Free Black Rainbow by J.J. McAvoy

said, taking off his jacket and throwing it onto the chair as if he owned the place.
    “Mrs. Archibald is in the kitchen looking through photos, Richard is upstairs in his room, we check in every ten minutes, and…” the girl who was speaking froze.
    “And?” Levi snapped at her.
    “And Mr. Archibald took a flight into New York this morning,” another one of his associates replied. “We’ve tried calling, but all his phones are off.”
    Levi’s nostrils flared, and he clenched his jaw, as he stomped into the kitchen.
    Atticus and I followed, while the rest of his associates went back to their case files.
    “He’s in New York?!” Levi really yelled for the first time since I had met him.
    The older woman was dressed in a navy tailored suit dress with a strand of pure white pearls around her neck. Her red hair was neatly combed back, and pinned up, and as Levi stormed into the kitchen, she jumped slightly— “He said he had a meeting—”
    “His son has been charged with murder. Two counts , I may add, and he goes off to a meeting in New York?” he snarled, his voice only one octave lower.
    “You have to understand—”
    “No. You need to understand. I told you both that the only way I was taking this case was if you gave me your complete and utter trust, your loyalty, and your commitment. Which means you do what I say and I said not to leave the bloody house ! The moment the press gets word of this, it will be spun one of two ways; one, that your husband is not taking this seriously, or two, that he is so distressed at his son’s actions, that he could not bear to be near him. Which way do you think helps us?”
    “Neither,” she said, staring at the floor.
    “Exactly!” he yelled again, turning from her and back to the living room. “Smoke signals, carrier pigeons, I don’t care what or how, someone get in touch with Mr. Archibald before the five o'clock news. And you two,” he said, pointing to two of his associates, “come with me.”
    The two associates all but jumped out of their seats as they went back into the kitchen.
    “Thing one, Thing two, stop standing around like mannequins, and start dialing,” another associate called, throwing us a stack of phone numbers.
    Nodding, we dropped our stuff and started making calls.
    “Everything you ever dreamed of, right?” Atticus whispered with the phone at his ear.
    I snickered, before remembering who I was talking to.
    “How did you get down to the car so fast?” I asked.
    “Window washers.”
    My mouth popped open. “You’re lying.”
    “Nope. I jumped on, and they took me all the way down.” He grinned. “Hello, this is Atticus Logan with Levi Black and Associates, can you tell me if Mr. Archibald is in?” He paused as he listened to their response. “Thank you for your time, please call us if anything changes.” He hung up and looked at me. “I told you I was in this to win, and I meant it. You’d better pick up the pace, because I’m not waiting for you,” he said, as he dialed the next number.
    My mother used to say law school was just the battle, and that being a lawyer was leading a war. I never really understood that until now.
    “Game on,” I replied.

LEVI
    “Where is Ms. Cunning?” I asked, coming out of the meeting with Mrs. Archibald.
    Things were getting worse by the moment, and the plea deal was starting to look more and more appealing, but she’d refused.
    “She went to the bathroom and disappeared,” one of my employees replied, without looking up from the case files.
    “She probably realized that she was in over her head,” he added, more to himself than to me.
    Thea, admit defeat? That will be the day I sprout wings and fly.
    Sighing, I noticed the Archibald’s youngest daughter staring at us through the stairway rails whilst she chewed on the end of one of her perfect red curls. She lifted her hand and motioned me over. I crossed the floor and went to her. She cocked her finger at me, a sign that she