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

heard a door slam and Maddie was back on the phone.  “Did you
hear that?”
    “Every word.”  I had just become a witness in our lawsuit, a
fact that had the possibility of coming back to haunt me down the road.
    “I’m so mad I’m shaking.  I’ve got to get out of here.”
    “Don’t drive when you’re so upset.  I’ll come get you and take
you to lunch.  Where can I pick you up?”
    She hesitated for a second before answering.  “I guess in front
of the main building.”
    I looked at my watch.  “I’ll be there in 15 minutes.”
    “Okay.”
    “Hey, Maddie!”  I caught her just before she hung up.  “Think
dollar signs, and add a zero every time that asshole says something like that.”
    She managed the slightest laugh.  “Thanks, Samuel.”
    San Antonio is a culture all its own, with its rich Hispanic
heritage, and nowhere is this more apparent than in its cuisine.  In a city
where the breakfast taco has made the little brown bag an institution, and the
all night Mexican eateries draw as big a crowd at 2:00 a.m. on the weekends as
they do for their lunch crowd, Tex-Mex restaurants rule.
    The locals know that the best Mexican restaurants are the ones
that would make tourists raise their eyebrows.  From the outside, they look
seedy as hell, but these are the mom-and-pop establishments that dish out a
Mexican plate how it’s supposed to be.
    I took Maddie to my favorite hole-in-the-wall, and we sat at a
tiny table for two right by the window.  The décor of the tiny restaurant
changes with the season, and that day they had a paper chain of bright colored
birds draped from one end of the place to the other.  I ordered a deluxe
Mexican plate, which consists of two enchiladas, rice, beans, a taco and a
chalupa, and homemade flour tortillas on the side.  Maddie ordered a hamburger.
    “A hamburger?  I’ve eaten here a thousand times and not once
have I ordered a hamburger, ” I told her.
    “Mexican restaurants always have good burgers.”
    That was news to me, but sure enough, it looked pretty good
when it came.  I ate everything on my plate then sopped up the sauce with two
homemade flour tortillas, while we discussed strategy for Maddie’s case.
    It was obvious that her boss wasn’t going to go easy on her. 
Larry was an asshole, and that was all there was to it.  I just hoped he didn’t
turn out to be a dangerous asshole.  From what I’d heard on the phone, he
sounded like he could play dirty.  And while I wasn’t worried about beating him
in a courtroom, I didn’t want to have to worry about Maddie’s safety.
    “Do you think he’d ever physically hurt you?”
    “I don’t think so.  He’s the worst control freak I’ve ever
met.  He doesn’t like his subordinates to talk to any of his superiors, even in
casual conversation.  Almost like he’s paranoid that we’re going over his head
or something.  He’s definitely weird . . . but I’m not scared of him, put it
that way.”
    I gave Maddie a micro-cassette recorder to take back to the
office with her and told her to try to record any conversations when Larry came
into her office like he had done that morning.  She was in much better spirits
when I dropped her back off at Datacare.  I, on the other hand, was in no shape
for work.  Eat that much Mexican food for lunch and you realize why Mexicans
take a mid-day siesta.  Their food hits you like a sleeping pill.   I decided
to go home early and relax by my pool.
    It was a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky, and I had
just pulled into my driveway when Landra came across the street and met me at
my car.
    “Hi, Sam.”  She was all dressed up in a black suit with a short
skirt that showed off her legs and a matching jacket with a tight white shirt
underneath. She had done something to her hair to make it look really full and
it had this messy, sexy look, like bed-head.  She looked damn good and I
realized I had missed her.
    “Where have you been?” I said,