168 - Decaf
My main concern is my kids. All three of them. If you are going to be a threat or a danger to any of them, even just one of them, you will not be around any of them. I will not have any dangers around my kids or my wife. - Darkness
Darkness dropped the kids off at school in the morning since Camille was already at swim and dive practice. Although she did not have any more competitions this year, she was a senior mentor to a freshman diver. That morning, Camille had offered to call her coach and skip practice.
“No,” Darkness told her with a light kiss to her forehead. “We’re not changing the routine any more than we have to. Go to practice, I’ll take the kids to school. We’re meeting Celt and Mr. Smith this afternoon. Zy is picking Mitch up after practice and Rosie is bringing Nicki home.”
Darkness was right, everything was taken care of and planned. She went to practice, helped her freshman little sister and then went to her classes. It was a short day with only two morning classes and then she went to a local café to do some work before she met Celt.
Her earbuds were playing her indie rock playlist while she worked on various websites. The decaf caramel macchiato was empty, and she considered getting another one. There was one more thing that she needed to correct on the daycare website, then she would go get a fresh cup.
As she reviewed the final changes and made a few tweaks, she was vaguely aware of someone sitting at the table. It was getting busier, so this did not surprise her. She moved her hot spot a little closer and offered the man in the suit a smile without really looking at him.
Clicking through her pages and preparing to put it back online, she was only vaguely aware of the waitress placing an iced coffee and slice of banana bread on the table. She assumed it was for the man who had sat at her table. When the glass and plate were pushed closer to her, she was a little confused.
Looking at the man across the table from her, she smiled as she pulled out her earbuds, “I didn’t think that you were going to be here until eleven.”
“Sweetie,” Celt laughed, “it’s nearly noon.”
“Is it?” she moved her wrist and looked at the smart watch on her wrist. “Damn, sorry.”
“You’re still on the Wolf Pack App, I just located you,” he admitted as the waitress came back with an Irish coffee and crumble cake. “Thank you.”
The waitress smiled at him and rested a well-manicured hand on his shoulder. Camille hid her laughter as she took a drink. Celt gave his young friend a warning look and a subtle eye roll.
“Is there anything else that I can get you?” the waitress ran her hand down his arm and gave a light squeeze of his well-defined muscles under the tailored suit.
“No, ma’am,” he gave the woman his patented courtroom smile that was polite, did not reach his eyes and warned of the beast waiting to pounce. “You can see if my sister-in-law needs anything.”
She jerked her hand back almost as if she had been burned by his words. Giving him a curt nod, she looked at Camille with mild irritation. It was as if Camille was the reason why the professional looking man had no interest in the waitress.
“I’m good,” Camille could hardly hide her amusement.
With a tight smile, she walked away and resumed her duties behind the counter. Camille and Celt shared a quiet laugh at the situation.
“Sister-in-law?”
“Your sister is married to my wife’s brother; therefore, you are technically my sister-in-law.”
“Only a lawyer would think of some shit like that,” Camille smirked at him as she broke off a piece of the banana nut bread. “How did you know what to get me?”
“I have my ways,” he chuckled as he grabbed the fork for his crumble cake.
“You texted Darkness.”
Shrugging, he admitted, “I texted Darkness. Now, tell me everything that you know, and I’ll tell you everything that I know, and we’ll be prepared for our meeting.”
“Okay, I can easily be bribed with iced coffees and banana nut bread.” She told him what she knew, but most of it he had already heard when William showed up at her house last night.
Celt then went over everything that he had learned from the divorce petition. Except what the pictures were of. He assured her that no one else needed that type of torture. When they were done, he pulled out his laptop from his soft-sided leather briefcase and pulled up the email from his sister.
He moved around to sit next to her so that Camille could also see what Mary Katherine had sent him. Just like the rest of the O’Malley lawyers, Mary Katherine was detailed and thorough. She had met with Dominique while Celt was on the flight down to Baton Rouge. Although she never told the older woman that she would represent her, she left the implication there while she asked questions.
It was not until the end when she handed over her business card that Dominique realized that Mary Katherine was there for Nicki.
*She accused me of ‘luring her in under false pretenses’ and I pointed out that I never said that I would represent her. I stated that I was a children’s lawyer who specialized in getting everything that the child needed. What this child needed was a stable environment, and I believed that she was in it.
*Anyway, she threatened to go to the bar association, so I offered her the phone number of it. She did not like that. <Picture my shocked face here.> Stormed out of The Cookie Jar and stiffed me with the bill from breakfast.
*When did Mia change the menu?
“Did Mia change the menu?” Camille asked.
“She did,” Celt made a few more notes on his notepad. “Supply chain issues screwed a lot of things up. Everything changed to farm-to-table. Carly has a greenhouse that is dedicated to the Cookie Jar.”
Camille’s phone rang with Darkness’ ring tone of *The Sound of Silence by Disturbed. She pulled it out of her bag and Celt chuckled.
“Isn’t that an appropriate song?”
“Nicki changes it every so often,” she smiled. “For a while it was *Darkness Settles In. Then she decided that it had the wrong connotation.” He chuckled as she pulled her phone out and spoke to her husband for a few minutes. She hung up and smiled at the man who declared himself to technically be her brother-in-law.
“Everything good?”
“Yeah,” she started gathering up her computer and other devices. “He’s waiting for us at the house.”
“And Smith?”
“He’s supposed to be there in thirty minutes.”
Celt followed her to the big house where they were greeted with the spicy aroma of Italian sausage and tomato sauce. Shortly after their arrival, the doorbell chimed announcing the arrival of William Smith.
Darkness greeted him with a stern warning.
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