The Bad Judgment Series: The Complete Series (43 page)

And then he’d handed me that motion. And smoothly told me there was a car waiting for me downstairs.

“Why didn’t they try to kill you, too?” I whispered.

“Because they needed a body to be held responsible,” he said. “They still needed a face for the crimes they were prosecuting. If they could still put me through trial and have me convicted, it would make them look even better, Nic. No one would suspect them. Every loose end would be tied up.

“I’ll give them a loose end,” I said, my brow furrowed.

“I know you will,” Walker said, soothingly. “We’re gonna give them some loose ends they’ll never forget.”

B
efore we went
to bed that night, I called Mimi Johnstone.

“Hello?” She answered the phone warily, like most people with a call from a private number; maybe she was worried it was bad news from her gynecologist, or something.

“Mimi — it’s Nicole,” I said, almost breathless.

“Oh. Wow,” she said. She sounded shocked.

“Are you alone?” I asked.

“I’m home. Matt’s in the next room,” she said, and she sounded like she’d recovered.

“Is there any chance this conversation is being overheard? Any chance your apartment’s been compromised?” I asked.

“Well, I probably wouldn’t know if it had been,” she said, and I noticed that she was choosing her words carefully, using a neutral tone, and that she hadn’t said my name.

“Is this safe?” I asked. “Just yes or no.”

“Yes,” Mimi said, “at least I think so.”

“Can I trust you?” I asked. I felt guilty, but I asked anyway. I had to.

“Of course you can,” she said, and for the first time she let some warmth creep into her voice. I could sense that she wanted to say something more, but she didn’t dare.

“I didn’t set off that bomb,” I said, rushing to get it all out. “And Walker’s innocent, Mimi, I swear to you. We’ve been set up. And it’s bad. Really bad.” I took a shaky breath and continued. “I’m not going to tell you more than that, because it’s not safe for you. It’s probably not safe that I even called you, so watch your back.”

The weight of even more guilt pushed down on me, threatening to crush me from above. All the people I loved were in danger.

“I know I’m asking for too much, but I need you to get in touch with my father. And Walker’s sister, Adrian. Get a pen and I’ll give you their cellphone numbers.”

I heard her rustling around and then I gave her the information. “Got it,” Mimi said. “But is that…okay for me to do?” she asked, struggling to find a neutral substitute for words like
stupid
,
dangerous
, and
deadly
.

“I’m sure they’re being watched. So not really,” I said. “I was thinking you could get a TracFone and call them. So your number won’t be traceable. They’re probably being bugged, though. So you can’t use your name, you can’t give any details. Just tell them the people they’re missing are innocent, and that they’re okay. Can you do that for me? Will you?”

“Of course I will,” Mimi said.

“I’m sorry to involve you. I didn’t have anyone left that I trust.”

“I’m just happy to know that you’re okay,” Mimi said.

“I wish I could say more,” I said.

“Me too.”

I hung up, brushed my teeth and briefly looked at myself in the mirror. My short blond hair was growing out, a little; dark roots had formed at the top, making my hair look like I hadn’t washed it. I hadn’t realized how much upkeep was involved in being a blonde; I mentally gave credit to all those women who made it look easy. I hadn’t realized what a commitment it was.

Walker was already in bed, his light on, reading the same thriller. He was almost done.

“How’d it go with Mimi?” he said, patting the bed next to him. I sat down, gratefully, and pulled the comforter up to my chin. With the air conditioning on, it was cold enough that I could almost pretend we were back in New England.

“She chose her words very carefully, so even if she’s bugged, they might not suspect anything,” I said. “She said she’d do it. She’s going to call Adrian and my dad from a TracFone, just to tell them we’re okay.

“What’s our long-term plan with them?” I asked, turning to him.

“What do you want it to be?” he asked, putting the open book down on his chest.

“I can’t say goodbye to my family, not forever,” I said. “First of all, my dad needs me. He needs my help financially, and he needs my help with my brothers. They’re getting ready to go to college, and college is my thing, not my dad’s.

“Second of all,” I said, “They’re my family — they’re all I have. You and them. That’s it. I couldn’t bear it. I couldn’t say goodbye.”

Walker pulled me to him, the book getting crushed between us. “It’s okay,” he said. “I couldn’t say goodbye to Adrian, either. Not ever. I know exactly what you mean.”

“So what’re we gonna do?” I asked.

He patted my hair. “We are going to rescue them from a lifetime without us.”

“How?” I asked.

“I’ll let you know when I figure it out. But I promise you, I will,” he said. He picked his book back up and patted my pillow. I laid down next to him, watching him read, my mind swirling once again.

“How’s the book?”

“Good,” Walker said. “We’re about to get to the most exciting part.”

I
went
out by myself the next day, first thing, and bought a printer at a big-box store off-island. I wore a hat and my sunglasses, even in the store; I was sweating the whole time. I’d refused to let Walker come with me, citing his eminent recognizability, even with the addition of his tattoo. He wasn’t happy, but I wasn’t budging, and we needed the supplies today. We had to be ready. I bought a laser printer, paper, ink, large manila envelopes, a pretty pink pen and some Post-it notes. And I couldn’t resist buying color-coded tabs. The associate in me was going to be tough to leave behind.

I drove carefully, watching for cars in my rearview mirror. I thought I saw several suspicious ones, but then everything looked suspicious to me, including the overcast sky. It was like the weather was conspiring against us, making the world seem dark and gloomy.

I pulled down the road to our condominium complex, the beach road, when I noticed that there was, in fact, a car behind me. Silver sedan, Florida plates. I was driving slowly but it was slower. I pulled over to the side of the road and put my hazards on. I reached into my pocketbook and put my hand on my revolver, my hand slick with sweat.

I watched the car in the rearview mirror. It slowed down further and then turned off on a residential side street, vanishing from my sight. Knowing that Walker would be livid with me, I backed up and followed it, turning off my hazards. I moved my purse right next to me, so I could grab the gun again if I needed it.

There were no cars on the street now, where the sedan had turned off. All I could see were the large Banyan trees that lined the drive on either side, their enormous, banana-shaped leaves on the ground beneath them. I drove slowly, checking each driveway, but the silver car was gone.

My head was pounding as I drove around the block, still looking. All I saw were a few people out in tennis whites walking to the tiny downtown area for breakfast and a couple of trucks with casting poles in the beds, heading towards South Beach.

Disappeared. The car was hiding from me. It had to be.

I hit the gas and drove the stolen Benz, too fast, all the way back to the condo. I saw no one on the road. I ran up the stairs; only some of our senior neighbors were power-walking the beach; one of them, who had to be in his mid-seventies, was running with big headphones on.

I threw myself through the door. Walker looked up sharply from the computer and rushed over to me. “Are you okay?”

“Are you?” I asked, walking around him, looking out the window to the beach and then back to the door, where I peered through the side windows to the car below.

“What happened?” Walker asked, his hands splayed open, like he was trying to keep calm.

“I’m pretty sure somebody followed me,” I said, nervously pacing around, continuing to check the windows. “A silver sedan. I noticed it on the beach road when I drove down here a couple of minutes ago. I pulled over to watch it and it turned off; I tried to follow it but disappeared.”

“What street did it turn down?” he asked, going to the door and looking out the window, too.

“Banyan,” I said, “but he must have pulled into a driveway, or something. I didn’t see him anywhere.”

“Did you get everything we need?” Walker asked.

“Yes,” I said, the throbbing in my head slowing down, a little. “But I don’t think we can go back out there.”

“No. Especially not you.” He paced around for a moment then grabbed the keys from me. “I’ll go get the stuff out of the car. But from now on, we’re going to have to use an errand person to get us food and anything else we need. We have to stay out of sight.” He looked at me. “No more separation. The furthest you go away from me is one room. Okay?” he asked.

“Okay,” I said. The car had spooked me. It seemed as though our brief period of anonymity had come to an abrupt end.

I
called Alexa at lunchtime
. True to her usual form, she was completely fucking pissed at me.

“This is
ridiculous
,” she hissed through the phone. I could tell from the noise in the background that she was out on the street and it was crowded; it was probably a beautiful early-fall day in Boston, and people were out taking advantage of the nice weather while it lasted.

“How am I supposed to get on Linda’s computer? She’s always there, in her stupid pearls, glaring at everyone.” I could practically hear Alexa’s high heels clicking on the sidewalk. She sounded out of breath, like she’d been out stomping around, about to have a temper tantrum.

“I want out, Nicole,” she said. “Find somebody else to do your dirty work.”

“Can you please not use my name?” I hissed back at her. Had she been within reach, I would’ve finally broken down and smacked her. “Use that Harvard-educated brain, for once!”

“Don’t you start,” she said, menacingly, and I could tell we were about to devolve into a shouting match.

I took a deep breath. “Look,” I said, as calmly as I could muster, “I know I’m asking a lot. I know this is a lot of pressure. But if we can do this, we can beat them, Alexa.
And
I’ll make sure that Walker buys you a whole bunch of
Louis Vuitton
steamer trunks, or whatever the hell it is you like, and makes sure he buys your father a senate seat.”

“I can’t do this just for the luggage or the senate seat,” she huffed, “I have to do it for Mandy.”

“That’s right,” I said, wincing at the thought of my poor friend. “I know how hard it is for you to be selfless — and I’m just being honest, I’m not saying that to be mean — but you’re right, you have to think about the big picture. Mandy is dead because of David Proctor and Norris Phaland. Get on that computer and get what you can. Today.
Please
,” I begged. “You are the best schemer and plotter I know. You can do this!”

Alexa sighed and continued to click down the sidewalk. “I’ll figure it out,” she said, and sounded weary. “But this is for Mandy, not for you. I’d say it was for Walker if I thought he cared about me.”

“He doesn’t,” I said, probably too quickly.

“Duh,” said Alexa. “You don’t have to be so smug about it.”

T
hat afternoon
, Walker and I started printing out all of the Advent documents, color coding them, highlighting them, and assembling stacks of paper around the living room.

“This is a lot of stuff,” Walker said.

“Welcome to Discovery,” I said and shrugged. “You have to love paperwork to be a lawyer.” I added another color-coded tab to the stack of papers I was working on.

Walker gave me an indulgent grin. “I think you just like the fancy tabs,” he said.

I looked up at him and smiled. “They really are the best part,” I said. “They help you find exactly what you’re looking for. You’re
always
prepared.”

Walker shook his head, laughing at me, and went back to the computer. “I thought
I
was a nerd,” he said.

“You’re the opposite of a nerd,” I said, “no matter how much time you spent in your parent’s basement, inventing things. You went on to date Minky Lucca. She doesn’t date nerds.”

“Minky Lucca’s a nerd,” Walker said and shrugged.

“Minky Lucca is a pretty dumb name,” I said, agreeably.

Just then there was a knock on the door: I yelped, jumped sky high, and knocked over the stack of papers I’d been carefully collating.

“It’s just our errand boy. Teddy, from the hardware store downtown,” Walker said. “Relax.”

He opened the door a crack to confirm and then ushered in Teddy. I recognized him as the guy who’d found the boat for Walker.

“Teddy,” Walker said, clapping him on the shoulder, “thanks for coming by.”

“No problem, Mr. White,” Teddy said. He was young, early twenties, but he was comfortable with himself, confident; he looked Walker in the eye when he spoke to him and turned and said a respectful hello to me. He was very tan, the kind of tan that you could tell was year-round, and had on flip-flops, shorts and a collared shirt, sunglasses perched on top of his head. He had the easy-going nature of someone who’d spent a lot of his life outdoors, surrounded by friends and family, probably fishing. People in Boston weren’t like that. We were pasty and usually had our arms crossed against our chests, to keep out the cold and ward off people from being too friendly.

“What can I do for you?” Teddy asked.

“I need you to run errands for us,” Walker said. “We can’t go out in public right now. I don’t want to go into details with you, because we’re in some trouble and I don’t want the trouble to come down on you. You know what I mean?”

“Yes, sir,” Teddy said.

“All I want you to do is buy groceries for us, maybe run some other errands and take care of the boat. Clean it, check the systems, and make sure that it’s always ready to go in case we need it. If anybody around here asks, you tell them I pay you to take care of it. Nothing else. Okay?” Walker asked, and Teddy nodded. “I’m gonna pay you a lot, to make this worth your while — but you have to be careful. Mrs. White thought she saw somebody following her home from off-island earlier this morning. These people are dangerous. Keep your eyes open. If anybody asks you any questions, tell them we’re your grandparents and we’re not well. That’s why you’re in and out of here. And then run.

“If you see anything, call us on that number I gave you, okay?” Walker asked, and Teddy nodded.

“The car I thought was following me was a silver sedan,” I said. “Be careful. If you see anybody following you down here, just go out to the boat. Don’t come up here, okay?”

Teddy nodded at me.

“Teddy, are you twenty-one?” Walker asked.

“Yes, sir,” Teddy said, again.

“Great,” Walker said, and rubbed his face with his hands. His rugged handsomeness wasn’t marred by the exhaustion on his face, but I still felt sorry for him. “Can you stop at the Liquor Store, too? I’m pretty sure I’m going to need a drink by this afternoon.”

“I’ll be back in a little while,” Teddy said, and smiled at us.

“Nice kid,” I said, watching him go out to his open-top jeep. “Couldn’t you have found somebody not that nice — you know, like Lester Max? I don’t want anything to happen to Teddy.”

“He’ll be okay,” Walker said. “He’s slicker than he seems. He hard-balled me in the negotiation for that boat.”

“Hmm…” I said, heading back to my stacks of papers. “Maybe you can hire him for something legitimate, when this is all done.”

Walker watched Teddy drive away. “Not a bad idea, Nic. Not a bad idea at all.”

T
hings seemed
to change that afternoon. The piles were getting bigger in the living room; Teddy had brought back our groceries and confirmed that he had not been followed; and our various contacts called in on a regular basis, giving us updates.

I was starting to feel less like I was trapped, a fugitive, and more like I was at the helm of a command center, where the pieces we had set in motion were finally gaining traction.

Mimi called me on my TracFone at seven, on her way home from work. “I spoke to both parties,” she said, and I could tell that she was being careful again, making this sound like a business call, not using my name or theirs, which I appreciated the hell out of. “They’re both good. They were happy to be updated. Both of them said — in their own way — that they knew everything was going to work out okay. And that they were willing to do whatever it takes to get things settled.”

“It should be settled, soon,” I said. “You don’t have to contact them again. I just wanted to let them know something, because they’d been waiting for a while. But the details of the settlement are confidential, for now. I can only disclose them when everything’s been finalized.” I looked out the window at the water below; the tide was going out, being pulled towards the half-moon that had just appeared in the sky. “We’re not entirely sure what the final outcome is going to be — we just want to make it as fair as possible.”

“Good,” Mimi said. “People have to know — you play, you pay. No matter who you are.”

“Not everybody wants to hear it,” I said, and she laughed.

“Oh, I bet,” she said, “I bet.”

W
alker was now stooped
over the computer, scrolling through documents that April and Tammy had uploaded to the server. “I’m gonna need reading glasses by the end of this,” he’d moaned earlier, which reminded me that I was going to need new contacts, soon. All I had left was the pair I’d worn when we’d run away. My glasses were long gone. I hoped they were resting in peace; they’d seen me through many a file, right up to the one that had brought me here.

Levi called next. He was in the apartment with Tammy. Alexa wasn’t back yet.

“How’s it going?” I asked him.

“Awesome,” Levi said, unexpectedly. “Tammy is the nicest person
ever
. She’s making me lasagna. Do you know the last time I had lasagna?”

“No, I don’t,” I said, simultaneously exasperated and amused.

“A long time,” he said.

“You better watch it, Levi — you might just get used to civilization again. You might want back on the grid,” I said.

“I’m pretty sure the rest of the grid isn’t this nice,” Levi said. “Here, I’ll put Tammy on.”

“Hi, honey,” Tammy said when she got on the phone. She sounded positively giddy.

“Levi and you seem to be getting along awfully well,” I said, chiding her.

“Oh, honey — that’s not why I’m so happy. Although it
is
nice to have a man around, let me tell you.” She paused for a second and I pictured her fluffing her bangs and inspecting her impeccably lacquered nails. “Nope, I’m happy because we’re finally gonna get these guys. Alexa called me a little while ago. She said she finally got on Linda’s computer and was coming home with the files. I was gonna have Levi go out in a minute and make sure she got back okay.”

“Awesome!” I said. “I knew she could do it!”

“You can’t be a lying backstabber your whole life and not have some skills to show for it,” Tammy said, jovially. “So I’ll be uploading all of that when she gets home, and I’ll make the hard copies.”