A Necessary Struggle: Senior Year

Chapter Four

"She doesn't have an alibi," Harmony ran her eyes down the notes she jotted down on the legal pad propped on her lap.

She was still Laurent's secretary. At the end of summer and Kyra's maternity leave began to dwindle, the woman sashayed into the office that Harmony now sat pushing a baby carriage. The napping bundle of joy tugged at Harmony's heart string without ramping up her need to be a mother. There was a baby at her house and she knew from hands on experience that she wasn't ready for the task of motherhood. That day, Kyra handed in her letter of resignation, stating the pull was too strong to leave her baby and her husband's paycheck would do the job. 

Laurent wasn't surprised by the move, since Kyra was only on board to secure cash for upcoming girl trips. Harmony on the other hand was, she never wanted to be dependant on someone for money. She wanted to back her own cash. Maybe it was those Lifetime movies that scarred her but sometimes people grew different when money exchanged hands. Her parents were the only two people she accepted money from.

Harmony tapped her pen on the pad, setting her sights on Laurent. "Hannah Sims and her husband—"

"The victim." Laurent interjected, sitting back in his chair as the sunlight streamed through the trilogy of windows behind him.

"Yes." Harmony circled the man's names four times. "Charles Sims. Forty-five. A deacon at the neighborhood church and owns prominent car dealership. Didn't you get your Chevy from him?"

Laurent nodded, opening a manilla folder on his desk. "I don't have a Chevy. Not anymore. Gave it to Ariel." He fanned through the pages littered with typed words. "I swear she drives like she's playing bumper cars."

"She probably needs a bike."

"You know what..." He looked up with an idea twinkling in his eyes. "I just might—"

"Don't." She quickly waved off the thought. "She'll just call me all the time or Sinclair."

Laurent tsked. "Is she still with him?"

"Yes." She slid her pen down to the section on her legal pad titled 'motives'. Ariel was most likely with him as they spoke. Harmony read her watch. Yep, it was after five, which meant Wolfie practice was over. "You don't like him, now."

"He's a gentleman. I just don't know him much."

"You know you could...like...talk to him. Instead of chumming it up with your best friend." He gave her a blank look so she elaborated. "Your text bud. Cairo."

He nodded, flipping another page. "Cairo's a stand-up. Good work ethic. A go-getter. Reminds me of myself. That Sinclair..." he grumbled the boy's name, rubbing his hand down his striped tie. " He comes from old money doesn't he?"

Harmony shrugged. "Don't know. But he's nice. That's all that should matter right."

"Hmm." His face told her he wasn't cutting Sinclair any slack and they weren't going to be fast friends like him and Cairo. "What do you think about all this?" He gestured to the case files consuming his massive desk. "If this was your case, how would you prove Hannah's innocence?"

The question threw her for a loop. Just a small one. She sat up straight with excitement tingling in her stomach. She liked it when her duties shied away from normal secretarial task. Being involved with cases was one of the reasons she loved interning with Caroline.

"It's a little difficult and complex since she was in the house when her husband was murdered, bludgeoned with a baseball bat nonetheless. He had to have screamed. The living room was a disaster and he put up a fight." She inhaled deeply as he concretely glared at her, not giving any signals, was she doing good or bad.

Harmony went on, knowing the same sternness was something she was going to face in law. Better to have practice now then in class. "but it did happen downstairs. She also had ambien in her system."

"But she went downstairs to get a glass of water."

"Yeah, but she used the backstairs and was still hazed with sleep." Harmony pointed at him with a surge of eager pulsing through her. "The maid discovered his body and she also had to shake Hannah awake, who might I add was suffering depression from a miscarriage she had eight months prior." It was a late term miscarriage, nine months along only to deliver a stillborn. "And her fingerprints weren't on the bat. Also, no gloves were found in the house." She smirked, sitting back confidently in the chair. "It's Texas. It ain't that cold."

"Okay." He clapped with a proud smile on his face. "You studied the case and made a game plan. Now, let me get back to doing my job and you go type up the brief for the Masterson case."

"Ugh." She groaned standing up. "Burglary. This is more exciting." She held up the legal pad with all of the Sims Murder case scribbled on it.

"Yep, scoot." He waved her out. "You're mom and dad would kill me if they knew I let you piggyback on a case like this."

"But..." She stopped at the door, "You're my parent, too. Don't you get a say and it would be fun." She shrugged. "A bonding experience."

He toyed with the idea. "Let me think."

"Speaking of bonding...are you coming to the tailgate at the stadium?"

Laurent's hand froze over the wireless mouse. "I wasn't planning on it. Why?"

"Nothing." She twisted the doorknob in her hand, her heart thudding a little quicker. "The first season game is kind of a big deal for my fam—" She paused, gripping the door knob a little tighter as she still tried to configure how to place him in her immediate family and not a distant member. "There'll be free food and my mama makes a great frito-pie."

He contemplatively nodded then shifted his eyes to the computer screen. "I'll have to look at my schedule." He quickly peeked at her, picking up the anticipation and hope in her brown eyes. "Let me see what I can do."

She gave him a small smile holding the notepad firmly to her chest. "Sure. Just text me if you can." She nervously pricked her fleshy pad of her pointer finger against the corner of the pad. "My dad's warming up to you."

"Good." He simple spoke scanning his eyes across a document on the wide computer screen. "Now, go. We both have work to do."

Harmony slipped out the door with a grin on her face. Could she really pull this off? Could she have both of the two men that held a substantial part of her heart in one place, the dad she loved all her life and the new one she was beginning to care dearly for? There was one more man in her life that her dad wasn't too fond of but he didn't need to know about her and Cairo just yet. Now, wasn't the time to introduced her new boyfriend.

Should Laurent let Harmony work with him on his murder case or talk it over with her parents?

Will Laurent go to the tailgate? Should he or will he be cutting into Mr. Monroe's time with her? 

Why do you think Laurent isn't too fond of Sinclair—Ariel's boyfriend?