Read Online Motion to Dismiss by Jonnie Jacobs - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jonnie Jacobs
Tags: Fiction, LEGAL, Thrillers, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths, Mystery, Trials (Rape), San Francisco (Calif.), Women lawyers, O'Brien; Kali (Fictitious Character), Rape victims
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time she'd used the phrase in less than five minutes.
I nodded.
"Men think they own the world."
No argument there.
She tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "I really didn't know," she said after a moment. "I didn't know he was Emily's father, didn't know he had a lot of money and a big important job."
I didn't say anything.
Deirdre began crying softly, with the look of an injured child. "You think I'm lying about the whole thing, don't you?"
"You shouldn't concern yourself with what I think."
"Just because he's rich and educated and wears designer suits -- and I'm some dumb receptionist with bouncy hair and big tits, it doesn't mean he's right and I'm wrong."
There was something in her voice I couldn't ignore -- a touch of real misery mixed with hurt and anger. "No," I said gently, "it doesn't."
She slouched against the bathroom wall. "I want him to know it was wrong to treat me the way he did. I want him to know how much it hurt." The words were capped with a pathetic whimper. "I'm a person too. I have feelings."
"I think you need to talk with Madelaine Rivera," I told her.
Deirdre nodded but made no move toward the door. I decided to skip the fresh mascara and leave. Whatever else the encounter had accomplished, it left me feeling oddly protective of a woman whose testimony I was supposed to tear to shreds.
I wondered, in passing, if that had been her intent.
Chapter 10
The cocktail waitress leaned low across the table so that her ample cleavage was not only at eye level but bountifully displayed. I was fascinated, but neither Grady nor Marc took notice. They were too deeply entrenched in some fine point of quarterly earnings and SEC filings.
The bar was noisy with Friday-night revelry. If you wanted to be heard, you had two choices -- yell or huddle close to your companions. Marc and Grady were huddling. They weren't excluding me, but I'd grown tired of sitting forward in my chair and straining to hear. Instead, I sipped my wine leisurely and waited for them to finish.
Grady lifted the skewered onion from his martini and bit into it. Despite the intensity of the discussion, which I gathered focused on some less-than-favorable financial report, he was more relaxed than I'd seen him in the last few days.
The outcome of the hearing had come as no surprise. Judge Riley had issued a holding order Tuesday morning. We would proceed to trial.
I'd tried to prepare Grady for it, but the news had shaken him all the same. He'd been short with me then, and even more irritable later that afternoon when I'd tried to lay out the main issues of the case. His mood in the intervening days hadn't improved. But this evening he'd greeted me warmly, interrupting his conversation with Marc to include me, albeit only briefly.
My glass of wine was half empty when they paused again.
Marc offered me a smile that was both apologetic and conspiratorial. "Sorry to monopolize your client. I know you two were planning to go over pretrial strategy, but there were a couple of things that needed Grady's attention right away."
A perfect segue to my reason for being here. "How badly has the rape charge hurt the offering?" I asked.
"It hasn't helped," Marc said. "That's for sure. But it's too early to tell if there's permanent damage."
Grady snorted in disgust. "That's bullshit. There's always nervousness about an initial offering, especially in a volatile business like ours. This goddamn rape charge spells nothing but trouble. It's going to send the price into the toilet."
"If it's any help," I offered, "I think we stand a good chance of beating it at trial."
"It will be too late by then. Besides, good chance is far from a certainty."
I nodded. "True. But remember, the prelim was different. There, it wasn't a matter of assessing credibility or weighing the evidence. The judge was only looking to see if there was any basis for taking the case to trial. It's a fairly low standard."
"You can say that again." Grady made no
I nodded.
"Men think they own the world."
No argument there.
She tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "I really didn't know," she said after a moment. "I didn't know he was Emily's father, didn't know he had a lot of money and a big important job."
I didn't say anything.
Deirdre began crying softly, with the look of an injured child. "You think I'm lying about the whole thing, don't you?"
"You shouldn't concern yourself with what I think."
"Just because he's rich and educated and wears designer suits -- and I'm some dumb receptionist with bouncy hair and big tits, it doesn't mean he's right and I'm wrong."
There was something in her voice I couldn't ignore -- a touch of real misery mixed with hurt and anger. "No," I said gently, "it doesn't."
She slouched against the bathroom wall. "I want him to know it was wrong to treat me the way he did. I want him to know how much it hurt." The words were capped with a pathetic whimper. "I'm a person too. I have feelings."
"I think you need to talk with Madelaine Rivera," I told her.
Deirdre nodded but made no move toward the door. I decided to skip the fresh mascara and leave. Whatever else the encounter had accomplished, it left me feeling oddly protective of a woman whose testimony I was supposed to tear to shreds.
I wondered, in passing, if that had been her intent.
Chapter 10
The cocktail waitress leaned low across the table so that her ample cleavage was not only at eye level but bountifully displayed. I was fascinated, but neither Grady nor Marc took notice. They were too deeply entrenched in some fine point of quarterly earnings and SEC filings.
The bar was noisy with Friday-night revelry. If you wanted to be heard, you had two choices -- yell or huddle close to your companions. Marc and Grady were huddling. They weren't excluding me, but I'd grown tired of sitting forward in my chair and straining to hear. Instead, I sipped my wine leisurely and waited for them to finish.
Grady lifted the skewered onion from his martini and bit into it. Despite the intensity of the discussion, which I gathered focused on some less-than-favorable financial report, he was more relaxed than I'd seen him in the last few days.
The outcome of the hearing had come as no surprise. Judge Riley had issued a holding order Tuesday morning. We would proceed to trial.
I'd tried to prepare Grady for it, but the news had shaken him all the same. He'd been short with me then, and even more irritable later that afternoon when I'd tried to lay out the main issues of the case. His mood in the intervening days hadn't improved. But this evening he'd greeted me warmly, interrupting his conversation with Marc to include me, albeit only briefly.
My glass of wine was half empty when they paused again.
Marc offered me a smile that was both apologetic and conspiratorial. "Sorry to monopolize your client. I know you two were planning to go over pretrial strategy, but there were a couple of things that needed Grady's attention right away."
A perfect segue to my reason for being here. "How badly has the rape charge hurt the offering?" I asked.
"It hasn't helped," Marc said. "That's for sure. But it's too early to tell if there's permanent damage."
Grady snorted in disgust. "That's bullshit. There's always nervousness about an initial offering, especially in a volatile business like ours. This goddamn rape charge spells nothing but trouble. It's going to send the price into the toilet."
"If it's any help," I offered, "I think we stand a good chance of beating it at trial."
"It will be too late by then. Besides, good chance is far from a certainty."
I nodded. "True. But remember, the prelim was different. There, it wasn't a matter of assessing credibility or weighing the evidence. The judge was only looking to see if there was any basis for taking the case to trial. It's a fairly low standard."
"You can say that again." Grady made no
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