Perri O'Shaughnessy - Unfit to Practice

Nina sat up, disappointed, rubbing her forehead. “My files?”

“No sign of them.”

“Did you dust for fingerprints?”

“We did our jobs.”

Nina straightened up wearily.

“What I wonder is, were they ever even in the truck?” Scholl said.

“I told you they were. What do you mean?”

“Maybe you lost the files some way you don’t want to talk about. Maybe they’ve been lost awhile. Maybe one of your crook clients took them from your office and you invented this cute cover story.” She came over to Nina, looking down at her through those anachronistic reflective sunglasses, and said, “Maybe you’re lying.”

“I resent that. I told you the absolute truth,” Nina said.

“Yeah, like you tell the judge the absolute truth about your clients.”

“Like you never exaggerated a word in your police reports. You seem to have a problem with me, Officer,” Nina said. “But whatever you think of my work as a lawyer, what’s happened here is that my truck was stolen and I’m grateful to you for finding it.”

Scholl didn’t answer. The police radio blasted out a call and she went to answer it.

“I represent police officers, too,” Nina called after her.

Nina called Sandy. “No files in the Bronco. But the truck’s okay.”

“So the files have been stolen,” Sandy said. “I never would have believed it. The briefcase?”

“Gone. Thanks for staying late tonight.”

“I would sure like to know what is going on,” Sandy said. “Wish is coming in tomorrow morning. I cleared the decks for an hour.”

“Paul and I will be there. He’s driving up from Carmel as we speak.”

“Bring doughnuts. Cinnamon-sugar and glazed. Good for thinking.”

“Anything else?”

“There’s a Minute Order in the Cruz case.”

Much too fast. It should have taken ten days for the judge to rule. “Damn,” Nina said. “Physical custody to the mother?”

“’Fraid so.”

“Damn,” Nina said again. Defeat struck hard. “I’ll call Kevin.”

“Call later. Andrea called. She says it’s okay to come late. You go on over and visit with your family.”

A compulsive demon took hold of Nina. After finishing her call, she stopped at the first gas station she saw to fill the almost-empty tank, then ran the truck through the automatic carwash twice. When she got back to the office, she transferred the big box from her rental car to the Bronco. Sandy arranged to get the white subcompact back to the rental agency while Nina drove to Raley’s for cleaning supplies.

After removing the seat covers and tossing them into the back for laundering, she used an entire roll of paper towels and nearly a bottle of ammonia-laden cleaner on the interior. Sandy left for home.

Nina was exhausted, but the Bronco was hers again. Dark descended, and the parking lot emptied. Dinner would be waiting, and she would sit on the old couch and visit with Matt and Andrea and the kids, and gather the strength to call Kevin-who dashed her plans to procrastinate by driving up in an unmarked police car just as she completed this thought.

“Hey,” he said, leaning out the window. “Lisa called me to crow. I can’t stand this. What can we do now? Where can we talk? Listen, let me treat you to something at that Mexican place across the street. It’s true, isn’t it? I lost?”

“It’s true. I’m so sorry, Kevin, but I have to be somewhere. Of course we’ll talk. I’ll call you at about ten tonight.”

“Just a drink,” he pleaded.

“I’m sorry-people are waiting.”

“Sure wish I could say the same for my son and daughter.”

He had just had the worst news of his life. “I have ten minutes, Kevin,” she said.

They crossed the busy highway together, Kevin’s long legs in khakis progressing two steps ahead for every one of hers. Taking a booth by a window facing a side road with a glimpse of mountains, they were both silent for a moment. Kevin’s emotional hell had hollowed his usually blunt, fleshy face. “I have to hit the head,” he said suddenly and left.

She leaned back against the upholstery of the booth and drifted back to an afternoon she and Paul had spent across from his office in Carmel at the Club Jalapeño. He had work to do but blew it off in favor of a long lunch, later walking her down to the beach, removing her shoes, and spreading a blanket on the sand at sunset. She licked the salty rim of her margarita, remembering Paul’s kisses, thinking she would see him in just a few minutes. Right now, she wanted him fiercely.

Anything to stop thinking about the files. And the loss in court.

“Bottoms up,” Kevin said, returning. He downed half his beer in a gulp. She snapped back to attention. No way could she make this easy on him. “Kevin, I’m sorry. It’s true, what Lisa told you. The judge awarded Lisa temporary physical custody of Heather and Joey.”

Kevin leaned forward and jabbed a finger into her face. “There has been a huge mistake here,” he said. “I mean, huge. They can’t get away with it. I’m starting to figure out exactly how I have been abused by Lisa. And I won’t be abused. Not by her and not by her stinking lawyer. You know, there is absolutely no justice in this stinkin’ world.”

“It’s very hard, I know, but remember this was a hearing about temporary custody. The permanent-custody hearing is another opportunity.”

“That doesn’t happen for months. I already waited nine months for the temporary hearing. We both know how the system works. Mom gets temporary custody, the kids get used to her place, they get comfortable, they don’t want to live with their dad anymore. They tell the county investigator they want to stay with Mom and the investigator sees, yeah, it’s working okay. So now they have a known quantity, the kids are doing all right living with Mom, leave ’em alone, they don’t need another move. I’ve lost, and it wasn’t supposed to be that way. Now I don’t have anything.”

She patted his hand. But he spoke the truth. “I am also very concerned-” she said, then stopped.

“About the file you left in the Bronco? Yeah, I talked to Jean Scholl at the station today. She found your vehicle, no files.”

“Yes.” Nina looked at the tablecloth.

“You shouldn’t have left them there. Easy to lift. Hey. We all make mistakes. I made my own mistakes in my time.” He looked to the side, shook his head.

“That’s very kind of you to say, Kevin.”

“But my kids mean everything to me. You understand?”

“I know how hard it is for you. We’ll make sure you get plenty of time with them, I promise. Kevin, I’m going to ask you to do something for me. You should know this could be risky, considering your possible legal problems, now that your relationship with Ali is public knowledge.”

“Legal problems?”

“A potential statutory-rape charge.”

He flushed red all over. “It won’t come to that. It was consensual. She was nearly an adult.”

“It doesn’t seem likely,” Nina agreed. “But you should be thinking about the possibility.”

“What is it you want me to do?”

“Call Ali. Jeff Riesner said that someone contacted him. Was it Ali, and if it was, why did she do that? Why, at the very last minute? Would she talk to you about it?”

“Oh, geez. Call her? Her parents must be so pissed. Now that she had to go to court-” He took note of Nina’s face and a puzzled expression came into his eyes. “Would it help me get my kids? Could Lisa have stolen my file? It’s so complicated. I’m all confused. I get mixed up and I make mistakes.”

He has a big heart and a small brain, she thought, then mentally kicked herself. “Never mind, Kevin. It’s all right. I’ll find out another way. I just want to know if her appearance in court was somehow related to the loss of my files.”