Informed Consent Read Free Page A

now she put the key in the ignition and the
motor caught, managing to sound more expensive than an American car.She turned
to look Denise in the eye and gestured towards the floor where Denise had
dropped her purse.
    “Give me
a dollar.”
    Denise
stared at her, mute.   The woman
wanted a dollar?   She was getting
the new client discount for whatever Sam had said to get her off?
    “A dollar,”
Sam repeated.  
    Denise
didn’t have a dollar in bills.   She
pulled out her ATM card, and a stack of credit cards.  
    Samantha
sighed.   “Look around in
there.   There has to be some change
somewhere in that thing.”
    Denise
came up with six dimes, three nickels and eight pennies and let them fall into
Sam’s outstretched hand.
    Samantha
dropped them into a cup holder.  
    “You just
hired me.”   She slid the elegant
little car into gear and backed them out of the parking space.
    “I can’t
discuss your business.”   She added
as she headed for the street.   “With anyone.   Except you of
course.”
    Denise
started to cry.
     
    ***
     
    “So, I’m married to
Andrew’s brother Neil.”   Samantha
started talking once she merged into traffic.   Denise kept her mouth clamped shut and concentrated on
stemming the river running down her face.
      “We’ve heard a lot about you.”
      The words hung in the air. Ominously.
    Neither woman spoke
again until Samantha pulled up at the gates of the compound.   Denise scrabbled at the door.   “I can walk.   It takes forever to get the damn gate open.”
      Samantha’s hand came up and rested on
Denise’s arm.   “Let me come in,
Denise.   We need to talk.”
    Denise expelled a
breath.   “It’s 123454321.” She sat
back in her seat.
      Samantha lowered her window and pushed
in the code. There was silence again as they waited for the gate to make its
slow journey.Luckily, it only changed its mind twice.
    “What’s up with that?”
    Denise shook her
head.   “I don’t know.   It’s always been that way.”
    “I’ll bet it drives
Andrew crazy.”
    Denise’s eyes opened
wide and she opened her mouth to speak.
    A laugh from Samantha
cut Denise off.   “They’re all compulsive about that kind of
stuff.”  
    Seeing the question on
Denise’s face, she added, “They like things to work the way they’re supposed
to.”   The woman shrugged.   “They like to keep their women safe.”
    Denise’s mouth pulled
into a tight line.   Mentally she
added this nugget to her list of Things
to Keep in Mind . And while she was on mental lists, she started a new one
labeled: Things to do Right Away.   She put “Fix the freaking gate” at the top of that one.
    Samantha stopped the car
in front of the house.   She
scrunched down in her seat to peer out of the windshield.   “Criminy.   That is pretty
worn down.”
    Denise shoved her door
open, climbed out and tried to slam it behind her.   Since Audi’s were expensive, well made cars, the sound
failed to truly express her feelings.
    “I gather my house has
been the source of concern?”  
    “I know, awkward. Let’s
go inside.   Never mind the house.
We need to talk about the trouble you’re in.
    “With the courts,” she
clarified.
    Denise strode up the
steps to the front door.   The
horrible feeling this elegant, self-assured woman knew much, much more than
Denise wanted her to, was slowly but surely filling her chest cavity.  
      The door wasn’t locked because it never
was.   She shoved it open and
gestured to the other woman.  
    “They don’t like
unlocked front doors, either.”
      Denise glared.
      Samantha grinned. She shot Denise an
apologetic glance, though.  
    “Look.   I’m sorry.   I’ll keep our conversation strictly business if you want but
I’m trying to be helpful.   I
thought you might want to talk about it.   Especially in light of today.”
    Why was it that her
spine suddenly seemed to take on a life of its own, freezing into the rigidly
offended