the blond war-helmet hair. “Vasquez. Michael, maybe? Like I said, he wasn’t with that unit very long. I didn’t get to know everyone on the team.”
“What about the property clerk? Do you know his name?”
She shook her head. “No. Hey, you aren’t going to dredge all this up with Liam, are you? It was bad enough the first time, I’d hate to see him fall back into all that anger.”
“We may have to. Someone went to a lot of trouble to placeLiam at José’s house. Unless you have another idea, what else do the two things have in common?”
“Maybe some old case they worked? Liam and José were having some success with the Latin Bandits. They’d made a lot of arrests and were working their way up the food chain. From what I get on TV, gangs are into retribution.”
But five years later? I didn’t think so, but I made a note anyway.
“Do I really need to stay away from Liam?” she asked. “Tony said it was okay and that I didn’t have to talk to the police unless they formally charged me with something. He said if they did, he would represent me.”
Of course I didn’t want her talking to Liam, but not because I gave a damn if she got in trouble with the police. But I had to keep that self-centered thought to myself. “If Tony says it’s okay, then it is.”
“Good, I want to go back to the hospital now. I don’t want him to be alone.”
I didn’t want him to be alone either, I thought as I warmed up my moo shu in the firm’s kitchen microwave after showing Beer Barbie the door, I just would have preferred to be the one standing sentry at his bedside. Knowing that made me acknowledge that my lust for Liam had entered a new and ugly phase. I was jealous. Jealousy meant I had feelings beyond just wanting to sleep with him. I knew he felt the same about the sleeping part, but everything else was up in the air. He could be mending fences with Ashley, and the last thing I wanted to be was a thorn in that mess.
After I wolfed down my dinner, I went to the law library andstarted doing the research for the Travis Johnson case. Reading case law is a lot like watching grass grow. Judges like to drone on and often give a twenty-page explanation when two pages would suffice, thank you very much. I copied the two cases Tony had asked for specifically and found seven others related to a battered-child defense. From what I read, it didn’t sound promising.
Now for the real fun. I had to go back to my office and write abstracts of the cases. I worked my way through three of them, then I don’t know what happened.
The next thing I knew I was being smacked in the head. I finally came awake and started to move, feeling every muscle in my neck ache from the attempt. “What?” I groused as Becky’s smiling face came into view.
“You slept here,” she said, holding up her iPhone. “I took a picture to post on Facebook.”
“You did not,” I insisted as I raked my hair off my face.
Becky smiled. “You have the imprint of the open book on your cheek.”
I rubbed my face. “Great.”
“And your mascara is all screwed up. You, my friend, are a hot mess.”
“And you are a pain in the ass.”
She walked around me to turn on the coffeepot. “Stay here all night looking for a way to get Liam out of trouble?”
I shook my head and told her about the abstracts. “I must have zoned out.”
“Well, you’d better zone back in. It’s almost eight.”
Crap. “I’m going home to shower and change.”
“Ah, the walk of shame.”
“No, the walk of the overworked.” I grabbed the first mug of coffee before the pot had even finished brewing. “I think I liked just doing estates.”
“But now you make more money.”
True. “But I never slept here.”
“I’ll mention your devotion to Ellen when I see her. She loves you now, by the way.”
“Good, because Tony doesn’t.”
“Trouble in paradise?”
“A little. I need the support of two partners. It’s job security. But right now I
“What about the property clerk? Do you know his name?”
She shook her head. “No. Hey, you aren’t going to dredge all this up with Liam, are you? It was bad enough the first time, I’d hate to see him fall back into all that anger.”
“We may have to. Someone went to a lot of trouble to placeLiam at José’s house. Unless you have another idea, what else do the two things have in common?”
“Maybe some old case they worked? Liam and José were having some success with the Latin Bandits. They’d made a lot of arrests and were working their way up the food chain. From what I get on TV, gangs are into retribution.”
But five years later? I didn’t think so, but I made a note anyway.
“Do I really need to stay away from Liam?” she asked. “Tony said it was okay and that I didn’t have to talk to the police unless they formally charged me with something. He said if they did, he would represent me.”
Of course I didn’t want her talking to Liam, but not because I gave a damn if she got in trouble with the police. But I had to keep that self-centered thought to myself. “If Tony says it’s okay, then it is.”
“Good, I want to go back to the hospital now. I don’t want him to be alone.”
I didn’t want him to be alone either, I thought as I warmed up my moo shu in the firm’s kitchen microwave after showing Beer Barbie the door, I just would have preferred to be the one standing sentry at his bedside. Knowing that made me acknowledge that my lust for Liam had entered a new and ugly phase. I was jealous. Jealousy meant I had feelings beyond just wanting to sleep with him. I knew he felt the same about the sleeping part, but everything else was up in the air. He could be mending fences with Ashley, and the last thing I wanted to be was a thorn in that mess.
After I wolfed down my dinner, I went to the law library andstarted doing the research for the Travis Johnson case. Reading case law is a lot like watching grass grow. Judges like to drone on and often give a twenty-page explanation when two pages would suffice, thank you very much. I copied the two cases Tony had asked for specifically and found seven others related to a battered-child defense. From what I read, it didn’t sound promising.
Now for the real fun. I had to go back to my office and write abstracts of the cases. I worked my way through three of them, then I don’t know what happened.
The next thing I knew I was being smacked in the head. I finally came awake and started to move, feeling every muscle in my neck ache from the attempt. “What?” I groused as Becky’s smiling face came into view.
“You slept here,” she said, holding up her iPhone. “I took a picture to post on Facebook.”
“You did not,” I insisted as I raked my hair off my face.
Becky smiled. “You have the imprint of the open book on your cheek.”
I rubbed my face. “Great.”
“And your mascara is all screwed up. You, my friend, are a hot mess.”
“And you are a pain in the ass.”
She walked around me to turn on the coffeepot. “Stay here all night looking for a way to get Liam out of trouble?”
I shook my head and told her about the abstracts. “I must have zoned out.”
“Well, you’d better zone back in. It’s almost eight.”
Crap. “I’m going home to shower and change.”
“Ah, the walk of shame.”
“No, the walk of the overworked.” I grabbed the first mug of coffee before the pot had even finished brewing. “I think I liked just doing estates.”
“But now you make more money.”
True. “But I never slept here.”
“I’ll mention your devotion to Ellen when I see her. She loves you now, by the way.”
“Good, because Tony doesn’t.”
“Trouble in paradise?”
“A little. I need the support of two partners. It’s job security. But right now I
Similar Books
