The Associate

6

Court broke at five when Lester Dobbs finished his testimony. Aaron Flynn said a few words to his client and packed up his papers while the guards took Dobbs back to the jail. After law school, Flynn had received no offers from the firms and government offices in Phoenix and Tucson. Desperate for work, he had applied to the Laurel County District Attorney's Office on the day a deputy DA resigned. Two years later Flynn left to set up a solo practice in a shabby storefront office a few blocks from the courthouse. He scraped by, paying the bills by taking anything that came in the door, until Paul McCann came along.

McCann planned to turn land on the outskirts of Desert Grove into a housing development called Sunnyvale Farm and he put Flynn on retainer to deal with his legal affairs. Flynn thought that McCann would be a constant source of easy money, but he was soon spending all his time on McCann's problems. First there were labor troubles, then Flynn had difficulties obtaining permits from the county supervisors. He was perplexed until someone let slip the fact that Martin Alvarez was interested in the land upon which McCann was building. Within months McCann was on the verge of bankruptcy and he blamed Martin Alvarez for his problems. When the FBI cut a deal with Lester Dobbs for his testimony, no one was shocked when he named Paul McCann as the man who'd hired him to help kidnap Patty Alvarez.

As Flynn was getting ready to leave the courtroom, Paul's wife, Joan, an anorexic woman with pale skin and jet-black hair, approached him. Flynn suspected that her physical appearance and high level of anxiety were the direct result of living with his client. She had filed for divorce twice, backing out when Paul promised to be faithful and stop beating her. Joan worked as Gene Arnold's legal secretary and it was her salary and savings that were paying Flynn's retainer.

"Mr. Flynn," she asked nervously, "can I speak to you?"

"Of course, Joan."

"What did you think of Dobbs's testimony?"

"Tough to say," Flynn said, hedging. He had learned that honesty was not the best policy with Joan. She was as fragile as a Faberge egg. Since her husband's arrest she had bitten her nails to the quick and developed a nervous tic in the corner of her left eye.

"You don't believe him, do you?"

Flynn put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Paul swears he's innocent, Joan. I'm his lawyer."

The answer seemed to pacify her. If she realized that it completely evaded her question, she didn't call him on it.

"I'll be a witness, won't I?" she asked for the millionth time.

"Of course."

"He was fishing. I saw him leave before dawn. He had all of his fishing gear in the van."

"That will help Paul for sure," Flynn told her in a soothing voice. "And the lab found nothing in Paul's van that showed that Mrs. Alvarez was ever in it."

The ransom money had not been found either. And the tracks on the logging road were from a stolen car that had been abandoned several days later in another county.

"I'm afraid, Mr. Flynn. I don't know what I'll do if Paul is sent to prison." She looked away. "He's not easy to live with. You know he's hit me and he's cheated on me. You know that."

"I know, Joan."

"But he can be so loving."

The way she said it made Flynn feel that she was trying to convince herself of the truth of what she was saying as much as she was trying to convince him.

"The night he proposed, he drove me out to Bishop's Point. We were alone. There was a full moon and the stars filled up the sky. He said he wanted to stay there with me forever. I believe he meant that. We would have been okay if we could have just stayed there."

Joan's shoulders shook as she sobbed. Flynn wrapped her up in a hug.

"Now, now," he said before releasing her. He held out a handkerchief so she could dry her eyes. When Joan handed it back, she tried to smile, but her lips just twisted and she choked back another sob. Flynn touched her shoulder again.

"Hang in there, Joan. The case will be over in a day or so."

"I'll try," she said, then smiled bravely and walked away, leaving Aaron Flynn very much relieved.

By the time Flynn arrived at his office it was 5:30 and his secretary was gone. Flynn was taking his trial materials out of his briefcase when Melissa Arnold knocked lightly on the office door, startling him.

"Sorry to frighten you, Mr. Flynn," Melissa said in a mocking tone. She leaned her hip against the doorjamb. "I believe you wanted to discuss the preparation of a daily transcript of Lester Dobbs's testimony."

"Yes, I did, Mrs. Arnold," Flynn answered nervously. He found it impossible to maintain his composure when he was alone with Gene Arnold's wife. "Why don't you shut the door and come in."

"Preparing a daily transcript is hard," Melissa said as she crossed the room. "I'll have to work late and it's such lonely work."

"Maybe I can help you solve that problem," Flynn said.

Melissa pressed against him and silenced him with her lips. Flynn grabbed the hem of her skirt and hiked it up until he had his hands on her silk panties. Moments later they were on the couch ripping at each other's clothes.