Family Counsel (The Samuel Collins Series Book 2) by Debra Trueman Page B

but the car
won’t start, as the murderer moves in on his prey.  Luckily, that only happens
in the movies.  The old Suburban cranked up on the first go; I threw the bad
boy in reverse and squealed the tires, throwing loose gravel at the security
guard as I peeled out, making our getaway. 
    I was exhilarated. It had been a long time since I’d taken a
risk outside the courtroom and it felt great.  Niki would have been proud.  He
usually had a hand in whatever scheme I’d been talked into, but there was no
denying the thrill that came with pulling off something like that.  It was a
rush.  And by the look on Maddie’s face, she felt the same way.  I slid out of
the parking lot onto the highway and floored it.
    “You are so sexy when you run!” Maddie said.
    “What do mean, when I run ?  What about when I’m not
running?” I tried to sound offended but it was a lame attempt.  I was too high
from the thrill. 
    She reached over and patted my leg.  “You’re sexy then too. 
But even more so when you run.” 
    I liked the thought of being sexy in my wife’s eyes.  Too bad
we couldn’t ditch Felicia and act on the impulse that was taking shape in my pants. 
I moved Maddie’s hand higher and her eyes got big, but she looked to the back
seat where Felicia was yakking on the phone and took her hand back. 
    “Are we going to sue the hospital?” Maddie asked, but I was
completely distracted.  My mind was elsewhere.   
    “I don’t know yet.  I’m going to have Niki check out a couple
of things and we’ll see what he comes up with.”
    Felicia was off the phone and she poked her nosy head in
between us.  “What do you mean you don’t know yet?” she demanded.  “What
happened to the most hellacious lawsuit and all that?”
    I don’t often wield my law license as a weapon, but in this
case I’d made an exception.  I actually had no intention of filing suit against
the hospital or the Administrator, but the more I thought about it, the more fun
it sounded.  Someone needed to sue their ass.
    Felicia was conspicuously quiet the whole ride back home. 
Every once in a while I’d glance in the rearview and catch a look that told me
she was in some far-away place.  And as obnoxious as she tended to be with her
mouth open, her introspective mood was more than a little unsettling.  It was
like those times when a house full of kids suddenly goes dead silent.  You just
know something’s up.  The last time that had happened, I’d caught Max in the
bathroom wielding a dripping toilet brush, and he had just finished scrubbing
the outside of the toilet and all of the cabinets.  His shirt was soaked and
there were droplets of toilet water on his face and arms where the stiff
bristles had splashed back on him.  So I feel justified when I say that
conspicuous silences scare me.

Chapter 10
    My next encounter with Earl Jefferson was a chance meeting,
although if you asked Maddie, she’d say it was fate.  She has this ridiculous
notion that there are no coincidences and claims that everything happens for a
reason.  I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it had been a weird day from
the start, so the fact that I’d run into my client at the most unlikely of
places may have struck me as odd, but stranger things had happened.  What made
the encounter all the more curious was the fact that I’d been talked into doing
something I’d never done before, so to see a familiar face in the midst of my
alien setting was both unsettling but somewhat comforting at the same time. 
    I’m embarrassed to admit that up until that day, I had never .
. . not once . . . donated blood.  Then that morning, out of the clear blue
sky, my wife announced that there was a blood drive, and she suggested that we
go together to the blood bank to donate blood.   I was floored.  As much as I
pride myself on being a tough guy – I’ll gladly get out there and scrap with
the best of them – having someone stick a