Free The Devil's Advocate by Andrew Neiderman Page A

associates like his family."
    "What is he like?"
    Kevin sat back. "Miriam," he began, "John Milton is the most charismatic, charming man I have ever met." As Kevin was describing the meeting to her, he had the uncanny feeling that he was actually reliving it. Every detail had remained vivid in his mind.
    Later, after a quiet dinner, they went to sleep mentally exhausted. In the morning, Kevin would blame that mental exhaustion on his vivid nightmare. He was in court, arguing the Lois Wilson case again, only this time, when he looked up at the judge, the judge was Mr. Milton, who smiled down at him approvingly.
    Kevin turned toward Barbara Stanley, who sat naked on the witness stand. Lois Wilson stood right behind her and leaned over to run the tips of her fingers over the little girl's nipples. Then she looked up at him and smiled lasciviously before leaning over again to reach down between the little girl's thighs.
    "No!" he cried.
    "Kevin?"
    "No!" He opened his eyes.
    "What is it?"
    "Huh?"
    "You were shouting."
    "What? Oh." He rubbed his face vigorously to wash away the vivid images that lingered in his eyes. "Just a nightmare."
    "Wanna talk about it?" Miriam asked in a very groggy voice.
    "No. I'll go back to sleep. I'm all right. It's nothing," he said. She moaned gratefully and fell asleep quickly. Moments later, he permitted his eyes to close.
    When he awoke, Kevin called the office to say he wasn't coming in and asked Mary to reschedule his appointment with the Settons. The secretary was surprised and wanted to know more, but Kevin ended the call abruptly. Then they dressed, ate breakfast, and left for the city. It had snowed nearly two inches, the second significant snowfall of the year, and it wasn't even December. There was a soft carpet of milky white fresh flakes that crunched underfoot and put Miriam in the mood for Christmas. Sleigh bells tinkled in her memory, and when she had looked up on the way to the car, she saw a patch of blue sky through an opening in the clouds. The sun's rays came pouring through and turned the snowy branches into glistening sticks of cotton candy.
    The heavy commuter traffic over the Grand Central Parkway, however, quickly changed the same clean white flakes into greasy-looking black and brown slush.
    Automobiles ahead of them slung the icy muck into their windshield. The wipers cleared it away with a monotonous regularity. Directly ahead of them, low gray clouds lingered threateningly on the skyline.
    "Commuting is not for me," Kevin muttered as they approached the toll booth.
    "I couldn't deal with the tension and the wasted time."
    "On the other hand, living in the city isn't all peaches and cream, Kevin. Parking problems, traffic .. ."
    "Oh, no parking problems, honey. There's a secure private parking garage in the basement of our building."
    "Really?"
    "I won't need to drive to work, either. Mr. Milton has a limo for us that takes us to work and back every day. He told me it would become a sort of second office ..
    . Paul, Ted, Dave, and I discussing cases, et cetera."
    "What about Mr. Milton?"
    "Keeps different hours, I guess." She stared at him. "I don't know it all yet, honey. But I will. I will," he chanted.
    She sat back as they entered the city. As soon as Kevin turned down Blazer Avenue and approached Riverside Drive, Paul Scholefield stepped out of the John Milton and Associates limo that was parked in front of the apartment building and signaled for him to turn into the parking garage under the building.
    The gate opened and he drove in.
    "You guys have 15D," Paul said, pointing to their spaces. "Might as well get into the right one."
    Kevin backed up and parked. Paul opened Miriam's door and helped her out of the car as Kevin came around to greet him.

    "Great to see you again, Mrs. Taylor."
    "Oh, please call me Miriam."
    "Miriam. Please call me Paul," he countered with a smile. "There's an elevator right down here," he said, pointing to the right. "The parking lot gate