Power of Attorney (3 page)

“Rosalie, pull yourself together,” I ordered through gritted teeth.

“They’re in the conference room,” she said in a low conspiratorial tone.  “I told them they would not get near our files without a subpoena,” she added, sounding like she had fought of an army of Bezerkers for me.

“Did they actually
ask
to see our files?”

“They might have,” she replied defensively, “but I said they would only get to
search
over my dead body.”

“And they didn’t like that offer, huh?” I asked dryly. “Okay,” I said squaring my shoulders and heading down the hall.

As soon as I entered, two very FBI-looking guys in nondescript navy blue suits with gray striped ties stood up. I had always suspected that they all shopped in one place. The guy on left reached out a hand to shake mine. The suit may have been nondescript but he wasn’t. He was of Asian descent, with thick black hair and an air of confidence that he wore well. The other guy matched his suit.

“Ms. Roth, I’m special agent, Jack Wong and this my partner special agent Tim Wright.  We would like to ask you a few questions if you have the time.”

“Wait a minute, you’re law enforcement officers and your names are Wright and ...” I said with a chuckle that died in my throat as the agents stared back at me with a look that said they had heard the joke before. “Agent Wright, Agent Wong, it’s nice to meet you. Please have a seat,” I went on, giving them a more serious look.

I grabbed the chair at the end of the table to put myself in a position of authority and place some distance between us.  I knew that people said just as much with their bodies as with their words, if not more. That was something I had learned in law school.

“These questions are of an informal nature, Ms. Roth,” Agent Wong said not really answering
my
question. He made steady eye contact. Cops were trained to do that. They could say anything while looking you in the eye. That one, I learned from watching
Law and Order.
Hey, that show is very accurate.

“So what can I do for you then?” I prompted.

“Recently there was an online break-in at a company called DocuKeep.”

“Oh?” I asked noncommittally, and the agents glanced quickly at each other.

“You weren’t aware of this?”

“Why would I be aware of that? Was it on the news or something?” 

“It’s not public knowledge, but we wondered if maybe one of your clients had heard something.” Agent Wong gave me a warm smile that was probably meant to make me like him.  It kind of worked.

“Why do you think one our clients would have heard about it?” I asked suspiciously. I somehow doubted that they were making this offer at random law firms throughout Philadelphia.

“You represent several individuals charged with computer crimes,” Agent Wright spoke for the first time, making me jump a little. I had almost forgotten he was there. “The perpetrator in this case might have drawn attention in that community.”

“There are probably plenty of hackers who ...” I replied, thinking that these days even the least talented people who Dana represented ... And then I remembered my travels through the bush that morning.
Oh boy.

“Is something wrong Ms. Roth?” Agent Wong asked snapping me out of it. I quickly put my game face back on. Or tried to anyway.

“No, I was just trying to go over my partner’s client list mentally. Dana Solomon is the attorney who handles our cases involving computer crimes. She’s at a training today though.”

I had answered quickly, maybe a little too quickly, because I noticed the agents share a look that seemed like a silent communication. 
Damn
. I wasn’t a good liar. I wasn’t nearly as bad as Dana though, who got so twitchy that she sometimes looked like she was having a spasm. It was Lena who was our resident “creative truth teller”. She could tell you anything with a straight face. It was kind of scary actually.

“I’m just going be totally upfront with you, Ms. Roth,” Agent Wong said giving me his best sincere look. “We’re interested in someone named Kevin Collins. He goes by the nickname Troglodyte or Trog for short?”
Oh boy.

“Is Kevin Collins on your client list?” Agent Wright asked casually. 
Great,
the FBI was in our conference room looking for Trog, who in turn, was probably hiding in the foliage somewhere. I was not prepared for this, especially after a bare-assed Agnes morning and the Marquis de Barry that afternoon. I needed a minute to regroup and think.

“How rude of us,” I said standing up and shooting them my best airhostess smile. “You’ve been waiting here for a while and nobody has offered you anything to drink.”

“That’s not necessary...” Agent Wong began.

“Well, I’m parched! I just got a real workout.” I caught myself. “Uh, in court.” I didn’t need them to know that I had spent my afternoon twisting and sweating on the floor for Barry and his pink Neon shorts.

“Must have been up against Sachs,” Agent Wright muttered and the two men shared a chuckle. I almost tripped getting out of my chair. It was the name he had mentioned; I knew to whom he was referring, and I felt a little flutter in my tummy. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Sachs was someone I
wouldn’t mind
having up against me. And now, on top of everything else, I was distracted by
that
image.

I went over to call out for Rosalie, who hadn’t managed to master the intercom system yet. As it turned out, I didn’t have to look far. She came stumbling into the room as soon as soon as I opened the door. What a coincidence.

“Hey, watch it!” she griped and I felt my blood start to boil.

“Are you lost?” I hissed quietly.

“I was just passing by,” she said defensively, brushing herself off.

“I could use some water.” I smiled brightly.

“It’s down the hall in that little kitchen thingy,” she answered.

“I’m kind of busy here; could you get me some?” My smile took on an edge.

“I didn’t hear the magic word.” She smiled back. My jaw clenched.

“Could you
please
get me some,” I growled, feeling my blood pressure start to rise. There were plenty of wooded areas north of the city. How heavy could she be?

“Fine.” She grumbled and went over to the door. “Hey, Jaya!” she called out. “Grab a bottle of water, will ya?” I started to seethe.

Jaya was there in seconds with my water and a big smile. I thanked her warmly and herded Rosalie out of the room with a quiet admonishment to go guard the door from the mailman. When I turned around I saw that the two agents had been taking all of this in with amusement. We should charge admission in this place. I took a big sip of water, gave them an “mmm, refreshing” look and resumed my place at the table.

“Now, you were saying ...” I felt better having bought myself a moment. When not contemplating the image a certain sexy prosecutor giving me a workout and various ways to kill Rosalie and hide her body, I had decided that I would confirm nothing until I had discussed this with Dana.

“We heard a rumor that an individual named Kevin Collins might possibly know something about this break-in,” Agent Wong said, sounding almost apologetic. “We went to his apartment to interview him but err,
someone
, informed us that nobody was home.”

“And then ‘Nobody’ slid a business card with the name of your firm on it under the door,” Agent Wright added.
Smooth, Trog.
  I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

“Where did you hear that he might know something?” I asked politely.

“Through the grapevine,” Agent Wong answered.

“I see. Well, the name is familiar, but I would have to check with Dana.”

“You couldn’t just check your files?” Agent Wong urged gently, trying out that smile again. This time it didn’t work as well. I didn’t like the way they were trying to get information out of me without offering me anything in return.

“You met Rosalie. She does the filing.” I smiled back. The agents shared a look that said that they knew that they weren’t going to get anywhere and, resigning themselves, they stood up to go. 

“Perhaps after you speak with your colleague you could give us a call,” Agent Wong said, handing me his business card. Something about the look he gave me was kind of sexy. Lena was right; it really had been far too long since I had gone on a date.

“If we have something for you, we surely will.  Thanks very much gentlemen. We’ll keep our ears open.” I went over to the door to show them out. As I watched them leave our offices, I leaned back against the conference room door and let out a breath.
What had that wackado gotten himself into now?

L
ater that evening, we three attorneys sat in Dana’s office and had a discussion about everything that had happened. Neither one of them had any better idea what was going on than I did though.  To complicate matters even further, Trog had apparently gone to ground.  He was incommunicado.

“He isn’t answering calls, texts, emails or even Tweets,” Dana said putting down her phone and furrowing her brow at her computer screen.

“Maybe we should ask ‘Nobody’ where he is,” I said dryly.

“You said he seemed nervous?” Dana asked, chewing on her thumbnail. “I’m kind of worried.” Dana really did look worried. Whoever said people with Asperger’s lack empathy, obviously lacked intelligence.

“Yeah, but he always seems nervous. I’ve never seen someone actually vibrate before. He must have serious coffee issues.”

“You would be nervous too if the Men in Black were after you,” Lena quipped.

Dana looked up, her eyes flashing with excitement. “You kid about that, but believe it or not, there many well-documented accounts of strange ...” she began.

“Roswell, Agent Mulder,” I interrupted. “And no more jokes either. Let’s just figure out what Trog might be into so we can get out of here. I have a life again and I don’t want to spend it in an office.”

“And what are
you
doing tonight, Ms. Roth?” Lena asked in a delighted tone and with a very inquisitive-looking raised eyebrow.

“We should probably start by figuring out what DocuKeep is,” Dana said, her fingers flying over the computer keys. A moment later she paused and Lena and I waited while she absorbed the information on her screen.  “It looks like DocuKeep is a repository for academic papers, scientific journals, stuff like that.”

“Maybe there’s some classified research there?” Lena suggested.

“Searching their files,” Dana said distractedly, her fingers moving again.

“Wait!
You’re
hacking them?” I sat forward and grabbed the edge of her desk in a panic. “Don’t do anything illegal. We do
not
need to be on the Wong side of the law.”

“Oh that was bad.” Lena said, and even without looking, I knew she was wincing.

“Couldn’t resist.” I glanced at her and then redirected my attention to Kevin Mitnick over there, “Dana, stop!”

“This is public information,” she said reassuringly and I breathed out a sigh of relief.  “Sort of,” she added more quietly, and I sucked in more air. She paused a moment later. “This all looks like straight-forward material that has been published already. DocuKeep is just a place that stores academic articles.”

“So essentially, someone hacked into a library. Yeah that sounds like Trog,” I said rolling my eyes and sitting back in disgust. A third-rate hacker broke into a library, and here I was, working late to crack the case.
Good use of your time, Nancy Drew.

“Not really a library,” Dana said looking up.  “Libraries are free. You have to pay a fee to download articles that DocuKeep holds.”

“You know that always bothered me,” Lena said wrinkling her nose. “I know lots of companies do it, and don’t get me wrong, I’m all about capitalism and everything, but just as an ethical matter, shouldn’t academic research be free? I mean, what if someone could cure cancer with it, but they can’t afford the fee?”

“You’re really paying for convenience,” Dana responded. “You could always go dig up the journal in a library at a university.”

“In a slum in some Third World nation?” Lena shot back, warming to the subject.

“You do have a point. Why should some random company make tons of money just for storing and distributing digital files?” I agreed. “It’s not like the fee goes to help fund the advancement of science or anything.”

“Yeah! It would be different if the money went to the scientists who
did
the research,” Lena said gesturing wildly.  She gave “talk to the hand” a whole new meaning, especially when she was feeling truly passionate about something, which was a lot. Lena was what some might call “Italian.” 

“Even if a hacker broke in, copied the files and distributed them for free, it probably wouldn’t impact much on their business. The same people who
could
pay for convenience,
would
still pay for it,” Dana, as usual the voice of cool reason, pointed out.

“So why is the FBI so concerned?” I mused. It just didn’t make any sense.

***

W
ith nothing more we could do about it at the moment, we went on with our lives. That night I put on some comfy sweats and settled down in front of my Smart TV with some warmed up takeout and
Ally McBeal
.

I had been too young to really appreciate Ally when she had originally aired, but now, I must admit that I loved her.  I wasn’t a woman who normally liked that kind of thing. I
hated
angsty books that made that made people cry. I fell asleep watching
The Notebook.
But something about
Ally
spoke to me. She was a smart and talented attorney, but she wasn’t afraid to be vulnerable and human. Sure, she was successful, but she still managed to really live her life on her own terms. I guess that after spending most of my twenties focused like a laser on my legal career, I wanted to take a step back and focus on other things for a while. I wanted to enjoy myself a little instead of being so ... goal oriented all the time.