Kathryn hung up the phone and let out a huge sigh of frustration. “Sorry to interrupt your lunch with Mr. Hayes,” she apologized, leaning back in her seat and rubbing her temples.
“Don't worry about it,” I mumbled, putting my laptop back in its station and staring out the window.
Kathryn frowned and stopped rubbing her head to look at me. “You okay?”
I shook my head no, knowing that despite my best efforts to keep my emotions locked up, they have to be written across my face. I knew if I said his name, I'd lose it and I wasn't ready to cry in front of Kathryn. I wasn't ready to cry at all.
“No, but I don't want to talk about it.” I took a shaky breath and wiped my hands across my cheeks to catch any tears that might have escaped. “Tell me more about the Dallas Disaster. Where are we going now and what do you need me to do?”
Kathryn evaluated me for a moment, and then nodded slowly. “Okay.” She leaned back into her chair again as the engine started to rumble. “We are flying aback to Chicago to do damage control.”
“What about Smith?” I asked, sitting up straight. “You said he had a heart attack—is he...?”
“Elijah's going to be fine. He just got out of surgery. He had a double bypass and is expected to make a full recovery.” She smiled at the good news and then sighed. “But there's no way he's going to be able to do this case.”
“I'm glad he's okay.” Even though the man had given my spot at the trial to Alexa, I wanted him to be all right. He was still an amazing lawyer. “Who will be taking over for him?”
“Derek Johnson. He's just getting to Houston now.” Kathryn raised her voice to be heard over the whine of the engines as they powered up for takeoff.
“Why wasn't Derek second chair in the first place? He's the one Smith's been grooming to take over all his criminal defense cases when he retires anyway.” It felt good to focus my brain on something other than Aiden. Work was something I understood.
“He was. His flight in last night was delayed.” Kathryn ran her fingers through her hair and looked up at the ceiling as the plane fought gravity. “It's chaos and I'm still sorting out the details.”
“You said the judge wasn't informed. Who was second chair until Derek arrived and why didn't they call anybody?” I asked. I couldn't think of anyone that stupid at our firm.
“Calvin was second chair,” Kathryn answered. I guess I did know someone that stupid. “What I'm hearing is that Calvin waited to inform everyone because he tried to convince the client to let him make the opening statements.”
“What!?” I nearly fell out of my seat in surprise, even with the seat belt on.
“Luckily, the client has watched an episode of “Law and Order” in his lifetime and realized that was a bad idea.” Kathryn sounded completely exasperated. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose like she was getting a headache. Given the mess that was going on with her firm, I would have been surprised if she didn't have one. “He refused, figuring that his lawyer having a heart attack was a good reason to delay a trial. This whole thing could have been much, much worse. But, the paperwork and publicity surrounding this thing is still a nightmare.”
“Calvin's not a bad lawyer, but I can't believe he would do something like that,” I said shaking my head in disbelief.
“He saw an opportunity to be in the limelight,” Kathryn explained with a shrug. “It's not often a low-level lawyer is presented with an opportunity to be on center stage. If he had pulled it off, he would have been offered partner at a dozen firms. Opportunity does things to people.”
“More likely Alexa saw the opportunity.” I almost felt sorry for Calvin. “Is he going to be fired?”
“Probably. We have to make sure that's what actually happened, and we can't do that until Smith wakes up from his surgery.” She shrugged without pity. Calvin had put the reputation of her firm on the line.
“Wow,” I mouthed. This was a disaster. “What do you need me to do?”
Kathryn didn't open her eyes. “You're going to need a pen.”
I was in for a lot of work. But, at least it will keep your mind off Aiden, I told myself. Except, I knew there was nothing short of a coma that would keep me from thinking of him.
Chapter 20
“Did you get ahold of the reporter for the Houston Daily?” Kathryn asked.
“Yes, ma'am. I scheduled the official interview with Derek's secretary and had the reporter send his questions to her ahead of time,” I answered checking off another item on my list. If I didn't have a calendar in front of me I wouldn't have known what day it was we were so busy. I hadn't been home since the flight back, yet I remembered falling asleep on one of the couches in Kathryn's office at least twice.
“Good. What about the files for tomorrow-”
“I got those done too. They've been faxed and I checked with the courthouse that they were received,” I answered quickly. “Now, you need to get going. You have a meeting with the Mayor and if you are late or reschedule your secretary will skin me alive. She said I would have to handle all the phone calls from him and you don't pay me enough for that.”
I got up from my desk and handed her the suit jacket hanging on the wall behind me. I could tell she was still in emergency mode and was having a hard time leaving the office for anything short of a five-alarm fire. Considering we both were still wearing the same clothes from two days ago, I wasn't much better.
“Kathryn,” I said gently as I put the jacket in her hands. “I've got things under control for at least three hours. Derek has been in constant communication and Mr. Smith is practically trying to run the trial from his hospital bed. You can go to your lunch meeting. Besides, he's is going to be here any minute.”