Page 22 of Wild Omega

I take the elevator up one floor and sneak a glance at the views from the windows through the glassy offices as I head to my boss’s lair at the far end. One day I’ll move my office up here to the top floor, and Hale will work only for me instead of being shared with two other lawyers. I’ll make it happen within three years.

I rap my knuckles against the glass door, and Parker waves me in as he finishes up on a phone call. He has the room decked out in old-school leather, which has charm even if it’s a little out of place with all the modern glass. When I get my new partner’s office, I’ll ask Ricky for advice on artwork to hang. I bet he knows a good local artist.

“Callisto.” Parker brushes a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair and flashes his whitened teeth my way. “Nice work on the Felton versus Velos Corp case. That little slip-up sure saved our bacon.”

I grin. “Thank you. Hale helped me pull apart the discovery files in a hurry.”

He salutes me with a coffee mug. “If I didn’t have my own ace paralegal, I’d be stealing Hale from you.”

“Please don’t,” I beg shamelessly. I’d hate to retrain someone new.

He chuckles. With his mug back on the desk, he slaps his hand down on a foot-high stack of case files. “The OCB raided a local illegal omega hive a couple of days ago.”

I nod. “Saw that on the news. Just a few hours out of Laversham. Over a dozen omegas.”

He grunts softly, shaking his head in disgust. “There’re so many arrests out of it, they’ve reached out to us to share the case load so they can get those bastards prosecuted and locked away in a hurry. I want you to spearhead the project for us and get some experience working with the OCB legal team—I remember you did a few years in omega crime cases before you came to us.”

He pushes the files toward me, and I get warring thrills of excitement and despair as I realize they’re all individual cases. This is going to be a massive project.

“Sounds good.”

“I’ll put Quinton and Lyle at your disposal to assist,” my boss adds, and a hot flush runs through my chest.

Project managing over two fully fledged lawyers? This is where I get my opportunity to shine. And we have enough cases here to kick my win streak to one hundred. My bet is they’re pretty cut-and-dried, thanks to the OCB’s raid.

“You chose the right man,” I confirm, sliding the files to the edge of the desk. One day this will be me, sitting at the big desk in the top floor office and divvying out cases to the staff. I suppose we could call this a trial run.

“That’s our up-and-coming forward wing! I knew you’d be keen.” He smiles and jots a note in his day planner. “Catch up on the readings while I email Quinton and Lyle, then head over to the Bureau. You’ll likely be working out of their offices since they have all the evidence.”

I scoop up the heavy stack of files and cradle them against my chest. These will be my career makers. The only lawyer in the country with a one-hundred-case win streak is the named partner, Shiloh Laurance himself. He lost his one-hundred and third case a bit over a year ago. If I break his record, the big wigs will have to acknowledge my skill. Only twelve cases left to win.

I swing by my desk to let Hale know what’s going on, and then take a cab to the OCB office, skimming the files while we drive through the city. The building towers overhead, the blue tinting on the glass reflecting the omega safety colors.

Once I’m inside with my visitor tag set up, a junior agent escorts me to a floor that swarms with activity like a kicked ants’ nest. “Welcome to the OCB legal team,” the junior says, shuddering. “Enter at your own risk.”

I grin. “What’s the greatest hazard, do you think?”

The youth shares my smile, clearly pleased I can take a joke. “If you trip, you’ll probably be crushed to death in the stampede. Either that or going deaf from legal speak.”

I laugh and step forward, calling over my shoulder, “I think I have immunity from the second danger.”

The receptionist looks up from her paperwork, glasses sliding through sweat and hair sticking out at all angles despite the tightly wrapped bun. “Can I help you?”

“I’m from Harkman and Laurance, here to partner with the legal team.”

“God bless you!” she cries, jumping to her feet. “Follow me. It’s been a mess in here since yesterday.”

We weave between trolleys stacked with evidence boxes and dive into a conference room. Project management boards cover the walls, and I scan a few, picking up their system.

The receptionist flags down the bosses. “Here’s the one Aden Parker sent over, boss.”

I brighten as I recognize their lead prosecutor, Freddy Jarsha, at the head of the table. I’ve gone up a few times against him in defense, and he’s a damn thorough lawyer.

“Callisto Wren, from Harkman and Laurance Legal.” I offer my palm and he shakes it.

“Good to see you outside of a courtroom, Callisto. Meet the local case lead, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Leroy Hanamack, and this here is Supervisory Special Agent Liam Andrews, from Darinian City. They found the lead via a fighting ring bust in Darinian City and tracked it back here.”

I shake the agent’s hand, watching as his arm muscles bulge. Looks like a capable guy. “Glad you tracked them down, Agent Andrews.”

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