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“No need. I can just get all of this on the record.” I heard him fumble around.
“On the record? Kind of like talking to a potential employer?”
Justin let out a chuckle. “Regina.” His voice raised. “She called me as a reference, and I just told her the truth. I gave you an outstanding recommendation.”
I rolled my eyes. “In a morally gray character reference.” I remembered her words during the interview.
“Never mind that. Brian Walker?” Justin changed the subject. “Can you add a quick character profile on him?”
“Can you tell me why?” I asked, leaning against the wall, my free hand rubbing the nape of my neck as I waited for his response.
He heaved a sigh. “He started working for another firm about five months ago—”
“How come Brian can land another job, but I can’t?” I interrupted.
“Because it was your name on the lawsuit, not his.”
Okay, he had a point. I sighed, which apparently told Justin to keep talking.
“And that firm is now missing two million, and their lead accountant is being pinned. However, he has proof none of it came from him. We think Brian is framing him—and framed you. The other firm has filed a suit, and he’s the common factor. We are 99.8% sure that he’s the cause of all the jobs lost from Jackson and Rye, and if he’s charged, we could appeal and get your charges reversed.” Justin said, all toneless, matter-of-factly.
“Reversed?”
“All I need is a character profile.”
Suddenly, the door to the studio opened, making me jump. Ophelia stopped, hunched her shoulders and covered her mouth, whispering a quick apology before she started to slink back in her studio. I reached out and gently touched her elbow, giving her the okay to stay. She slipped the door open and came out into the hallway, leaning her shoulder next to me, trying to stay silent as I spoke with Justin.
“I can’t really say anything bad about him. He always did his work, quickly and accurately. He was able to stay when we had a bigger case to work on, and he was always willing to take on new caseloads. I can’t see him as the embezzling type, to be honest.” I kept my hand on Ophelia’s elbow, lightly brushing my fingers against the back of her arm. Just having her in the hallway with me brought comfort. “Hell, I even considered him a friend while I lived in Seattle. I wish I could tell you something that would pin everything on him, but all I recall was a good employee. Why would he pin everything on me? How?”
Justin gave a long hum and then finally spoke. “He’s the common factor. We’ll have to keep digging, but like I said—”
“99.8% sure he’s the one, huh?” I asked, finishing the sentence for him, looking up at Ophelia. “You’ll keep me posted?”
“Of course. This involves you, even if it doesn’t feel like it. I just want the charges against you to be dropped and the real guy behind bars. Do you know if he paid anything during the settlement?”
“No one did, just me.”
“Well, again, it’s because it was all pinned on you. They wanted you out.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. . .” I grumbled, remembering the feeling of stress that was placed on me during the lawsuit. They definitely wanted me out. Rubbing the nape of my neck again, I felt that place where all my stress would sit. These past couple of months, I hadn’t had any tension there, and I wasn’t interested in bringing it back.
“I’ll be in touch, all right, Clay?”
“Sounds great. Thanks for the call.” We said our goodbyes, and once the line was dead, I dropped my phone to my side, Ophelia’s body still close to mine. “I wasn’t expecting a phone call from him today.” I pushed myself off the wall, dropping my hand from Ophelia’s arm. I bent down to grab my bag, carefully picking up her coffee.
She took it from me. “Is this regarding your case?”
I nodded. “I think so, but not really?” I swung my bag over my shoulder and grabbed the door handle, opening the door for Ophelia to step in. Once inside her studio, I saw Carter already taking photos of the two bridesmaids’ dresses that were on the mannequins. One was already sewn and completed, the other still held together with pins. “Is this your dress?” I asked, smiling over at her as I walked toward it, paying no mind to Carter.
“Yeah. . . I had to make it sooner than planned. JoAnn wants to post them on Instagram.” Ophelia came up behind me and reached out to touch the fabric that we had searched for. “So, here it is.”
I looked at the dress, back to the table where all her designs sat neatly in a pile, her computer open with digital designs for adding color. “How do you do all of this?”
She let out a deep breath. “Let’s just say some of the wedding planning has fallen on Jamie’s shoulders. I really didn’t expect it to be this much work. We’ve even fumbled on the party planning, so much so that Elliot has taken over.”
“Nah, don’t worry about the party. We still have time to plan it. I’ve got the invitations, and I can even work on decorations. Do we need decorations?”
“Maybe centerpieces?” She clenched her teeth, forcing me to smile.
