The Empire State Cat’s Christmas Gift. Nic Tatano

not sure I’d wanna help him win anything. But that’s not the problem. The problem is we can’t keep our firm’s name out of it. And you know the public is going to side with the plaintiff. He’s the obvious bad guy here. Big corporate meanie screwing one of his employees out of a fortune. I’ll help you behind the scenes with the research and prep but I can’t be your second chair. Some of our clients would not be happy seeing me defending him.”

      “They won’t be happy seeing me do it either.”

      “Yeah, but you have the legitimate excuse that you’re related to the guy. Make one of his staff attorneys second chair.”

      “Okay, I see your point. Anyway, can you get some stuff together for me this afternoon since he wants to meet with me soon?”

      “Sure. I’ll dig out the old case files and write out some strategy for you.” He looked at the newspaper again. “Ariel, is there any chance you can settle this?”

      “Don’t think so. My cousin is very stubborn even though a settlement would be pocket change to him. It’s like he’s got a vendetta against the woman. But I’ll try like hell.”

      “Please do what you can. Tell him the negative publicity would be far costlier than any settlement. If he hasn’t realized that after reading the papers. Speaking of which, don’t give a damn thing to the media. Silent running and radio silence. The sooner we get this case off the calendar, the better.”

      “I will do my best. Hey, if nothing else, we’ll make a fortune off him so we can take more pro bono stuff.”

      “I guess that’s one way to look at it.”

      “And speaking of things on the calendar, don’t forget you’ve got that charity auction tonight.”

      “It’s on my to-do list though I’ll be a little late. You wanna go with me?”

      “Nah, I’d spend too much money. But I won’t complain if you buy me something nice.”

      “I thought that was your boyfriend’s job.”

      “It is, but you have really good taste. I’ve never returned a single thing you’ve given me. I must say, you really know how to shop for a woman.”

      He began to blush a bit. “Okay, I have a confession to make.”

      “What?”

      “I, uh, don’t actually pick out your gifts. I have, you know, help. From another woman. Don’t be mad.”

      “I’m not. It’s the gift that counts, not the thought, right?”

      “Very funny. But you know how much I think of you.”

      “Just bustin’ your chops, partner. Well, whoever your help is, keep her. She’s doing a helluva job.”

      *

      The well-heeled charity auction crowd applauded as Tish held up Socks at the end of her speech. “So thanks to this little furball, I’m here tonight. Socks would like to thank you all for supporting such a wonderful charity. It will save a lot of animals and really help raise awareness about pet adoptions. Now I’ll turn things over to our auctioneer, and I hope those of you with deep pockets will empty them. I wanna see them turned inside out!”

      The crowd laughed as she moved off the stage. She put Socks back in her carrier, then shook hands with all the volunteers from the charity as the auction commenced.

      “Really nice of you to bring Socks,” said one woman, poking her finger through the grate to touch her.

      “Hey, she’s a great spokes-cat. And she loves people. Can’t get enough attention.”

      “Well, this should really help us raise a ton of money. That segment on the network Saturday morning really boosted our last-minute ticket sales. We’ve never had such a big turnout. And a lot of stores donated stuff for the auction after seeing the story.”

      “Glad to hear it. Yeah, that story has gone viral.” She heard some big numbers being shouted out from the crowd as the auctioneer held up a beautiful statue. “And you’ve apparently got some expensive stuff to auction off.”

      “A few businesses were really generous. Especially one jewelry store.”

      Tish looked out at the crowd and saw some a group of men walk into the room and sit at the last table in the back as the auction was beginning.

      What she saw made her stand up straight.

      The white knight was among them.

       Serendipity.

      Her pulse quickened as she started to step off the stage to head in his direction. It would be great to pay him back while she was dressed in a new business outfit instead of exercise clothes.

      Then a hand lightly grabbed her forearm. “Excuse me, Miss McKenna?”

      She turned and found a young woman with a pad and a camera. “Yes?”

      “Hi, I’m Jennie Stevens from The New York Post. Could you spare a little time? We’d love to do an interview about how your cat saved your life. I promise it won’t take long.”

      Tish took a quick look out at the crowd just as she saw the white knight raise his hand and bid two hundred and fifty dollars to win a lunch at an exclusive restaurant. She turned back to the reporter. “Sure, be happy to talk to you.”

      Just her luck, the interview and photos had taken longer than she’d expected because the reporter couldn’t get the camera to work. By the time she was done and returned to the stage the auction was over. She saw the crowd heading out the door.

      The white knight was nowhere in sight.

      Dammit!

      She quickly headed over to the table where the volunteers were busy adding up the checks and cash. “How’d we do, guys?”

      The woman counting the money looked up and smiled at her. “Fabulous. This is the most we’ve ever raised at an auction. We can’t thank you enough.”

      “My pleasure. Hey, I thought I spotted someone I knew. He was the guy who bought the lunch at Harrison’s.”

      “Yeah, got some serious money for that. Not too shabby for a lunch.”

      She pointed to the checks thinking there might be one of his with a last name and phone number. How many people named Spencer could there be at this auction? She could call him and thank him for supporting the charity, then… well, who knows. “Can I see if that’s who I thought it was?”

      “Oh, he paid in cash. And talk about nice…the winning bid was two-fifty, so he gives me three hundred dollar bills and tells me to keep the change.”

      “Did he want a receipt for a tax write-off?”

      “I offered and he said it wasn’t necessary. Sorry, there’s no paper trail on the guy. Does that sound like the person you know?”

      “Yeah, actually it does.”

      *

      Spencer breathed in the cool autumn air as he headed toward the drink cart for his morning coffee. Benny spotted him and smiled. “Hey, Spence from the block, beautiful day. You should knock off early this afternoon.”

      “With weather like this I’d like to switch jobs with you, Benny.”

      Benny started to fix his coffee. “Seriously, you wanna sell soda?”

      “If I could work outside today, I’d be happy to. I used to love helping my dad on days like these.”

      “Your dad still around?”

      “Yeah, but he’s retired. I got him a nice place in Florida. He couldn’t deal with the cold anymore. He cracked a bottle of champagne when he sold his snow blower in a yard sale.”

      “That’s