"It's illegal to put a device on someone's door without going through the proper eviction procedures, which take months. I pointed that out, including sending pictures of the device and the proper statutes, and the property management company became unnerved, offering settlements. I negotiated a nice settlement for you in exchange for not turning the documents over to the D.A. The key is to a storage unit with your other property in it."
Rox stared at the enormous sum again. "You blackmailed them?"
Not that she was particularly sorry about it. They were going to lock her out without her cats and do God-knew-what to her cats.
Casimir shrugged. "It's not blackmail if a lawyer does it on behalf of a client. Then, it's negotiation."
SHOTS FIRED
Rox drove on the crowded freeways while Casimir sat in the passenger seat, fuming. Traffic flowed and eddied around them, a rushing river of cars that Rox navigated, slipping from one lane to another.
Casimir said, "Why would Val and Josie do such a thing? Now, I am absolutely going to the state ethics board as soon as I can prepare the case. If they hadn't fired me, I probably would've continued to try to resolve the problems from within the law office."
"Yeah, they really gave us the bum's rush out of there." Jitters ran through her at the thought of losing her job, coupled with the huge settlement from the apartment's management company.
Too much adrenaline.
She glanced at the hills that rose on both sides of the freeway. Golden autumn weeds rippled on the steep slopes. If someone sideswiped them here, at least they wouldn't roll down an embankment. Ever since Casimir had told her about the car crash that he had been in when he was a kid, she had been imagining every flip of the car and the sickening shrieks of twisting metal punching into his little-boy body. She tightened her fists around the steering wheel.
Casimir asked her, "So why did you steal the token?"
Rox shrugged. "Just to piss them off. Josie goes nuts when one of them is missing. Those two assholes will hunt for hours for it before they go home tonight."
He laughed. "We don't need to get in there, do we? My laptop has a bunch of contracts on it, and it is at home. You carried your laptop out in your purse. We should have all the evidence that we need to put our case together for the ethics board. They should have ample evidence to decide whether or not to censure them, disbar them, or file charges against them."
"I just don't care. I hate that we got fired when they're the guilty ones. So I swiped it. Just to be a big ol' bitch."
Crack, a bang slapped Rox's ears.
The windshield spiderwebbed and split.
"Good Lord, that truck must have thrown a huge rock," she said.
The explosion of cracks in the windshield cut the road into a thousand pieces. Afternoon sunlight glowed in the cracks, making the spiderweb catch fire.
Rox squinted to see through the broken windshield and looked back to check the SUV's blind spot before she pulled over.
Casimir said, "Don't pull over. Keep driving."
"I can't see much of anything through the cracks." The car to their right had drifted back, so Rox changed lanes to get to the shoulder of the road. She pulled into the emergency lane and braked hard, stopping the SUV.
As they stopped, Cash's window shattered inward, spraying them both with broken glass.
"Gunshot. They're shooting at us." He grabbed her neck, shoved her down on the seat, and crawled over her, shielding her with his body. "Push the accelerator with your foot. Now. Hard."
Rox kicked the accelerator pedal, and the SUV lurched forward. Her cheek was pressed against the leather upholstery, and Cash's jacket flapped in front of her face. The seatbelt bit into her shoulder.
Cash said, "Release the catch on my seatbelt. I can't reach it."
Rox extended her fingers above her hair and found the buckle and the button to pop his seatbelt. She squeezed it, and Cash leaned on her a little more heavily. He laid on top of her, hunched over and peeking above the dash while he drove with one hand.
The emergency brake handle between the bucket seats was bruising her ribs, but she stayed mashed flat to the seats, trying to not move under Casimir so he could drive the SUV.
Another pop crashed through the SUV. Broken glass shot through the air, flipping over the back of the seat and peppering her back.
Rox wrapped her arms around Casimir's waist, trying to steady both of them. If the car flipped now, he would fly out the broken front windshield.
"Faster," Cash said. "More gas."
She hesitated.
More gas meant more acceleration, more speed if they hit something and flipped.
He would fly out the window. She couldn't hold him.
Another bullet slammed into the car. More glass showered them.
"Now!"
Rox shoved her foot down.
The engine snarled.
The SUV leapt forward.
"Come on, come on," Casimir muttered. He twisted the steering wheel, turning off on an exit. "Brake now."
Rox stomped on the brake. The SUV's tires screeched under them. They slid, and they stopped.
Casimir said, "Stay down."
He moved up a little bit, looking around, and Rox sucked in a deep breath of air when his weight lightened. She asked, "Are we okay?"
A crack, and a clang rang through the car, metal on metal.
"No," Casimir said. "Gas."
Rox stepped on the gas pedal, and Cash drove them through the streets, muttering directions to her. It was a miracle they didn't hit anybody, but after a few minutes, Cash told her to brake one more time. The gear shift handle beside her waist moved, and the SUV flinched as the engine shifted into the parking gear.
Casimir said, "I think we lost him."
"What the hell was that?" Rox asked, still clinging to his waist.
He sat up, maneuvering himself back to the passenger seat, though he still had one hand on the steering wheel and was looking around. "I think that sniper was the reason why Val needed us to get out of the office so fast. I am reconsidering my position that my car crash was just an accident."
"No shit, Sherlock!" Rox shoved at Casimir to get him off of her and pushed herself up on her arms. "I can't believe that Val is trying to kill you over this!"
"I'm not sure it's Val," he said, grabbing the door handle to pull himself upright. "I think she tried to warn me. When I argued with her earlier this week, she kept telling me that I didn't understand, to back off, and to make sure that you had no part in it. I think Val and Josie are either being threatened or blackmailed." He looked at the shattered windows. "Probably threatened."
A police car pulled up alongside of them, its siren wailing and lights glaring in their eyes. The officer shoved open her door and jumped out to crouch behind her car, her gun pointing over the car's roof at Rox and Casimir. She yelled, "Get out of the car!"
"Whoa!" Rox poked the button to roll down the driver's side window and held up her empty hands. "We were shot at. We don't have any guns, and we didn't do anything wrong."
The officer lifted her head so that she was not peering over the gun's sights. She looked them over, the sun shining off the polished brim of her hat as her head dipped. "Someone just started shooting at you?"
From behind Rox, Casimir said, "There was a sniper. How many cars did he shoot at?"
"Looked like a couple cars were hit. Are you folks okay?" she called across the top of the car.
"Yeah," Rox said. "I think so. A little shaken up."
"I'll bet." The officer holstered her gun and walked around her car toward them, though her fingers hovered near her weapon. "Do you need an ambulance or other medical attention?"
Casimir said, "I think we're all right."
The officer walked over to Rox's door. "Can I see some identification?"
"I'm going to take my wallet out of my pocket," Casimir said, his hands still raised.
"Yes, sir," the officer said, her fingers lightly touching the butt of her gun.
"And I'm going to dig around in my purse for a minute," Rox said. "It's kind of a mess in there."
"Yes, ma'am." The officer's shoulders had relaxed, and Rox turned away to root through her purse for her billfold.
Casimir passed his driver's license to the officer over Rox's shoulder. "I have additional identification and the rental agreement for the SUV in my briefcase. There are just a few other pieces of paper in there, a laptop, and so on."
"Sure," the officer said. "Move slowly, if you wouldn't mind."