Because of You

“Who the hell works on New Year’s?”

“Doctors, cops, bus drivers—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Raymond intoned, cutting him off. “Just keep watching him. Let me know if you need more resources.”

“I’m good for now,” Donald replied.

He ended the call, pushing the cell phone into the pocket of his down-filled jacket. Blowing on his hands, he rubbed them together to generate heat. He’d forgotten his gloves—again. Standing and pushing his stiff fingers into the pockets of the baggy wide wale corduroy, he waited for the traffic light to change before crossing the street to wait for the bus to take him back uptown.

Jordan drove along Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard, then turned on 121st Street. If he hadn’t called the garage to have his car ready, he would’ve either walked or taken a taxi to the office. Walking from 98th and Fifth to 121st Street was a workout.

Three boyhood friends who’d pooled their resources to purchase the three-story brownstone had set up their practices on each floor. Kyle Chatham, his former mentor and senior law partner, occupied the second floor. Financial planner Duncan Gilmore’s offices spanned the first floor, and psychotherapist Dr. Ivan Campbell counseled patients on the third floor of the nineteenth-century landmark structure that had been renovated for business use.

Miraculously, he found a parking space, maneuvering up to the tree-lined curb. He got out, locked the door and bounded up the staircase to the front door. Brass plates affixed to the side of the building indicated the location of each business.

Jordan unlocked the front door and punched in the code to disarm the security system. He reset it and walked past the elevator in the entryway and into the reception area furnished with comfortable leather seating, a wall-mounted flat-screen television and potted plants. Whenever the office was open during the winter months, a fire roared in the huge fireplace.

The soles of his shoes made soft squishing sounds on the marble floor when he made his way to the staircase. It wasn’t until he’d exited the last stair that he was aware he wasn’t the only one in the building. The sound of music floated down the hallway from the conference room.

Walking past his office, he stopped at the open door. Kyle Chatham sat at the conference table amid stacks of law books and legal pads. A pullover sweater, jeans and boots replaced his tailored suits.

“Happy New Year, Chat.”

Kyle’s head popped up, his eyes growing wider when he saw Jordan standing in the doorway. “Happy New Year to you, too. What the hell are you doing here?” It wasn’t often that he saw Jordan unshaven. “You look a little green around the gills.”

“Champagne and shots are a lethal combination.”

“What’s up with the frat boy antics?”

Jordan shook his head. “Don’t ask.”

“But I am asking, partner. I don’t remember ever seeing you overindulge.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Jordan angled his head. His partner and former mentor was quintessentially tall, dark and handsome. Women were drawn to his angular face with chiseled cheekbones, deep-set, slanting, catlike, warm brown eyes and close-cropped black hair with a sprinkling of gray. He and his fiancée, Ava Warrick, were to be married in Puerto Rico the next month.

“Brandt and some of his boys started challenging one another, so I had to get my cousin’s back.”

“That’s when you should’ve bailed, Jordan. You know you can’t hang with those guys. They’re twice your size and have hollow legs.”

“I discovered that when I woke up this morning.”

“Why, then, are you here instead of sleeping it off?” Kyle asked.

“I came to look up some decisions on workplace harassment for a friend.” His cousin had given him Aziza’s address and phone number. He planned to call her later that evening and confirm a time for his arrival. “Why are you here instead of home with your beautiful fiancée?”

Kyle massaged his forehead with his fingers as he stared at his junior partner. He and Jordan had worked together at Trilling, Carlyle and Browne where he’d become the younger man’s mentor.

“I wanted to go over some details on this attempted rape case that has been literally kicking my behind. I should’ve passed on this one, but I couldn’t leave this kid’s fate in the hands of a public defender who will probably get him to take a plea where he will spend the next eight to ten years of his life behind bars.”

Slipping out of his jacket, Jordan entered the room and draped it over the back of a chair and sat down. “You took on the case because the kid is innocent.”

Kyle ran a hand over his face. “But it all comes down to ‘he said, she said.’”

Kyle leaned forward. “If he puts her on the stand and she breaks down, then our client’s fate is sealed and he’s going to go away for a long time. His mother didn’t sacrifice working two jobs to send her son to college to have him become a felon.”

Jordan continued to peruse the file. When Kyle had set up K.E. Chatham Legal Services, he’d established a routine of Monday-morning staff meetings where open cases were reviewed and updated. But since he’d made partner, Jordan and Kyle alternated chairing the meetings.

“This case is not about rape, Chat.”

Slumping back in his chair, Kyle stared across the table at his partner. “You tell me what it’s about.”

Nothing on Kyle Chatham moved, not his eyes, not his chest when he held his breath. He’d questioned himself when Jordan had come to him asking to join his firm. What he couldn’t fathom was why a Harvard-educated lawyer from one of New York City’s wealthiest families had resigned positions with his family real estate empire and a Park Avenue law firm to work in Harlem. Their clients weren’t remotely close to the well-heeled corporations they’d represented in the past.

“Talk to me, Wainwright.”

Jordan smiled for the first time since he’d woken up earlier that morning with a pounding headache. “They’re together as long as they’re students, but after graduation she expected to become Mrs. Robinson Fields. The script is flipped when he tells her that he’s moving on and dating someone else.”

Pushing back his chair, Jordan stood. “On that note I think I’d better leave.”

“How long are you going to hang out here?”

Jordan shrugged broad shoulders. “I don’t know. Why?”

“Just asking.”

“If I don’t see you before you leave, then I’ll see you Monday morning.”

He hadn’t lied to Kyle. He didn’t know how long he would be at the office when it came to researching cases. When he’d worked for Trilling, Carlyle and Browne, he had been second chair with two harassment cases, while workplace harassment at Wainwright Developers hadn’t been an issue. Wyatt Wainwright may have ruled his company with an iron fist, but he’d always generously compensated his employees for their hard work.

Jordan walked into his office, touching the wall switch and flooding the space with light. Tossing his jacket on a leather chair, he rounded his desk and sat down. His personal secretary had stacked files on a side table for the Monday-morning staff meeting.

Picking up a remote device, he pressed a button and music flowed from the speakers of a stereo unit concealed behind the doors in the mahogany armoire that matched the desk and tables. The melodious strains of a violin filled the office.

Jordan switched on his computer, and while waiting for it to boot, his cell phone rang. He answered it without looking at the display. “This is Jordan.”

“Jordan, Aziza.”