“I see, well, I’m not sure I can do anything about the arrest David, if the evidence was there to get him busted…”
“It isn’t that Diane, I wouldn’t ask you for something like that. If you busted the guy on solid evidence, and you can make it stick, put him in the deepest darkest hole you can find, bury him and forget where you put him.
No this is about him making accusations about my Aunt. He claims that she knew all about his operation and that she’s been acting as his courier to deliver the meth.”
“I see. Do you have the agent’s name?”
“I do,” I read her the information that Dee Dee had given to me.
“David, you’re telling me that you will personally vouch for your Aunt, with no hesitation and no reservations.”
“Absolutely Diane, she isn’t anymore guilty of this than you are. You have my word.”
“That’s good enough for me, hold on a minute.”
She put me on hold, so I muted the phone while we waited.
“What happens now?” asked Sarah.
“Now we wait.” Dee Dee said. She looked up at me like I was some sort of space alien. I started to ask her why, when Diane came back on the line.
“David?”
I punched the mute button. “Right here Diane.”
“I just talked to the agent in charge, she is pretty aware that your Aunt has nothing to do with Mr. Reilly’s drug business. She has a theory that innocent people don’t run. Since your Aunt dug in and was willing to fight, she’s satisfied. She would like Reilly’s car though. She thinks that he loaded up the car that Sarah has before she left for your house. Even if there are only traces of the drugs in the car, it’ll help the case. Can we seize the car?”
“Do you need to have a warrant, or just Sarah’s permission?” I looked at Sarah, and she was already digging her keys out of her purse.
“Since the car is actually registered to Paul, we just needed to find it and take possession we can seize it under the arrest warrant.”
“Have your Agent meet me at the house in about an hour, and I’ll give her the keys. Nobody’s been in the car since Sarah got to the house, so I’ll hand her the keys and make her job that much easier.”
“That would be great, David. I’m sorry that this came down on you right now, but I appreciate the chance to help, and I’m glad it was you and not someone that would’ve been in the way.”
“Thanks Diane, I owe you big.”
“No you don’t. I’m just going take it off the tab of all the ones that I owe you. Be safe and I’ll talk to you later. Oh, would you like the divorce papers signed? If you get them to the agent in charge, I’ll make sure she gets them signed and back to your aunt’s attorney.”
“I don’t want to know how you’re going to ‘make sure’, but I really don’t need to either. Just make sure that it’ll all hold up in once the judge gets them, okay?”
Diane laughed. “I promise no traceable blood stains.”
“Thanks again Diane. I’ll let Rachel know that you’ve re-extended the invite to dinner and we’ll get hold of you to try and set up a time, deal?”
“That’s a deal. I’ll talk to you guys soon, David. Take care.”
“’Bye Diane.” I hung up the phone and looked at Sarah and Deirdre. They were both staring at me like just come down from outer space now.
“What?” I looked at Dee Dee.
“Oh, I don’t know! You just called a Deputy Director of the DEA and not only did you dial her number from memory, you got through her secretary, whom you also know, and talked to her. She offers to let you to use her vacation home, invites you and your mother to dinner, and she offers to get the divorce papers signed. Then…and this has got to be the best part, then she handles it personally. That was un-fucking-believable.”
“I just asked a favor from a friend. I worked with Diane a few years ago on a case that, from my perspective was nothing huge, but it helped her career, so she said she’d be willing to do me a solid in return if it was within her power.”
Sarah jumped up and hugged me as tightly as she could.
“Thank you David, but what if you need her in the future?”
“It doesn’t matter, you needed the help now.”
“I don’t know how to thank you.”
“You just make sure you sign those papers. Get rid of this prick once and for all.”
“I can help there,” Deirdre interjected. “Olivia has the paper work, if you sign them now, once Paul’s signature is on them they can be filed and you can get on with your life.”
“Thank you, Dee Dee.” Sarah reached out and shook her hand. They each seemed reluctant to let go of the other.
We started to move toward the door when Deirdre called me back.
“David, can I have just a minute before you leave?”
“Sure, I’ll meet you out at Olivia’s desk Sarah.”
Sarah just leaned up and kissed me on the cheek then turned and left. I turned back and nearly collided with Deirdre.
“What’s up?” I asked as I grabbed her to keep from knocking her over.
“How did you know?” she asked in a quiet voice after Sarah had closed the door.
“Know what?”
“I couldn’t find out what Paul was dealing from the agent in charge of the case, but you knew when you talked to the Deputy Director. How did you know?”
“If I tell you, will it have any effect on Sarah’s divorce?”
“Not that I can see, no.”
“Okay then, there are a couple of things, first off he has no real property to grow on, he can’t be moving pot, and he’s too broke to buy something like heroin or cocaine, so no reselling going on, that just leaves making stuff on his own and the easiest thing for this dumb-ass to make is meth. The last thing is this: Who do you think dropped the dime on the fucker to get the DEA involved. And yes, I am invoking attorney/client privilege.”
“Sarah’s very important to you isn’t she?” She was staring at the door where Sarah had gone out a few minutes before. Something in her eyes told me to be very careful with my answer.
“She is important to me, she’s my mom’s little sister and Rachel loves her dearly, and yes, so do I. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect her or any of them for that matter.”
She looked up at me with tears at the corners of her eyes.
“What the matter Dee Dee?” I took her hand and led her to one of the chairs. She hesitated just a little before answering.
“I can’t tell you, it’s not professional.”
“Deirdre we grew up knowing each other, remember? We already know more personal things about each other than most lawyers and clients do. I mean seriously, who kept your secret when I caught you in the throes of an orgasm using the water inlets to masturbate in your parent’s hot tub?”
She looked at me and laughed at the memory.
“I’d nearly forgotten about that. I was so worried that you would tell my mom, she was always so uptight about that sort of thing. ‘Sex isn’t for fun, Dee Dee’ she’d say, ‘sex is for babies.’”
“Well, I’ll tell you right now she was full of shit about that.”
“Oh believe me, I know. It’s just that…” She looked up at me and finished. “I’m dangerously attracted to Sarah and I haven’t thought of anything but having her in my bed since I met her.”
I must have just stared at her for what seemed to be a long time. I finally broke the stare when it looked like she was getting worried that she’d stepped over the line.
————–
Leave a Reply