CHAPTER 1: BEGINNING
My life was a mess. I had the world by the tail and I lost it... big time. My whole life had been geared to the point of realizing success just like I was achieving. From childhood, it was drilled into me endlessly. In athletics or school, there was no other option than to succeed and excel at the highest level. Of course, I knew it was all a farce, but I excelled even in living a farce.
At only 33-years-old, I was being described as 'genius', 'pit bull', and 'cut-throat' all in the same breath by those in my legal community. After graduating at the top of my class from one of the best law colleges in the country, I was aggressively recruited. I selected a top, prestigious firm as much as they selected me. I made waves in each case. If they weren't full-out wins, I negotiated around treacherous legal and social ground to minimize the damage to the client. In the process, the firm reaped rewards, many passing at some level back to me. I was not only on top of my game, but I was also on top of everyone's game. The word in the legal community and within the firm was that I was one of the top up-and-coming legal adversaries.
And, at 33 it was all gone. Lost, forever. As I sat in my nicely appointed apartment that I was going to have to seriously consider leaving, I relived it all for the umpteenth time. To satisfy my demanding parents, then demanding coaches, teachers, professors, and bosses, I maintained a tight grip on the mask I learned to live with from childhood. A mask can only be lived behind, though, for so long before the mask should be modified to incorporate the reality that is being hidden behind it, or... the mask begins to cover more than perceived deficiencies and becomes destructive.
Grace McBride, 33-years-old, 5'-6", 120 pounds on an athletic frame capped with long, wavy, dark brown hair. An attractive woman, a significant element of my success, too. Underneath that attractive charm was the woman I had been forged to become. Grace McBride was never really a hard-driving, dominant, and extroverted personality. That was me in my striving world where people watched me. I had always had quiet, alone times where I could relax, revert, and stop pretending. Everything became so different, so demanding at a level I never managed well. The workload, the always-on demand, the never-ending interactions, and commitments. As a result, my distractions became more intense, more perverse, and more extreme, but I needed something to yield in my life to slow the never-ending cycle.
So, when the wheels finally came off, it wasn't just a crash, it was a stellar obliteration of a stunning, short-lived glorified life. I could blame those demanding on me, the pushing, the driving, and committing, but... I couldn't really. Because I knew that mask was there, I also knew that all my success, everything I had achieved, was because of me using the mask. The same then had to be true about my crash. It was gloriously fatal in its finality to my career, my license, and any standing in the legal community. The question that remained was: was there any recovery? Was there anything a stellar attorney could do when she could no longer practice the law?
It had been a month since I stood in front of the Bar making arguments for the most important and desperate client I had represented... myself. It was all to no avail, of course. The only thing I had trained for, the only thing I had ever focused on, was the law. I was good at it. I was very good at it. But, I couldn't practice it, anymore. In a month, I hadn't moved past those thoughts. In a month, my associates, contacts, and networking went quiet. My searches left me befuddled and empty.
So, imagine the surprise when an unsolicited phone call came to me. The surprise wasn't close to the reaction when I discovered the caller was Andrew Franklin. The shock was a far more appropriate description. Andrew Franklin was known to anyone in the local legal community no matter what significance you were in the community.
"Do you know who I am, Miss McBride?" I assured him I did. People in the community were aware of me; how could anyone not be aware of one of the wiliest attorneys who was near royalty in the community. He had retired only two years ago from one of the highest regarded law firms as one of the senior partners after making his name and wealth. The stunning decision had been widely covered in newspapers, magazines, and online sources. He said he was interested in starting his own small firm where he could choose the clients and cases he felt were interesting or significant. Known as a workhorse for his clients, he had impeccable credentials with legendary success. His renowned legal tricks, maneuvers, and showmanship in the courtroom attracted young attorneys and were studied in classrooms. He was like a modern-day Perry Mason, though few young attorneys might even know what the reference meant.
"I do apologize, Miss McBride, for calling unannounced. I wasn't sure how else to contact you. I would very much like to have a conversation with you about your career."
I almost laughed out loud, "My career, sir? I don't have a career left and, if you know who I am, you would certainly know that, sir."
He did laugh, though. "Miss McBride, I very definitely know who and what you are. I have had my eye on you for quite some time. Since I left the partnership to start my own little enterprise, you have been on the top of my list of people I wanted to join me."
The sigh I released into my cell spoke the volumes I had no desire to actually verbalize. "I am sorry to have disappointed you then, sir. You're obviously too late so can I ask why you are calling?"
He laughed, again. "Because I want to talk to you about your career. You still have an influential and lucrative career in the right situation and I think I have that situation if you are interested in listening. It might not be the one you originally had planned for yourself, but as it turns out it might be exactly what you were meant for."
The thought crossed my mind that he might have discretely left his former firm because he was crazy. I shook my head but agreed to a meeting at his offices the next day. My apartment building (the one I thought I was going to have to leave) was on Parkway Avenue, one block removed from a large inner-city green space. As it turned out, his new offices were in the building across the street and his corner offices on the top floor overlooked that same park. He chuckled when describing where his office was, clearly aware of my location relative to him. It almost felt like fate... maybe to both of us.
From the corridor, the offices of Mr. Franklin's firm were difficult to gain any reading on. There was a heavy wood door on a blank wall missing any of the glass on either side of the door to provide a faint glimpse of the workings on the other side. An engraved sign on the door was almost subdued, Andrew Franklin, Attorney at Law. I knocked on the door and received no response. I tried the door handle and found it locked. I nervously considered I had somehow mixed up the time of day but "10:00 AM, tomorrow" is hard to mix up. My eyes on my hand on the door handle found a button next to the handle. With a deep breath, I pressed the button. I still couldn't tell if anything was happening and was about to search for a fourth option when the door abruptly opened.
"Miss McBride, I presume." I nodded and was let inside. I stepped into a small odd room that appeared like a reception room without a receptionist, just a space with three chairs, a low table with a few neatly arranged magazines, and the Wall Street Journal.
The woman introduced herself as Marjorie Gilbert, Mr. Franklin's Office Manager/Word processor. She was in her mid-40's, about my height, and ten pounds heavier. She explained she had been with Mr. Hansen for 15 years and, when he left the other firm, he asked her to join him. She thought it sounded adventurous and being single was enough for her. She asked me to take a chair and it should only be a moment. She disappeared through the other door. The reception area was modest, even plain, certainly not the finely appointed surroundings of most other law offices that seemed to want to reflect the high rates they would be charging.
I looked in the glass of a picture on the opposite wall and saw myself reflected. I considered the professional appearance and smiled. Yes, that's the person who can still pull something out of nothing. I wore one of my business suits: jacket, skirt, white blouse, and black heels. A few moments later, the other door opened and she was standing holding the door open for me. "Sorry, it took a few moments to gather everyone together, Miss McBride."
I looked at her puzzled, "Everyone? I thought I was meeting with Mr. Franklin."
She smiled disarmingly, "You are, but if you are added to our small team, it could be such a significant change that he wants all of us involved."
So, there really was a job involved in this meeting. I didn't even know what to expect from this meeting and it turns out it might be a job interview. And, on top of that, whatever the job was he had in mind for me could change the dynamics of the group enough that the entire team needed to be involved? I wondered what they really knew about my disbarment since there was no crime involved.
I stepped through the other door into an entirely different feeling environment. The center area was open with a large conference table. Filing cabinets, copiers, and heavy-duty printers were scattered around the outside. A table with a coffee-maker, small refrigerator, etc. was along another. Along the wall with the door I had just entered was a large flat-screen monitor facing the conference table. Along the sides of the open space were enclosed offices, four of them. I was being led to the corner office to the left and I could see the others were already gathered inside. It was the largest office. An office in the center back was glass-enclosed and appeared like it might have been used at one time as a library/conference area, but was now furnished as an office, but appeared to be empty of use. It was large enough to have visitor chairs at the desk, and a loveseat with a coffee table. The other three offices were typical sized but also very nicely furnished.
Marjorie showed me into the room. Mr. Franklin was behind the desk; two men were in front of it at the ends of a row of chairs facing Mr. Franklin. The two chairs in the center were empty and Marjorie and I took those. Mr. Franklin thanked me for coming and hoped it would be to the mutual benefit of me and them. He introduced the other three of his firm:
• Marjorie Gilbert had just introduced herself to me. He explained that he would never have started a venture like this one if she hadn't agreed to follow him. She had been the one he leaned on for scheduling and assistance for more than a decade. She added that after so long in the staid environment of a major law firm, this sounded like an adventure. I wasn't sure what that meant.
• Mark Williams was introduced as a researcher. He began law studies but also developed skills in computers and found more interest and excitement in searching the web. He was in his early 30's, about 5'8", skinny and soft, which fit the description of someone who likes computer life. His hair was over his ears in kind of a messy way. He chuckled at the description of his interest in 'searching the web'. Mr. Franklin added that his skills perhaps went further than legitimate google searches and he had discretely encouraged those skills on occasion.
• Jake Porter was identified as Investigative and security. He was 6'2" tall, 220 pounds, a strong-looking black man, who could have been a football player. His background, however, was in special ops in the army, then private security and investigative work. Mr. Franklin had used him on some special cases before and was now full-time.
