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would have to come later. For now, her priority was the nine-one-one caller, Pamela Godfrey. She climbed into her car for the drive downtown. On the way there, she called Ted. “Did you find a connection between Godfrey and the Sterlings?”
    “I sure did. Parker Sterling is the founder and former CEO of Dodgebird.”
    “Dodgebird?”
    “A computer software company. They were bought out by Microsoft last year but in the negotiations, Sterling secured the vice-presidency of the Dodgebird division and he still manages the facility. Dodgebird’s legal representation is handled by Drummond-Godfrey.”
    “Aah … and?”
    “A couple of years before the Microsoft acquisition, Sterling and Godfrey spent a lot of time together. Remember that child porn ring the FBI busted up?”
    “Yeah. How can I forget a swarm of those vainglorious jerks?”
    “Oh, did you and your Special Agent have a fight?”
    “Don’t start with me, Ted.”
    “Well, I thought …”
    “Ted, I just pulled up to a meter downtown, so drop it or I’ll throw Ellen in your face.”
    ‘Okay. Never mind. Anyway, one of the folks arrested was the sales manager at Dodgebird. Pamela Godfrey personally handled the media flak and public relations damage control for that.”
    “Anything else before I tackle Godfrey?”
    “Just a little scuttlebutt that might prove useful. It seems Ms. Godfrey has a reputation for mixing business with pleasure.”
    “An affair with Sterling ?” Lucinda asked.
    “I haven’t heard anything that specific – just a general rumor that she has a tendency to climb into bed with her clients.”
    “Lovely,” Lucinda said. “Thanks, Ted. I’ll call back when I finish with Godfrey.”
     
    Lucinda strode into the high-rise, checked the board for an office number, stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the fourteenth floor. When the doors opened, she saw that there were just two offices on that level – straight ahead of her were the oversized double glass doors leading to the law offices of Drummond-Godfrey. Beyond the doors and past the receptionist, the panorama of the city filled the far glass wall. To her right, an apparently smaller space with a single door was marked “Pamela Godfrey Management.”
    She entered and approached the front desk. “Pamela Godfrey, please.”
    A cute and perky dark-haired young woman smiled and asked, “Do you have an appointment?”
    Lucinda hated that question. It always spoke of a sense of superiority and a spirit of exclusion. She pulled out her badge and held it close to the woman’s face. “This is all the appointment I need. Tell Ms. Godfrey I’m here.”
    The receptionist’s face turned beet red and her jaw moved without making a sound. She picked up a receiver and spun around in her chair, turning her back to Lucinda. She whispered into the phone, pivoted back and hung up the receiver. “I’m sorry, ma’am. It just isn’t convenient for Ms. Godfrey to speak with you at this time. Umm …”
    “Yes?”
    “I’m sorry. But she told me to tell you that y’all ate up enough of her time today already.”
    “Fine,” Lucinda said and walked toward the hallway that led to the offices.
    The flustered receptionist jumped up and blocked her path. “I’m sorry. But I can’t let you go back there.”
    Lucinda looked down on her – at five feet eleven inches and wearing three-inch heels, she made the petite woman standing in front of her look like a small child. “Really?” she said. She placed a hand on both of the woman’s upper arms and gently moved her out of the way. She strode down the hall to the door bearing Pamela’s name and threw it open.
    Pamela bolted up out of her high-backed office chair. Anger curled her lips into a sneer. In the chairs opposite her desk, two dark-suited men bounced to their feet, with widened eyes.
    “How dare you?” Pamela said.
    Lucinda smiled at the visitors in the room, pulled out her badge and flashed it first in their