The Judge’s List

24

The lazy Saturday morning was interrupted twice before Lacy made it to the coffee pot. The first call awakened her at three minutes after eight. Caller unknown, potential spam. In other words, don’t answer. But something said do it, and if it happened to be a robocall she could simply hang up, as always.

“Good morning, Lacy,” Jeri said softly.

A flash of anger passed quickly as Lacy controlled herself. “Good morning, Jeri. What’s the occasion?”

“Just thinking about you, a lot, these days. How are you?”

“Well, I was sleeping, Jeri, before you called. It’s Saturday, a day off, and I’m not working today. I thought I had explained this.”

“I’m sorry, Lacy,” Jeri said, in a tone that conveyed anything but remorse. “Why does it have to be considered work? Why can’t we talk as friends?”

“Because we’re not friends yet, Jeri. We are acquaintances who met for the first time about a month ago. We may become friends one day, once the work that brought us together is finished, but we’re not there yet.”

“I see.”

“The word ‘friend’ gets tossed around loosely, don’t you think?”

“I suppose.”

“And whatever the reason for this call, it’s not about friendship. It’s probably on the business side.”

“It is, Lacy. And I’m sorry to bother you.”

“It’s Saturday morning, Jeri, and I was sleeping.”

“Got it. Look, I’ll hang up now, but first let me say what I want. Okay?”

“Sure.”

“There is a good chance that Bannick knows about the complaint and knows that you’re digging through his past. I can’t prove this, but I have come to believe that he has some type of superpower, extrasensory, something. I don’t know. But he is extremely bright and diligent, and well, I guess I might be a bit paranoid. I’ve been living with him for so long I just assume that he’s everywhere. Be careful, Lacy. If he knows you’re on his trail he might do anything.”

“I’ve thought about that, Jeri.”

“Okay. Goodbye.”

She was gone, and Lacy immediately felt lousy for being so abrupt. The poor woman was a wreck and had been for many years, and Lacy should have been more patient.

But it was early Saturday morning.

She closed her eyes and was thinking about more sleep, but the dog was making noises. She was thinking about Allie and how nice it would be to have him beside her. And, wide awake now, she was thinking about Jeri Crosby and the sadness of her life.

What she wasn’t thinking about was her older brother and only sibling. When Gunther called not ten minutes after Jeri, Lacy had a hunch that her carefree day would not go as planned. He said he had a new airplane he wanted to show off, and with the weather perfectly gorgeous on this spring day he had the urge to fly down and take his kid sister to lunch. “I’m on the runway, taking off now, landing in Tallahassee in eighty-four minutes. Meet me at the airport.”

It was so typical of Gunther. The world revolved around him and everyone else was just an extra. She fed and let out the dog, threw on some jeans, brushed her teeth, and headed to the airport, her quiet Saturday shot to hell. But she wasn’t really surprised. Nothing about her brother was surprising. He was an avid pilot who swapped airplanes almost as fast as he bought and sold sports cars. He ran the women hard too, and the bankers and investors. When the markets were up he burned cash, and when things went flat he kept borrowing until he couldn’t. Even when the demand was high for his strip malls and tract housing, he seemed to totter along the edge of financial disaster. Because he was known to embellish and outright fabricate, Lacy had lost count of the times he had filed for bankruptcy. She thought there were three, along with his two divorces, and one near-indictment.

But regardless of his problems, Gunther slept hard every night and attacked each day with enthusiasm and confidence. His zest for life was contagious, and if he found himself in the mood to fly in for lunch there was no way to stop him, regardless of what she had planned.

Waiting in the private terminal, watching the small planes come and go while sipping a cup of bad coffee, she both dreaded and looked forward to seeing Gunther. With both parents gone now, they needed each other. Both were single and childless and it certainly looked as if they would be the family’s last generation. Trudy, their mother’s sister, was trying to become the matriarch and getting too involved. Lacy and Gunther were united in their resistance.

But she wasn’t exactly thrilled to see him, because he had too many opinions about almost everything. Since her car wreck, he’d had far too much to say about her lawsuit, her lawyer, their legal strategies. He thought she was wasting her time at BJC. He wasn’t too keen on Allie Pacheco, though this was a reaction to Lacy’s dislike of every girlfriend he had dared introduce her to. He thought Tallahassee was a hick town and she should move to Atlanta. He disapproved of her current car. And so on.

There he was, crawling out of a sleek little plane, bounding down from the wing with no luggage, no briefcase, a playboy out for a spin and a nice lunch. They hugged in the doorway and left the terminal.

As soon as he buckled up he said, “Still driving this cheap little thing?”

“Look, Gunther, it’s great to see you, as always. But the last thing I want to hear today is a steady stream of bitching about my life. Car included. Got that?”

“Wow, Sis. You wake up on the wrong side?”

“I did.”

“Did you see my airplane? Isn’t it a beauty?”

“I did. It’s lovely as far as airplanes go.”

“Bought it last month from a guy whose wife caught him cheating. Sad.”

Gunther was anything but sad. “What is it?” she asked, but only because she had to.

“A Socata TBM 700 turboprop, all the bells and whistles. Think of a Ferrari with wings. Three hundred miles an hour. Got a real deal.”

A real deal for Gunther meant that he had convinced yet another banker to make a loan. “Sounds exciting. Looks pretty small.”

“Seats four, that’s plenty for me. You wanna go for a spin?”

“I thought we were doing lunch.” Lacy had been his passenger on two occasions and that was enough. Gunther was a serious pilot who didn’t play around and take chances, but he was still Gunther.

“Right,” he said, suddenly checking his phone. When he put it away he asked, “How’s Allie? Still seeing him?”

“I am, hot and heavy. Who’s your new squeeze?”

“Which one? Look, I think it’s time for this guy to either make a move or move on. It’s been, what, two years now?”

“Oh, so you’ve got marriage all figured out?”

Gunther burst out laughing and, after a beat, Lacy did too. The idea of him giving advice on the romantic front was indeed humorous.

“Okay, no more of that. You talked to Aunt Trudy lately? Where are we going?”

“Home, so I can shower and brush my teeth. Didn’t have enough time earlier.”

“How can you dawdle around so on such a gorgeous Saturday morning?”

“No, I have not talked to Trudy. I owe her a phone call. You?”

“No, I’m ducking her too. Poor thing. She’s lost without Mom. They were best friends and now she’s stuck with that husband of hers.”

“Ronald’s okay.”

“He’s a creep and you know it. They really don’t like each other but I guess after fifty years they can’t get out.”

“Let’s talk about something else. How’s business these days?”

“I’d rather talk about Ronald.”

“Pretty bad, huh?”

“No, actually I’m killing it. I need some help, Lacy, and I want you to come to Atlanta and work with me. Bright lights, big city, much more to do. We’ll make a fortune and there are a dozen great guys I could introduce you to.”

“I’m not sure I want to date your friends.”

“Come on, Lacy. Trust me. These guys have money and they’re going places. How much does Allie make a year with the FBI?”

“I have no idea and I don’t care.”

“Not much. He’s working for the government.”

“So am I.”

“That’s my point. You can do better. Most of these guys are already millionaires who own their own companies. They have everything.”

“Yeah, including alimony and child support.”

Gunther laughed and said, “Okay, some of that.”

Of course his phone rang, and he was soon lost in a tense conversation about a line of credit. On Saturday morning?

He was still on the phone when she parked near her apartment. They went inside and she left him in the den as she headed for her upstairs bedroom.

Lunch was outdoors on a shaded terrace at an upscale restaurant, far away from downtown. Lacy talked the reservationist into an early table, primarily because she was still hoping to salvage some of her afternoon, alone. They were seated at eleven thirty and the terrace was deserted.

They ordered iced tea for starters, with Lacy quickly going first. If Gunther ordered his usual bottle of wine, then he wouldn’t be flying that afternoon. She was relieved when he ignored the wine list and commented on the menu. Usually, when dining in her town, he made some pithy comment on the lack of good food. Atlanta, again, was far superior. But he let it pass and settled on a crab salad. Lacy ordered grilled shrimp.

“You still eat like a bird,” he said, admiring his sister. “And you’re in great shape, Lacy.”

“Thanks and let’s not dwell on my weight. I know what you’re getting at.”

“Come on. You haven’t gained a pound in twenty years.”

“No, and I’m not starting now. What else would you like to talk about?”

“Of course, you were all skin and bones after your car wreck. I almost called it an ‘accident,’ but it wasn’t that simple, was it?”

A nice lead into her lawsuit, which she was anticipating. She smiled and said, “Once all the plaster and gauze came off, I weighed a hundred pounds.”

“I remember, and you’ve come a long way back. I’m proud of you, Lacy. Are you still in therapy?”

“Physical or otherwise?”

“Physical.”

“Yes, twice a week, but it’s about over. I’ve accepted the fact that I’ll always have little aches and pains, some stiffness here and there, but I’m lucky, I guess.”

Gunther mixed some lemon in his tea and looked away. “I wouldn’t call it luck, but you came out of it better than Hugo. Poor guy. Are you still in touch with his widow, what’s her name?”

“Verna, and yes we’re still close friends.”

“She has the same lawyer, right?”

“She does. We compare notes and lean on each other. Nobody wants a trial. I’m not sure she can handle it.”

“It will never get near the courthouse. The goons will settle.”

Gunther had far more experience with civil litigation, though his disputes dealt with broken contracts and defaulted loans. To her knowledge, he had no experience with personal injuries.

“I guess things are tied up in discovery,” he said, trying to ease into the heart of the matter.

“Looks like it. My lawyer says I may have to give a deposition. I’m sure you’ve been there.”

Gunther snorted in disgust and said, “Oh yeah. A lot of fun. Staring across the table at five lawyers, all scheming to pounce on every word, every syllable, salivating as they dream of getting more of your money. Why can’t your lawyer get the case settled? It should’ve been over months ago.”

“It’s complicated. Sure, there’s a big pile of money, but that only attracts more vultures, more hungry lawyers.”

“I get that. But what would you settle for, Lacy? What’s your figure?”

“I don’t know. We’re not there yet.”

“You’re entitled to millions, Sis. Those bastards deliberately set you up and crashed into your car. You—”

“Please. I know all this, Gunther, and we’re not going over it again.”

“Okay, sorry, but I just worry about you. I’m not sure you have the right lawyer.”

“As I’ve said before, Gunther, I can take care of myself and my lawyer. You don’t need to waste time worrying about it.”

“I know. Sorry. I’m your big brother and I can’t help it.”

Their plates arrived and both seemed to welcome the interruption. They began eating and things went quiet. He was obviously preoccupied with ideas but couldn’t manage to work them into the conversation.

Her biggest fear was that he would need an infusion of cash at the same time she settled her lawsuit. He would never ask for money outright, as a gift, but would use the ploy of an urgent loan. If it happened, she was determined to say no. She knew he borrowed from Peter to pay Paul, hocked everything he owned, and walked the fine line between prosperity and financial ruin. He wasn’t about to touch her money, when and if she ever got it, and if her refusal created a rift, then so be it. She would rather keep the money and deal with an ugly fallout than fork it over, watch him lose it, and then deal with a future filled with empty promises.

He backed away from more discussion of her lawsuit, and proceeded to talk about his favorite subject: his latest project. It would be a planned community with mixed housing, a central town square with a faux courthouse in the center, churches and schools, lots of water and trails, and the obligatory golf course. A regular utopia. A $50 million development, with other investors, of course. Lacy forced herself to seem engaged.

The terrace began to fill and before long they were in a crowd. Gunther contemplated one glass of wine for dessert, but changed his mind when she ordered an espresso. He paid the check at one o’clock and said it was time to head to the airport. Another deal was hanging by a thread and he was needed in Atlanta.

She hugged him goodbye inside the private terminal and watched him taxi away. She loved him dearly, but took a deep breath and relaxed when he was gone.