Chapter 4

Keeping Dates

Friday night arrived before Toni was ready for it.

KD and Leif were leaning against the bar waiting for their respective dates to arrive. KD was spinning around on the bar stool, while Leif was taking in the scene before them. Several neatly dressed tables were arranged throughout the posh restaurant. Several well dressed men and women sat around them, eating and chatting. "I hope this girl's not crazy or something," he shook his head.

"Well, she could be just like Glenda," KD repeated.

"Well, you forget I've met your girlfriend."

"You have a problem with her?" there was a defensive edge in his tone.

"No, not for you. She's perfect for you, KD, but for me, she's just not my type. She's too happy all the time," Leif shook his head.

"And what would be your type, Leif?" KD's tone nettled slightly. Probably because Leif knew he was right. He had dated a variety of women, none of them for very long. None of them had been the right one.

Leif sighed. "Isn't Glenda from Florida?" he asked, changing the topic.

"Yeah, Cocoa Beach I believe," he shrugged. "Her grandfather was with NASA or something I think." Leif's heart skipped a beat. NASA. That was just…

"NASA?"

"Yeah, you know like space and astronauts, stuff like that," KD chuckled.

"Her grandfather didn't happen to be Tony Nelson did he?"

"Yeah, I think that was his name. Why?" he was puzzled at his friend's reaction.

"Do you realize that your girlfriend just set me up with Toni Nelson?" Leif grabbed KD by his lapels and lifted his friend off his seat.

"What?" KD was even more puzzled. "Glenda set you up with Tony Nelson?"

"No, don't you get it?" Leif absently shook KD. "Toni Nelson is Tony Nelson's granddaughter!"

"Wha...Oh, you don't mean that Toni that works…?" it was all beginning to come clear as Glenda with a reluctant Toni in tow appeared in the doorway.

"Hi KD!" Glenda waved before they got across the room. A demure smile had spread across her face and her eyes twinkled. "We made it."

For the first time since they'd entered the room Toni saw Leif and her eyes grew round as saucers. "Oh dear," she muttered to herself.

"I…I didn't know," he cleared his throat. "That you were going to be my date."

"Oh, really?" Toni demanded. Leif blinked. She suddenly had gone into defense mode.

"I'm sorry," he paused. He wasn't sure what he was sorry for. "I didn't mean it how it sounded."

"Really?" an eyebrow rose. The tension between them was obvious. Leif felt uncomfortable as he shifted his weight.

"Shall we go?" Glenda's voice broke through the tension.

"Yes, lets," KD responded nervously.

They were shone to their seats, Leif tentatively taking her arm and leading her behind Glenda and KD. "I'm sorry," he repeated. She did not respond and he thought she was still angry. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Is something wrong?"

"No," she shook her head and managed a smile. "I was just thinking that my blind date could have been worse."

He smiled back at her. He was glad she was not still angry. They were seated and ordered their dinners. They had opted for early since the concert would probably not get out until late. He could not resist staring at her. There was indeed something peculiar about her, but he still could not put his finger on what.

"You know," KD spoke up as he sawed through his steak. "Leif here thinks you're strange. "Ow!" he cried out and bent down to rub both his legs. Leif knew that he'd hit one, but suspected that KD had ended up with a second blow from the general direction of Glenda.

"Really?" slyness and almost…cunning, showed upon Toni's face. "Well, I seem to think him a bit strange myself."

That surprised him. "I mean, a man makes a total disaster out of his office and the next day it's perfectly clean? He must have stayed there all night to clean it. How many men would do such a thing?"

Leif noted something passing between the cousins. It was not words or even actions, they just seemed to pass their eyes toward one another as if sending a silent message. Leif stared at her. She didn't flinch. So she thought he had something to do with his mysterious office? And he thought she had something to do with it, though what, he didn't know.

"I kind of thought it was you," Leif said in an even tone.

"Me? What reason would I have to waste my time cleaning your office?"

"So, if I cleaned it was a waste of my time?" he demanded.

"If that's what you think," she shrugged one shoulder. The rest of the meal was spent in silent tension before they left for the concert. Toni felt uncomfortable in her seat when her boss kept glancing in her direction. It made her nervous, as if she were under strict scrutiny.

She and Glenda parted company with KD and Leif. When they were out of sight they blinked to Toni's apartment. "Don't ever do that to me again," Toni warned, her arms crossed.

"I'm sorry," Glenda said sufficiently humble in her apology. "I didn't realize he was your boss. I've never met him before. Besides," she smiled. "You made me promise, so how could I convince you to go out again like that unless you wanted to."

Toni responded with a half smile, but she was still angry. She pulled back the cover of her bed and looked at Glenda. "I'm tired and have to get up early tomorrow. Do you mind?"

"I am sorry," Glenda added. "Good night. I'll see you later."

"Good night Glenda. And I know you didn't mean it," she said as her cousin disappeared. With a long yawn that brought tears to her eyes, Toni blinked into her blue silks and climbed into bed.

She awoke with a start. She sat up in bed and scratched the mass of tangled brown hair. Stifling a yawn she blinked and her hair was smooth and straight. Today was Saturday, but she had to work anyway since they were going to consult on the Johnson case. This would be the first of several similar sessions in which the evidence would be gone over and thoroughly impressed upon their minds in order to best present it in court.

The Johnson case was fairly straight forward. The only tricky thing about it was the fact that there was no tangible evidence that their client was not involved in the crime as he so claimed.

When she arrived at the tall skyscraper building Toni met Leif at the curb. She was surprised since his punctuality was not very…punctual. "Good morning," she said as amicably as she could manage.

"Good morning," he held open the glass front door for her and they walked together to the elevator. He cast a sidelong glance in her direction as he punched the button for up. She shifted her weight uncomfortably.

She had not disregarded his stares the day before and she did not brush them off this morning. He was…suspicious of her. She had tried to be careful in her minor usage of her powers to prevent any suspicion, but it seemed that she had used it one too many times around him.

"I hope Placid won't keep us too long," he said in a conversional tone as the elevator continued to lift and peeped as it passed each floor.

"Hopefully not," she responded. She decided that her best course of action was to distance herself from him. If she were not around him then he could not be suspicious of her for she doubted she could go throughout a day without using her powers for some small task. It was not that she could not, but that it would be difficult.

They arrived at the conference room before Placid or Goldwyn, but Martin Charles was sitting, eating an egg McMuffin. "Good morning," he greeted around his mouthful of food as they walked inside and found seats. He swiped his chin with a yellow napkin, still chewing. "Placid had to go pick up the evidence," he explained.

Toni nodded as if she understood, but she did not. "I hope you brought the files, Yahn," Charles turned his attention to Leif.

"Files?" he gasped, his face turning red with embarrassment and frustration. "I left them at home!" he banged his fist against his head.

Toni moaned inwardly. This would make the meeting drag out for that much longer! "Did you check to make sure?" she asked, discretely blinking.

"See?" Leif held up his empty briefcase, but there was a manila folder nestled between the dividers.

"You must be absent minded," Martin Charles chuckled as his chubby fist balled up the wrapper for his breakfast and he tossed it into the wastebasket near the door, missing it and just as Drake Placid opened the door. He stared down at the wad of paper with disinterest before stepping over it. He had his lap top case in one hand and a brief case in the other. He set the lap top on the table and began rummaging through the brief case. Ace Goldwyn had been behind him and now seated himself next to Leif.

"Now," Placid said, sounding more cheerful that Toni remembered his usual temperament to be. "This is the evidence that will clear Mr. Johnson of all the charges against him," he held up a video tape that was labeled exhibit D. "It was overlooked in the initial investigation, so the testimonies of witnesses at the scene had to be the primary evidence." He went to a TV table in the corner of the room and rolled it closer so that all of them could see. He inserted the tape into the VCR and turned it on. It was a low quality, black and white image. It was jumpy as it showed first a man behind the counter and then Johnson walking up to it. He handed the man a pack of gum and then the money to cover it. While the man was counting out his change another man approached the counter and pushed Johnson to the side, but still keeping him close.

The second man in front of the counter waved an object that looked like a gun and was shouting. Both Johnson and the man behind the counter looked nervous as both of them held their hands up in the air. The man behind the counter began taking money out of the register and the gunman swept it off the counter into what appeared to be a bag.

"This is what will clear Johnson," Placid responded when the tape had ended, sounding quite pleased.

"Why didn't this piece of evidence show up in the investigation?" Martin questioned…a question that had been forming in Toni's mind as well.

"I'm not sure," Placid shook his head thoughtfully. "We received it two days ago from an anonymous sender. My guess is that someone wanted Johnson to look guilty. Somehow the clerk was in on it. And the surveillance team at the store. Perhaps it was one of them that sent the tape feeling that it was unjust to send an innocent man to prison for something that he plainly did not commit."

Toni nodded her head in agreement. Vaguely, in the back of her head, she wondered why someone was so interested in passing the blame to Johnson. What were the motives?

"We are going to save this evidence," Placid continued. "As a last minute piece. I, Ace and Martin have already prepared defense for Mr. Johnson based on the evidence we do have. I don't really think it will hold up, but will give it a try. Then when the prosecution thinks we're licked we'll bring in this."

"So we're agreed?" Martin asked.

"I think so," Ace nodded looking towards the younger partners. Yahn nodded. Toni didn't respond. Her opinion wouldn't matter much anyway. If the senior partners and Leif were agreed, then it was so. Placid took out the tape and put it into the safe that was in the conference room so that any of them working on the project could easily access it.

"I'm going to have duplicates made of the main file so that we can all go over the facts of the case. That's what I want you to do this weekend. There will also be a copy of the defense plan. If you come up with anything else we can discuss it later."

(To Be Continued…)