Tempest - Kris Michaels Page 0,16
and warn him. She wouldn't use her computer again, out of an abundance of caution. She'd check out some continuing legal education videos as a cover. It would take her a few minutes and even though she suspected Cody was reporting on her movements, he wouldn't find her detour nor the time it took to obtain the CLE from the staff out of the norm.
She called up her phone and looked up the website for the 15th Circuit Law Library. There was a title she could rent which would convince her mother she was attempting to execute her wishes. The DVD, 42nd Annual Local Government Law in Florida, would work nicely. With her upcoming campaign, the topic would be appropriate should her mother's minions backtrack her actions. She didn't think they would, but she wasn't going to drop her guard. Not now.
The drive up I-95 took thirty minutes. She waited for Cody to pull to the front of the building and trot around the hood to open her door. "Will you be requiring assistance, ma'am?"
Surprised at the question she narrowed her eyes and stared at the chauffeur. Channeling her mother's superior attitude, she asked, "Have you earned a law degree? Have you passed the bar here in Florida?" She sounded exactly like Regina, and the realization repulsed her.
Her driver blinked in surprise and shook his head. "No ma'am."
"Then no, I do not require your assistance." She strode across the walk and ground her teeth together. She marched in and moved directly to one of the few vacant computers where she accessed the internet with the law center's log in. She called up the law center's website before she accessed the email account. Words she'd trimmed down and rehearsed in her mind were quickly typed.
> Drago's Deli. 12:15.
She hit send, closed both open tabs, stood up, and made her way to the desk. "I'd like a copy of the 42nd Annual Local Government Law in Florida CLE please."
"One moment." The librarian accessed her computer and then moved to a small filing cabinet to retrieve the DVD. "Ms. Grantham, I'll charge this to your account."
"That would be fine. Thank you." She took the DVD and carried it from the building. Cody opened the door for her, shut her in, and jogged around the car again. He parked in front of her office building thirty minutes later. She purposefully left the DVD on the seat as she exited.
"Damn it. Cody, would you please get the DVD for me?" She pointed to the seat. The man bent in and had ample time to read the cover and even open the jewel case to ensure the DVD was real. She took it from him and dropped it into her bag. "Be here at six."
"Yes ma'am." Cody shut the door and she headed inside.
"Carol, what do we have today?"
Her paralegal's head popped up from behind her computer. "Two meetings this morning. A family member of one of the donors from... March of this year. That's at 10:00 a.m. and then the pro bono case at 11:00 a.m."
Her mother had deemed it a good idea for her to take on pro bono cases about two years ago. Criminal law. Not her forte, but the cases which arrived on her doorstep were hand-picked. Obvious cases of misconduct, ignorance, or neglect on the part of the city and a firm foundation to go after a mayor who ran a city which couldn't get things right. Her mother's detail work in action.
"All right. This afternoon?"
"Nothing until 2:00 p.m. Quarterly video meeting with the rest of the corporate lawyers. Mary said her boss was in a hell of a mood, so there will be someone getting ripped to shreds. Remember everything so you can tell me." Carol waggled her eyebrows up and down and smiled widely. If she wasn't absolutely certain Carol's loyalty lay with Regina, she could like the woman.
"As long as it isn't about me, I'll take copious notes."
"It would never be you. No one would take on Regina Grantham, and putting you on the spot is putting her on the same square. That fool hasn't been born yet."
She flashed an insincere smile and grabbed her messages before she walked to her office. Unfortunately, that fool had been born thirty years ago. She was going to take on her mother, hopefully with help, if she could find it, but if she had to go it alone, she would.
The meeting with the lawyer representing the now bereft family member of