Chapter
Fifteen

On Monday morning, Kate heard her email ping and saw the message was from the Northern District of Georgia. Her heartbeat sped up as she clicked to open it.

Her eyes skimmed the email, and immediately she opened the PDF attachment that held the actual judge’s order.

Motion to Compel . . . granted. She let out a little squeal of happiness.

She picked up her phone and dialed Landon, who answered on the second ring.

“We won!” she said, trying to not scream the news with excitement.

“That’s great news.”

“It is, but we can’t be unrealistic about this.” She had to calm down and do a sanity check about how this would all happen. “Just because Judge Freeman is ordering MPC to produce those documents doesn’t mean they will—especially the ones that could hurt their case. But this gives us a legal basis for getting the information. So as an important first step, I’ll definitely take it.”

“How confident are you in the lawyers combing through all these documents?”

That was a good question. “In a batch of young attorneys, there are always some bad apples who don’t take the job seriously. But it’s impossible for me to physically look at and read thousands of pages myself. I have to rely on them, and the good thing is that now I can call special attention to this list of drugs. We’ll run a special filter that will pull in all the documents that have the word Acreda in them. I’m not holding my breath that we’ll find any smoking guns, but that won’t stop me from trying.”

“Keep pushing. At some point, they’ll slip up. They always do. There’s too much at play here to keep everything under wraps.”

She hummed in agreement, then took a chance and said, “You weren’t very chatty after church yesterday.” She’d just been happy he’d decided to come, so she hadn’t talked about the service with him afterward. It was important that she let him go at his own speed.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I needed some time to process.”

“You can take all the time you need.”

“It’s been a couple years since I went to church. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I almost bailed on you, but it was much harder getting there than it was once I got inside the building.”

She was so thankful he’d been able to take such a big step. “I know it was tough for you, and I’m so glad that you did it.”

“For the first time in years, I felt like maybe I could try to have a real conversation with God again. I’m not saying that everything is the way it used to be, though.”

“Landon, has it occurred to you that it may never be the way it used to be? But it could be different and better. You’ve been through so much that has shaped you as a person and impacted your faith. If you open your heart, you might be surprised where the Lord will take you.”

“I never thought any of this would be a possibility until I met you, Kate. I’d completely given up hope.”

“I don’t know what to say.” Her heart warmed at his words. To think that she could have any sort of impact on him, given all he had been through, told her this was much bigger than her. God was working through all of this—even using the crazy circumstances of this litigation.

“You don’t have to say anything. Just know that you’ve made a difference.” He paused. “But I don’t want to distract you from getting all your work done. Good job again on the motion. Maybe we’ll catch a break.”

“Thanks. I’ll keep you updated.”

“Sounds good.”

After he hung up, she sat for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. Her feelings for Landon were growing beyond friendship, but she didn’t know whether she should fight what was happening or embrace it.

Instead, she did what she always did, and went back to work. It wasn’t long before she was interrupted by a knock on her office door. She looked up and saw Adam standing there, smiling.

“I got the court’s notification,” he said. “Congratulations. This is a big win for us.”

“Come in and tell me how things are going on your end with the medical experts.”

He took a seat across from her. “Really well. We have two experts to counter the argument that the tumor was related to the father’s cancer. I don’t think any jury will buy that argument, but I don’t like the optics of it. I want to make sure our doctors are ready for that.”

“I agree with you.”

He grinned. “How is everything else going? What do you think of the role of lead counsel?”

“It’s a lot of work, but I knew it would be. I like being able to make the strategic decisions that shape the whole litigation instead of just taking direction from someone else. I also can’t thank you and Bonnie enough for stepping up to the plate.”

“Of course. I’m glad I can be part of the team. I know you and Bonnie aren’t close.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “I guess that’s blatantly obvious.”

He laughed with her. “Don’t take it personally, Kate. That’s just how Bonnie is. She isn’t close to anyone. I’ve known her for a long time, and she’s always been that way.”

“Thanks. Sometimes it’s just difficult because I’ve wanted us to click so badly for years.” She considered confiding in Adam about her suspicions of sabotage, but without any hard evidence, she didn’t want to start the rumor mill.

“For what it’s worth, I know you have a great relationship with William, and he’s the best there is at this type of work. But if there’s anything you ever need, I want you to know you can come to me. Including just blowing off steam about this case or bouncing ideas off me. You don’t have to go it alone. I know I’m tasked with the experts, but I’m always happy to help on the discovery motions too.”

“You’ve gone above and beyond, Adam, and I’ll definitely take you up on that offer.”

“Good. Now, I guess we both have to get back to it.” He gave her another smile as he left her office.

After all her concerns about Bonnie, it felt good to know he was on her side.

“Nicole, we need to talk.” Ethan walked into her office and quickly shut the door. He assumed she’d seen the email notification about the motion to compel, so she wouldn’t be surprised to see him.

She looked up directly into his eyes. “Is this about the motion?”

“Yes.” Ethan paced back and forth. “We need to filter all of our documents for those drugs listed in the motion, but I want you to pick a couple of your best people to review a subset related to the drug Acreda.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Is there something I need to know here?”

He took a seat and looked at her closely. Nicole was about thirty years old, having spent five years at the firm. She was at the top of her associate class and a rule follower. She might not be able to deal with a situation that called for a blurring of the lines. “It’s a complicated situation, Nicole, and I need to make sure we’re completely buttoned up.”

“Of course. Whatever you need. But if there is something going on, I might be of more help if I actually knew everything you know. I think there’s more to the story.” She leaned forward in her chair, her dark eyes concerned.

“I wouldn’t come to you with this if I didn’t think you were up for the job. All I can tell you right now is that I’m sure the plaintiffs have some reason to push this. I talked with the client and narrowed down the list of priorities, and we decided Acreda is the drug we need to focus on.”

“And why is that?”

“It’s the most high profile and at-risk drug on the list. There’s a lot of money on the line here.”

“What about the documents I brought to you last month about the side effects? I saw in the system that we still hadn’t produced them.”

“I’m holding off for strategic reasons.” Under her questioning, he could feel his palms start to sweat.

Her eyes narrowed. “But we are going to produce them, right?”

“I’ll make all those decisions when the time comes.”

“Ethan, I know I’m just a midlevel associate and you’re a partner, but I’m knee-deep in this case, and I’m the most senior person managing the document review. I’d like to think that you could level with me.”

He admired her tenacity, but he couldn’t go all in with her just yet. “There’s a lot going on behind the scenes that I’m still working on. As soon as I can fill you in, I will.”

“What about the other team members? Miles, for instance?”

“You know more than anyone else.” Which was true, and he hoped that would pacify her. There was no way he would tell Miles, because Miles couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“Thanks for trusting me.” She reached across the desk and placed her hand on his forearm. “I know you’re the partner here, but I’m worried about you.”

It bothered him that his stress was so obvious to Nicole. He needed to do a better job of keeping it in check, or at least not apparent to all who were watching—especially the client. “I’m not going to lie. This is a stressful case, and there’s a lot on the line, but it’s all part of the job. I just need to force myself to get some rest.”

She released her grip on his arm and leaned back in her seat. “Well, my door is open if you want to talk about the case or anything.”

How ironic that she was now playing the mentoring role instead of the mentee. She could have a bright future in the firm, but would she be willing to get her hands dirty?

Kate had accepted Sophie and Mia’s invitation for lunch and was actually excited about getting out of the office. Given that there hadn’t been other threats, last week she’d negotiated with Landon that she only needed a security escort going and coming to work and not when she ran out to do various things during the day.

Strange things were still happening inside the office though. She couldn’t find any rhyme or reason to it. Missing files, deleted documents on the shared drive, file folders put out of order. It was like someone was trying to mess with her head. And it was almost working. She was constantly looking over her shoulder at work.

She made the short drive from Midtown to downtown and walked into the make-your-own-salad place that was a favorite of theirs and spotted her friends standing in the long line.

It used to be that most of the city’s action took place downtown, but most law firms, including her own, had moved to Midtown, along with a lot of other companies. There were still some great restaurants downtown, though, and it was an easy trip. She was only about five minutes late because of some random construction. At least they were holding a place for her.

“Hey,” Sophie said. “Mia told me you killed it in court last week.”

Kate shook her head. “Mia is being over complimentary.”

“Nope. Kate is being too humble, as usual. And I heard through the grapevine that the judge ruled in your favor.”

“That’s a very active grapevine,” she said.

Mia nodded. “You know how everyone in our community talks.”

They got their food and took a seat. Kate had gotten her favorite southwestern salad with grilled chicken.

Mia leaned toward Sophie. “I also got to meet the mysterious PI Kate told us about.”

“Do tell,” Sophie said.

Kate laughed. “Don’t even start again, you two.”

Sophie lifted a hand. “Kate, be quiet. I want to hear what Mia has to say.”

Mia’s brown eyes sparkled with excitement. “Landon is a total head turner. Tall with dark hair and eyes. Built like an Army Ranger for sure. And it seemed to me that he was quite protective of our Kate. He never took his eyes off her the whole time and was right by her side when the hearing ended.”

“You two are creating scenarios that don’t exist,” Kate said. Or at least she wasn’t sure if she wanted them to exist.

“If there’s nothing between you yet, there will be soon,” Mia said. “Believe me, I can tell these things. There was a lot of chemistry between you two. Major sparks.”

“For right now, we’re getting to know each other as friends and colleagues.” She stabbed a piece of chicken with her fork and dipped it into the southwest dressing. She loved her friends, but they were relentless about her nonexistent love life. “If you had come to church on Sunday, Soph, you would’ve met him.”

Sophie’s eyes widened. “I had a friend from work singing her first solo at her church, so I wanted to go watch and support her.” She paused. “Does he go somewhere else normally?”

“No. He’s been on a bit of a break from church. Kind of like Mia.” Kate arched an eyebrow at Mia.

“It’s hard to go on a break from something you never did in the first place,” Mia said. “And on that note, we can shift topics, because I don’t want to get into it with you lovely ladies today. So, Kate, you’re off the hook about Landon.” She paused. “At least for now.”

“Thanks. I wanted to get your take on something else,” she said.

“What?” They answered in unison.

She described all the strange things that had been happening to her in the office. “Do you think Bonnie could do something like that? Or do you think it’s the disgruntled junior associate? Or someone else entirely?”

“What about someone on the support staff?” Mia asked. “You’re so kind and respectful, but with so much pressure on you, is it possible you could’ve rubbed someone the wrong way and now they’re acting out?”

Kate racked her brain. “I don’t think so. I can’t think of any heated encounters I’ve had with anyone. And my assistant Beth is a sweetheart. She’d never do anything to hurt me in any way.”

“I’d say it’s Bonnie,” Sophie said. “That woman has had it out for you from day one. She can’t handle someone else stealing her thunder, and she sees you as a major threat to her power base at the firm.”

Mia shook her head. “I disagree. Partners care about winning because it impacts their bottom lines. She would be hurting herself by trying to throw you off. That doesn’t make sense to me. It’s wouldn’t be a rational thing for her to do.”

Sophie shifted in her seat. “Hey, not everyone always acts rationally, especially when emotions run high.”

The conversation lightened up a bit as Sophie told a story about a trial mishap with a forgetful witness, but they all had a lot of work waiting for them, so they ate and then said their good-byes.

Kate walked to the public garage next door to the salad place. She pulled out her parking ticket and stuck it into the self-serve kiosk along with the validation ticket from the restaurant. It spit a validated ticket back at her so she could get out of the garage.

Since it was just two flights up, she opted for the stairs. Walking after all the sitting she’d been doing lately would do her good. She probably could have done without the extra dressing, but it was her absolute favorite.

She’d made it up the first flight when she heard loud footsteps coming up quickly behind her. In a sudden burst of fear, she tried to take the steps two at a time to get away, but she only made it partway up the second flight before someone grabbed her low ponytail and jerked her backward.

She screamed as she lost her balance. She started to fall and grasped the side railing just enough to slow her down as she tumbled backward and landed across the stairs on her back.

The impact knocked the wind out of her, and she gasped for air. She looked frantically around, afraid she’d see a menacing figure looming over her, but there was no one. The person who had done this to her was long gone.

Disoriented, she tried to sit up, and a wave of nausea washed over her.

The attacker hadn’t taken her purse, which made her think this wasn’t a random robbery. It was MPC again. They were coming after her. She could have been seriously injured if she hadn’t broken her fall with the railing. Her back and lower body had taken the brunt of the impact.

She sat on the stairs instead of trying to stand and dialed Landon. He was going to be angry because she was the one who insisted she didn’t need around-the-clock security. But after the court’s ruling, maybe MPC was going to step up its efforts against her.

One thing she was certain of, she shouldn’t be driving and most likely needed to be checked out by a doctor.

“Hello,” Landon said.

“Landon, it’s Kate. There’s been another incident.”

Landon felt sick to his stomach. He should never have agreed to Kate’s suggestion that they lighten the security detail.

When the doctor told him that Kate was going to be fine, but that she was fortunate, as it could have been extremely serious, it really hit him. He had to put her safety above all other considerations.

Upon Kate’s insistence, they hadn’t been totally forthcoming with the doctor about how she got hurt. She was still worried about the possible media attention that could surround her and the case if this got out.

MPC was targeting Kate. This attack had to be a reaction to the negative ruling the court had given. That much was clear to him. But if they had Ellie killed off, why were they taking a different tack with Kate? Maybe they felt actually taking Kate out was too risky. Plus, another lawyer could simply step in and take over her job. But if they shook her up enough instead, it could knock her off her game, making her perform poorly at trial, or push her into accepting a low settlement. This possibility made the most sense to Landon. They wanted to prevail in the litigation. That was MPC’s chief priority.

Kate had strict orders to rest, so he drove her home and double-checked the security of her house. When he was satisfied, he found her sitting on the couch.

“The house is all good. You should probably go lie down.”

“I want to talk first.”

He took a seat right beside her. “You could’ve been severely injured.”

“I know. And I’m sorry. I’m the one who pushed you to loosen up the security schedule, so I feel responsible for this.”

He put his hand on her knee. “Kate, you are not responsible. You’re the victim here. I should’ve stuck to my guns about your security protocol. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s me. I’m the expert, but I haven’t been acting like one.”

“Let’s not pass the blame between us, then, but instead think about how we move forward. I have so much work to do to prepare for trial.”

“But if you’re not at full strength, you won’t be able to do what you need to.”

“I think MPC is angry about the court ruling.” She sighed. “They want to show me that they’re serious about pushing this trial off track, and they’re willing to take pretty drastic action against me to make that happen.”

He was about to go down a difficult road, but if today had shown him anything, it was that security trumped everything else. “You’re not going to like this question, but I have to ask it anyway. Given everything that’s happened, do you think there’s any way that Ethan is involved in all of this?”

She looked at him with a furrowed brow. “I can’t believe Ethan would try to hurt me. I just can’t.”

“And you’re sure you don’t want to go to the police?”

“I don’t. We’re too close to trial to have any publicity that isn’t focused on the case. We have a good idea where the threat is coming from, so I just need your help to keep me safe.”

He gave her a reassuring nod but mentally made a note to talk to Cooper. “Well, after this incident, you can’t be alone like that again. It’s just way too dangerous. I let my guard down once, but it won’t happen again.”

Kate looked away. “Arguing in the courtroom, I’ve got that. But being physically attacked—I don’t know if I’m equipped to handle all of this.” Her voice cracked, and a single tear slid down her cheek.

He gently brushed the tear away, wanting to take away her fears. And angry with himself for allowing her to feel this pain. “I won’t fail you again, Kate. We’re going to get your security tightened up so you can do what you do best.” He rested his hand on her cheek.

She placed her hand on top of his. “MPC wants to strike fear into my heart and impact my ability to litigate the case. I’ve never heard of anything like this before. None of my other cases have prepared me for what I’m facing now, and I’m trying to put on a brave face, but . . .”

“But what?”

“I’m afraid.”

Her words tore him up. He couldn’t help himself as he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. Her hands fisted in his shirt. “No one is going to hurt you again, Kate. That I promise you.”

As he sat there, holding her, he thought about his vow to keep her safe. Feeling this woman in his arms hit him deep inside. She was looking to him for protection. But he realized he couldn’t do it alone.

He did something he hadn’t done in years. He prayed.