Page 21 of The Wrong Side of the Law

Cooper’s head bobs sharply in a furious punctuation mark every so often as he types. He’s not wearing his suit jacket—the charcoal gray garment hangs carelessly over one of the visitor chairs in front of his desk—and his broad shoulders are set, his back and neck straight and stiff. He’s straining at the glossy, thin fabric of his tailored shirt.

I stand in the doorway, waiting quietly. His body language suggests it might not be a great time to interrupt, and besides: it’s a nice view. After a few minutes—I may have lost track of time, wondering if those shoulders and back are as strong as they look—Cooper clicks something with his mouse and slumps back in his chair with a drawn-out sigh.

That’s my cue.

“Excuse me,” I say. “ASA Cooper?”

He starts in surprise, spinning his chair around to face the door. His eyes are still wide by the time his face is visible, but he quickly blanks his expression; covering any vulnerabilities, papering them over with a mask of calm disinterest. It’s the same thing my father did when he was startled, and the memory causes the corners of my mouth to twitch upward in a smile.

I certainly hadn’t been smiling at the moment of fright I’d given him—it was reflex, involuntary, and based on something else entirely—but Cooper’s eyes narrow, eyebrows coming together so hard they almost slam into each other, and his lips flatten into a thin, hard line.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

He cuts me off, holding up his hands in astopgesture.

“Okay. Fine. What do you want.” The scowl hasn’t left his face.

Aw, crap. First time interacting with him since starting work, and I’ve managed to piss the guy off.

“I have the trial calendars,” I tell him, setting my bundle of papers on the spare desk by the door and sorting through until I find the right packet. “Ah, here we are.”

“Leave them on the desk,” he says, pointing with his chin.

“There you go, then,” I say, following his direction. “Again, I really am sorry about startling you. Usually Karin is at her desk when I get here, and I just deal with her.”

His eyes narrow again with annoyance. What did I say wrong this time?

“She’s not out there right now?” Annoyance changes to confusion, but a sigh of resignation follows closely on its heels. “Of course she’s not. You’re in here, and she’d never let someone through the door. What time is it?” Without waiting for an answer, Cooper looks at the clock on his phone and whistles. “Wow. Time flies when you’re having this much fun.”

“I’ve noticed that,” I say. “Do you have any new work for me?”

“Can you handle any more?” He cocks his head at the stack of folders and binders I’ve still got to carry back to my cubicle.

“It’s smaller than I started out with,” I tell him. “Either I’m doing okay and getting ahead of the backlog or else I’m terrible at this and the others don’t want to give me more to do.”

He chuckles at my self-deprecating joke. Hopefully the irritation has passed.

“I haven’t heard any complaints,” he says. “Not yet, anyway. As for more tasking…”

ASA Cooper leans back in his chair, running fingers through fine blond hair and staring off into space. He looks tired.

“Alright, then,” he says, finally looking back at me after a silence not quite long enough to be awkward. “Yeah. There is something. I’d like some outside eyes on this stuff.”

Cooper closes an open file on his desk, places it on top of a stack of others, and pushes it toward me.

“Upcoming cases,” he says.

I pick up the first one. “People v. Winston. Okay, what am I looking at?”

“Less what you’re lookingat,” he says, leaning forward and folding his arms on the desk, “than what you’re lookingfor. Which is… something… Let’s just call it somethinginteresting.”

“Something… interesting?” I’m not sure what he’s getting at.

“Anything that you think has the potential to be interesting. Not just to you or me, though,” he answers. “Almost every case is interesting tous, in its own way. And if you find something you think will be interesting to a much, ah,broaderaudience, I want you to bring it to me. Right away. The rest of them, you can just re-file when you’re done.”

“Ah.” I nod. I think I understand, now. “You’re looking for a television case.”

“A what now?” Cooper’s voice is soft, casual, but his eyebrows jump sharply.

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