and turned my way through the paper maze until I found my little cubicle, from which I daily fought Big Oil. My paralegal, Miles, was waiting for me.
He took one look at me and zeroed in on my broken heel. “Oh my gawd. Not the Louboutins! Please tell me you broke that heel wedging it between Delmont’s butt cheeks.”
Miles is the kind of guy who sets off even the most recalcitrant gaydars.
“Sadly, no,” I said, tossing off the shoes and collapsing into my desk chair.
Miles crossed his arms and eyed me with concern. “Too bad. That would have been worth the loss. Did you get the continuance at least?”
I nodded, and Miles did the happy dance. “Woo-hoo! Atta girl!”
Our boss, Dick Richardson, heard the commotion and popped his head into my office. “Oh, good, you’re back. Didja get it done, or are you fired?”
Miles glared at him, but I was unperturbed. Dick talked to me like that all the time. He’s the kind of micromanaging, paranoid, jerk boss you want to avoid at all costs. His first name kind of sums him up. If I hadn’t been out of other options when I moved to Kettle two years ago, I never would have agreed to work for him.
“I got the continuance,” I said. “If you wanna fire me today, it’s gotta be over something else.”
“Hrmph. I’m shocked. ‘Bout time you won one. How’d you manage it?”
“I used my superior persuasive skills, for which he was no match.”
“You take your shirt off for him or something?”
Before I could figure out what to say to that, Miles chipped in. “She has other assets.”
Dick made a noise that was something between a grunt and a laugh. “Not the kind that appeal to you, I bet.”
Before Miles could launch into a tirade that might produce negative consequences, I said, “If you don’t mind, we’ve got work to do.”
“Yeah, get back to work,” Dick said. “I gotta go into Houston to pick up my new car, anyway. Settle a case and generate some cash while I’m gone, will ya?”
Geez. Another new car. This guy was living high on the hog and I was at home eating Ramen. What was wrong with this picture?
I waited until Dick was well out of earshot before dropping my bomb on Miles. “Okay, so you’ve heard all the good news,” I said. “Now for the bad news.”
His face fell. “Oh no. There’s bad news?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Pretty bad. We only have a week to prep for the next hearing.”
Miles looked like he was about to faint. I wouldn’t have blamed him. I might have already fainted myself if the sheer urgency of the situation hadn’t kept me moving forward.
Miles sat down hard. “We can’t find and prep another expert in a week.”
“I know that.”
“Good Lord, Chloe! Why didn’t you just come out and say so! You got my hopes up and called the boss in here and—“
“Um, I think he came in here on his own.”
“Whatever. Details!”
“I don’t want Dick to know about this until we have another expert in place.”
“Chloe, you are dreaming. Dick and Delmont and the whole PetroPlex crew have a poker game scheduled for tonight, and all his poker buddies already know! How do you think you’re going to keep it from him? This is not going to go well for you.”
“You never know. Maybe they don’t talk business at those games.”
“And maybe a leprechaun will fly up your arse and leave a pot of gold!”
“It’s the best I can hope for,” I said. “I might get another case to settle before Dick figures it out. We have the rest of the afternoon. And besides, we might be able to find and prep a new witness before next week.”
“But we haven’t even got all of Dr. Schaeffer’s research, and his place is a crime scene! You’ll never be able to get your hands on it in just a week!”
“Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures,” I said.
“What are you going to do? Break in?”
“If I have to.” Hey, I’d already committed blackmail today. One more moral breach wouldn’t matter too much, right?
“Girl, you have lost your mind.”
“Not yet,” I said, “but I’ll be there soon without your help. Have you found out who the detective on the case is yet?”
“Of course! It’s Jensen Nash.” Miles fanned his face with his hand and raised his gaze to the ceiling in a mock partial swoon.
Jensen Nash was one of the town’s local detectives. I didn’t know a lot about