Seeing Mark’s smug face because he knew the same thing.
Not to mention the mind-numbing hours reviewing the testimony with Nicole to make sure everything they’d heard from Ms. Herrera’s deposition lined up with the facts they wanted to glean from Mark.
There were four voice messages waiting for her when she arrived in the office. Including a message from Ava Herrera’s attorney saying that he had recently attained some discoverable evidence that he’d have dropped off later that day.
How convenient. Was it an accident that they’d waited until after her deposition and just before Mark was scheduled for his testimony? But the rules of civil procedure were pretty generous in this respect, and it wasn’t worth trying to object to the late admittance. If there was anything they wanted to address with Ms. Herrera, they’d schedule a follow-up later.
Kate picked up her extension and dialed her assistant. “Trish? Ms. Herrera’s attorney is sending some documents over today. Keep an eye out for them and let me know the moment they come in. I have to run out soon for the hearing on Daisy’s divorce case but should be back around two.”
“Sure, Kate. I also stuck several invoices that have come in on the McKenna matter for your approval.”
“I’ll start looking through them now. Thanks.”
Kate hung up and found the stack of invoices in her basket and scanned them.
Wait. This couldn’t be right.
Kate glanced down through the invoices again. The Radisson had sent them a bill for $24.95, the cost for copying and mailing a video dated…two weeks ago. On the McKenna matter.
After a few more minutes of looking up a number for the Radisson, Kate reached the billing person listed on the receipt.
“Right.” The woman said as she shuffled through some papers. “It was for that security footage you requested a couple months ago. Our tech guys were able to retrieve the information you were looking for.”
Where the heck was it, then? “Great, but for whatever reason, it didn’t seem to reach my desk. Would it be possible to resend that again? Of course, we’ll reimburse you for both copies.”
“Certainly, Ms. Matthews. I’ll FedEx it to you today.”
Kate hung up the phone and stared at the bill. She picked up the phone again. “Hey, Trish. Do you remember seeing a video—I’m guessing maybe a thumb drive or DVD—arrive from the Radisson recently? It was for the McKenna case.”
“No. I haven’t. But if it was for McKenna, all documents have been flagged to first go through Tim’s office.”
Since when? How come she hadn’t realized this? “Hmm, okay. Maybe I’ll check with his assistant and see if she remembers anything. Thanks, Trish. I’m running out now, but keep me updated the moment those other documents arrive.”
…
Kate followed Daisy out of the courtroom and found a bench in the hallway to discuss what had just happened.
“You can breathe, Daisy,” she said and smiled to try and comfort the woman, whose face was still pale and tense. “The commissioner has pretty much signed off on everything we asked for. Leo has to start sending money for you and the kids. This is good.”
Daisy nodded and breathed out slowly. “It was just seeing him again. So smug and cocky. And to tell the truth, it was an eye-opening experience. For the first time, I could see him for the man he’s become—not anywhere near the man I first met and fell in love with. He’s different. And so am I.”
Kate nodded, agreeing with Daisy’s assessment of her future ex-husband. Attractive but with an unmistakable oily quality about him, Leo had certainly been smug. She placed her hand on Daisy’s shoulder. “And soon you can move on. He’ll still have visitation rights with the kids.”
Daisy smiled sadly. “I would love it if he would exercise his visitation rights. The kids—mostly Paul—really miss him. Even though the past months he’s been so absent, this not seeing him at all or knowing if they would has taken a toll. I’m just glad their uncles have been making efforts to include them. It’s helped them.”
Yeah. Dominic was a really good guy like that. He loved those kids, no doubt about it. And he would never skip out on his kids like Leo had. He was a good man. Too good for Kate.
“I’ll start drawing up the order now for the commissioner’s signature. In the meantime, you call me with any questions you have, okay?”
Kate waved good-bye to Daisy and was scanning her phone for any messages when she heard her name called. She looked up to find an old friend heading her way. An attractive woman in her forties with short, sandy-blond hair and shrewd brown eyes, Jessica walked with purpose down the hall.
“Hey, stranger,” Jessica said and slid onto the bench next to Kate. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in this part of the building.”
“I’m handling a family law case pro bono. Custody, spousal support, the whole complicated mess.”
“Since when does Strauss farm you out for free?” Jessica smiled. Kate had had run up against Jessica on a dozen cases over the past few years since starting at Strauss and had grown to respect the no-nonsense woman. Jessica was not only a partner at a small employment law firm that focused on plaintiffs’ rights, but also a well-respected member of the legal community.
“It’s for a friend. But I could ask the same from you. What’re you doing over here?”