"Hello, Mrs. Burgess. Can I help you with something?" Samantha asked politely as Victoria was shown into her office.
Victoria looked around her. "I came here to speak with your father. Why isn't he handling my son's trial?"
"My father isn't taking any new cases right now. He's getting ready to retire and has drastically cut back on his workload."
"I am aware of that, but I expected him to make an exception in this case. We're old family friends after all, and my son is in dire need of his help right now."
"I know the situation he is in and I promise you I am doing everything possible to clear him of these charges."
"I am sure you think you are, but, Samantha, this is not an opportunity for someone as young as yourself to gain experience. My son's life and his future are at stake."
Samantha took a deep breath and reminded herself that now was not the time to lose her calm or act unprofessional. Through gritted teeth and a forced smile, she offered a compromise. "If it makes you feel any better, Mrs. Burgess, I can ask my father to look over the case, but I can guarantee that I am doing exactly what he would do in this situation, nothing less."
"That had better be so. I want my son to have the best defense and I will do or pay anything to make sure he gets it. You have to clear our family name. You have to make sure they find my son innocent."
"I promise, I am doing everything I possibly can to make sure that happens."
Eileen opened the front door to see Lawrence standing sheepishly on the other side. For a second she thought of making him talk to her from the doorstep, but the open door was letting a cold draft into the house. She invited him in and quickly closed the door.
"Where were you last night?"
"I was on my way over when something unexpected came up. It was an emergency. I had to handle it."
"You could have called, you know."
"I'm sorry. I should have . . . How did it go?"
Eileen shrugged. "Alright, considering. Dad and Veronica took it well, but Lucy isn't speaking to me. We've had disagreements in the past, but I've never seen her so mad at me before. I guess I deserve it."
"No, you don't."
"I'm not so sure. I wanted to tell her the truth before, but I didn't know what to say. Everytime I thought about saying something, all I could think about was how much the truth would hurt her. I didn't want to hurt her anymore than she has been, but I only made things worse." Eileen sighed. "I'm not sure if she'll ever forgive me."
"Give her some time. Maybe she'll get over it once she's had some time to think."
"I hope so."
As Eileen's voice and thoughts seemed to trail off, Lawrence changed the subject. "I had another reason for coming over, besides apologizing. Are you busy today?"
"I don't know. Maybe," she said coyly. She didn't want to forgive him too easily for standing her up, again.
"We're having the groundbreaking ceremony today and I'd like for you to be there." He paused as Eileen seemed to think it over. "The rest of my day is free. Afterwards, I thought we could spend some time together. Barring another unexpected crisis, there shouldn't be any interruptions."
Eileen smiled at him. She couldn't stay mad. "I'll get my coat."
"Zara, did you hear the news?" Ellie asked as her roommate walked into the kitchen. "Thomas got arrested. Sheila and the guys are at the jail trying to bail him out right now."
"Yes, I heard about it," Zara replied, uneasily.
"Can you believe he actually got arrested?" Lisa asked. "That is so wrong. I hate the police. They always go after the wrong people."
"Did you ever think that maybe Thomas was partially to blame?" Zara asked. "I'm all for helping the environment, but not when it means breaking the law or doing something that could harm someone else."
"What's your problem?" Ellie asked, shocked by Zara's outburst. "And how do you know so much about it?"
"I was with him when he went to the construction site and I saw what he did to sabotage the equipment."
"So how come you weren't arrested?" Lisa asked.
"I- I didn't really do anything. I was only the lookout."
Before either of her roommates could question her further, they heard someone enter the front door.
"That's probably Sheila. She was going to come over as soon as there was news."
Zara lingered behind in the kitchen as the others went into the living room. She was glad for the interruption, but couldn't help wondering if she would have been better off telling the whole truth now.
"So what did you find out?" Lisa asked.
Sheila started to speak, hesitating momentarily when she saw Zara enter the room. "Thomas is ok, but he's still in jail. We tried to post bail, but they wouldn't release him until this afternoon. Apparently, there's some groundbreaking thing today that they're afraid he'll interfere with if they let him go before then."
"That's ridiculous," Ellie muttered.
"Speaking of ridiculous," Sheila said, looking directly at Zara. "Guess what I found out when I talked to him. Apparently someone we all know very well turned him in. Someone right here in this room."
Zara took a deep breath as all eyes turned to her.
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