Hollywood's Baddest (7 page)

“Alright. Listen… I know that you are Lucas’ counsel, but I want you to make sure that I am there next time, or any time that you meet with him to talk about the case. You see, I have an obligation to Lucas to watch over him and protect him. I want you to promise me that you’re going to make sure I’m there every time. Will you do that for me please?” he asked in an even tone.

She furrowed her brow slightly. “Yes, of course.” She answered. “I’ll make sure you’re there.”  As she thought about it, she realized what a good idea that was, because then maybe Warren could keep Lucas at bay and he wouldn’t come on to her so strongly.

“Good. Keep me posted on the case and how it’s going.”

“I’ll do that. Thanks for calling.”

They hung up and she looked down at her notes; all of them showing her everything that Lucas had told her, and none of them showing her the truth. She knew it was buried in the notes somewhere, but she just couldn’t see it, and she didn’t think she was going to be able to build a solid defense for him without it.

Chapter4

Abby hurried through the nearly empty restaurant to get to her sister, and when she reached Alexis, she hugged her tight and then sat down near her. They had agreed to go to dinner together so that they could catch up with each other on everything, though Alexis knew with absolute certainty that the one thing her sister wanted to know about more than anything else was Lucas Ryan.

“So? What’s going on with the case? How is it working for you know who?” she asked in excited anticipation, looking around the two of them conspiratorially.

Alexis frowned and sighed, letting out a long breath of agitation. “It’s tough. I feel like I’m between a rock and a hard place.”

“What’s the hang up?” her sister asked quizzically.

“Well, I talked to him in person a couple of times, and I got as much information from him as I feel like I’m going to get, but it isn’t enough and I just can’t seem to piece it all together. It’s like there’s this massive puzzle and I keep trying to put all the parts in to get the whole picture, but no matter how I try to figure out all of the facts I know, it doesn’t work.” She took a sip from her wine glass and shook her head in consternation, “There’s just some big thing that I’m missing and it’s vital. It ties it all together. I just… I’m struggling with it. I can’t build a solid case without it.”

Abby frowned then too, and looked at Alexis sympathetically. “What’s missing?”

“Well… you know about as much as the public does. He was at the house, there was a party, and there were tons of people. He walked into his office with a solid buzz or maybe even a little bit drunk, he shared a shot with a couple of guys, and he woke up in the back of a squad car on his way to jail. He passed out in his office, he thinks, but he doesn’t know why he passed out.

He doesn’t know what happened. He says he doesn’t know where the drugs came from, and he doesn’t use them at all, but how else do you explain him passing out? I mean… people don’t just… pass out cold and wake up a little while later. He wasn’t attacked or anything, there is no injury to him… he just… passed out.”

Alexis screwed her face up in deep thought. “That’s got to be drugs, right? See, if he was doing drugs and drinking, then it would make sense that he would pass out like that, but he swears up and down on a stack of bibles that he wasn’t doing drugs, and that he never does them, and he just doesn’t know what happened. It’s just this… big unanswered mystery.”

Her shoulders dropped some and her face fell slightly as the weight of the whole thing bore down on her. “The hard part is that as long as it’s a mystery, I’m not going to be able to build a case and prove his innocence to a jury. The prosecution has a ton of evidence against him and I have no way to combat that.”

Abby reached over and rubbed her arm gently. “I’m so sorry to hear that. I know you’re trying really hard and if there was any way that anyone could prove him innocent, you’d be the one to find it, but it sounds like you’re really stuck on this one. I wish it was easier for you.”

She paused then and looked at Alexis intently. “Lexi… do you think he’s on drugs? I mean, personally. You’ve spent some time with him and been in his house and all that. Do you think he was doing drugs?”

Alexis peered closely at her sister. “This goes no further.”

Abby grew wide eyed and nodded her head enthusiastically. “No, of course not!”

You swear to god.” Alexis demanded.

“I swear! Yeah… I swear to you. No further. I promise!” Abby vowed, crossing her finger over her heart.

Sighing, Alexis leaned close to her sister. “Yes, I do think he was on drugs. There’s no other way he could have passed out. I think he’s guilty as hell, and I’m really having a hard time trying to figure out a way to prove that a guilty man is innocent to a jury full of people who are probably already going to have their opinions. It’s really pushing me to my limits and testing every strength I have.” She shook her head then. “There’s more to it than that, though.”

Abby was at full attention. “Really? What else is there?” she asked with hushed fascination.

Alexis knit her brow and bit at her lower lip. “He’s got some good qualities. I thought he was this kind of… jackass, I guess.” At this, Abby gasped as if the words that her sister had just spoken were sacrilege, but Alexis continued, “but you know what… he’s doing some good things. He’s definitely driven to go after what he wants,” she said with a note of chagrin at the thought of him getting so close to her and flirting with her so much.

“But… he does some good things. One of them is that he volunteers to teach acting and stage arts to kids in underdeveloped neighborhoods at a community center, and it’s a big secret. No one knows about it, and he wants it kept that way so that the kids he teaches and coaches can keep him there and learn from him, rather than being bombarded by other kids and swarms of media.”

Abby’s mouth fell open. “You’re kidding!” she squealed and clasped her hands together excitedly. “That’s just what I love about him! He has so many layers, and you never know about them all! I love that he does that! Do you know, I’m not at all surprised. That’s just exactly the kind of thing that he would do, and it’s so wonderful!

Those kids are going to grow up so rewarded with that, and so lucky. I bet he even helps some of them get into the business! What a guy! What a great guy.” She grinned blissfully and Alexis rolled her eyes, knowing that Lucas wasn’t all great.

“Ab, let’s not forget that he didn’t earn that nickname of being ‘Hollywood’s Bad Boy’ for nothing. He’s not a saint, Abby. Not by a long shot. He just does some nice things.” Alexis stated pointedly, and her sister shrugged and waved her hand dismissively.

“I don’t care if he’s a bad boy or not. He’s a good bad boy.” Abby said with certainty.

“There’s no such thing.” Alexis told her firmly.

She changed the subject then and they talked about Abby’s work and different things that were going on in their lives. When dinner was over, Abby made Alexis promise to keep her in the loop and then they bade each other good night and Alexis went home.

She tried to keep her mind on anything but Lucas, but she just couldn’t do it. Even watching television didn’t help, because as she flipped through the movie channels, his face came up a couple of times and she had to turn the television off and try to distract her mind with a long hot shower.

By the time she fell asleep, she was exhausted, and her mind did her no favors that night. Deep in her dreams, the feelings she had been fighting seemed to come to life, and she found him looking for her, speaking to her in that soft quiet voice he had used when he said in her ear that she was a distraction for him.

Her body heated and she burned with desire and could not resist him any longer. He took her into his arms, kissing her passionately, pulling her clothes from her, touching her body everywhere and making love to her over and over again in her dreams. 

She dreamed of them making love in so many places, all over his home; in his bedroom, on his desk in the office, in the pool on a hot day, both of them wet and ravenously hungry for one another, and in her dreams there were no inhibitions, no rules, nothing to stop them from having each other and loving every single minute of it. She felt no shame in her dream, only desire and blissful happiness and release, and in her dreams, she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. Together their desire exploded in a bonfire of passion, consuming them both and exceeding their every fantasy.

When she woke up, she could still feel the physical need for him, and it both horrified and embarrassed her. She tried to push it from her mind, telling herself that she had no business thinking about a client that way, and that she could not ever think of him that way again. She also didn’t want to let any thoughts into her mind that might lead to encouraging him any further than he had already gone with her.

She dressed for work and focused all of her thoughts and energies on working on his case when she got to her desk that morning. Bea brought her coffee and told her that Anderson Nolan had called to see if she was in that morning, so Alexis wasn’t too surprised when he walked through her office door a short while later, and sat across from her at her desk.

She closed the file she had been working on; Lucas’ file, and she met the old man’s gaze. It was a penetrating gaze, and one that seemed always to take in, but never to reveal what might be going on behind it. She guessed that that might be part of what made him a great and formidable attorney.

Anderson tipped his head, looking at her thoughtfully. “How are you doing, Alexis?” he asked intently. She knew that he meant much more than what he had asked her in such a simple way.

She smiled and looked back at him brightly. “I’m great! I am keeping busy with several cases, and working hard.” she knew it sounded trite, but she wanted to sound upbeat for him. She wasn’t feeling upbeat, so sounding that way was the next best thing that she could do.

His expression was purely stoic. “How is the Lucas Ryan case going?” he asked patiently.

Alexis knew that she was going to have to be totally honest with him. There was no other way to handle it. “Well… to tell you the truth, I interviewed him twice in person and I even went over to his house once to see if I could find anything that might help his case; some kind of evidence or anything at all that might be useful, but there wasn’t anything there, and there was nothing he said during either interview that might help us. He is claiming that he’s innocent, and there just hasn’t been anything that’s come up to solidly back that up.”

“You’d better find something.” He stated pointedly.

She swallowed and nodded. “Of course, I’m still looking. I’m not going to stop until I have created a solid defense for him. This case of his is my top priority right now.” She answered him, knowing that it was exactly what he wanted to hear her say, and also knowing that it was far and away the truth.

“Well, Alexis, you’re going to have to find something and find it fast. The arraignment has been set for three days from today. I was just notified and thought that I would come down and tell you in person.” He leaned closer to her, his eyes steady on hers. “This has to be an airtight case. Nothing can go wrong with it. You absolutely have to prove him innocent. You understand that, don’t you, Alexis? You fully understand just how important this case is?”

She nodded. “I do indeed.” She said calmly, though her heart was about to beat right out of her chest and she thought the blood screaming through her veins just then might give her a heart attack.

“Good.” He answered, standing up and looking down at her. “There has not ever been a higher profile case in the history of this firm, and that is saying something. This one is setting a precedence, and we must meet that challenge with absolute success.”

“I understand.” She said in the same assured tone.

He nodded and let himself out of her office, closing the door behind him. The moment the latch clicked, she dropped her head down into her hands and prayed that something; anything, would come up that would give her a break in the case and make it possible for her to prove that Lucas Ryan was innocent of the drug charges filed against him.

It seemed to her at that moment like a Herculean task; and one that was completely insurmountable. She had committed herself to it, and she was giving everything in herself to see it through and make sure that they realized a successful outcome for the case, but in her heart there was a deeply seeded fear that she was standing on the tip of the iceberg of her failure, and the very worst possibility was that she would bring the whole firm down with her in flames if she failed.

She wiped a stress tear from her eyelashes and steadied her breath, and then reached for the telephone, moving forward, even if it was a single step at a time.

She dialed Lucas’s number and hoped that he would answer, but he didn’t, and she got his voicemail.

“Lucas, this is Alexis Harper. I just wanted to let you know that the arraignment is set for three days from now. I’m going to email the details to you. You have to be there for it; you absolutely cannot miss it, so please send me a confirmation that you’ll show up. Thank you.” She hung up, hoping that she hadn’t sounded as if she had no faith in him at all. She felt like she didn’t have any faith in him, but she didn’t want him to know that.

Thinking about the call that she had gotten from Warren the day she had gone to Lucas’ house, she picked up the phone and her next call was to Warren. He answered right away. “Hello?”

“Warren? This is Alexis Harper from the Nolan law firm. I wanted to let you know that the arraignment has been set for three days from now. Lucas absolutely has to be there for it.” She hoped that Warren would take it as seriously as it should be taken. “I tried to call Lucas to tell him, but I got his voicemail, so I just left him a message. He has to know about this, and he has to show up. Would you mind getting the message to him please?”

“Yes, of course. Lucas is busy working today, which is why he didn’t answer his phone, but I will get the message to him, and I will make sure that he is there for the arraignment.”  His voice was steady and polite.

“Thank you so much, Warren, I appreciate that.” She felt a slight ripple of relief to know that someone close to Lucas was taking care of things for him.

“That’s my job.” He answered, and they bid each other goodbye.

She hung up the phone hoping with everything in her that Lucas would be there and that nothing would go wrong. They had to talk about how he was going to plead and what his chances at that point were of fighting a successful battle in the courtroom. She felt sorry about thinking it, or even more than that, knowing it, but if they were to walk into the courtroom for his trial in three days, instead of for his arraignment, he’d be thrown in prison and there would be no way for her to stop that from happening.