R Is for Ricochet

Willful and rebellious. I want you to see to it she keeps the appointment with her parole officer and whatever else is required once she's been released. I'll pay you your full rate even if you only work for a part of each day."
    "What if she doesn't like the supervision?"
    "It's not up to her. I've told her I'm hiring someone to assist her and she's agreed. If she likes you, she'll be cooperative, at least to a point."
    "May I ask what she did?"
    "Given the time you'll be spending in her company, you're entitled to know. She was convicted of embezzling money from the company she worked for. Alan Beckwith and Associates. He does property management, real estate investment and development, things of that type. Do you know the man?"
    "I've seen his name in the paper."
    Nord Lafferty shook his head. "I don't care for him myself. I've known his wife's family for years. Tracy's a lovely girl. I can't understand how she ended up with the likes of him. Alan Beckwith is an upstart. He calls himself an entrepreneur, but I've never been entirely clear what he does. Our paths have crossed in public on numerous occasions and I can't say I'm impressed. Reba seems to think the world of him. I will credit him for this – he spoke up in her behalf before her sentencing. It was a generous gesture on his part and one he didn't have to make."
    "How long has she been at CIW?"
    "She's served twenty-two months of a four-year sentence. She never went to trial. At her arraignment – which I'm sorry to say I missed – she claimed she was indigent, so the court appointed a public defender to handle her case. After consultation with him, she waived her right to a preliminary hearing and entered a plea of guilty."
    "Just like that?"
    "I'm afraid so."
    "And her attorney agreed to it?"
    "He argued strenuously against it, but Reba wouldn't listen."
    "How much money are we talking?"
    "Three hundred fifty thousand dollars over a two-year period."
    "How'd they discover the theft?"
    "During a routine audit. Reba was one of a handful of employees with access to the accounts. Naturally, suspicion fell on her. She's been in trouble before, but nothing of this magnitude."
    I could feel a protest welling but I bit back my response.
    He leaned forward. "You have something to say. feel free to say it. Stacey tells me you're outspoken so please don't hesitate on my account. It may save us a misunderstanding."
    "I was just wondering why you didn't step in. A high-powered attorney might have made all the difference."
    He dropped his gaze to his hands. "I should have helped her… I know that… but I'd been coming to her rescue for many, many years… all her life, if you want to know the truth. At least that's what I was being told by friends. They said she had to face the consequences of her behavior or she was never going to learn. They said I'd be enabling, that saving her was the worst possible action under the circumstances."
    "Who's this 'they' you're referring to?"
    For the first time, he faltered. "I had a lady friend. Lucinda. We'd been keeping company for years. She'd seen me intercede in Reba's behalf on countless occasions. She persuaded me to put my foot down and that's what I did."
    "And now?"
    "Frankly, I was shocked when Reba was sentenced to four years in state prison. I had no idea the penalty would be so stiff. I thought the judge would suspend sentence or agree to probation, as the public defender suggested. At any rate, Lucinda and I quarreled, bitterly I might add. I broke off the relationship and severed my ties with her. She was much younger than I. In hindsight, I realized she was angling for herself, hoping for marriage. Reba disliked her intensely. Lucinda knew that, of course."
    "What happened to the money?"
    "Reba gambled it away. She's always been attracted to card play. Roulette, the slots. She loves to bet the ponies, but she has no head for it."
    "She's a problem gambler?"
    "Her problem isn't the gambling, it's the losing," he remarked, with only the weakest of smiles.
    "What about drugs and alcohol?"
    "I'd have to answer yes on both counts. She tends to be reckless. She has a wild streak like her mother. I'm hoping this experience in prison has taught her self-restraint. As for the job itself, we'll play that by ear. We're talking two to three days, a week at the most, until she's reestablished herself. Since your responsibilities are limited, I won't be requiring a written report. Submit an invoice and I'll pay your daily