to him. “You’re here.” Relief filtered across his bright red face and he handed me a stack of papers. “You just missed Kelsey Walker. She dropped off her timeline for the day Danny Pucci was killed as well as a list of character references.”
I kept my focus on him and not all the people behind me. “Sorry I missed her.”
Oliver turned back to his computer. “We have appointments scheduled all day. Go get coffee and I’ll bring the first client down.”
I leaned toward him. “What is going on?” I whispered.
“Your article. People want a scrappy lawyer, I guess.” He pushed my arm. “Go. Clark is already with his third client of the day. Get into your office.” Panic sizzled in his eyes. “Hurry before somebody grabs you to talk.”
Adrenaline flooded my body. I hurried through the doorway to our main hallway, waved at Clark in his office, and hustled to the kitchen where a nearly full pot of coffee waited. After pouring myself a cup, I walked to my office. Across from it was an empty office, and a quick look showed Pauley in there working on a folding card table.
I leaned in the doorway. “Hey, P. What’s going on?”
He looked up and then back down at the case folders. “There are too many people in the reception area. I am working in here. In here. In here.” He deftly stuck a label to a folder and gestured to the laptop next to him. “We are connected to the server. Oliver Duck puts information into the system, and then I create the case file here. Where it is quiet. Oliver Duck likes people. Duck is a good last name. Ducks are smart.”
I rubbed a spot of tape off the doorframe. “All right. Thanks, P. I’ll go meet with clients.”
“Shut my door,” he said, not looking up.
Fair enough. I shut the door and hustled across the hall to my office. True to his word, Oliver brought client after client in all morning, and I took several of the cases. I set aside some notes on the last case, which was a neighborly fight over land boundaries, when Oliver ushered in my Nonna Albertini.
I stood. “Nonna.”
My Nonna was a stunning woman who looked like a mature Sophia Loren. She had thick dark hair, sharp brown eyes, and wonderfully Italian bone structure. She was several inches taller than me and today wore a smart linen pantsuit in the green pastel family.
I couldn’t wear linen to save my life. I’d be a wrinkled mess by now, but not my Nonna.
She smiled and moved forward to take a seat. “Hello, Annabella Fiona. I’m glad it’s time for my appointment.”
I dropped into my chair. “Nonna, you never need to make an appointment. Never. I’ll see you any time you want.” I immediately moved all papers, notes, and case files to the side. “Please tell me you didn’t have to wait to see me.”
She shrugged. “I had a very nice time speaking with that Duck fellow. He’s young, but he seems like a good person. I think your cousin Macy might need a date for prom next year. It’s too early to know.” She pushed her glasses up her nose. They were rose gold with a peachy colored tint.
“Okay.” Duck was on his own with my Nonna. I wasn’t going to cross her. Plus, he’d look great in a tux. “What can I do for you?”
She leaned forward. “I’m here to work on our plan.”
“Oh.” I leaned forward as well. “Okay. I think you should invite Nick to the family barbecue on Sunday.” The two of us had banded together to match-make my sister Tessa with Nick Basanelli, the prosecuting attorney for the county. A couple weeks before, I’d puked into his potted flowers after being accidentally dosed with pot brownies, and he’d acted like the perfect gentleman, solidifying my opinion of him. “He has been to the barbecue before and knows a lot of our family.”
“It’s not enough.” She waved one graceful hand in the air. “We need a more direct approach. Since you’re such a successful lawyer, surely you have cases with him.”
Only my grandmother would consider me successful considering I’d been fired from my one job as a lawyer and had created my own firm out of desperation. “Well, I have a couple of cases against him from this morning,” I admitted. One was a minor in possession of beer and the other a trespassing case. “Not to mention my current case.” Although the