Chapter 5 : Drake
I didn’t like to leave Kate after such an upsetting incident, but I had an appointment with Dave Mills about the foundation. After Kate fed Sophie and we both held her for a while, Kate put her down for a mid-morning nap.
I kissed Kate goodbye and left the apartment and walked down the street to the parking garage.
On my way, I called Lara.
“Drake,” she said when she answered. “Just the man I wanted to speak with. How are things? Is Kate okay? How about Sophia?”
“We’re all fine. I wanted to talk to you about the emails I supposedly sent to Lisa. What do you know? What do you think?" I stopped at the streetlights and waited for the crosswalk. "I never emailed her personally," I said, anger like a coiled snake in my gut. "I only ever emailed the group."
"I know, I know," Lara said and I heard the frustration in her voice. "I said they were obviously faked. I told them you never whined, and the emails were from a Dom whining about a sub. What a joke… They were sent from a private email address if I remember correctly.”
"Private email?" I replied, frowning as I entered the garage. "I don't use any private email account. I have my personal email through my cell provider and I have my business email through the hospital. I had a separate email for the Fellowship at NYU."
"This was a Yahoo account," Lara said.
"I don't have a Yahoo account."
"Apparently, the police believe you do. She must have created a fake account for you and then written letters to herself using it."
"What a fucking bitch," I said, totally in awe that she could be so demented. "She created a fake account for me and then used it? How did she manage to confirm it?"
"That's a mystery, but the police have forensic people checking the email out. I'm sure they'll realize it's fake and discount it. Until they do, I must admit it looks pretty damning. St. James said there were others with some pretty incriminating content."
"Oh, crap." I rubbed my forehead. "Who the hell knows what she wrote? She could have written anything. No wonder the police are suspicious about me."
"That's not your only problem, "Lara said. “The Herald article is pretty nasty.”
I arrived at my c
ar and opened the door, sliding into the driver's seat. “I know. I guess the reporter who was doing research on the accident found out who I am and talked to a few staff members at NYP. She found Sunita and has the video Sunita took.”
“Yeah, I knew that video was a bad idea back in the day,” Lara said, her voice falling. “I read the article. You better come down and meet me at my office.”
“How soon do you want me there?”
“Like, right now.”
“I’ll have to rearrange a meeting but it should be no problem. I’ll be ten minutes,” I said and closed my eyes. “Fifteen if the traffic is heavy.”
“The traffic is always heavy, Drake. See you when you get here.”
I ended the call and drove off.
I found a parking spot a few blocks away from Lara's office, taking the rest of the distance on foot. I arrived at Lara’s building and after checking in with the security desk, I took the elevator to her floor.
Her receptionist greeted me and ushered me into Lara’s office in the corner of the law office.
“Hey, Drake,” Lara said and stood up from behind her desk. “Close the door and come on in.”
I closed the door behind me and turned to face Lara, who came around her desk and held out her arms. “Give me a hug. I haven’t seen you for a while.”
“Kate told me to give you a hug from her,” I said and embraced Lara, patting her on the back with warm affection. We held the embrace for a minute and then parted. She led me to a small seating area with two overstuffed sofas facing each other.
“Have a seat. Can I get you a drink?”
"It's a bit early," I said with a laugh.