by Laura Snider
Ashley scoffed. “I would never let riffraff like you inside my house.”
Officer Jackie sneered, but it was actually a compliment to Katie. Ashley hadn’t merely let Katie into her home. She had invited Katie in.
“Thank you, Officer Jackie,” Katie said, pointing to the door. “That’ll be all.”
Officer Jackie left in a huff, and the room suddenly seemed lighter. The heavy animosity that hovered around him dissipated as quickly as it had come. Katie vaguely wondered why, exactly, Officer Jackie hated Ashley so much. He was a rookie cop. New to the police force. Ashley hadn’t had time to get under his skin.
“Thank you,” Ashley said.
At first Katie wasn’t sure she’d heard the defense attorney correctly. Was she showing gratitude? To a cop? “What for?”
“For doing the right thing. For standing up for me. Take your pick.”
“Anytime,” Katie said. The word came easily, and surprisingly, she found that she meant it.
Ashley smiled. A cautious flick at the corners of her mouth.
“You can sit out here,” Ashley said, nodding to the waiting area. “I know it’s boring, but I’ve got work to do in my office.”
The waiting room was small but clean. Four chairs lined the back wall, facing an empty receptionist’s desk. A coffee table covered in yellowing magazines sat in front of the chairs. Katie scooped up a couple of magazines and took a seat in the chair farthest away from the front door. She settled in and turned to the magazines. The top one was an Us Weekly from 2007. The cover bore a picture of Britney Spears with a partially shaved head, and the words HELP ME printed across it in bold text. She vaguely remembered the downfall of the pop star. But she’d been young at the time; too young for celebrity gossip.
She opened the magazine. Now that she was older, she wondered if Spears’s actions were drug related. If she had shaved her head to avoid a hair-stat drug test. She began to flip through the articles, looking for the cover story, when the outer door flew open. Katie looked up as a burly man stepped inside. He was as big as a bear and wore a heavy blue coat with a bag slung over his shoulder. The bag had a large patch that read USPS.
The mailman nodded to Katie and stepped up to the counter. He paused for a moment, then rang a silver bell. Jacob lumbered into view, making his way toward the counter.
“Hey, Jax,” Jacob said, waving a hand. “You didn’t have to brave the cold to come inside. You could have left the mail in the mailbox.”
Jax shook his head. “Not today, Jacob. I’ve got one that needs a signature.”
Jacob’s smile dropped.
Katie set her magazine aside. The sudden shift in mood had her hackles up. Something was wrong.
“I’m sorry,” Jax said. And he really, truly did sound sorry.
Jacob pointed a meaty thumb toward his chest. “Is it for me?”
Jax shook his head.
“Ashley?”
“Yes.”
“Did someone say my name?” Ashley strode up in long, confident strides. RBG’s face displayed proudly on her chest. She stopped beside Jacob. Then she froze. The color drained from her face.
“I need your signature, Ashley.”
Ashley nodded. The movement was slow, methodical, as though she were in a daze. The mailman had Ashley sign her name, then slid a manila envelope across the table to her.
Katie needed to stand to get a better look, but she didn’t want to draw attention to herself. In all the excitement, it seemed as though the attorneys had forgotten that she was there. And now they were allowing her to see something that wasn’t meant for her eyes. Something that few officers would ever see.
“I’m very sorry. You don’t deserve it,” the mailman said before turning away and exiting.
Katie wondered how the mailman knew the contents of the envelope. She guessed it had something to do with the signature requirement.
Ashley picked the envelope up with shaking hands. Jacob watched, his eyes wide and terrified. Nobody said a word as she ripped the tab and removed a packet of papers. Ashley scanned the first document, then the second, then the third. Her eyes moved rapidly from the left side of the page to the right. When she made it to the final page, she snapped it shut and turned her back.
“That fucking asshole,” Ashley muttered.
Katie sat up straighter.
“Who? Who filed it?” Jacob’s words were soft, tentative. As though he were speaking to a feral cat, skittish and prone to bite.
“Victor.”
“Petrovsky?”
Ashley’s head bobbed slightly. A nod.
“Victor Petrovsky filed an ethics complaint on you? What is he claiming?”
Ashley thrust the packet of documents into Jacob’s hands. He fumbled with them, almost dropping the stack. He caught them by crumpling them to his chest. Ashley didn’t seem to notice. She began pacing the room. Her face grew flushed, and her hands balled into fists at her sides.
“After all that I have done for him,” Ashley growled. “Everybody fucking hates me. Hates me. Because of him, I was nearly mauled yesterday. And now he claims that I didn’t do enough. What the fuck does he want from me? My soul? My only child?”
Katie’s eyebrows shot up. Ashley was always so poised. She never lost her temper or displayed emotion. Katie thought the only reactions Ashley had were irritation and sarcasm. But that exterior was melting, revealing her true self, perhaps. And it wasn’t at all what Katie had expected.
“Well, I have news for him,” Ashley continued. “I don’t have any children. And if I have my way, he won’t hurt one more child. Fuck that guy. I hope he dies and rots in hell.”
Katie pressed herself into the shadows of the waiting room. She wanted to hear more. Ashley’s rant was revealing a buried dislike, even hate, for some of her clients. Was this how Ashley felt about Arnold Von Reich? Had she wanted him to die as well? Did she kill him to clear her conscience?
“I can’t believe it. I just cannot believe the goddamn nerve of that guy. He should be in prison for the rest of his life. I was his salvation.” Ashley patted her chest with an open palm. “I saved his sorry ass. And for what? For him to file a fucking ethics complaint.”
“It doesn’t appear there’s any teeth in the complaint. The court will dismiss it,” Jacob said, setting the packet on the counter. He had finished reading it and come to a rational conclusion. Something Ashley couldn’t do until she settled down.
“That’s not the fucking point,” Ashley spat.
“Then what is the point?”
“That I’m tired.” She sank into an old, beat-up chair sitting beside the unused receptionist desk. The legislature had cut the Public Defender’s Office’s budget again this year. They couldn’t afford a receptionist anymore.
“I’m tired of fighting with everyone. I challenge the cops. I fight with the prosecutor. I argue with the judge. I am a social pariah. In my own goddamn birth town. And now I have to defend myself against my own fucking client.” Ashley sighed deeply. “It’s exhausting.”
Katie could feel herself softening toward Ashley. She felt sure that Ashley’s sarcastic demeanor was armor rather than attitude. And there was something very sad about that. The image of Ashley Montgomery all on her own, fighting war after war. None of which she ever truly won.
Katie remembered when she felt alone in a similar way. Back when she was sixteen and the world turned on her, thanks to her father. She’d had everything, and then it was all gone in an instant. Her father was in jail, her mother ran off with a doctor she’d met at the country club, and even Katie’s friends turned on her.
She remembered the looks her so-called friends had given her, sizing her up at school that first Monday after her father’s arrest. They glared at her, arms crossed, eyeing her outfit in the same way the evil stepsisters did to Cinderella, right before they started ripping her clothing apart.
Look at that necklace. It looks expensive. It’s stolen, they’d say.
I
heard there’s a lien on her house.
Did you know her mother left her, too?
I bet Katie was in on it.
It was a long time ago, but the pain was still there. It followed her, no matter how many good and honest deeds she completed. It seemed her penance was a life sentence. Katie shook her head, dispelling the thoughts. Her eyes refocused on the current, on Jacob and Ashley. Jacob crouched down beside Ashley and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
“Don’t give up,” he said.
Ashley grunted and looked down.
“I mean it,” Jacob said. “Never stop fighting. This town needs you. Don’t lose yourself.”
Ashley nodded, but she didn’t say anything.
“Now suck it up and start defending yourself.” He handed her the stack of papers and walked away.
Katie fought the urge to slow clap. Jacob had lifted Ashley up just enough, but he wasn’t babying her. A dust yourself off and move on response. It was exactly what Ashley needed. Katie had never seen that side of Jacob before. She hadn’t known it existed.
Just like that, Katie’s black-and-white world of defense attorneys began to disintegrate. They weren’t all bad people. She’d met one unethical defense attorney when she was a teenager, when she was young and impressionable, and she’d turned that one guy into a stereotype for all defense attorneys. But now she knew that she was wrong. Defense attorneys were normal people trying to do their job. They were flawed, just like everyone else, but they weren’t evil.
14
Ashley
December 11th – 4:00 p.m.
“I’m here to see Christopher Mason,” Ashley said to the jailer.
She was still shaken up over Victor’s ethics complaint, but Jacob was right. Her clients, the ones who deserved compassion, needed her. She couldn’t waste her time wallowing over Victor’s baseless complaint. He didn’t deserve her time or her energy.
“Ummm,” the jailer said. She was a young girl, no older than twenty. A new hire. She was strongly built with broad shoulders and unruly black hair. Her skin was a silky ebony, and her eyes a cocoa brown.
Ashley looked down at the list she’d compiled that morning. “I also need to see Brooke Mason, Amanda Rickets, Isaac White…” She paused and looked up.
The jailer chewed on her full lip as she moved the mouse to the desktop computer around, frantically clicking buttons.
“Did you get all that?” A flare of impatience blossomed in Ashley’s chest, but she reminded herself to remain calm. She didn’t have time for this, but the poor girl was new and had to be flustered. Working in the jail was not an easy job. Besides, Ashley had enough enemies; she didn’t need to make more.
“I…” The girl’s voice trailed off.
“Is Tom here? Why don’t you call him?”
The girl nodded and said something into a nearby intercom.
Tom emerged from the back, whistling a tune Ashley didn’t know. His smile widened when he saw her. “Hey, Ashley. I see you’ve met Kylie. This is her first week on the job.”
Ashley narrowed her eyes. “And you threw her to the wolves like this? Jesus, Tom. She’s up here all alone.”
Tom chuckled. “I wouldn’t call you a wolf, Ashley. You’re more of a panther. And I figured it was fine since your particular brand of cat hunts at night.”
“Har, har,” Ashley said.
“I see you have an escort.” He nodded at Katie. “Good afternoon, officer.”
“Good afternoon,” Katie said.
“Yes. But she’s staying out here,” Ashley said. “Attorney-client privilege and all that.”
“Right. Well, I’m glad that Katie is keeping you safe.” Tom winked at Katie.
Ashley rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Sure.”
She wasn’t being fair to Katie. She knew that. For Katie to truly provide protection, she needed to know all the threats. Ashley hadn’t told her about the letter she’d received yesterday morning. The morning of Von Reich’s death. You’re next. She also hadn’t told Katie about the letter left on her doorstep. It wasn’t postmarked and it still sat, unopened, on her kitchen table. She was procrastinating because she doubted it contained anything good. She couldn’t take any more at the moment.
Katie grunted and crossed her arms, a common gesture in Ashley’s company, but there was a new hint of playfulness to the gesture.
“Honestly,” Ashley said, “I’m surprised Elizabeth Clement is allowing it. She’s got to have some political donor that needs some police muscle.”
“That’s not true,” Katie said.
Ashley quirked an eyebrow. “It isn’t?” Katie had her head in the clouds when it came to the county attorney. It was time she came back down to earth.
“Elizabeth wants us to keep Brine safe. She wants to get the criminals off the streets. Solve crimes.”
“Politically advantageous crimes. And I am an unsympathetic victim. Elizabeth isn’t going to waste her energy on me.”
Katie shook her head.
“Mark my words, you’ll be onto a new assignment by tomorrow morning.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
“I guess we’ll see.” Ashley turned back to Tom. “Are you ready for me to go in?” She nodded toward the hallway that led to the attorney-client rooms.
“Yes. I just need you to sign.”
Tom slid a form to Ashley. It listed the names of her clients that she needed to see. She signed the form without another word to Katie. The officer was naïve if she thought Elizabeth cared only for Brine’s “safety,” but she’d soon learn the truth. Elizabeth would pull the plug on Katie’s new assignment. If something happened to Ashley afterward, Elizabeth could say, “I provided an officer for several days. Nothing happened. We couldn’t continue to allocate resources for that purpose.” Not that anyone would care if Ashley went the same way as Von Reich. Just like the letter predicted. You’re next.
Ashley followed Tom down the hallway in silence. He motioned toward the last of the three attorney-client rooms. Tom opened the door, and Ashley stepped inside. The room was practically empty. It contained two chairs, one for the inmate, the other for the attorney, an old, worn desk, and a camera installed in the upper corner of the room. There was nothing inviting or homey about it. Ashley sat in the attorney’s chair and waited.
A few minutes later, Tom opened the door adjacent to the one through which Ashley had entered. He stepped aside to allow a man in the room. The man wore a bright orange jumpsuit. He had tousled brown hair and the start of a five-o’clock shadow. His skin was pale, and his green eyes were tired and red-rimmed.
“Hello, Christopher,” Ashley said calmly.
“Yo,” Christopher said. He dropped into his chair, slouching, with his arm slung over the back.
Tom closed the iron door and disappeared back into the bowels of the jail. A shiver worked its way up Ashley’s spine. She was locked inside and couldn’t get out without the help of jail staff. She was literally a caged animal. The attorney-client room seemed to grow smaller and smaller by the second.
“So,” Ashley said, turning her attention to Christopher Mason. “Did you say anything stupid to the cops when they arrested you yesterday morning?”
“Nope.” He made a zipping motion across his lips. “I didn’t say nothin’.”
“You didn’t say anything about Von Reich’s death, did you?”
There wasn’t a solid suspect for that investigation. That was common knowledge around Brine, but names had surfaced in the rumor mill. Christopher was on that list of names. Along with Erica Elsberry and Ashley herself. With no suspects, the cops would bite onto any tidbit of information, holding tightly, jaws locked like a pit bull’s.
Christopher shook his head.
Ashley narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure? You smell like a vodka distillery. You could have forgotten.”
Christopher curled his lip. “Yeah. I’m sure.”
“Fine. We
don’t have to keep talking about it. You say you kept your mouth shut. I believe you.” Even though she didn’t. “Let’s talk about this new charge.”
“I didn’t do anything to Brooke.”
Ashley nodded. “Brooke refused to make a statement. Anyway, she was arrested too.”
“What?” Christopher shot out of his seat. “What’d she do?”
“Spit on Officer Thomanson.”
Christopher threw his head back and laughed. It was a deep belly laugh. “That’s my girl.” He dropped back into his seat.
“Right, well, you need to be more careful in the future.”
“Does that mean I’m getting out?”
Ashley nodded. “Elizabeth Clement doesn’t have a reason to hold you. Thomanson didn’t see anything, and Brooke said nothing happened. Since you didn’t talk, they don’t have anything on you. The State is dismissing the charges, and you’ll be out of here in a couple of hours.”
“Yes!” Christopher pumped his fist in the air.
Ashley tried not to react. Christopher was in for domestic abuse assault. A neighbor had heard him arguing with Brooke, followed by some loud crashing noises. The charges were getting dismissed, but Christopher was not innocent. Ashley felt sure she’d see the proof when she met with her next client.
Ashley pressed the silver intercom mounted on the wall next to her. “Tom, I’m done with Christopher. Can you bring Brooke?”
“Sure thing.” Tom’s cheery voice seemed wrong in the cold, forbidding environment.
Tom appeared through the metal jail door a few moments later to take Christopher away. Kylie brought Brooke shortly thereafter.
“Hey,” Brooke mumbled as she sank into her chair. She kept her head tucked down and her eyes lowered.
Ashley surveyed Brooke carefully. Her cheeks were sunken in, two large craters dipping into her face, and her once luscious brown hair had grown straggly. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her body, no doubt in an attempt to hide the smatter of bruising on her wrists.