Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 52699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
I stopped walking and looked at him. “What is this about?”
“The Davis files,” he said. “Your team didn’t put them on my desk so I had to do them myself. So, either someone on your team has died or they need to be given a calendar as a parting gift from the firm.”
“I’ll handle it.”
“Thank you.” He held the door to the conference room open. “I’ll let you talk to the clients first.”
I stepped inside and took my seat at the table, glancing at the top sheet.
Olivia & Elliot Jacobs
I made sure the weekly food delivery I’d set up fro Elizabeth’s cats was still current.
“Today would be nice, Mr. Carter.” Andrew’s voice made me look up. “I’m happy to settle for tomorrow, but we’re not waiting until next week.”
“Sorry about that.” I cleared my throat. “As you know, Mr. and Miss Anderson, our firm specializes in your type of cases. We hope you’ll work with us.”
“Anderson?” The woman frowned. “We’re the Jacobs.”
“Please excuse me and my partner for a second.” Andrew glared at me as he stood up. “Mr. Carter, can you step outside with me, please?”
“Sure.” I gave a smile to the Jacobs and followed him down the hall.
“You’re off this case.”
“Thank you.”
“That’s not a good thing.” He crossed his arms. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Nothing. I’m perfectly fine.”
“You’re lying to my face, again,” he said.
“Okay, I’m less than fine, but I’m okay. I’m on top of everything.”
“The FBI has resorted to calling my phone and asking to talk to you.”
“They always want to talk about one of my clients, and they don’t pay me for it” I said. “They can wait.”
“Would you like me to find you a new partner?” He looked genuine. “I’m not trying to belittle your work or anything, but calling it less than satisfactory these past few weeks would be generous.”
“Have you heard anything from Miss Tanner lately?” I asked. “Did you ask Human Resources to offer her job back with more benefits like I suggested?”
He blinked.
“Do your two blinks mean yes or no?”
He walked away, leaving me alone in the hallway.
You didn’t answer my question, Andrew.
Have you?
I stood outside in the rain, staring at the Manhattan Bridge for what had to be the umpteenth hour this week.
Instead of wasting my time on attempted sleep hours, I spent them replaying the first day Elizabeth and I met.
Something is definitely wrong with me.
“Mr. Carter?” A woman in a grey suit stepped in front of me and waved her hand, blocking my view. “Can I have a second of your time, please?”
“No, I’m busy staring into the distance.”
“My name is Grace Warren, FBI.” She flashed a badge. “Can I have a second now?”
“Why’d you bother asking in the first place?”
“I thought you’d be nice to me.”
“What do you want?”
“You’re not in any trouble, but we stumbled onto something while we were doing a separate investigation into a former client of yours.”
“He still has attorney client privilege.”
“I’m aware,” she said, handing me a CD. “This could be nothing, could be something, but we need your help before we make another move.”
“Surely, the FBI has enough money to upgrade from CDs to a cloud by now.”
“This is a serious matter, Mr. Carter.” She sighed. “If you could verify the voices on these calls at your earliest convenience, we’ll be forever grateful.”
“Okay, Miss Warren,” I said. “I’ll put this at the top of my priority list.”
“Thank you.”
I waited for her to walk away before heading to my car. I locked the folder in my glovebox and took my time driving around the city and across the Manhattan Bridge.
My policy on unpaid work was still the same.
PRIVILEGE (N.)
A SPECIAL BENEFIT, EXEMPTION FROM A DUTY, OR IMMUNITY FROM PENALTY, GIVEN TO A PARTICULAR PERSON, A GROUP OR A CLASS OF PEOPLE
ELIZABETH
We fight for justice.
We fight for all.
We are on the right side of the law!
The purple poster on my office wall was driving me insane.
Every time I looked at it, I saw Damien working on the other side of the law. I envisioned him walking through crime scenes, stalking clients, fucking me…
His lips never left my memories, the feel of them against mine was still imprinted on my mind. Even now, all these weeks later, whenever I shut my eyes at night, images of Damien dominated my fantasies.
I shook away the thoughts and picked up a new case, vowing to complete the summary before looking up again.
“Excuse me, Miss?” A guy stepped into the room. “I’m looking for the mailroom.”
“It’s down the hall and to your left.” I kept eyes focused on my case.
“Thank you.” He cleared his throat. “Do you normally work this late?”
“No.” I flipped a page. “I just started here.”
“Well, now it makes sense why I’m just now noticing you lately.”
I rolled my eyes, hoping he’d get the hint.