Sitting back, Ben stared at the profile picture of the man looking back at him. There was so much rage building in him. Katherine told him that Tim had up and left town after beating the shit out of her. He hadn’t asked for the details about that night she’d been pulled from the charity event, and didn’t know exactly how she came to get her injuries, but he didn’t believe for a minute the guy had walked away and was never coming back.
The suitcase haunted him. She knew Tim wasn’t gone for good. He was going to be back unless he was stopped. Ben wasn’t sure why she had told him otherwise, but he wasn’t quite ready to ask her. The longer he stared at the photo of the man, the more pissed he got.
He grabbed his cell phone from the desk and quickly thumbed through his contact list, finding the name he was looking for halfway down.
“Gabriel,” he said in a friendly tone when his friend answered.
“This is a surprise. Are you in jail, Ben?” his old friend teased.
“Not yet, but it is kind of why I called you.”
“Um, let me just tell you, premeditated anything is bad and if you tell me before you do it, it is really bad,” he advised in his legalese voice.
Ben laughed again. “Damn, what do you think I might do?”
“I am no longer surprised by anything anyone does. I should remind you that I moved to Chicago. I don’t have a license to defend you in California,” he said, sticking to his lawyer tone.
“I’m really starting to get offended here. I didn’t call you because I’ve committed a crime. Someone else has been though, and I’m feeling tempted to beat the shit out of him. So, I guess technically could be a crime,” he mumbled, his mind running down the rabbit hole with that thought.
Gabriel cleared his throat. “Okay, I’m not great at guessing and I have to meet a client in fifteen minutes. Spill it.”
Ben sucked in a breath and gave him a quick recap of events. His friend was quiet, asking pertinent questions that Ben really couldn’t answer.
“Well? What can I do?” he asked.
Gabriel let out a long sigh, which meant Ben was screwed. His hands were tied. “Nothing. You can get a restraining order, or she can rather. However, that means she’s going to have to give a statement. Having photo evidence to back up the abuse would be better. And, you said this guy is a high-powered attorney, so he will definitely fight the protection order. She’ll have to testify in court against him. Can she do that?”
Ben groaned. “I don’t know. I’m not sure she would even write a statement. She wouldn’t let me take her to the hospital or call the police.”
“I’m sorry, man. These cases are the worst. Unless she is willing to call the cops, or someone calls when he’s in the act of beating her, it’s his word against hers. She must know that which is why she is hesitant. I wouldn’t be surprised if that guy has some judges in his pocket,” he explained.
Ben was silent for a few seconds. “So, there’s nothing I can do to make this guy keep his distance?”
“No. Besides, if he is as violent as you described, a piece of paper isn’t going to do shit. In fact, it will probably just piss him off more. He’ll get sneakier about the abuse or—”
“Or?” Ben pressed. “Come on, man. Or what?”
“I’m sorry, Ben, but these situations tend to escalate. I don’t have to tell you how a lot of these women end up.”
Ben’s stomach dropped. He’d known, but actually hearing it confirmed sent shockwaves through his body. He couldn’t live with himself if something were to happen to Katherine. He thought about her at home alone at night. She was a sitting duck. She had insisted Tim didn’t know where she lived, but it wouldn’t be hard to find out, especially if the guy had an investigator, and all good defense lawyers had investigators on their payroll.
“Thanks for explaining.”
“Ben, I know you and I know what’s running through your mind. Watch your back. Don’t do anything stupid and if and when this guy shows up, let him hit you at least once. Self-defense always looks better if you’re somewhat scathed,” he said, dryly.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I’m serious. Look, I’m going to send you the names of a couple lawyers. Do me a favor, get one on retainer now.”
Ben chuckled. “I have an entire team of lawyers.”
“You have corporate lawyers. I want you to have a defense attorney at the ready. With your money, you can avoid spending more than a couple hours in jail if you call one of these people ahead of time. I recommend Meredith Green,” he advised.
“A woman?” Ben said, with surprise.
Gabriel groaned. “I know, I know. You don’t think a woman could possibly do the job as well as a man.”
“No, not at all. I guess I just never imagined a female being a cutthroat defense attorney.”