“You know my ex?”
“Unfortunately.”
This makes me laugh. “I guess you do. In all honesty, he’s not my favorite subject.” I nod toward the windows. “Snowstorms are more interesting.”
Melinda grins. “You see, Jackson has done some work for my husband—in the past.” She lowers her tone. “I’m assuming that you’ve heard what happened?”
I shake my head. “Honestly, I haven’t made it a priority to keep up on him.”
One of her hands goes to her chest as her fingers flutter near her necklace. “Well, I’m not one for gossip, but considering that you told him to hit the road and Wilson et al went to extraordinary measures to keep everything under wraps, I wondered if you knew.”
I shift on my tall heels. “Oh, Melinda, I’m intrigued.”
“Jackson Carmichael is no longer with the legal firm of Wilson et al.”
“He’s not?”
“The official word is that he resigned and moved back to the Detroit area to open his own practice near his family.”
My expression undoubtedly gave away my thoughts. The last thing Jackson wanted was a small private practice chasing ambulances. He had visions of greatness, wealth and fame that came with being a part of a big practice. “That doesn’t sound like him.”
Her lips form a straight line as she shakes her head. “My husband, Dwayne, was told in confidence that Jackson was let go.”
“But he was a partner.”
“Revoked.”
My brow furrows. “Are you sure?” I ask.
She nods. “There was an internal incident regarding an intern.”
I suck in a breath and work to keep my facial expression from screaming too much information. “Incident.”
“Dwayne didn’t get all of the gory details, but he seems to believe it involved possible legal repercussions. Wilson et al worked as an intermediary to satisfy both parties, not that Jackson is probably satisfied. From what I heard, the intern agreed to a settlement that along with financial compensation included Jackson Carmichael’s termination from Wilson et al.” Melinda shakes her head. “To accomplish that, the intern must have had some damning evidence of something significant enough that Wilson et al didn’t want the association.”
“Well. I should say that I’m surprised.” I was surprised that Ellen would use the photos of herself. She would have had to have shown them as evidence. I suppose when she came to me and asked for them, I could have said the same thing Marshal and I did about a ride to Grand Rapids. Then again, I decided that despite Ellen’s transgressions, she also was a victim of his photo fetish. Marshal and I involved her—whether intentionally or not—the day we all spoke at the bed and breakfast.
I didn’t hand Ellen the photos or even the flash drive. I simply provided her with the name of the file. As Jackson’s intern, she said she had access to his email. If he was stupid enough to still have the photos there, that’s on him. When Jack changed his password, I only knew that the pictures of me were gone.
I’d deleted those.
The decision to take that evidence further was in Ellen’s court.
From what Melinda is saying, it sounds as though she took that opportunity.
“What happened to the intern?” I ask.
Melinda shrugs. “I don’t know, but if she was the injured party, I hope she received more than a settlement. I hope she received a glowing recommendation to another firm.”
A smile came to my lips as a warm hand splayed long fingers over my lower back and a solid body came to my side.
“What are you two whispering about?” Marshal’s deep voice asks with an edge of curiosity.
As I take a breath, Melinda looks at me and I nod. She then gives Marshal the short version of what she’d only seconds earlier shared with me.
My fiancé’s mouth is agape as he looks from Melinda to me and back. “How long have you known this?”
“For a couple of weeks.”