Chapter 8

After a much larger breakfast than he was used to eating, Brad was off to the office. Kim waited till a few minutes after eight, then called Clifford & Jamison. Judy Jeffries answered the phone sleepily, and Kim teased her about it. Then she asked if Kathy Carlson was in yet.

“Hi, Candace!” Kathy greeted her cheerfully if somewhat sleepily.

“Hi, Kathy,” Kim responded, “but it’s Kimberly now; Candace is dead.” She paused and then asked, “What do you think?”

“I think it’s neat,” Kathy replied. “It’s as classy as you are. But that’s not the reason for the call, is it?”

“No, it’s not.” Kim paused to screw up her courage. She realized she had absolutely no business intruding on Clifford & Jamison’s professional matters. But she pushed on anyway. “Are ... are ... are you people hiring? Or at least interested in talking to a candidate?”

“Hiring? Us? Don’t be ridiculous. We all love working 27-hour days.” She paused and then added, “What do you want for the name of a candidate? One of my legs? An arm? Both arms? What?”

“I ... I ... took the liberty of making an appointment for you with a girl for ten o’clock today. Is that possible?”

“What aren’t you telling me about her?” Kathy asked, sensing that Kim was holding something back.

“It’s her husband,” Kim blurted out. “He was in the army. And he may have injured people, too. Some unit beginning with an “R”, I think.”

“A ranger?” Kathy asked in a very soft voice.

“That’s it! He was a ranger. Could you still be interested?”

“We’ll try to squeeze her in at ten,” Kathy replied. Then she added, “Oh ... One more thing: Tell her to park in space number 15 in our garage. Okay?”

Kim agreed, hung up, and then called Carol Christian. When there was no answer, Kim realized it was already 8:20; Carol was undoubtedly on her way to work if she wasn’t already there. Her problem was that she had no idea what firm Carol worked for. She still had Carol’s card in her hand, and idly turned it over. There she found that Carol had written her beeper number. Instantly she called it and left an electronic message for Carol to call her.

Carol Christian was in her old Toyota on the freeway close to her exit when her beeper went off. She was in no place to do anything about it, so she silenced the unit while retaining its message. Arriving at her office, she went to her cubicle before looking at it. Immediately she recognized Kimberly’s telephone number.

Carol instantly had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. The ground had just dropped away beneath her. In spite of — or perhaps because of — working for an old-line law firm, Carol took great delight in regularly scandalizing her colleagues and the firm’s partners by wearing Levi’s, shorts, and anything else she could think of that was dramatically different from approved firm attire. But at the same time she received the silent cheers and approval from the firm’s support staff who were required to “dress appropriately.” Of course Carol was too, but she just ignored the rule.

As it was, she had been very quietly teased by the receptionist when she came in that morning wearing her very best professional clothing. As she dialed Kim’s number, she just knew that it was all for nothing. There would be no interview.

“Hi. It’s Carol,” she said in a flat tone of voice when Kim answered.

“Great! I’m glad I was able to reach you—”

“No interview, right?” Carol interrupted.

“Oh, no!” Kim protested. “It’s all set for ten. The reason I called, though, was I was asked to tell you to park in space number 15 in the building’s garage. It’s one of Clifford & Jamison’s private spaces.”

“Huh?” Carol responded, utterly stunned. “That’s it? That’s the whole message?”

“How much more do you want?” Kim asked. “What were you expecting? Me to offer you a job?”

Carol thanked her for the information and hung up the phone, moving like a zombie. She was utterly stunned. Although everyone drove in LA, this was the very first interview for which she had been given a designated parking space.

At a few moments before ten, she got off the elevator at the 38^th floor and looked at the entry to Clifford & Jamison’s offices. It was the most magnificent thing she had ever seen. It made her firm’s offices look tawdry. Entering, she was greeted by the most beautiful blonde she had ever seen.

“Good morning, and welcome to Clifford & Jamison,” Judy said with her warmest smile. “How may we help you?”

Carol’s eyes widened at the very warm greeting, but she said, “I’m Carol Christian. I ... I’m supposed to have an interview this morning...” Carol’s voice ran down at the end.

Rising, Judy came out from behind her desk with her hand outstretched. “Welcome, Mrs. Christian. I’m Judy Jeffries, and I’m utterly delighted to meet you. If you’ll come with me, Ali is waiting for you in her office.”

“My God!” Carol thought. With a greeter like this, any prospective client would just roll over like a puppy with its paws in the air. She is the warmest, friendliest person on the face of the earth!”

Judy led the way to the most magnificent corner office Carol had ever seen or could even imagine. With glass walls on two sides, there was a view all the way out to the Pacific, and north to the mountains. It was simply gorgeous. But then there were the furnishings: all leather and the finest woods. Comparatively, her own senior partner was housed in quarters that wouldn’t rate as this office’s doghouse.

Introductions were made. Ali Clifford was there along with Kathy Carlson.

After exchanging pleasantries, Kathy said, “Kimberly Kane...” She interrupted herself to tell Ali that Candace was now Kimberly. Then she continued, “She tells me that you might be interested in joining our firm. Could you tell us a bit about yourself?”

Carol told the two that she had graduated from U.S.C. Law School three years before and had joined her present firm upon graduation.

“Why might you be interested in making a change?” Ali asked.

Swallowing hard, Carol replied, “Because Clifford & Jamison wasn’t in business when I graduated. Everything I’ve heard about this place tells me it’s the place I really should be.”

“Your class standing in law school?” Kathy asked.

“I graduated number two.”

“Okay,” Ali said. “However, Kim tells us there may be a problem because of your husband. She says he was an Army Ranger in Vietnam. Is that true?”

Forgetting what she had learned about the firm on Saturday, Carol drew herself up straight in her chair and declared, “Yes, it’s true. He was a lieutenant and platoon leader in Alpha Company, First Ranger Battalion—”

“Second Lieutenant William Baker Christian,” Kathy breathed softly.

“But how could you know that?” Carol exclaimed.

“Because my husband is Kenneth Carlson,” she replied. “He commanded Alpha Company.”

It suddenly all came back to Carol. “Well then, you probably know Brad Kramer, too.”

Kathy was silent for a moment and then spoke in a voice just above a whisper, “First Lieutenant William Bradley Kramer, Jr.”

“But how could you know that?” Carol asked.

“Because he saved my husband’s life is how I know. Ken has told me that story so many times I could almost recite it in my sleep.”

“What story is that, Kath?” Ali asked.

“Ali, you’ve heard many times how Ken was wounded and Sam Duncan carried him back to our lines?”

Ali just nodded while Carol was enthralled.

“Well,” Kathy continued, “he wouldn’t have been alive to be carried back if it hadn’t been for Brad Kramer. It seems they were moving out on a raid, and Ken was on point. (Don’t even think of asking why the company commander had taken the point. I’ve never forgiven him for that one.) Anyway, they had been in a small firefight a little earlier, and Ken had expended a lot of ammunition, but the turkey didn’t realize it ... until he came under fire again. At that time he was well out in front, and started returning fire. Brad Kramer is smart as hell. As soon as he heard the gunfire, he knew what was happening. Checking his own ammunition supply, he realized he was short, so Ken had to be almost out.

“He grabbed several bandoliers loaded with ammo and fought his way to Ken’s position. Now with the two together and with plenty of ammunition, it was all over. All Ken ever told me beyond that was that he and Brad made a helluva mess. However, Carol, it never could have happened had it not been for a new young officer named Bill Christian. Brad left him in command of the company while he went to rescue Ken.

“Then, when he was hit, it was Brad who took command and fought their way to where Ken had been hit. They killed a bunch and drove off the rest, permitting Sam Duncan to do his thing by carrying Ken back to safety.”

“My God!” Ali exclaimed softly. “Ken owes his life to Brad Kramer ... and to Bill Christian.”

“You got it,” Kathy replied.

Turning to Carol Ali said, “Are you sure you want to join this merry band? We really haven’t talked at all about the practice of law...”

“Yes, I certainly do, Mrs. Clifford—”

“Kathy, get our Firm training aid, at once!” Ali interrupted.

Barely able to suppress her giggle, Kathy darted from the room and was back a few moments later with the coiled and well-oiled bullwhip. Without a word she gave it to Ali.

“Mrs. Christian,” Ali began with her voice dripping with sarcasm, “this is the firm’s training aid. It is applied to the back, buns, thighs and tits of any employee who has the temerity to call me Mrs. Clifford, or Ginger, Mrs. Conrad.” With her eyes wide she asked guilelessly, “Now would you care to start again, or... ?”

“Yes, Ali, I would be delighted to join your firm,” Carol replied. Then she looked thoughtful and added, “I wonder ... I may have to try that sometime...”

“Try what?” Ali asked, baffled by Carol’s remark.