Trial by Fury (29 page)

That was distressing. The process was playing out exactly as Theo had predicted—dividing her from her colleagues with preferential treatment, and ultimately creating a work environment so miserable she’d consider resigning.

“Thanks for the heads up, Eric. Something tells me this is going to get worse before it gets better. If Andrew’s up to something, don’t be surprised if he screws over someone else in the spring.”

* * *

Theo studied the graph of nursing salaries, trying to make sense of the regression line. Her math comprehension had grown substantially since Gloria came aboard as a consultant, but hypothetical models that considered several variables at once left her at a loss. Pie charts and bar graphs were more her speed. She wouldn’t dream of making her own statistical argument in court—that’s what expert witnesses were for—but she had to understand it well enough to frame her case.

After throwing herself full steam into interviews with Harwood’s rape victims, she was falling behind on the nurses’ case. That meant bringing files home. Since Celia was staying over tonight, she hadn’t intended to work more than an hour, but had been at her desk twice that long.

The dishwasher entered its rinse cycle, the roar reverberating through the wall and breaking her concentration. Her frustration boiling over, she yelled, “Remind me to buy a new dishwasher tomorrow. A quiet one.”

Celia appeared in her doorway with her arms folded. She’d changed into knee-length leggings and the white dress shirt she’d purloined from Theo’s closet after her first sleepover. “I’ll do that. And you remind me why I said yes to coming over tonight to watch you work.”

It was a fair question. Whether she blew off her work or left Celia to entertain herself, Theo was sure to feel guilty about it. But not as guilty as she felt for hiding the reason she was so far behind—that she’d begun working on a new case against Celia’s employer.

Before she could say anything at all, Celia spun and walked out.

With a frustrated groan, Theo switched off her desk lamp and buried her head in her hands. There weren’t enough hours in the day for the things she needed to do, especially not when Celia offered something so much better than work.

The living area and kitchen were dark. Following a beam of light that emanated from the master suite, she found Celia in the walk-in closet putting together an outfit for work the next day. Noiselessly, she crept up from behind and placed a series of soft kisses on the back of her neck. “I’m very”—
smack
—“very”—
smack
—“sorry I ignored you. You now have my undivided attention.”

Celia sneered at her skeptically with one eye closed. “For how long?”

“For the rest of the night.” She was disappointed to have Celia wriggle free. “Come on, I thought you’d be happy.”

“I am…except now I’m the one feeling guilty. I know what it’s like to be under the gun like you are. It’s obvious you have a ton of work to do. I didn’t mean to be pouty about it.”

That was one of the many things she loved about Celia, her instinct to empathize with the people around her. It made Theo that much more determined to spend the rest of the evening with her—and to make the most of it. But first she needed to come clean.

“Come sit with me. I need to talk to you about something…the reason I’ve got so much work piled on my desk right now.” She took Celia’s hand and led her out to the love seat. “I was going to wait until I had everything ready to file, but I decided you should know what we’re up to.”

“What is it?”

“We’re looking into reopening the case against Harwood. A general case about how they deal with rape. I’ve talked to twelve women so far. A lot of them got the same treatment as Hayley…or non-treatment, if that’s even a word. Some reported it just like she did and the police refused to investigate. Others didn’t even bother to report it because they knew Harwood wouldn’t do anything.”

Celia gaped at her. “What are you talking about? When did this happen?”

“There was a woman…I told you about her calling me. We tried to talk to her last summer but she was out of the country. She came back right before the semester started and called us. She knew Hayley.”

In painstaking detail, she laid out the details of the case they’d developed so far while Celia shook her head with disbelief.

“Harwood basically got off scot-free, Celia. They shook out some pocket change for Donald Lipscomb and didn’t do a thing about the problem. We have another chance to make them.”

“Why are you just now telling me this?” There was no mistaking the irritation in her voice.

“Because…I’m sorry. I wanted to say something sooner but these last couple of months have been so good for us. We weren’t stressed out all the time. You quit worrying about Harwood getting back at you. I just didn’t want to put you through that again.”

“Theo, you don’t just…” Celia shook her head and tried to pull away, but gave in when Theo gripped her wrist. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this. This is not just anybody you’re talking about suing. It’s my boss. I had a right to know.”

“Of course you did…you do. And that’s why I’m telling you.”

“Telling me? Shouldn’t you be asking me?”

Theo was taken aback by the combative tone, to say nothing of Celia’s suggestion that she needed permission to do her job. “No, because I work for my clients.”

A long, awkward silence followed. Celia’s jaw jutted defiantly and she refused to make eye contact.

“Celia, where is all this hostility coming from? If you’re upset because I didn’t tell you we were looking into this, then I’m truly sorry. Honestly, I didn’t want to drag us both back into that spiral again, at least not until I knew for sure we were going to go ahead with the case. You and I didn’t need that hanging over us.”

“So why are you starting it up again?”

“Because it’s what I do. You know that. But it doesn’t have to be what
we
do.” She scooted closer on the love seat, practically forcing Celia to lean into her arm. “These women I’ve talked to…they’ve been treated like trash, just like Hayley. It’s time somebody stood up for them. I can’t just walk away and leave them without a voice.”

Celia didn’t reply, so there was no way to know if she was upset about the case or about Theo’s decision not to tell her.

“I need to know what you’re feeling right now. Talk to me.”

“I feel like…Hayley’s case is over. It’s in the DA’s hands now. And you’re right—it’s nice not to be stressed out all the time. Things are going my way at work, and I don’t want to risk messing it up by having you stir the pot again.”

Her reluctance was understandable, but Theo couldn’t help being disappointed by her selfish perspective. This wasn’t the same woman who’d sneaked into her office fired up to bring the whole university down for the way it had treated Hayley.

“I can try to bring this case without dragging you into it.” It would make her job extremely difficult though, since the audiotape Celia had made of her meeting with administrators was a critical piece of evidence of their pattern of behavior. And it was the only solid proof she had, since all the threats had been delivered in person or over the phone by unnamed administrators. She’d have to find another way to prove they intimidated victims and witnesses into keeping silent.

“It won’t matter whether I testify or not, Theo. Eventually they’re going to find out about us sleeping together, and they’ll think I had something to do with it. It’s not as if you like to fly under the radar.”

Stung by the snideness of her remark, Theo abruptly disentangled from her and walked out onto the terrace. The city lights had an instantaneous calming effect. She would have felt justified at snapping back but knew she’d regret it. Her secrecy, after all, had set up this argument.

“Theo, I’m sorry.” Celia approached her from behind.

“It’s okay.”

“No, it isn’t. I freaked out and took it out on you.”

“But it’s my fault you freaked out. Either you’re mad because I took the case or because I didn’t tell you about it. I’m not sure it even matters which.”

Celia stroked her arm lovingly before taking up a position beside her at the rail. “It’s a little of both, I guess. But mad’s not the right word. Surprised…confused. Maybe scared. And I was hurt that you kept it from me, so I hurt back. That was a shitty thing to do.” When Theo didn’t respond right away, she added, “Does your silence mean you agree with me?”

Theo chuckled softly. “No, I’m taking the blame for this one. Unfortunately, it doesn’t change anything. I still need to do my job and help these women. We’re going to have to work it out so it doesn’t come between us.”

“I know who you are, Theo. One of the reasons I love you is because I respect what you do.”

They leaned into a gentle kiss.

“But I don’t want to be a part of your case. I can’t handle all that pressure again. You’ll have to do it without me.”

* * *

Celia rolled onto her side and backed into Theo’s embrace. Despite the argument they’d had only minutes before coming to bed—or perhaps because of it—their lovemaking had been intense and filled with emotion. Now as her body relaxed, she craved warmth and closeness.

She clutched Theo’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “I love you.”

“I love you too. And I want this every night…you right here beside me. What would you say to moving in with me?”

Warm lips caressed her shoulder, quelling her desire to roll back over to face her. “You want us to live together?”

“No more running back and forth to your place, juggling what’s where. No more fighting traffic out to Dunwoody. It would give us more time together.”

It would, but she didn’t want to take such a major step out of convenience. Nor did she want Theo’s invitation springing up only to smooth over hurt feelings.

“Celia, I’m not the only one who brings home work every night. You’ve been playing catch-up all semester with your classes.” Theo burrowed her hand into the warm hollow between Celia’s breasts. “Up to now we’ve been trying to manage by dividing our time. I think we ought to share it instead. That’s how we really get to know each other.”

“This isn’t because of our argument, is it? Because I said I was okay.”

“No, of course not.” She sighed and nuzzled the back of Celia’s neck. “Not directly. I felt bad when you said I hurt you. And even worse because I need to work the case anyway, when it’s obvious you’d rather I didn’t. All of it made me realize how important you are to me, how much I want you in my life. Telling you that is too easy. I want to
show
you. So after four months of sleepovers, I think it’s time for us to stop living like this is just a day-to-day relationship.”

Celia rippled with joy at hearing Theo shared her feelings. “You want me in your life, huh?”

“In my thoughts, in my heart.”

“And in your bed, I hope.”

“Every night.”

There was one word Theo hadn’t used, conspicuous for its absence.
Forever
. Celia didn’t need to hear it to know it was implied but not promised. They needed to take this step first, to mesh their lives under one roof and learn the give and take. “Yes, I’ll move in.”

Even in the dim light, Theo’s smile was bright enough to see.

“But what would I do with my place?”

“Who cares? Sell it, rent it, let it sit empty so you’ll have an imaginary safety net until you feel like you don’t need it anymore.”

It was funny she’d put it that way. Celia had taken for granted their relationship would evolve without effort, that they’d wake up someday and realize they’d been together for years.

Celia unceremoniously dumped the contents of her desk drawer into a box, the last of her office to be packed. “I can’t believe I get to go from looking out over a parking lot to looking out over the whole city.”

Theo was giving up her gigantic guest bedroom so Celia could have a home office too, complete with a sitting area that included a sofa bed in case they had overnight guests.

“I said that about my office downtown, but I barely get the chance to look out the window. I don’t think I’ve ever been this busy in my life.”

“When do you file the nurses’ case?” Celia couldn’t bring herself to ask how the sexual assault investigation was progressing. It was a subject they barely talked about.

“Hard to say. The data we really need to look at is proprietary. The best way to get access to it is to file a class action, but we can’t get certified until we have data to demonstrate the class of women makes less than the class of men. Of course, the men who make more don’t want to make less, so they aren’t exactly volunteering to help. It’s a catch-twenty-two.”

“I was wondering about that. How did you even know there was a discrepancy at Mercy? Aren’t their salaries supposed to be confidential?”

“Married couples. We’ve talked to about twenty of them so far. Gloria came up with a statistical formula that estimates what they should make if their salaries were based only on their training and experience. In all but four cases, the women make less and the men make more.” Theo taped the box closed as she talked. “Getting data from Mercy is a piece of cake compared to getting it from Harwood. Not only are the numbers proprietary, there’s an extra layer of privacy because we’re talking about students.”

They’d gone all weekend without talking about the Harwood case, and Celia wasn’t about to start now. To avoid having to respond, she scooped up the box and carried it downstairs and out to her car.

Theo was on her heels with a stack of books. “The other problem we have at Harwood is that it’s rape. These days, the Internet’s a cesspool of animals hiding in their mother’s basement and sending out threats to women who speak out about it. To protect our clients, we may have to call them Jane Roes.”

Celia suddenly had the feeling she was being baited.

“It takes a lot of courage to subject yourself to something like that. A couple of the women were gung-ho at first but then—”

“Maybe it’s not worth it, Theo.” It was all she could do to control the ire in her voice. The last thing she wanted was another fight about this case. “All I’m saying is, Harwood knows it’s under scrutiny now. You said yourself you might not win Hayley’s case, but the outrage might be enough to make them clean up their act.”