firm. Again Kristie made a note to use Suzannah’s profile in a fake ID some day soon. She had just the right blend of excellence and normality, almost as if she had engineered it that way.
“She doesn’t practice criminal law, Justin.”
“Yeah, I know. The win against Taylor was an exception. Something she handled for a friend.”
“That makes sense.” The spinner continued to search her favorite agency and Internet sources. “I’ll keep digging.”
“Okay. I’ll call again tonight.”
“Actually—” The spinner hesitated before suggesting, “If I find something, I’ll let you know. Otherwise, just assume she’s clean, okay?”
There was a long silence, then Justin asked her, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m on probation again. It’s seems like I always am, doesn’t it? But this time McGregor means it. In more ways than one,” she added with a self-conscious laugh.
“Unbelievable,” Justin muttered. “They should be kissing your feet, not trying to control you. Don’t they know how great you are?”
“To be fair, they’ve given me a lot of slack.”
“They don’t deserve you,” Justin retorted with unexpected vehemence. “Maybe we both should just chuck it all and run away together.”
“Huh?” Kristie’s stomach knotted. “Are you that worried about the verdict?”
“Nah. I’m innocent, so it’ll come out fine. But meanwhile…” His tone grew pensive. “The thrill has gone out of this gig for me, Essie. I never thought I’d say that, and it’s probably temporary. So just forget I said anything.”
The spinner bit her lip. Until now, Justin Russo had loved his work more than anyone she knew. He thrived on the danger, the heroic opportunities, the romantic possibilities….
“Obviously I screwed up this time,” he was admitting. “But you haven’t done anything wrong. The fact that they don’t appreciate you—”
“They appreciate me. They just want me to start following protocol. And I’ve decided they’re right. And,” she added, trying for a lighter tone, “I’m not just saying that because I know the monitors might be listening to this call.”
Justin’s chuckle sounded forced. “Don’t get in trouble on my account. I’m doing fine here. Just forget I called. I won’t bother you with this anymore.”
“I’ll keep looking at Suzannah Ryder’s background,” she assured him. “If I find something negative, I’ll call. And if you need anything—anything at all—please let me know.”
“Sure, Essie. But for now I’d better get going. I don’t want to keep my new lawyer waiting.”
“Right. Okay, good luck.”
She winced when he said, “’Bye” and hung up without giving her a chance to say anything further. She was actually tempted to call him back and make him promise to contact her at least daily.
Then a video popped up on her monitor, distracting her completely. It was a recent film of Suzannah Ryder handling—or rather, attempting to politely terminate—a news conference on her recent appellate court success. Even with the graininess of the footage, the attorney’s smile was amazing, just as Justin had described—confident yet vulnerable.
“The Court of Appeal’s opinion is pretty blunt in its criticism of Judge Taylor,” a male reporter was observing. “Do you think there should be an investigation of his heavy-handed tactics? Maybe even a recall?”
“Judge Taylor is one of our finest jurists,” Suzannah assured him. “I don’t think there’s a member of our legal community that doesn’t respect and admire him. The appellate court’s comments are specific to this particular trial and shouldn’t be taken as a general criticism. Or even as a criticism at all. These things are complicated,” she added with another, warmer smile. “It’s the reason I don’t generally practice criminal law. I leave that to the real pros, like Defendant Driscoll’s new attorney, Tony Moreno.”
A barrage of questions erupted, but Suzannah held up her hand and insisted, “That’s all, folks. Have a good afternoon.” Then she dismissed them with a friendly wave, and while a few reporters made halfhearted attempts to ask follow-up questions, most of them cooperated.
Kristie nodded, pleased with what she saw. This Ryder woman had poise as well as brains. In fact, she was the consummate professional in her perfectly tailored suit and medium heeled shoes, not to mention the casual, easy-care style in which she wore her chin-length curls. If the rest of her background check came out as well as this, Justin had definitely picked himself a winner.
Assuming, of course, that he was able to keep his hands off her.
And assuming, further, that he was innocent…
Kristie tried not to think about that, but it was too late. The knot—a cruel blend of spinner instinct and bitter experience—had returned to her stomach.
Chapter 2
They took separate cars to the Hotel Charlton, giving Suzannah a chance to adjust to what had happened. It was obvious that Judge Taylor saw this as an opportunity to punish her for getting his ruling reversed on appeal. If she made any further attempts to resist, he might even hold her in contempt. She had to be very careful, not just for her own sake but for Justin’s.
She knew why the FBI agent had chosen her. He thought she was a great criminal-law attorney because of her success in the Driscoll case. Poor guy—not only was he wrong about that but he simply didn’t understand how much Taylor hated her or how much all that resentment would work against him now, too.
Like it or not, their best strategy for the short run was to cooperate completely with the judge. Hopefully Suzannah’s role in the case wouldn’t be too taxing. She really had only two responsibilities: the first, to make sure the defendant didn’t skip town, which made her a glorified babysitter; and the second, to make sure the government defense attorneys didn’t sell Justin down the river to protect the FBI’s reputation.
She could do both of those things while also working on her Hawaii presentation. The government lawyers could handle the big defense issues, do the footwork and keep her informed so that she could make the final strategy decisions.
It didn’t sound so bad, assuming Justin cooperated. And assuming he was innocent. Not that it really mattered, because if he wasn’t, she was going to strangle him. So either way justice would be done.
Once she reached the hotel, she found a seat in the coffee bar adjacent to the lobby, rejecting any thought of going to his room to check on his progress. There was a slight risk that her new client might ditch her and dash for the border, but in the long run, that would be a good thing, wouldn’t it? In any case, she wasn’t ready to be alone with a suspected murderer who had a reputation as a charmer. Better to stick to public places for the moment.
Keeping one eye on the elevator, she ordered a mocha, then checked her office voice mail to see if any messages had come in. Then she sent some brief e-mails to her colleagues, just in case they heard rumors about what had happened
