Black Rainbow (Rainbows 1)

No, Thea no! This is work. Think about the case, not him!

When we made it to the Archibald’s Multimillion-dollar Boston Brownstone, it was worse than I realized. The press was being kept at bay by a wall of guards on the stairs.

“If either of you screw up my case in any way, I will make sure that you won’t be able to study law, let alone practice it,” he warned.

Opening the door, the media crowd swarmed, and began shouting questions at us. As we began our trek to the front door, dozens of flashbulbs went off in our faces.

“Remember, keep your head down,” Atticus whispered to me as we walked forward.

“Mr. Black, do you truly believe in light of the new evidence that Richard did not intend to kill his ex-girlfriend?”

“Mr. Black, do you think this be your first loss since opening your firm?”

“How do you think this case will affect race relations?”

The wall of guards parted, and we crossed over the threshold, finally safe from the prying eyes of the press. Moving into the house, it was madness. Files, papers and coffee cups were everywhere. His associates had been arguing with each other, however, they stopped their bickering the moment he entered.

“Where are we?” he said, taking off his jacket and throwing it onto the chair as if he owned the place.

“Mrs. Archibald is in the kitchen looking through photos, Richard is upstairs in his room, we check in every ten minutes, and…” the girl who was speaking froze.

“And?” Levi snapped at her.

“And Mr. Archibald took a flight into New York this morning,” another one of his associates replied. “We’ve tried calling, but all his phones are off.”

Levi’s nostrils flared, and he clenched his jaw, as he stomped into the kitchen.

Atticus and I followed, while the rest of his associates went back to their case files.

“He’s in New York?!” Levi really yelled for the first time since I had met him.

The older woman was dressed in a navy tailored suit dress with a strand of pure white pearls around her neck. Her red hair was neatly combed back, and pinned up, and as Levi stormed into the kitchen, she jumped slightly— “He said he had a meeting—”

“His son has been charged with murder. Two counts, I may add, and he goes off to a meeting in New York?” he snarled, his voice only one octave lower.

“You have to understand—”

“No. You need to understand. I told you both that the only way I was taking this case was if you gave me your complete and utter trust, your loyalty, and your commitment. Which means you do what I say and I said not to leave the bloody house! The moment the press gets word of this, it will be spun one of two ways; one, that your husband is not taking this seriously, or two, that he is so distressed at his son’s actions, that he could not bear to be near him. Which way do you think helps us?”

“Neither,” she said, staring at the floor.

“Exactly!” he yelled again, turning from her and back to the living room. “Smoke signals, carrier pigeons, I don’t care what or how, someone get in touch with Mr. Archibald before the five o'clock news. And you two,” he said, pointing to two of his associates, “come with me.”

The two associates all but jumped out of their seats as they went back into the kitchen.

“Thing one, Thing two, stop standing around like mannequins, and start dialing,” another associate called, throwing us a stack of phone numbers.

Nodding, we dropped our stuff and started making calls.

“Everything you ever dreamed of, right?” Atticus whispered with the phone at his ear.

I snickered, before remembering who I was talking to.

“How did you get down to the car so fast?” I asked.

“Window washers.”

My mouth popped open. “You’re lying.”