“Thanks, Jerry, but I really don’t want to read it. I don’t want to bring back bad memories. I know what happened to my parents and Casey.”
Ashley paused. If Jerry was right, Casey was also her parent. It was strange thinking about the dean in that way. She still had trouble getting her head around the idea that the icy, elegant blonde she’d met on her first visit to the Oregon Academy had carried her inside her body for nine months and had given birth to her.
Last night, Ashley had looked in the mirror and tried to see something that reminded her of Casey Van Meter. They both had blond hair but Casey was tall and willowy while Ashley was stockier and more muscular. Their complexions were similar. After several years in Italy Ashley’s skin was as tan as she remembered Casey’s.
The dean had been strong and self-possessed. Ashley remembered the way she’d dealt with Randy Coleman when her husband had accosted her at the Academy pool. Was she like that? She was a leader on the soccer field. In high school, the girls always looked to her to show them the way. Even though she was a foreigner and new in town, the women on her team in the village saw her as their leader.
Jerry put back the book and they sat down at their gate. Ashley looked around at her fellow passengers. Some seemed excited. Many seemed tired or bored. Five years before, when she’d gone to the airport in Portland, Ashley had felt that she was on the brink of a great adventure, that she was flying to freedom. Today, Ashley was frightened. She hoped that Joshua Maxfield was not interested in her anymore, she hoped that Casey Van Meter would come out of her coma filled with love for her long-lost daughter, but she knew that both of these dreams could become nightmares.
A town car met Jerry and Ashley at the airport and drove to an apartment that he had rented under his name. Jerry told the driver to wait while he helped Ashley carry her bags up to the apartment. He had called ahead and had his secretary stock the refrigerator. She probably thought that he had a mistress. Jerry smiled at the thought. His love life had been pretty dull since he’d ended a two-year relationship with an ambitious stockbroker. She had dropped into a deep depression after being laid off when the market tanked, and had finally moved to New York when a new job opened up. In retrospect, Jerry believed it was for the best. He hadn’t been interested in any of his infrequent dates since she’d left.
“Is this okay?” Jerry asked after Ashley made a brief inspection.
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
“It’s only rented for the month, so you can move out if it doesn’t suit you.”
“No, I like it.”
“I paid for cable,” Jerry said, pointing to the TV. “You can catch up on all the bad television you missed while you were away.”
Ashley walked over and kissed her attorney on the cheek. “You’ve been so great, Jerry. I couldn’t have gotten through this without you.”
“Hey,” Jerry said, embarrassed by Ashley’s show of affection, “we’re a full-service law firm.”
They stood inches apart in awkward silence for a few seconds. Then Jerry took a step back.
“The hearing is at ten. I’ll pick you up at nine-thirty.”
“I’ll be ready.”
“See you then.”
“Okay.”
“Sleep tight.”
Ashley walked to the front window and watched Jerry get in the car. She stayed at the window until the taillights disappeared. Jerry had been fantastic. He was so steady. He made her feel safe. But the feeling would not last. Tomorrow, everyone would know that she was back.
Chapter Twenty-One
The Multnomah County Courthouse, a massive concrete building that took up a city block, looked as grim and ominous as it had on the day five years ago when Ashley testified at Joshua Maxfield’s preliminary hearing. There was a short line at the metal detectors in the lobby when Ashley and Jerry Philips arrived. Her attorney was dressed in a gray suit, white shirt, and pale-yellow tie. She was wearing a black suit they had purchased in Florence before they left.
As soon as they cleared security, Jerry led Ashley up the stairs to the third floor, four marble hallways built around a central airshaft. The Honorable Paula Gish was hearing cases in a modern courtroom in the back corridor. Judge Gish was a heavyset woman in her early forties with short brown hair and thick glasses. When Ashley and Jerry walked in, Gish was thumbing through a set of pleadings while a white-haired attorney droned on about an order for attorney fees.
After Ashley and her lawyer took seats in the last row, she looked at the spectators. There weren’t many of them, so she had no trouble spotting Miles Van Meter. He was sitting in the front row next to a balding, overweight African-American who dressed as elegantly as Miles.
Ashley was surprised to see Randy Coleman seated a few rows down on the other side of the aisle. He was wearing a shabby suit very different from the stylish getup he had worn when he accosted Casey at the pool. Ashley guessed that the intervening years had not been kind to Coleman. Sitting next to Casey’s husband was a short, athletically built man with receding sleek, black hair. He was clutching an attaché case, and Ashley assumed he was Coleman’s lawyer.
An attractive young woman with a steno pad was seated in the back of the courtroom. Given the notoriety that Sleeping Beauty and the case that inspired it had achieved, Ashley was not surprised to discover a reporter covering the guardianship proceedings. She was surprised to see Larry Birch seated in the back of the room. The detective looked at Ashley for a second then looked away. She guessed that her black hair and dark glasses had fooled him.
Judge Gish ruled on the attorney fee request and the clerk called In the Matter of Casey Van Meter: Petition for Appointment of Successor Guardian and Conservator. Miles and the black man stood up and walked to counsel table.
“If it please the court, I am Monte Jefferson and I’m representing Miles Van Meter, Casey Van Meter’s brother and the son of Henry Van Meter, who was Casey’s guardian and conservator until his recent death.”
He was about to continue when Randy Coleman’s attorney led his client to the other counsel table.
“Anthony Botteri, Your Honor, appearing on behalf of my client, Randy Coleman, Casey Van Meter’s husband. Mr. Coleman is also seeking to be appointed as his wife’s guardian and conservator.”
“Your Honor should not consider Mr. Coleman’s petition,” Jefferson said calmly. “When Ms. Van Meter was attacked, she was divorcing Mr. Coleman because he beat her up and was cheating on her. The court ruled against a similar request by Mr. Coleman soon after Ms. Van Meter went into her coma. He’s a gambler and a small-time crook who’s only interested in Ms. Van Meter’s money.”
Coleman started to say something but Botteri laid a firm hand on his client’s forearm.
“It’s unfortunate that an attorney of Mr. Jefferson’s lofty stature has to stoop so low,” Botteri said. “My client is a Las Vegas businessman. Living in that city does not make him a gambler or a criminal.”
“Mr. Botteri has a point about your accusations, Mr. Jefferson,” the judge said. “Let’s try to keep this hearing civilized.”
“My apologies, Judge, but I believe the record of this case supports my assertions.”
Judge Gish addressed Coleman’s attorney. “Mr. Botteri, I am new to this case, but I did review the file and there is a ruling by the court choosing Henry Van Meter, Ms. Van Meter’s father, over your client. It does mention an assault on Ms. Van Meter and a police record.”
“From many years ago, Judge,” Botteri said. “And there are changed circumstances. Mr. Van Meter has left a very important piece of information out of his petition.”
“What is that, Mr. Botteri?”
“To put it as bluntly as I can, Your Honor, Miles Van Meter needs your ruling appointing him Casey Van Meter’s guardian so he has legal authority to kill his sister.”