Imminent Peril by Melissa F. Miller

Author:Melissa F. Miller [Miller, Melissa F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781940759272
Publisher: Brown Street Books
Published: 2017-04-18T06:00:00+00:00

22

The consultant walked through the entrance to the bar and sized up the crowd. It was a hard-drinking local joint on the South Side. Not one of those shiny tourist spots on Carson Street aimed at sports fans and college students. This was a neighborhood dive, hidden back on a narrow, crooked side street, sitting diagonally from an all-night Laundromat and next to a sad-looking corner store. The place stank of stale beer and cigarettes, and the rows of drinkers—almost all men, almost all white—didn't look up when the door opened and light spilled into the dim interior. He was glad he’d had the foresight to wear jeans and a T-shirt because one of his bespoke suits would’ve stood out in a bad way.

He shouldered his way through the crowd until he found Steve Harold nursing a beer at a scarred wooden table. He dropped into the seat across from the man. “What's so urgent?”

Harold took a pull of his beer and wiped the foam from his mouth before answering. “I need an escape plan. You gotta get me out of this court case. Pronto.”

The consultant frowned. “I don’t ‘gotta’ do anything. I suggest you remember to whom you’re speaking.”

Harold gulped nervously and wiped his hands on his faded jeans. “Right, sure. Sorry. You hired me to do a job, and I did it. I baited your woman lawyer into getting physical and I let her clean my clock.” He rubbed the angry, red bump on the bridge of his nose as if remembering the strike he’d taken.

“That's right; you did. And you collected a handsome sum for your work. I then offered—and you accepted—a supplemental fee to serve as the named plaintiff in a lawsuit. I don't understand the issue, Mr. Harold. This is some of the easiest work you'll ever do. There’s no danger; no risk of broken bones or internal bleeding; you’re not outside in the weather. All you have to do is sit at a table and answer some questions. Not to mention, you're being represented, on my dime, by some of the finest lawyers in the city.” He finished his lecture, leaned back, crossed his arms, and eyed his laborer.

“No, man, you don’t understand. Her lawyer went and talked to my old lady.”

“Your wife?”

“My ex, Gina. I’m still tight with the landlord—I pay her rent and all. Lefty said she had some black lady at her house yesterday. He asked her about it, and she said she was the lawyer for some chick who kicked my ass.” He frowned.

The consultant didn't want to focus on his emasculation, so he moved along. “Okay, that’s to be expected in litigation.”

“You don't understand. Gina, she’s bitter. She'll say things that might—”

“Is she aware of our arrangement?” The consultant’s mind clicked as he began the cold calculations. Was he going to have to get rid of Steve Harold's ex-wife as well as the doctor? If this kept up, Dutch was going to have to name his next boat in his honor.

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