Look Closely by Laura Caldwell

Author:Laura Caldwell
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Murder, New York (N.Y.), Women lawyers, Fiction, Psychological, Suspense, Suspense fiction, General
ISBN: 9780778321835
Publisher: MIRA
Published: 2005-06-01T00:41:36+00:00

“Are you trying to kill me?” Magoo Barragan said as I walked into the conference room. Magoo, an olive-skinned man with wavy, dark brown hair, was standing by the buffet table with the four other attorneys that made up the cyber-law department. They were all choosing from the sandwiches and salads Amy had ordered. Unlike my office, this room had a view of the river. Outside the glass, the sun gleaming off buildings made me wish I was back on the stretch of sand behind Long Beach Inn rather than breathing the artificial air of a sealed room.

“Magoo,” I said in a jokey, plaintive voice. “You know I love you, so why would I want to kill you?”

He carried a sandwich to the table. “Then what are you doing giving me the Your New Home dep in Delaware and dragging me into this McKnight monstrosity?”

I’d left him a voice mail earlier, officially asking him to help on McKnight.

“I need you desperately,” I said. I put the files down on the table and walked over to the buffet.

“Yeah, yeah,” I heard Magoo say behind me. “All the women in this firm need me.”

As I helped myself to a turkey sandwich and a scoop of pasta salad, I greeted the other attorneys. Ellis Radwell, a tall, African American man two years out of law school, was loading his plate full of food and said, “Hey, Hailey,” through a mouthful of potato chips. Ellis was an excellent lawyer and an even better writer. I knew the McKnight trial would require extensive motions and briefs, so normally I would seek his help, but Ellis’s wife had recently given birth to their first child, and I felt bad asking too much during this time. McKnight was going to require some very late nights.

I talked with the three other associates, trying to decide who would be the best to help on the case. Michelle Headly, or Mickey as we called her, was the youngest of the bunch, coming up on her one-year anniversary at the firm. A beautiful, fair-skinned woman who didn’t seem aware of her good looks, she was eager to take on any work, but I needed someone with a little more experience. That left Natalie Decker, a true New Yorker with a very serious demeanor, or Jim Siderski, a jovial, football-loving guy. I preferred Jim, since we would all be spending a lot of time together, and Jim tended to make things fun, but Natalie had extensive intellectual-property experience that would be invaluable. As I picked up a fork—real silver here at Gardner, State & Lord no plastic stuff—I asked Natalie to help out.

“Whatever,” Natalie said, sweeping her blunt-cut hair out of her face. That was Natalie’s reaction to everything: whatever. It seemed that after living in this city all her life, nothing could impress, nothing could shock.

That decision made, I took my seat, and after we chatted, I briefed them on the McKnight case, the work that Magoo, Natalie and I would need to do in the next month and the overflow of cases the others would have to pick up.

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