9. Callisto
Chapter nine
Callisto
The intercom on my phone buzzes and my paralegal’s voice filters through. “Callisto, Parker wants to see you in his office.”
I swing my chair around and hook my jacket off the backrest, silently running over the reasons the branch’s lead partner might need me. It’s a good sign he calls for me so casually.
“Am I decent?” I ask, slipping my jacket over my silk shirt and navy vest as I step into the outer part of my office.
Hale eyes me up and down and nods, curt as ever. But it’s enough. He has an eye for these things. Not as good as Ricky, though; that guy has great taste, and he’s daring enough to rock winged eyeliner and eyeshadow. I think that requires more confidence than getting up in front of a courtroom.
I take the elevator up one floor and sneak a glance at the views from the windows through the glassy offices as I head to my boss’s lair at the far end. One day I’ll move my office up here to the top floor, and Hale will work only for me instead of being shared with two other lawyers. I’ll make it happen within three years.
I rap my knuckles against the glass door, and Parker waves me in as he finishes up on a phone call. He has the room decked out in old-school leather, which has charm even if it’s a little out of place with all the modern glass. When I get my new partner’s office, I’ll ask Ricky for advice on artwork to hang. I bet he knows a good local artist.
“Callisto.” Parker brushes a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair and flashes his whitened teeth my way. “Nice work on the Felton versus Velos Corp case. That little slip-up sure saved our bacon.”
I grin. “Thank you. Hale helped me pull apart the discovery files in a hurry.”
He salutes me with a coffee mug. “If I didn’t have my own ace paralegal, I’d be stealing Hale from you.”
“Please don’t,” I beg shamelessly. I’d hate to retrain someone new.
He chuckles. With his mug back on the desk, he slaps his hand down on a foot-high stack of case files. “The OCB raided a local illegal omega hive a couple of days ago.”
I nod. “Saw that on the news. Just a few hours out of Laversham. Over a dozen omegas.”
He grunts softly, shaking his head in disgust. “There’re so many arrests out of it, they’ve reached out to us to share the case load so they can get those bastards prosecuted and locked away in a hurry. I want you to spearhead the project for us and get some experience working with the OCB legal team—I remember you did a few years in omega crime cases before you came to us.”
He pushes the files toward me, and I get warring thrills of excitement and despair as I realize they’re all individual cases. This is going to be a massive project.
“Sounds good.”
“I’ll put Quinton and Lyle at your disposal to assist,” my boss adds, and a hot flush runs through my chest.
Project managing over two fully fledged lawyers? This is where I get my opportunity to shine. And we have enough cases here to kick my win streak to one hundred. My bet is they’re pretty cut-and-dried, thanks to the OCB’s raid.
“You chose the right man,” I confirm, sliding the files to the edge of the desk. One day this will be me, sitting at the big desk in the top floor office and divvying out cases to the staff. I suppose we could call this a trial run.
“That’s our up-and-coming forward wing! I knew you’d be keen.” He smiles and jots a note in his day planner. “Catch up on the readings while I email Quinton and Lyle, then head over to the Bureau. You’ll likely be working out of their offices since they have all the evidence.”
I scoop up the heavy stack of files and cradle them against my chest. These will be my career makers. The only lawyer in the country with a one-hundred-case win streak is the named partner, Shiloh Laurance himself. He lost his one-hundred and third case a bit over a year ago. If I break his record, the big wigs will have to acknowledge my skill. Only twelve cases left to win.
I swing by my desk to let Hale know what’s going on, and then take a cab to the OCB office, skimming the files while we drive through the city. The building towers overhead, the blue tinting on the glass reflecting the omega safety colors.
Once I’m inside with my visitor tag set up, a junior agent escorts me to a floor that swarms with activity like a kicked ants’ nest. “Welcome to the OCB legal team,” the junior says, shuddering. “Enter at your own risk.”
I grin. “What’s the greatest hazard, do you think?”
The youth shares my smile, clearly pleased I can take a joke. “If you trip, you’ll probably be crushed to death in the stampede. Either that or going deaf from legal speak.”
I laugh and step forward, calling over my shoulder, “I think I have immunity from the second danger.”
The receptionist looks up from her paperwork, glasses sliding through sweat and hair sticking out at all angles despite the tightly wrapped bun. “Can I help you?”
“I’m from Harkman and Laurance, here to partner with the legal team.”
“God bless you!” she cries, jumping to her feet. “Follow me. It’s been a mess in here since yesterday.”
We weave between trolleys stacked with evidence boxes and dive into a conference room. Project management boards cover the walls, and I scan a few, picking up their system.
The receptionist flags down the bosses. “Here’s the one Aden Parker sent over, boss.”
I brighten as I recognize their lead prosecutor, Freddy Jarsha, at the head of the table. I’ve gone up a few times against him in defense, and he’s a damn thorough lawyer.
“Callisto Wren, from Harkman and Laurance Legal.” I offer my palm and he shakes it.
“Good to see you outside of a courtroom, Callisto. Meet the local case lead, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Leroy Hanamack, and this here is Supervisory Special Agent Liam Andrews, from Darinian City. They found the lead via a fighting ring bust in Darinian City and tracked it back here.”
I shake the agent’s hand, watching as his arm muscles bulge. Looks like a capable guy. “Glad you tracked them down, Agent Andrews.”
He nods. “You and me both. I’ll be heading back to Darinian tomorrow, but I want to see these bastards put away for life. Get whatever you need from me tonight, and after that I’ll be available by email.”
I strip off my jacket, liking the no-nonsense air circling in the room. “I’ve got my files, so point me to a workspace and I’ll get started filing submissions.”
They set me up in a side room and I open the first box of evidence. Golden liquid inside a stack of glass vials sloshes as I pull it toward me, and my stomach knots up. Pure haze. I whistle softly.
“Forty-three vials,” an unfamiliar voice announces behind me.
I twitch and spin to face the doorway.
The woman smiles lopsidedly. “Avery Brown, paralegal. I’ll be your gopher in the department. Go for this, go for that.”
I introduce myself, shake her hand, and then turn back to the box. “Forty-three? Are they all from the same omega?”
She digs into the box and pulls one of the glass vials out. “Catalogue it, and then we’ll send it to forensics to confirm.” Avery uncaps one lid, and a sweet scent fills the room.
My cock hardens instantly, and I groan. Heat rushes up my neck, and I slap a hand over my mouth.
She winces. “Sorry, I didn’t think it through.” She takes a quick sniff, then puts it back in the box. “Horrifying when you think of that much haze taken out of an omega against her will. And no chance in hell they did it nicely.”
A sudden visualization of an omega pinned down on a bed flashes through my mind, and I stagger. My head aches as I drop into the chair, feeling a little faint. I’ve only been thinking of these cases as words on pages, but the reality is, the captured criminals held omegas against their wills and did unspeakable things. Because of these brutes, an omega has been denied a regular life and a chance at happiness with her pack.
I curl my fingers into a tight fist. “We’ll make them pay,” I promise darkly.
“Definitely. I’ll, ah—” Avery hesitates, and then spins on her heel. “I’ll give you a few moments before we get started.”
Because I have a raging boner and nowhere to hide it in tailored trousers. Heat flares in my cheeks as she leaves me alone in the tiny room with a box full of the most delicious scent I’ve ever sampled. And the only illegal kind.
“Shit!” The hard-on won’t go away, not with that scent lingering in the air. I get up and switch on the ceiling fan, feeling the pressure against my cock tighten with every step.
Ricky would laugh so hard at my predicament. Maybe I’ll see what he’s up to later. The thought cuts off as my eyes stray over the mountain of boxes related to my assigned cases. I’ll be buried in here for weeks, not to mention the actual prosecution, and tonight’s the only night I can ask Agent Andrews questions about the raid. Ricky will be fine. He always is.
With a sigh, I grab my jacket and hang it over one arm to hide my ridiculous tent as I head out to find a bathroom, making a mental note not to uncap any more of that haze. I’ll leave it to the forensics department to uncover which omega produced it. My task is to put the perpetrator away, not get hung up on the abused omegas.