Miranda

Chapter 20-

Nothing makes us so lonely as our secrets.

-Paul Tournier

I walked to the door and opened it to find an older man trying to catch his breath.

"Ms. *inhale* Bell? *exhale*"

"Yes."

"I am *inhale* Gerald Parks *exhale*" he was desperately trying to maintain a professional demeanor, but I think the stairs got the better of him.

"Yes, of course please come in" I open the door the rest of the way and gesture him in.

Thank you he says as he clears his throat and walks into my small living room where Nate has set up all kinds of equipment and papers.

"Would you like something to drink? My southern hospitality kicking in,

"Yes, water would great, thank you" he is sitting down on my couch and starts pulling even more papers from the briefcase that he brought with him.

I can hear him and Nate greeting each other from the kitchen, they sound like they knew one another.

'Of course they know each other dum dum, they work at the same firm. Nate is probably working under him given the other man's age.'

I grab the glass of water and walk back into the living room. I feel awkward and suddenly ashamed. This is all my fault anyway and now this man and Nate are going through all this trouble to help me and who knows what is even going to happen. The court will probably believe Justin over me anyway, just like he said they would.

They do have it all on video a small voice in my head says to me.

I take a deep breath and start to sit down on the floor, but Nate jumps up and guides me to sit next to Mr. Parks. He gives my hand a small squeeze and I feel a little more reassured.

"Now, Ms. Bell, first and foremost we need to sign a contract stating that I will be your legal representative in the case against Mr. Flanagan." He slides a packet of papers over to me and a fancy looking pen. I just stare at them for a moment.

"How much is this going to cost me? I wince as I say it. Mr. Parks looks over to Nate and then back at me.

"No payment is due at this time, we will file for damages and take our fee out of that, you will not be paying us directly. It is customary to add the court and lawyer fees to the list of monetary damages.

I hold up my hands "I don't want any money from him."

Another glance a Nate and he clears his throat "we can discuss that further at a later date, today we are focused on the initial filings before the arraignment tomorrow."

My blood runs cold and I feel lightheaded "is he going to be released tomorrow?" I whisper.

"Not if we can help it, just sign the last page and we can get started" Mr. Parks' tone is soft but firm, this is obviously something he does on a regular basis.

Now it is my turn to look at Nate and he gives me a go ahead nod so I flip the pages back to the last one and print and sign my name.

"Good, now," he pulls a little digital recorder from his bag, "we are going to go through the events of last Friday OK, I know this will be uncomfortable for you but the more we know the more we can fight to keep him in jail." I nod in understanding.

He fiddles with the device for a moment and then sets in the middle of the table. "Can you please state your name."

"Miranda Ann Bell"