Advice of Counsel (The Samuel Collins Series Book 1) by Debra Trueman Read Free Book Online Page A

asleep, it was with visions of
Landra in that hot little exercise number running through my head.  It was the
best night’s sleep I’d had in ages.

Chapter 3
    True to her word, Mrs. Howard was knocking on my door at 8:00 a.m. the next morning, and I found myself actually glad to see her.  Funny how a
man’s stomach can overrule his mind in matters involving food.  The stomach and
the Old Fella are a lot alike in that respect.  They both have the capacity to
think for themselves, almost like they’re separate entities within a man’s
body, and they can both make a man do things he would never do otherwise.
    “Good morning, Mrs. Howard.”
    “Hi, Sam,” she said happily.  She looked kind of tired and the
bun on her head was not as tidy as it usually was.
    “You doing okay today?” I asked her, taking the basket of
muffins and looking under the napkin.  Blueberry.
    “Oh, I’m fine.”
    “I’ll give these back to you,” I said, handing her the two
baskets and napkins from the muffins she had brought over the previous week. 
Now that she had me hooked, I had to make sure she had a good supply on hand so
she’d have no reason to cut me off.
    “What did you think of Landra?”  Her eyes were sparkling and I
got the feeling she knew exactly what I thought of Landra.
    “I think she’d drive me crazy if I gave her the chance.  She
conned me into taking her to some function Friday night.”
    Mrs. Howard laughed.  “I know.  She told me.  Landra is a very
head-strong girl, but you seem to know how to handle her.”
    What did they do?  Sit up the night before and talk about what
went on in my kitchen?  I dug into the basket and ate one of the muffins.
    “How do you make such good muffins?” I asked, deliberately
changing the subject.
    “I just have the best recipes.  I’m glad you like them, dear,”
she said, giving me a toothy grin.  “I’ll let you get to your office now.”
    “Okay.  Thanks, Mrs. Howard.”
    I was busy at the office that week and the first three days
flew by.  I wondered if Landra would call or stop by when she was visiting Mrs.
Howard, but I hadn’t heard a word from her.
    On Thursday, I made my way into the office around 9:00 o’clock
and returned phone calls for the first two hours.  It was just past 11:00 o’clock when Penny knocked on my door and came in. She had standing instructions
that, barring an emergency, I was not to be disturbed if my door was closed, so
I knew that the shit had hit the fan for whoever was on hold.
    “It’s Maddie Griffin, and she sounds close to tears,” Penny
said, pointing to the phone. “She insisted I disturb you.”
    “That’s okay.”  I picked up the phone. “What happened?”
    “I guess the company got their copy of my discrimination
charge.  Larry’s giving me such a hard time, Samuel.  He’s giving me all this
shit-work to do, and he’s saying horrible things to me.”
    “Are you in your office right now?”
    “Yeah, but I’m on my cell phone.”  She said it like sale
phone .  “Hold on a second.  Someone’s at my door.”  She put the phone down
and what I overheard next floored me.
    “Listen, bitch,” a man said.  “You try to bring me down and
I’ll make you look like the biggest slut on the planet.  How do you think the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s going to react if I tell them we had
sex in my office?”
    “Get out,” I heard Maddie say.
    “I’ll leave when I’m good and ready.”
    “Get out of my office, Larry.”
    “Sit down and shut up or I’ll write you up for
insubordination.  That’s better.  Now . . . here’s how it’s going to work. 
You’re going to march those big tits of yours right back to the EEOC and
withdraw your charge.”
    “Or else?”
    “Or else I’ll make your life so miserable here at Datacare
you’ll wish it was you that died in that accident instead of your husband.”
    Keep your cool Maddie .  Let that asshole dig his own
grave.
    I