Page 24 of The Wrong Side of the Law

“Hang on!” I tell her. “Hold up a second. Sit down. Lisa says you’re brilliant at analyzing things and seeing angles that even experienced attorneys might not have caught, so stick around while I look at your work. I might have questions.”

“This won’t take very long, will it?”

“It depends on how many questions I have.” Another flash of annoyance rushes through me, but I quickly tamp it back down. What is the matter with this woman? “Anything interesting here?”

“That depends heavily on your point of view, I suppose,” she says.

I glance at her over the top of the file folder, and she meets my eyes steadily. Even with this cold anger welling up inside her, Emily is still absolutely lovely. I can pick up just the faintest scent of fruit and flowers coming from across the desk. Her shampoo? I don’t know, but it’s distracting as hell.

“This first case… it’s meaningless,” I say, shaking my head. “A waste of time.”

“If you’re looking to get on television, yes.” Emily nods. “If you’re looking to get a dealer off the streets, then, no. It’s not a waste of time.”

“You know what I meant,” I say, looking up at her again. This time I let a little irritation peek through in a frown. Of course the guy’s getting prosecuted. It’s just not a case where I’m going to take a personal interest.

The second and third cases are just as boring as the first. They’re good cases, solid cases, but they’re useless for me on a personal level. Lisa was right: this young lady saw right through to the heart of each one of those cases, and laid it out plainly. She’s absolutely wasted in this job. I hope she finds a way to finish law school.

“Do I even need to look at the fourth one?” I ask her, closing the folder with a sigh.

“It is a television case,” she says. For the first time since she walked through my door, there’s a hint of something in her voice. Amusement, perhaps? I can’t tell.

I eagerly flip to the fourth case brief.

Oh, it’s a television case all right. It’s going to get a defense lawyer plastered all over the television, screaming for justice. And rightfully so: an improper search, interrogation of a suspect without an attorney present, andoh, holy shitinterrogation of a suspect’skidswithout a parent or attorney or anything!

“Jesus, Emily. What’d you bring me this one for?” This case is utterly appalling. I’m just glad that my fingerprints are nowhere near it. There’s nothing that Whitehall could use to detonate my career. The cops, on the other hand... they’re going to have some interesting times in their near future.

“You said you wanted to know about anythinginteresting,” she says, eyes defiant. “You wanted to know if there was anything that the public would findinteresting.”

“I know,” I answer, “but this isn’t the kind of interesting I meant!”

“Well, I’m sorry, but you were unclear,” Emily says, with just the smallest hint of a smug smirk. “It seemed to displease you when I mentioned that the other paralegals in Narcotics seem to think you’re just looking to get your face on television. I didn’t want to just assume that’s what you were looking to do.”

I open my mouth to snap some sharp response back at her, but then I realize something.

She’s right.

I close my mouth and slouch in my chair with a sigh, stretching my legs out as far as they’ll reach.

“I’m sorry,” Emily apologizes, and for the first time tonight there’s a thaw in her demeanor. The glaciers pull back. It’s not much, but it’s something. “I don’t understand why you pulled those particular cases. There’s about a hundred cases right now, across the district, that are headed for a trial.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I tell her. Truthfully, I don’t really know what it is about those cases that made me pull them, either. They weren’t chosen quite at random, but even I couldn’t tell her what the selection criteria really was.

“If you tell me what it is you’re looking for, precisely what you want, I could extend the search and-”

“When I saiddon’t worry about it, I meant it,” I interrupt, with a half-smile intended to soften any harshness. “I probably should just take care of this sort of thing myself,” I say, talking to myself as much as to her.

Emily slides forward to the edge of her seat and lays her hands flat on my desk.

“I’ve worked really hard to get through all those files, Mister Cooper, so I don’t think I’m overstepping, here. Briefing all those cases in addition to my regular work? And I got it done in just two days.”

“And I appreciate it,” I tell her. She’s got a point, but I’m not about to let her into my head space yet. Lisa and Barbara might like her and trust her, but Emily Wilson still has to prove herself to me. Until she does, I can’t afford to take the chance. Even this assignment was an unwarranted risk.

“Never mind,” I say, shaking my head. “I really do appreciate your work, but I shouldn’t have asked you for this in the first place. Just forget about it.”

As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I cringe a little. I didn’t mean to be so condescending. A redhead’s complexion can’t hide when she’s angry, and, judging by the quick color in her cheeks, Emily Wilson is furious.

I sit up straight again, turning my chair to face her. I open my mouth to apologize, but Emily starts talking before I do.

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