Harri Winters resisted the urge to curse and slam down her phone receiver. Instead, she gently set it in its cradle and beat her head against the wood of her secondhand desk a couple of times. The slight pain didn’t change a damn thing. None of the criminal defense attorneys she personally knew would touch Carol’s case.
At the knock on her office door, she raise her head. Steve poked his head around the edge and frowned.
“Another one said no?”
“How’d you guess?”
A wry smile crossed Steve’s face as he entered with two cups of coffee. “The stink of despair and anger, but mainly, the red spot on your forehead.” He clicked his tongue. “You’ve really gotta stop beating your head on the desk, Harri. It’s a good way to give yourself a concussion.”
“Maybe if I injure myself, someone specializing in criminal defense will take pity and realize I tortured Carol.” She gratefully accepted the huge mug with “Lawyer do it with appeal” stenciled on the side. It had been a graduation present from Jeremy, her foster brother and one of her closest friends. She sipped the black coffee and leaned back in her chair.
“I don’t suppose you know anyone back home in Seattle that might be interested in making their name, do you?” She tried giving Steve puppy dog eyes. The same expression his twin brother often used on her. Unlike Rey, Steve had an edge to his personality. It would serve him well as an attorney.
“Mom and Dad are heavily in the tech field.” He shrugged. “Any attorneys they know are corporate or IP lawyers. Anyone I know is in the same position I am—a first-year student.”
Steve took a sip of his own coffee. Plain black java like her. None of the pixy barf crap Aisha and Patty drank or the fairy pee Susan preferred. It was one of the reasons Harri liked the kid.
Her intercom buzzed, and she tapped the appropriate button. “What’s up, Patty?”
“Before you start screaming dirty words in front of the intern, this is a professional call.” Their assistant sucked in a deep breath before she added, “Eddie is on line 1.”
Harri groaned, but Patty was right. Eddie wouldn’t be calling her unless he had to. They’d made their peace since the divorce, but Eddie’s new wife Sarah was absolutely convinced Harri was trying to get him back. Besides, why would she want her ex back when she had her own superhero sleeping in her bed.
The button for line 1 started blinking. She took a fortifying drink of her java before she lifted the receiver and jabbed the button. “Que pasa, Eddie?”
“This hasn’t been released to the press yet, so I need you to keep this between us,” he rumbled, but there was an edge to his voice. Whatever he was about to say was personal.
She glanced at Steve before she answered, “You know who lives in our building. There’s no such thing as a secret.”
“That’s why I’m begging you and your crew not to do anything stupid,” Eddie snapped.
“When have we—”
“There was the time you nearly drowned in Lake Del Oro,” her ex drawled.
Steve winced and Harri wanted to kick Eddie in the samosas. It wasn’t the kid’s fault Professor Paranoia had taken control of Steve’s mind and was using him to trash Rey’s reputation as Captain Justice. She had gone after Steve wearing her current boyfriend’s superhero togs. After fishing her out of the lake, Aisha threatened to break up the law partnership over Harri’s stunt.
And after the near-death experience, even she had to admit it was a stupid move on her part.
Harri cleared her throat. “Do you need one of our clients to suit up?”
“No!” Eddie lowered his voice. “I need you to keep everyone in check. We’ve got a hostage situation in the federal courthouse with shots fired.”
A chill ran through Harri before he finished speaking. Aisha was downtown at that courthouse for Carol’s arraignment.
“It’s Judge Castillo’s courtroom.”
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