Page 109 of Falling for Brody

Rhea stood up and turned her head to see the double doors swing open.

Keely walked in, her strides eating up the space between them.

Rhea followed her progress with her eyes and followed her to the table on right as soon as they walked past the bar.

Keely pulled out a chair and gestured to it.

"Stand here, okay."

Rhea nodded and stood beside her attorney.

The bailiff looked at Keely who nodded.

He then walked out into the hallway and through the closed door, Rhea could hear him calling the case in one direction and then the other.

When the bailiff returned, he was followed by a man in a suit who looked like he'd slept in it, or at the very least, had his coat balled up and shoved into a tight corner.

As the man walked past the bar he looked over at their table. "Keely. It's good to see you again."

Rhea watched as Keely turned toward the man and said one short sentence. "Mister Pohl."

The man chuckled and stepped behind the other table and sat down heavily in the table. "Nice... Just perfect."

The bailiff was back behind his desk. "All Rise."

The other attorney grumbled something under his breath as the judge stepped into the room and settled behind her desk.

"Go ahead and sit down."

Rhea's heart was in her chest as the judge began to speak.

"Mister Pohl?"

"Yes, Your Honor?"

"Where are your clients?"

"Well," he cleared his throat and stood up, "I believe you are in receipt of my motion to have myself be removed from his case."

The judge looked over at Keely. "Do you have anything you'd like to say about the motion?"

Keely stood, the picture of grace. "No, your honor. If Mister Pohl does not wish to represent his clients further in this matter, that would be fine with me. Given the fact that the plaintiffs in this matter haven't seen fit to show up to the court, I move to dismiss this matter, with prejudice, Your Honor."

The judge sat back in her chair and looked at both tables with a mild expression. "Mister Pohl, I take it that you informed your clients of your motion to quit?"

He nodded and gave the judge a meek smile. "Yes, Your Honor. I have, leaving them several messages yesterday and today. I only came today to make sure that I was removed from this case."

The judge sat forward leaning her forearms on the desk. "You came today because you didn't want to be in contempt of court. Don't flatter yourself that this is some kind of altruistic action on your part."

Rhea looked up and saw Keely's mouth tip up at the corner.

"Do your clients understand that I take a grim view of anyone wasting the court's time?"

Mister Pohl shifted from one foot to the other and leaned on the tabletop. "I did inform them, Your Honor. This is just one of the reasons that I am unable to continue representing them in this matter."

The look on the judge's face was unreadable at first.

Then she smiled and Rhea felt a cold shiver go through her.

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