Chapter 8
Lucy put the lid on her final box of paperwork and walked down to the reception area to put it in the pile of boxes headed to the law firm's storage facility. Another case done, thankfully, even though this one was rougher than most for her.
"Is that the Sydney Barton box?" Alice asked from her spot behind the reception desk.
Lucy hoisted it on top of another box in the pile. "Yep. It's all set to go."
"I'm going to be so glad to see this one gone." Alice handed her a pen and a label. "You know the drill."
Lucy did. There were so many boxes over the years with a sticker like this one on it. So many where she filled out the case number and the client and sent it on its way to some black hole where it would sit when a case was done. For description of contents, she wrote "Barton, Sydney. In relation to the case of Martin, John."
"Hey, Alice. What's today?"
"August fifteenth."
She paused for a moment before writing it down. Almost two months since she last saw Ryan at the cabin. Not that she was dwelling on it or anything.
She peeled the label off its backing and stuck it to the box. Done. Finally.
Tomorrow, John Martin would be sentenced to prison for a pyramid scheme in which he stole money from his clients that he was supposed to be investing for them. His assistant investment manager, Sydney, had cooperated with the Securities and Exchange Commission as best as she could. It wasn't much since she didn't know what he was doing, but it was enough to make him realize that he had nowhere to hide. John finally pled guilty a few months ago. The sentencing was the only thing left.
That case would be wrapped up tomorrow with Lucy's ends already tied up, which is why she was taking Friday off. She deserved a vacation day after all this. Plus, Lucy was going out to dinner tonight with Sydney and her new fiancé, Andy, to celebrate. She was looking forward to it. Sort of.
There were times when she would be over at Sydney's place and think about what Ryan was up to, or they would go out to the local bar where the two of them would drink with Ryan sometimes. But this time, he wasn't there.
Lucy headed back to her office and sat down at her desk, wondering about him again, especially considering all the paperwork in that box was once spread out on a table on her back porch at the cottage. She remembered making notes about it while looking over her laptop to see him across the way reading his book. Those thoughts would always eventually lead to others. Sex on the kitchen counter. Lying naked in her bed all morning while he took his time with her. Pressed up against his pick-up truck, kissing him passionately before he drove back to Detroit.
For the first month after that, she didn't hear from him and to be fair, she never tried to contact him either. It seemed like there was an unspoken rule between them that it was what it was and wouldn't be spoken of again. It was a magical few days but just ended up being nothing more.
Then a few weeks ago, Ryan sent her a photo: a stack of five mystery novels on a dresser. She assumed it was in his childhood bedroom considering there were hockey trophies around the books and a cute photo of him as a kid in his hockey gear tucked into the frame of a mirror. The mirror also reflected Ryan standing with his phone in his hand, athletic shorts on and no shirt. The stuff in the periphery was intriguing to her, there was no denying that. But the books were what she first noticed when she opened the photo. Right after the photo was a text from him.
Finished all of these. Mysteries were a great suggestion.
She smiled when she saw it, and wrote him a little note back.
Much better than being buried alive a cellar.Lucy thought about leaving it there but decided to send one more text.Hope Canada is treating you well.
It took awhile before he finally replied.It is! See you in a month!
What was that supposed to mean? She wasn't sure if he was brushing her off or if he wanted her to respond. It seemed like kind of a sign-off, like he wasn't expecting to hear from her again after that.
But then what? Would they pick up where they left off? Ignore what happened and move on? If she was being honest, she wanted to find an excuse to see him naked again and let him have his way with her. But he was Ryan McCloud, Detroit hockey superstar. Women flocked to him whenever Lucy saw him in public. There was no way Ryan would want to stick with her when he could have a "flavor of the week" in this city. Better to just assume that they would carry on like they usually did when he got back to town. They were acquaintances, maybe even friends, but nothing more.
Lucy's thoughts were broken by her phone ringing on her desk, the ID telling her that it was Sydney.
"Hey, I was just thinking about you!" Lucy said.
"In a good way or a bad way?"
"A bit of both. I just put your box of paperwork in a pile to be sent over to our storage facility."
"Good riddance," Sydney muttered. "Anyway, we're still on for dinner?"
"Definitely! What's the plan?"
"Apparatus Room."
The Apparatus Room was in an old firehouse downtown that had been converted to a hotel with a restaurant in the old fire station garage. There were huge doors in front that would be open this time of year, letting the breeze cool the place down a little. It was just another one of those great places downtown that was part of the revitalization of the city in the past few years. It was also super hard to get into.
