Chapter 4

      When Cadence finally looked up at the clock, it was well past two in the afternoon. She blinked and moved her eyes toward the glass clock on her desk. She hadn’t moved from her chair in hours. Twisting her head, Cadence tried to work out the kinks that had settled in her neck and shoulders. Then she stood, raising her arms over her head for a quick stretch.

      “Come in,” she said in response to the urgent rapping at her office door.

      The nervous look on the office assistant’s face caused the kinks that she had just worked out to stiffen in her shoulders. “Uh...Cadence...we have an—” Amy Fisher’s mouth formed as if she was going to say issue, but before she could get it out, Richard McLennan came stumbling through Cadence’s office door.

      Immediately, Cadence was on her feet. Before she could catch herself, she’d released an audible gasp at the sight of her disheveled client. If his reddened complexion and tousled hair didn’t leave her questioning what the heck was going on, then the huge shiner adorning his right eye certainly raised its own barrage of questions.

      “Richard!”

      “Cad...” Richard cleared his throat as he staggered toward her. “Cadence! I want that tramp arrested!”

      Cadence quickly rounded her desk, catching Richard just before he fell into the back of a chair.

      “Richard! Look at me,” Cadence ordered, wiggling his chin to get him to look directly at her.

      His focus wandered aimlessly as he tried to talk. “She socked me right in the eye!” The words tumbled out of his mouth before he hiccuped. “I’m suing her for every dime she’s got,” Richard slurred, and Cadence’s senses were assaulted by the strong odor of coffee and whiskey that permeated the air around him. She assumed he’d started his day with a couple of hot toddies.

      “Amy, get him a cup of black coffee and meet me in the conference room.” Cadence snaked her arm under Richard’s and guided him out of her office through a sea of inquisitive stares from coworkers, and into the conference room. Richard, a crumpled mess, had been mumbling all along the way.

      Once she successfully planted his sinewy body in a chair, Cadence took a deep breath, once again taking in the sharp odor of whiskey that wafted from his mouth. She paced a few times as she tried to gather herself before asking her next set of questions. She couldn’t believe what she was witnessing.

      Amy scurried into the room with a steaming cup of black coffee and tried to get Richard to drink some. His head bobbed as if he had no control of his neck. Amy had to support his chin to get his mouth to the rim. Tipping the cup, she got him to swallow a few sips before placing it down on the sturdy mahogany table.

      Cadence sent Amy to get Adam so she would have another attorney in the room before she began asking Richard questions. She was at least thankful that he’d begun to calm down a little. He had stopped mumbling incoherently and was now drinking the coffee on his own.

      Cadence jerked when Richard slammed the cup against the conference table. “I need another cup!” he barked.

      Amy was just about to enter the room, but instead nodded at Cadence, exiting swiftly toward the break room.

      “What’s going on here?” Adam’s voice bellowed as he entered the room. Rearing his head back at the sight of the large purple-and-black ring surrounding Richard’s eye, Adam looked back and forth between Cadence and Richard. “What the hell happened?”

      “That tramp.” Richard cleared his throat. “She socked me in the eye.”

      “Tell me who and why,” Adam said.

      Cadence stood next to Richard, arms crossed, awaiting his answer.

      “Victoria Kelly!” Richard said, slamming his hand against the table and then flashing a look as if he thought this was ridiculous.

      Cadence closed her eyes, shook her head and sighed, recognizing the name as one of the employees that had filed a recent sexual harassment claim against him. “Tell me exactly what happened, Richard,” she said calmly, taking a seat next to him.

      Adam shook his head and sat, also. Once again, Cadence tried her best to keep her composure and remain stoically professional as Richard gave an absurd account of how he’d simply brushed against the backside of an employee from whom he’d been warned to keep his distance. In addition, as he said, one thing led to another and, before he knew it, she’d wound up her arm and unleashed a blow that connected directly to his right eye. After that, he ran out of the office, jumped in a taxi and headed straight to the law firm.

      “When I get back to that office, I’m going to fire her so fast!”

      “Okay. Rich. Calm down.” Cadence was speaking softly while her eyes were on Adam, whose brows were still tightly knit as he nodded his head. “How about you get some rest and I’ll take care of everything.” Cadence was sure his claim wouldn’t hold water in light of all of the recent filings against him, but her job was to try to do all she could for her client. Right now she needed to get him calm and sober.

      “I’ll call for a taxi. Go home and get some rest, and then after that we can get started filing your claim.”

      “Whew!” Richard held his forehead. “Thanks, Cadence. I knew you would handle it.”

      “Cadence always does,” Adam added proudly. Cadence smiled for the first time since Richard came barreling into her office.

      “Don’t go back to the office today, okay, Richard? If you need anything, I’ll have Amy call and have your secretary send it to your house.

      “That won’t work.” Richard threw his hands up in the air.

      “Why not?” Cadence looked confused.

      “Victoria is my secretary, remember?”

      “No worries, Rich. We’ll see that you get what you need.” Cadence assured him.

      Just then, Amy walked back in with another cup of coffee. Richard, finally settled, took the cup, nodded halfheartedly before he began drinking.

      Adam got up from the table and patted Richard’s back. “You’re in good hands, Rich. Take it easy and we’ll get everything under control.”

      Rich simply nodded.

      “Cadence, can I speak to you for a moment?” Adam motioned for Cadence to follow him into the hallway. Adam looked back in the room before speaking. “You need to get to the bottom of this right away. Once you’re sure he’s home and settled, get over to that office and see how far this has gone. See what you can find out. We need to handle this as quickly and quietly as possible.”

      “Yes, sir.”

      Adam cast her a hopeful glance before heading back to his office. Cadence watched his long legs sweep across the floor in quick strides as she avoided going back into the conference room for just a few more minutes. She took a deep breath, dropped her shoulders and straightened her back, bracing herself for the task at hand.

      There was no telling how this would all play out. She knew that meeting Alana for drinks after work wasn’t likely to happen. Alana would understand. What Cadence found surprisingly disappointing was the fact that she wouldn’t get to see Blake tonight. Even if she knew she wasn’t his type.

      This new fiasco with Richard would eat up a considerable amount of Cadence’s time. The progress she’d made earlier in the day would mean nothing now that she had to shift her focus and try to clean up his latest mess. She made sure he’d made it home safely before she prepared for the trip to his company to get answers.

      The display on her cell phone lit up as it shimmied around her desktop. She’d put off calling Alana to cancel