Page 27 of Forged in Peril

No one would break in to mess with a phone alarm, leaving everything else intact.

She’d tell Cameron about it when she got a chance, but for the moment, she’d just have to let it go.

She brushed her teeth and dressed as quickly as she could, finding herself looking over her shoulder every few minutes, though of course, no one was ever there. She had no time to eat anything, but with any luck, she’d be able to find five minutes alone with a vending machine when she got to the courthouse.

As she opened the front door, she was relieved to see that her new car looked just as nice as it had the day before.

She looked up at the clouds floating overhead and said a silent prayer of thanks, still finding it hard to accept that Cameron and FBS had been so willing to incur such an expense for her benefit.

As thankful as she was, however, she didn’t want to remain in their debt–especially now that she’d overslept and possibly cost the company a court case, or at least their counsel’s reputation in front of Judge Arnold Hammerstein.

She climbed into the front seat and started the engine, hoping for a traffic miracle.

When she became a lawyer, she’d pay them back for the car.

Every last cent.

CHAPTER

TEN

BRISTOL

As Bristol followed Jaclyn into the privacy of the Forge Brothers Security legal department, she braced herself for the scolding that was to come. All morning, they had been focused on getting through the hearing, after having only thirty minutes to prepare as a team–and they’d only been given that extra time because, according to his clerk, Judge Hammerstein was going golfing that afternoon and was therefore in one of his better moods.

Jaclyn had said nothing about Bristol being late, but her body language and her colder-than-usual tone had made it clear that she was hardly impressed. Not that Bristol could blame her.

Though some looked down on paralegals, a good lawyer like Jaclyn understood the importance of Bristol’s role, and wasn’t afraid to give her responsibilities that had a real impact on the case at hand. And now, however legitimate or illegitimate the excuse, that trust had been wounded.

Before the two women reached Jaclyn’s office door, the lawyer stopped and turned to face Bristol, a briefcase still gripped between subtly manicured fingers.

“Well, I think that went as well as it could have, considering,” she said.

Bristol forced herself to meet her eyes as she nodded.

As if being late wasn’t bad enough, the rest of the morning had hardly gone smoothly.

While trying to figure out a copy machine they’d commandeered in the courthouse clerk’s office, Bristol had managed to print some files from a totally different FBS case and actually included them in Jaclyn’s paperwork for the hearing.

It was a total rookie mistake that never would have happened had she been on time, and even if it had, one of them would have caught it well before Jaclyn ended up in front of the court, shuffling through papers in search of a file that didn’t exist.

“I’m sorry, again,” Bristol said, unable to bear the silence that had fallen over the room. “I feel terrible. It won’t happen again.”

Still, Jaclyn said nothing, and all she wanted to do was to run away.

Despite her mistakes, her boss really had done an excellent job, and she doubted that their client would face any negative consequences. Even Hammerstein had reacted fairly well, making a couple of witty comments as Jaclyn tinkered with the contents of her briefcase.

Still, she’d made her lawyer’s job harder than it had to be. And Jaclyn’s quiet disappointment was far more upsetting than any of the fits of anger she’d endured at Dorling & Porter.

“I’d like you to do a full look-over for the files for next week’s hearing before you get to anything else, just to make sure nothing is off,” Jaclyn said at last, opening the door to her office. “We won’t get a second day of happy Hammerstein. Thanks.”

Bristol nodded mutely, unsure of what to say, and then it was too late. Jaclyn’s door closed with a gentle click, and she was standing there alone and feeling about two inches tall.

Without quite meaning to, she found herself walking away from her own office door, and toward the hallway. She’d look at the files soon enough, but for the moment, she had to catch her breath.

A few moments later, she was in the fifth floor lounge, sipping a comforting mug of tea and trying to calm the anxious butterflies in her stomach.

Just as she’d thought she had gotten ahold of herself, however, Grace Hinton walked through the door, and Bristol promptly burst into tears.

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