P. Parrish - Thicker Than Water

“What did you tell him?”

Damn, he had forgotten that he had told Ronnie Cade to run interference.

“What did you tell him?” she repeated. “What did you tell him you could do for him that I couldn’t?”

Louis put up a hand. “I didn’t tell him anything. I haven’t talked to Jack Cade.”

“Well, somebody sure the hell did!”

A puddle was forming at her feet. Her mascara had left streaks down her face.

“Come on in,” he said. “I’ll get you a towel.”

She came inside. Louis didn’t know if she was shaking because she was cold or angry. He moved toward the bathroom, snagged a towel off the rack and came back to her.

“What did Jack Cade say to you?” he asked, holding out the towel.

She grabbed it. “He told me he would fire me if I didn’t take you on,” she said.

Great. .

“That’s not all,” she said. “He also said women didn’t have the balls to do what it would take to get him off.”

She wiped her face with the towel. “Tell me you didn’t put those thoughts into his head,” she said.

“I didn’t,” he said simply.

“Bullshit.”

Louis had to fight not to match her anger. What was it with this broad, anyway? He was willing to meet her halfway; that’s all he wanted when he had asked Ronnie Cade to intercede. He took a drink of beer.

“Well, answer me,” she said, her voice rising.

“I don’t have to answer to you. Or anyone else,” Louis said.

She glared at him, then threw the towel at him. He caught it against his chest. She stalked off toward the porch.

“Wait,” Louis called out.

She turned.

“Look, Cade has spent the last twenty years in prison working up a hate for the legal system and all lawyers.” He tipped his beer toward her. “That includes you, lady.”

Susan’s body remained rigid.

Louis took a breath and made an effort to soften his voice. “I went to see Ronnie Cade yesterday,” he said.

She took a step back in the room. “Ronnie? Why?”

“I asked him to talk to you, to get you to. .” he hesitated just long enough.

“To what?”

“Man, to back off,” he said, shaking his head. “Look, we’re on the same side here!” He paused. “I’ve decided to take the case.”

She was just standing there, staring at him. Then he saw her shoulders relax some and she brushed the wet hair from her face. Her skirt was wrinkled and she had a run in her stocking. He wondered if she had come straight from the jail to his cottage. He motioned toward a chair. She shook her head.

“I’ll get it wet,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter. The whole place leaks. Sit down.”

She slumped into the chair. “Why’d you change your mind about the case?”

“I don’t know.”

She gave him a withering look.

“It’s the truth,” he said. “I don’t know why I changed my mind. Maybe I feel sorry for Ronnie.”

She snorted out a laugh.

“Maybe I’m bored, maybe I’m broke,” Louis said. “Maybe I’m crazy.”

She didn’t reply and he noticed her eyeing the bottle. “You want one?” he asked.

She nodded.

When he returned from the kitchen, she had taken off her sodden high heels and was rubbing her toes. He set the beer on the table next to her and waited while she took a long drink. He watched a tiny rivulet of beer trickle from the corner of her lips. She wiped it away and looked up at him.

“Look, I could use some help on this,” she said. “I fought to get this case and I want to keep it. I’ve been working like a dog, but I haven’t got anything.”

He could see this was hard for her. “Can Cade fire you?” he asked.

“It takes some maneuvering, but yes, he can.” She hesitated. “I could use some more help.”

“You want me to work for you?”

She looked him in the eye. “Yes, I do.”

Louis went to the kitchen and came back with a fresh beer.

“So where were you planning to start?” she asked as he took a drink.

“I already have,” Louis said, sitting on the sofa across from her. “I went and saw Bernhardt this morning.”

“A real prince, isn’t he. You get anything useful?”

“Not from him. But Duvall’s secretary told me she thought Duvall was getting ready to divorce his wife.”

“The secretary? She didn’t mention anything like that when I talked to her.”

“I saw Duvall’s lawyer to make sure, some guy named Brenner.”

“Scott or Brian?”

“There’s two?”

She nodded. “Brothers. They come from good lawyer stock. Their father was an attorney here for centuries and went into politics as a state senator. He died a while back. The sons stayed local, kept the family practice going. They’ve made a fortune in civil work, suing doctors, insurance carriers and pharmaceutical companies.”

“Brian Brenner confirmed that Duvall was getting ready to draw up papers,” Louis said. “But get this-he claims Candace didn’t know about the divorce.”

“Oh, right,” Susan said. She was frowning slightly, like she was perturbed she had missed all this.

“I found out something else,” Louis said. “Candace Duvall has a lover.”

Susan’s eyes shot up. “Who is he?”

“She. It’s a she.”

It took Susan a second before his comment registered.

“Fuck a duck,” she whispered. “How do you know?”

“I went to her house.”

“She let you in? How in the hell did you find out she has a lover? Did you see them?”

“Not exactly.”

“She told you?”

“No.”

Susan sat forward. “Well, how, damn it? This could be important stuff.”

Louis shifted slightly, playing with the Heineken label. “It’s hard to explain.”

“Try,” Susan said dryly.

“I smelled it.”

She burst out laughing and fell back in the chair. She looked back at him. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“No. It’s true. Believe me, I know what I’m talking about here.”

She picked up the beer bottle, still chuckling.

“Look, I saw a woman at the house,” Louis said. “She was out at the pool, topless.”

Susan arched an eyebrow.

“Well, if Candace does have something going on the side and if she knew she was about to be dumped, wouldn’t you say that could give her motive?” Louis asked.

“Motive is not a requirement to prove your prima facie case,” Susan said.

“But money is important to Candace and Florida is not a community property state,” Louis said. “Spencer could have divorced her and not given her a dime, right?”

“Theoretically,” Susan said slowly.

“I thought all you needed was to dig up something to prove reasonable doubt. This doesn’t do it?”

“Only if we can prove Candace has a lover. And last time I looked, smells were not admissible evidence, Kincaid.”

She was smiling. She was enjoying this.

It took a moment, but he finally smiled. “Okay, so I’ll find the topless babe.”

Susan was still smiling. “Kind of gives new meaning to the term ‘the other woman’ doesn’t it.”

“No shit.” Louis took a swig of beer.

Susan pulled out a business card and set it on the table. “Call me in the morning at my office and we’ll work out a way to pay you.”

“I’ll go see Cade tomorrow and set him straight,” Louis said.

She nodded, like she still wasn’t quite comfortable accepting his help. The rain stopped. The sudden silence was deafening.

“I gotta get home,” she said, slipping on her shoes.

Louis followed her out to the porch. A strong breeze swept in from the water, catching him full in the face. He turned to look at her. Her hair was a mess, plastered to her head, but her face looked clean and smooth.