Chapter 24 Everyone is pissed off #2
“I’ll give my client the best possible defense, just like she was any other client.”
“But she’s not any other client, Gage. You know it and I know it.
In a perfect world, you could compartmentalize, and it wouldn’t hinder your performance.
But this is not a perfect world, and I will be on the other side, waiting to take advantage of every mistake you make, intentional or otherwise.
She’s the one who’s going to pay for it.
So if you aren’t going to be able to give her the defense she deserves, you need to voluntarily terminate yourself right now. ”
“You’re not scaring me off this case. I’m going to do my job to the best of my abilities. Laura forgave her, and that means something to me. It should with you too. Another family shouldn’t have to lose another parent.”
Tarini bent at the waist and sucked in an irate breath. When she straightened, I opened my mouth, but she pointed a bloodred fingernail in my face. “Is that not exactly what I said to you when you showed up in my office last year, demanding to know when charges would be filed?”
“It sounds vaguely familiar. Your rage is valid and terrifying. But people change…sometimes. And here we are.”
“Yeah, here we are. Me wanting to slap you so hard your children are born with backward heads. But no, I can’t do that, because I’m a responsible adult not ruled by my emotions.
So now I’m going to be spending my time and energy prosecuting a woman who made a fucking mistake.
And you’re going to be right next to me, defending the woman you said didn’t deserve to be off living her life after she destroyed your family’s.
Way to go, Bishop. You just fucked up both our lives.
You are officially uninvited from PowerPoint Night. ”
“Come on, Tarini. You’re just saying that because I won last year with my ‘How Are Pandas Still Alive’ slide deck.”
She shook her head, clearly not in any mood for jokes. “I’m saying that because I haven’t been this pissed off in months, and I just had a guy projectile vomit Fireball on my entire prosecution.”
I flashed her my most charming grin. “You know, if you just dropped the charges, we could go back to being friends.”
She gave me a long, steely stare that would have made my mother proud. “You’re an idiot,” she announced before storming off in the direction of the courtroom.
“Well, that went well,” I muttered, swiping a hand through my hair. I decided it was an act of self-preservation rather than cowardice to take out my phone and text Zoey instead of facing down my parents.
Me: About to go into the courtroom and Laura showed up. Followed by my parents.
Zoey: Did your parents know you were representing Valerie?
Me: They did not. I might be grounded. Or shunned.
Zoey: As soon as I get out of this meeting with the Story Lake VAMPIRES—seriously, make it make sense—Marketing Club, I’ll find a way to redirect all blame to your sister.
Me: I knew I liked more about you than just your hot body.
Zoey: My hot body and my deviousness.
Me: It’s a winning combination.
Zoey: Speaking of winning, stop hiding from your parents and go do some lawyering stuff.
Me: Dinner tonight?
Zoey: Either you’re trying to get back in my pants or you’re hiding from your parents.
Me: Does it matter?
Zoey: Not as long as you feed me.
Despite the absolute shit show of the last five minutes, I found myself smiling as I made sure my phone was on silent before stowing it in my pocket. That was the magic of Zoey Moody. The woman could take the worst moment of the day and turn it into something enjoyable.
Spirits lifted, I turned the corner and found Valerie leaning against the wall outside the courtroom looking pale and hollow-eyed.
She nodded toward the doors. “Your parents and Laura are inside.”
“Was there any shouting or bloodshed?” I asked.
“Not so far, but I hope I can develop a mom face half as terrifying as your mother’s,” she quipped. Her smile faltered. “Not that I’ll need it for a while if I lose.”
“We,” I corrected. “And we’re not going to lose. We’re going to fight.”
“We don’t have to. You don’t have to.”
“I committed. I told Laura I would do this, and I will. But you should know you have other options. If you have any concerns about me not giving this case my all, you can and should ask for new representation.”
She shook her head, still staring ahead at the doors. “I committed too. This is what Laura wants.”
“Okay. So when we go in there, it’s not like TV. We don’t have the courtroom to ourselves. There will be other defendants, plaintiffs, lawyers, and families inside. It can be a little unnerving, but you don’t have to speak. You just have to sit there and get through it.”
She swallowed hard. “I realize it’s unfair of me to ask you to listen to my string of panicked thoughts, but in my head, what’s on the other side of that door is what could keep me from my kids for the next three years…
or longer. I could also lose a new, very dear friend in there.
And I know it’s absolutely shitty of me to be worried about that when you’ve all permanently lost someone and I was the one to take him away. ”
Her voice cracked, and she covered her mouth with a hand.
“Valerie, I’m not trying you today. The court is not trying you today. And if you and Laura got through this once together, you both can survive it again in there. So let’s focus on that. Surviving this step so we can take the next one. Together.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
I ushered her to the door. “Whatever you do, don’t throw up in there.”
“I didn’t know that was an option,” she said slowly.
“It’s not a good one,” I advised.
We entered the courtroom and were about to take a seat in the back when the bailiff called our case.
I steered Valerie to the front of the room.
We passed Valerie’s parents and then my parents with Laura on the aisle in the front row.
My sister flashed us a thumbs-up as we crossed the railing to the defense table.
The Honorable Judge Ray was looking formidable as always at the front of the courtroom in her robes, her graying hair styled in thick twists down her back.
She was peering at a fat stack of paperwork through a pair of bright blue reading glasses.
I’d come up before her several times before.
Tough but fair. Intimidating but with a few soft spots.
She was a stickler for courtroom procedure, and I liked that about her.
Tarini swept in and took up her position behind the table opposite us, shooting me a withering look.
Valerie sucked in a breath.
“Don’t worry. That’s for me,” I assured her.
“I can’t believe I’m here. I used to be a regular person.” Valerie said it so softly I wasn’t sure if she meant for me to hear her.
“Keep it together,” I said.
“State versus Hillport. Mr. Bishop, are you ready to proceed?”
I sure as hell hoped I was. Valerie was trembling beside me like she was sitting on her own personal earthquake.
I was just about to offer her a glass of water when my sister snaked her hand over the railing and gripped Valerie’s.
I clocked the expressions on the faces of the judge, the DA, even my parents as each one glanced down at the joined hands.
And for the first time since I’d walked in here, I breathed a little easier.
Cam: I need a raccoon removal volunteer.
Levi: Not it.
Cam: Literally all you need to do is hold the bag.
Levi: Is it a tooth-proof, rabies-proof bag? No? Still no.
Cam: Fuck you. I’m doing all the work with the fucking tennis racket, asshole!
Levi: I’m busy reluctantly chief of policing thanks to you. Enjoy your karma, dick.
Cam: Gage?
Cam: Dad?
Cam: Larry?
Cam: Mom?
Cam: Where the fuck is everyone?
Levi: No one likes you.
Cam: I just tried calling Mom and she didn’t answer.
Levi: Mom always answers. What did you do to piss her off?
Cam: I didn’t paintball her freshly painted barn door if that’s what you’re asking. Gigi isn’t answering either.
Levi: Fuck off. Dad and Larry didn’t answer either.
Laura: Stop fucking calling everyone, fuckfaces. We’re busy.
Cam: Busy together?
Levi: Without us?
Mom: Your sister will explain how this is all her fault later. Now leave us alone before we all end up in contempt of court.