In Firm Pursuit by Pamela Samuels-Young Read Free Book Online Page B

I prayed that Haley was just being overly dramatic. “Okay, let’s hear it.”
    Haley rested her forearms on her desk. “Porter just got a call from somebody in Human Resources at Micronics. Karen Carruthers is dead.”
    I could tell by the way she looked at me that she expected me to go into meltdown mode. It took a second for me to process her words.
    â€œWhat do you mean, she’s dead?”
    â€œI mean, she’s dead. As in no longer alive.”
    â€œHow?”
    â€œCar accident. Her car went off a cliff up on Mulholland.”
    My heart instantly went out to the woman. I had onlymet Karen Carruthers a few times, but I could imagine the fear she must have felt as her car plunged off that cliff. I had driven Mulholland once during a heavy storm. The street was long and winding with lots of blind curves. Rain or shine, it could be a dangerous strip of road.
    â€œWhen?” I asked.
    â€œFive days ago. She apparently died the same day you turned down that settlement offer.” Haley’s eyes were drenched with glee. “Some hikers found her body trapped inside the wreckage.”
    Every muscle in my body tightened in alarm. I might be able to keep Hamilton and Reggie from learning about those other sexual harassment cases, but I could not hide the fact that Micronics’s most important witness would not be testifying at trial because she was dead. There was no way they would settle the case now. They would insist on going forward, knowing that Micronics’s case would be severely handicapped by having to rely on Carruthers’s videotaped deposition to tell her story.
    I stood up so fast I suffered an attack of vertigo.
    â€œI guess you really regret not taking that thirty thousand, huh?” Haley said.
    It would have given me tremendous pleasure to reach over and slap the girl. If she had tried harder to reach me when she got that fax, this case would have been settled last week.
    â€œBy the way,” I said, grabbing my purse and satchel from the floor, “I didn’t appreciate you talking to Porter about that settlement offer before I had a chance to.”
    Haley nonchalantly waved a hand in the air. Her nails were a shimmery lilac. Yesterday they were a soft red. How in the hell did the girl find time to change nail polish every night?
    â€œExcuse me, but I didn’t think it was any big secret.” She raked her fingers through her blond curls. “He is the partner in charge of the case.”
    I did not want to argue with the girl. I just wanted her to know that if she was trying to screw me, I knew what was up. “And that trial strategy memo you prepared,” I said, “you should’ve shown it to me before giving it to Porter.”
    â€œDidn’t I copy you on the e-mail I sent to Porter?” she said with patently feigned concern. She turned away and started pecking on her keyboard. “I certainly meant to. Let me double-check my outgoing e-mails.”
    I waited as she went through her ruse.
    She glanced up at me and shrugged. “I guess I didn’t. I’m really sorry. I’ll send you a copy right now.”
    â€œYou should’ve been spending that time working on the pretrial documents,” I said. “If I were you, I’d be a little more careful about how I apportioned my time.”
    She smirked in response to my scolding. “I don’t know if you know it,” Haley said, “but my mother’s on the Ninth Circuit and my father’s a highly regarded political consultant. Both are Harvard Law grads, so I grew up reading legal decisions for fun.”
    â€œAnd your point is what?”
    â€œMy point is, I’m far more versed in the law than your average second-year associate. I don’t need to be micromanaged.”
    My vertigo returned. “Haley, I don’t have time to micromanage you or anybody else,” I said. “Just rememberthat I’m the senior