Read Online Objection Overruled by J.K. O'Hanlon - Free Book Online Page B

Jr.?” For the first time since he’d confronted her after lunch, she met his gaze.
    Brandon did the quick math in his head. “Eleven years.”
    “Where did you meet him?”
    “In college, at UVA. We were fraternity brothers until he transferred to Towson in his junior year.” Brandon’s stomach churned. He’d spent the last nine years trying to forget that he’d once called Ashe his “brother.”
    “How would you describe your relationship with him?” Her chin was tucked, and she stared at him under hooded eyes.
    Brandon looked away and then directly at her. “How would I describe my relationship with him? How would you describe your relationship with me?”
    Her eyes widened.
    Brandon said, “What I mean is the answer to your question is subjective.”
    “Have you or have you not remained friends with Robert Ashe?”
    “I don’t have a relationship with Ashe,” Brandon barked at her and then ran his fingers through his hair.
    “Let’s move on.” Jackie shuffled her papers. “If you would please turn your attention to exhibit twenty-three, which is the audit report of Marling Loomis accounting firm, performed as a part of the investigation of Ashe by the Securities and Exchange Commission five years ago.”
    Brandon let out a breath. She was off his dark connection to Ashe but onto the scent of the case. Now the fun would begin.
    Jackie attacked swiftly. “The auditors failed to issue a clean report of the Tufton Fund run by Ashe. The report states that no opinion as to the financial statements could be made because of lack of documentation. Isn’t it odd that for a fund the size of the Tufton Fund there would not be financial documentation?”
    He knew the facts and parried with ease. “First, the Tufton Fund was an entirely different type of fund than that which the Kovels invested in. Second, the SEC failed to find any wrongdoing on the part of the Fund, its managers, or Ashe except for a minor issue regarding registration of securities.”
    Pleased, he did his best to tamp down a victorious smile.
    She took his bait, shooting rapid-fire questions relating to securities regulations and trading practices, far afield from the minefield of fraud.
    Their minds danced around each other with the same ease their bodies had at El Matador. She had let him lead her supple body. Yet, when he least expected it, she had exerted her strength to push back on his lead, to challenge him to take her where he wanted to go.
    “Mr. Marshfield, with the volume of trades Ashe allegedly made on behalf of his clients, was it feasible to execute all of those trades on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange?” She leaned into him, her lips barely parted, and her tongue glided over the bottom of her top teeth.
    Any hesitation would give her reason to pursue. He casually responded, “That’s not the only exchange in the US. Many of the trades were done offshore. All of that is confirmed in the Boyers Report.”
    She paused, set down her pen, and flipped her legal pad closed. She studied him intensely.
    What was she looking for? In this case? In life? Why did it matter so much to him?
    “Is something wrong, Mr. Marshfield?” She smiled at him. She must have gotten what she wanted. “I have no further questions.” With a swift move, she tucked her papers in her briefcase to signal she had dismissed him.
    She rose and turned, every move efficient. As she left the conference room, Jackie shot him a closed-lipped smile. She coolly addressed Stone. “Gary, I don’t believe you produced the Boyers Report that Mr. Marshfield mentioned. Surely it was an oversight with the reams of paper you had to produce. Someone of your experience, your stature in the legal community, certainly wouldn’t purposefully deceive the court. I expect that on my desk by eight a.m. tomorrow morning.”
    She took a step and then turned back again. “Oh, and if no one has any objections, once I get the Boyers Report, would Mr. Marshfield be so kind