I tensed. The last thing I wanted was to see him in trouble again. "But it wasn't anything illegal, was it?"
Joel paused as if thinking. "Illegal? Couldn't tell ya. Unethical? No. Not in my book."
The distinction wasn't exactly comforting. I was almost afraid to ask, "So, what did you do?"
"Nothing that didn't need doing. But forget that. This guy's gonna look at your stuff. That was the deal."
Now, I was more confused than ever. "But wait a minute," I said. "You said this happened during the last two weeks? We weren't even together."
"So?"
"So why would you bother? I mean, you had your own legal troubles, right?"
"Me?" He gave a humorless laugh. "I'm a lost cause. But you? Shit, I had to dosomething. The way they were treating you…" Joel's voice hardened. "And what the hell were they gonna do next?"
I didn't even want to speculate. And the way it sounded, neither did Joel.
To my utter astonishment, he went on to tell me that the lawyer had already done some preliminary research and was confident that he could help me regain control of the estate.
I could hardly imagine.
When Joel finished, I said, "And you said he's really good?"
"The best," Joel said, "especially if you're willing to fight dirty."
I bit my lip. "How dirty?"
"Lemme rephrase that," Joel said. "If you're willing to lethimfight dirty." He paused. "With some help."
"From who?"
"Me."
"But what wouldyoudo."
"Whatever it takes."
On the nearby side table, something vibrated. It was my phone again. I was almost afraid to look. Already, Derek had called me a dozen times, not that I'd answered.
If I weren't expecting a call from Cassie, I would've turned off my phone hours ago. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option, because she might need me to work tomorrow, and with no other job-prospects, I couldn't risk missing the opportunity.
I snagged my phone and checked the display. It wasn't CassieorDerek. It was Mike of all people.
I gave Joel a nervous glance and let the phone go to voicemail.
Joel said, "Lemme guess. Derek?"
"Uh, no. Actually, it's someone else." I was still holding the phone. A moment later, a short vibration announced a new message.
Joel asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Not really." I gave the phone another glance. "It's just that I know what that was about." I sighed. "And you're not gonna like it."
At Joel's insistence, I gave him a quick rundown of the Mike situation. When I finished, Joel said, "That's it?"
"Well, yeah," I said. "And now I don't know what to tell him."
Even now, after relaying the story, I was embarrassed for a whole host of reasons. Not only had I promised Mike an autograph, I'd also supposedly promised some sort of meet-and-greet, involving burgers, beer, and who-knows-what.
