’s also smart and savvy. I genuinely like her and I’m a loyal person. She got me my first deal and it wasn’t small. She’s otherwise been good to me. I also don’t like the whole “the grass is always greener” mentality. In my experience, the grass is usually not greener. It’s just different.”
“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” he asks. “Because that was a long pitch for Liz.”
“I’m convinced. Are you?”
“I’ll let you know based on how she handles this book deal.”
The elevator arrives on our floor, and we’re soon on the ground floor. We are crossing the lobby, when I have another one of those revelations I’ve been having: I talk to Reese about things I would never talk to anyone else about. No one. Lauren and I are good friends but there is a reason Julie is her best friend, not me. Since the whole Mitch nightmare, I tend to withdraw. I shut people out. I don’t call her for weeks at a time. I embrace alone so it can’t sneak up on me. But I talk to Reese. Once we’re in the car, my feelings for this man are begging to be named and swelling inside me. The minute the car starts moving, I turn to Reese, and this time I cup his face, and press my lips to his. “I just wanted to kiss you,” I say, repeating what he said to me.
He kisses me again, a long, deep slide of tongue that I feel inside and out, that swell of my emotions expanding between us is now ours. He feels it, too. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t want it to end. Our drive, however, is short, and it’s not long before we are out of the car and walking into the lobby of his building with my bags in tow, to find Blake waiting on us at the security desk. “I’ll make this quick,” he says, glancing at my bags, a hint of a smile on his lips, before he refocuses on Reese. “The secretary had some interesting information.”
“I’m listening,” Reese says.
“Fits of jealousy from Kelli. She also says that she heard the Wards arguing over Jennifer’s call the night she died. Nelson didn’t take that call. His wife did.”
“She’s on my witness list,” Reese says. “Will she say all of this on the stand?”
“Only if you make it looked forced and spontaneous,” Blake says. “She wants to protect Ward, but he’s protective of Kelli. She doesn’t want to end up fired. And she doesn’t want to communicate with you directly and risk upsetting Ward.”
“And you feel good about her?”
“Fuck yes,” Blake says. “I wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t.”
“The spontaneous thing is a piece of cake,” Reese says. “I’ll make it happen. I’ll make her feel attacked even though she expects my questions.”
“When should she expect to be called?” Blake asks.
“Friday. And Friday, this ends. I’ll call her and then the wife right before I rest my case.”
Blake hands him an envelope. “She doesn’t know it, but I recorded her. Just to make you feel good about her testimony. If you have questions, pick up the fucking phone.” He leaves, and Reese and I head onward to the elevator.
A few minutes later, we step in the elevator, and it’s not long before we are sitting in front of that view in the chair in Reese’s bedroom, listening to the tape with takeout containers on the floor. “She’s going to be a huge asset,” I say, after the tape ends. “She’s loyal to Ward. She really thinks he’s a good man and she’s got a sweet voice, which helps.”
“If she goes right before Kelli, it’s a brutal set up.”
“With Kelli outside the courtroom, I assume?”
“Oh yeah. She can’t hear Geneva’s testimony.”
“Do you want me to publish my column asking ‘Who Killed Jennifer Wright?’ or does that alert Kelli, that she’s a target? I think it does and I have something else in mind for tomorrow that I’m kind of loving anyway.”
“If you love it, then let’s go with the something else. Let’s keep her feeling protected by her husband. That way when I come at her on the stand, she’s taken off guard.”
“Something else it is,” I say. “What about timing? Why Friday for closing and not tomorrow? You wanted to wrap this trial up without diluting Dan’s poor performance.”
“Everyone wants to go home on a Friday. It’s my way of discouraging long deliberation.”
“Which is why you said it ends Friday.”
“Yes. And then we know the end of the story.”
The end of the story.
Because every story ends.