Ted made a quick trip to the bathroom and stopped at the water fountain when he came out. He was bent over swallowing cool water when a tall woman with severely cut blonde hair walked out of the women’s restroom six feet away. She strode past quickly—impatiently—without taking notice of him. But Ted recognized her, his whole body tensing. Jacqueline Clavette. She hated being called Jackie. The woman who was married to his ex-wife. She had survived the firm’s purge years ago—the purge that had none too gently ushered Ted out the door. The first step in his fall. She still worked there, handling estates, trusts, and real estate. Her wedding four years earlier had made the front page of the Style section in the Sunday New York Times. jackie and jill, had run the banner over the picture of the two women holding hands while posing in front of Turtle Pond in Central Park with Belvedere Castle in the background. Both brides wore white. Both were stunning.

Ted watched her disappear down the hall. There was no reason to be surprised at her presence in the courthouse; she was a lawyer, one of scores, no doubt, in the building at that moment. But seeing her there while he was researching a case that had her name on it felt like more than happenstance. At some point, if he was going to continue following this case, he would have to have a conversation with her. The thought threatened to give him a migraine.

Jackie Clavette was a tough, infighting opponent. He’d seen her in action. He needed to know a good bit more before confronting her.

-7-

-7-

Ted beat Lester to the file room by a long five minutes. Lester smelled like he had spent at least part of his break sucking on another breath mint. As it turned out, there was no reason to hurry. The line at the counter was barely moving, and the clerks seemed slower than usual.

“Hey, people! Listen up, everybody. I’m gonna say it again. No more than three case files per request. We are shorthanded today—everybody gets the flu on the same day for some reason.” The speaker was a bearded clerk who must have weighed in at 350 plus.

“They’re supposed to let you take five at a time, but it’s not worth pushing it,” Ted said. “The clerks will never be your friends, but it’s very easy to become their enemy.”

Lester nodded. “I’ve dealt with them before.”

“So you know.” Ted was becoming more comfortable with the decision to have Lester work for him. The man was quick and confident.