Kierra Albright is a bottlenose dolphin. She’d just recommended thirty days in jail to the judge, rather than the fine she’d told us she would offer less than a half-hour ago.
“Give me a minute. Take a seat in the galley, and I’ll come get you in a few. I need to have a word with the ADA. Alone.”
Emerie nodded, even though she looked like she was on the verge of tears, and I took a moment to let her compose herself. Then I opened the gate that separates the spectators from the players in the courtroom and led her to an empty row in the back. As I started to walk away, I saw a tear roll down her face, and it stopped me in my tracks.
Without thinking, I lifted her chin so our eyes met. “Trust me. You’re going home tonight. Okay? Just trust me.”
***
My voice startled Kierra in the ladies’ room across from the courtroom.
“What the hell was that all about?” I locked the door as she turned to face me.
“You can’t come in here.”
“If anyone asks, I’m identifying with my feminine side today.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“I’m an asshole? What the hell was with all that ‘Nice to see you, Drew,’ crap? ‘I’ll recommend a fifty-dollar fine, and you’ll be out of here in time to play golf.’”
She turned away from me and walked to the mirror. Slipping a lipstick from her suit jacket pocket, she leaned in and lined her lips in blood red, saying nothing until she was done. Then she gave me the widest, brightest smile I’d ever seen.
“Figured your new plaything needed to get used to being told one thing and then having another happen when she least expects it.”
“She’s not my plaything. She’s a…friend I’m helping out.”
“I saw the way you looked at her, the way you had your hand on her back. If you aren’t screwing her already, you will be soon. Maybe she needs a night in county lockup because you can’t handle yourself in the courtroom. Might sour her to your charm. Come to think of it, I’m doing the woman a service. She should thank me.”
“You’re out of your mind if you think I’m going to let you get away with this. Emerie has nothing to do with what went down between the two of us. I’ll ask Judge Hawkins to recuse himself if I have to.”
“Recuse himself? On what grounds?”
“On the grounds that your father plays golf with him every Friday, and you yourself have told me he gives you whatever you want. Did you forget how much you liked to talk shop after I fucked you?”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
I had been standing at a distance—ten feet away in front of the locked door—but I walked slowly to where she was standing, getting nice and close.
“Try me.”
She held my stare for a long moment. “Fine. But let’s do this the way adversaries are supposed to. Not threatening below the belt. We’ll make a deal.”
I shook my head. “What do you want, Kierra?”
“You want your client home tonight. I want something in return.”
“Fine. What do you want?”
Her tongue glossed over her top lip like she was starving and looking at a juicy steak. “You. And not in a bathroom or the back seat of an Uber. I want you—a proper date where you take me out and wine me and dine me before you sixty-nine me.”
***
“Oh my God. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Let’s just pay the fine and get out of here.”
As I sped her out of the courtroom, Emerie seemed to interpret my rush to be about her taking up too much of my day. But it wasn’t that at all. I’d almost made it out when Kierra called after us.
“Drew, do you have a moment?”
“Not now. I need to be somewhere.” Anywhere but here.
I kept my hand on Emerie’s back and continued moving, but my client had other ideas. She stopped walking.
“We need to go,” I said.
“Let me at least thank the ADA.”
“That’s not necessary. The city of New York thanks her every other Friday when they hand her a paycheck.”
Emerie’s eyes scolded me. “I’m not being rude, just because you are.” With that, she turned and waited for Kierra to catch up.
She extended her hand. “Thank you so much for everything. I was a wreck this morning when I thought I might be taken into custody.”
Kierra looked at Emerie’s hand and snubbed her. She turned her body my direction and spoke to me while responding. “Don’t thank me. Thank your attorney.”
“Yes, I’ll do that.”
“But don’t thank him too much. I don’t want him worn out.” Kierra turned on her heel and waved goodbye over her shoulder. “I’ll call you for our appointment, Drew.”
Emerie looked at me. “That was odd.”
“She must be off her meds. Come on, let’s get you out of here.”