“Okay, this is good. The prosecution can of course argue you were a mule for your lover.”
Nikko winced at those words, but tried to hide it when Ronnie looked over at him briefly before returning her attention to her attorney.
“Has he been arrested that you know of? I need his address, and the location of his hang outs.”
Ronnie gave him the information. To her knowledge, he had never been arrested. Her attorney asked about Gary’s friends and family as well. He was there over two hours and time flew as he quizzed her more about Gary and his friends. He took copious notes, his pen flying across the yellow legal pad.
Nikko, too, was listening quietly filing it all away so he could report in with his brother. This Gary Caldwell sounded like a real ass, and he cringed at the thought of this guy being Ronnie’s lover. The slime ball, pot head, let his girl take the rap for his stupid attempt at scoring some cheap drugs and having his own little stock pile. Fucking ass bag. What a no good mother fucker!
Nikko gave Ronnie a supportive smile when the attorney asked about her spending habits. Wanting to know about them in case the prosecution discovered she had more money than she could explain through college loans and scholarships, and her tutoring. When she told him about her frugal lifestyle, he seemed quite satisfied.
“Well, I think I have enough of a start here,” Mr. Stimson concluded as he began to pack up his papers, reaching for his briefcase.
Lou got up, and thanked him as he rose. Nikko and Ronnie followed suit both standing as well, stretching their legs after sitting so long. Mr. Stimson clicked shut his briefcase.
“If there is anything else you think of, call me.” He handed her a card with his office number, and his private cell phone number circled. “The best defense, Ronnie, is a good offense. And you have given me a lot of information. One, I’m going to hire someone to go to Maine and dig into this Gary Caldwell. Two, I’m going to roar like a lion down at the police station as to why the arrest reports make no mention of this Gary fellow you were traveling with, and your other companions for that matter. I’ll threaten bringing the press on to that fact to make them use some police monies to look into that route. They hate the suggestion of police ineptness getting leaked to the media, so I think they’ll hustle there. It’s all about planting reasonable doubt, Ronnie, and there is a lot of that in this case. And number three, I’m going to customs at the Port of Tampa, and get some video footage of that sneaky bastard leaving you in the lurch. That just might be our best piece of evidence yet.”
“Oh my God, that would be great. I hadn’t even thought of that,” Ronnie exclaimed as Lou’s hand squeezed her shoulder.
“I can’t promise the angles will be good, or quality, but if we get anything showing him slinking away, that will definitely be an ace up our sleeve.” He winked at Ronnie while he shook Lou’s outstretched hand.
“Won’t you have to release that evidence to the prosecution?” Nikko interrupted for the first time.
“By all means, and if it’s good enough video evidence, they’ll start digging too. I’ll punch holes in their case until they drop it, or in court I will make them look like a bunch of bumbling keystone cops who dropped the ball. Either way works fine by me.” He shook Nikko’s hand and began to head towards the door reminding Ronnie to call him if she thought of anything else.
She promised. When he left she felt better than she had in a long time. She had a defense. He was planning a great offense. And she had a smart attorney too.
When Ronnie’s attorney left a little after noon, Lou suggested they have a light lunch. Ronnie looked at Nikko eyes asking him if he wanted to stay without words, and although it looked like she wanted him to stay, he felt she probably needed some time to herself to process all that had happened. He also didn’t want to push his luck with her mom.
“I’d like to, really, but I need to go make some copies of the paperwork my brother left with me, and I do have a few phone calls I’d like to make.” He softened the look of disappointment that crossed her face by winking mischievously and adding, “But how about, I pop in tonight, maybe take you out for a milkshake!”
Ronnie tried to contain it, but burst out laughing despite her mother’s confusion. “Really? A milkshake! That’s the best you can come up with.” She rolled her eyes at her mom, who just smiled politely and went to the kitchen. Ronnie walked Nikko to the door after he waved goodbye to Louisa across the expanse of the living room.
“I’ll see you later, I guess,” Louisa called out shrugging her shoulders and began to fix a sandwich plate for her and her daughter. She watched Ronnie follow Nikko outside.