by Laura Sutton
Sam leaned back into the couch cushions after they had put the box of papers back together, save for the warrant they would need to show the judge at the hearing, and bit her lip in contemplation.
“What’s wrong?” Eli asked, pulling her into his arms.
“I don’t know. I wanted to prove Debra’s innocence, not just get her off on a technicality,” Sam said. Eli squeezed her tighter.
“I get that, I do, but this is an important part of our job, as well. We’re here to make sure all of our clients’ rights are protected, and if they aren’t, then they can’t be used against them.”
Sam nodded, but her dissatisfaction would not go away so easily.
“Hey,” he said, his tone light, clearly wanting to cheer her up. “Want to take a shower and then go for that walk?” he asked, and she smiled.
“Yes, let’s walk off the pancakes so we can come back and heat up the ragu bolognese your uncle sent back with us,” she replied.
“A woman after my own heart,” he teased, following behind her.
“If you only knew,” she teased, and pulled him into the bathroom.
Monday morning was hectic. They got on the docket for a hearing to suppress the internet search on Friday afternoon. She spent the morning preparing the motion for the judge and then handed it off to Richard for his review. She hadn’t seen Eli all morning, and her lunch with Alyssa, while fun, took her away from the office, so around two o’clock, she picked up a file and headed to Eli’s office.
“Dante, no, dammit, I won’t,” she heard Eli’s voice through the door of his office. Her heart sank. Why would Dante be calling now? Would his reappearance in Eli’s life make him pull away from her again, when they had just found their way back to each other?
“Dante, I’m hanging up the phone. I don’t have the time or the inclination to go to Texas to help him, and that’s final,” he said, and then she heard a loud thump, as if he had thrown his phone against the wall. She took a deep breath and knocked.
“What?” he growled. She entered, closing the door behind her, and went to where he was sitting at his desk, his head bowed and fists clenched on its cluttered surface.
“Are you okay?” she asked and put her hands on his face and made him look at her.
He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her middle and buried his face against her belly. She ran her fingers through his dark brown hair and waited.
“My brother just called me,” he said finally, his words muffled against the silk of her blouse.
“I gathered,” she said, and bent to kiss the top of his head. “What did he want?”
He pulled back to look her in the eyes. He looked so forlorn, it made her heart hurt.
“My father is coming up for appeal, and he wants me to return to Texas and look over his case.”
“And you don’t want to?” she asked softly, and he shook his head.
“I don’t want anything to do with them,” he answered.
She nodded. “Okay, so don’t. I know you think Dante is all-powerful, but what is he going to do, to force you to do it?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess he can’t force me, really.”
“Exactly.” She kissed him softly, then skirted the desk to take a seat. “Would you like to come over for dinner?” She wasn’t at all nervous. After their weekend together, she was becoming more comfortable with this relationship they were navigating.
“I would love that. More leftovers from my Uncle Nico?” he asked, his eyes dancing.
“How about something a little lighter? Do you like cod?” she asked, thinking about what she had in the fridge to cook for dinner.
“I love it. I’ll meet you at your place right after work?”
“Why don’t you stop by your place first and get a change of clothes so you can spend the night? You know, if… if you want?” she asked, her earlier confidence waning a little.
“Oh, I very much want, bimba,” he answered gruffly, and she sighed, relaxing, and stood.
“Well, I just dropped in to say ‘hi’, I have more work to get through.”
Eli nodded and stood, coming around the desk and taking her face in his hands and kissing her softly. “See you later.”
“See you later,” she replied, gathered up her folder and left his office.
The rest of the week passed in a haze of anticipation about the motion to suppress hearing… and passionate nights with Eli. When he showed up on Monday, he didn’t just bring one suit; he brought four, and some of his toiletries. “That way, I don’t have to stop at my apartment every day after work,” he told her a little sheepishly as she made room for his suits in her closet. She just turned and kissed him and left him to hang up his clothes while she finished up their dinner.
The entire week had felt like a dream, being with Eli every evening; working on cases or watching a movie, it didn’t matter. It all felt so perfect, so right, she almost couldn’t believe it.
Friday afternoon finally arrived, and she stood on the steps of the courthouse, waiting for Debra. Clients didn’t have to attend pre-trial hearings, but if they were granted the motion to suppress, the only tenuous link to the circumstantial evidence the prosecutor had, then Richard was also going to ask the indictment be vacated. If things went the way Sam was hoping they would, then Debra would walk out of this courthouse a free woman.
“Am I late?” Debra asked, rushing up the steps, dressed in a chic designer pants suit, her blonde hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail. She looked the part of a calm client, but Sam noticed she was gripping the strap of her purse very tightly. She was nervous.
“Not at all,” Sam said with as reassuring a smile as she could manage, trying to reassure Debra, but she was probably more nervous than her client was. This was her first big find at her new job, and if it worked out, it would certainly impress the partners at the firm. “I just stepped outside to wait for you, you’ve got plenty of time.”
“Oh, good,” Debra sighed. “It’ll be easier, not having to walk in alone.”
They made their way inside and to the courtroom. It was empty save for a bailiff, the prosecutor who was talking with Richard, and Eli, seated at the defendant’s table. Both women made their way to the table and Richard ended his conversation to go over a few things with Debra. Sam took her seat next to Eli at the table. Debra would sit between Richard as first chair and Eli as second. Sam sat at the very end of the long table as third chair.
“Relax, bimba,” Eli whispered in her ear and she took a deep breath as the judge opened the side door to the courtroom.
“All rise for the Honorable Arthur Wilcox,” the bailiff announced, and everyone in the room stood. When asked to recount it later by Alyssa, Sam wasn’t very sure of the details. It was her first time in a courtroom on a capital murder case, even if it just was a hearing. She could barely hear what Richard was presenting to the judge over the pounding of her heart.
“Motion to suppress granted,” the judge said and banged his gavel, and she felt Eli’s hand squeeze her thigh under the table in celebration.
“Your honor, I would now ask that you move to vacate the indictment for lack of evidence,” said Richard. “The internet search was the only thing the district attorney office had that supposedly linked my client to the excess amount of digitalis in George Cork’s blood. I maintain that without this, the grand jury would never have come back with an indictment.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” the judge answered, and Sam glanced at Debra. She was gripping the arms of her chair so hard, her knuckles were white.
“Does the state have any other evidence linking the defendant to the death of George Cork?” the judge asked the prosecutor, who stood.
“We do not, your honor,” the man answered with clear reluctance, and the judge nodded.
“Then the motion to vacate the indictment is also granted. Mrs. Cork, you are free to go. All conditions of your bail are hereby released.” The judge banged his gavel again and stood,
exiting the courtroom as everyone shuffled to their feet.
Sam looked at Debra, who looked shell-shocked and pale, falling back into her chair the moment the judge was gone.
Richard and Eli moved to shake hands with the prosecutor, and Sam slipped into Eli’s vacated chair.
“Are you okay?” she asked, concerned, and Debra turned her tear-filled eyes to Sam.
“I am, but George is still dead,” she said, and a tear ran down her cheek. “I don’t think I’ve grieved for him yet, and it just hit me that this is over, and he’s still gone.”
Debra’s face crumpled and Sam rubbed soothing circles on her back as she cried into her shoulder. Slowly she calmed down and Sam pulled away, handing Debra a tissue from the box on the table.
“Thank you so much for everything,” Debra said, wiping her eyes.
“It was just my job,” Sam answered, and Debra shook her head.
“No, that night at dinner wasn’t just your job. You’re a special person, Sam. Thank you.”
Sam smiled and stood with her. Debra shook both Eli’s and Richard’s hands and then made her way out of the courtroom, a free woman.
“Well, the first round at Luna’s is on me tonight!” Richard announced with a grin.
“Luna’s?” Sam asked as the three of them departed the courtroom.
“Luna’s is this little bar around the corner from the firm. I’m surprised no one has dragged you there for a drink yet,” Richard answered, eyebrows raised.
Alyssa had invited her twice that week alone, but Sam had wanted to spend her evenings alone with Eli instead.
“Oh, well, I’ve been busy unpacking this week,” she lied, and didn’t miss Eli’s amused smile.
“Well, no unpacking tonight. Luna’s, 5:30,” their boss told them, and left for the probation department while Sam and Eli headed to the garage for his car.
“You’re amazing,” Eli told her as they walked the rows and rows of vehicles in the parking garage. They had come together precisely because parking was such a hassle.
“I’m not,” she hedged as they finally came to his black sedan. A prickling sensation made itself known down her spine, sparking unease.
“You are,” he growled and then pinned her to the car with his body and moved to kiss her, but she jerked away.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, frowning.
Sam peered around him. She had felt certain someone was nearby, watching them, but she saw nothing as she peered into the dim parking garage.
“Nothing, I thought I saw someone,” she answered but leaned in and kissed him, the shadow all but forgotten with the pressure of Eli’s lips against her own.
Eli drove straight to Luna’s, and they were greeted by two other lawyers from the firm and a very exuberant Alyssa who was practically vibrating out of her skin as she hugged Sam.
“We heard how it went!” Alyssa said, pulling out of the hug and shoving a very pink cocktail into her hand.
“How what went? It was a pretty basic hearing,” Sam replied as she watched Eli at the bar, ordering drinks and food.
“Oh, stop it! Take some credit, this was the case of the year, if not the decade! The high-profile preacher, who counseled everyone from reality stars to presidents, beat his wife for years and she maybe killed him and YOU found the thing that got her off. I’m so proud of you!”
Sam blushed at her praise and sipped at the strong-but-sweet drink. “Thank you, but really I think anyone would’ve found it.”
Alyssa waved her claim away dismissively. “Bah, my professor at the community college said that attention to detail is what paralegals and lawyers need most, and you proved him right! I’m going to have to learn not to skim-read when I go over case notes and evidence.”
Sam nodded and Eli came over, depositing a glass of chardonnay in front of her.
“They have excellent nachos here. I ordered a few dishes for everyone. Eat some, you didn’t have much at lunch,” he told her and she nodded. It had been true, she had barely picked at her salad at lunch.
“I will, I’m starving,” she replied.
“Well, they make a mean hamburger too. Order one.”
She nodded and he left her with a gawking Alyssa to talk to Mike, one of the firm’s other attorneys.
“When did that happen, and why didn’t you tell me? I thought we were besties!” Sam laughed at Alyssa’s outraged tone and finished off the pink drink. She was already starting to feel warm and fuzzy from the alcohol and lack of food.
“It’s a long story, but Eli and I met over a year ago, and lost touch, but met up again here, and now we’re…” She shrugged, unsure what she would call what they had.
“You’re…” Alyssa prodded.
“Dating, I guess, but it also feels like more than that, too,” Sam answered honestly, and Alyssa’s eyes widened even further.
“I– That’s… wow,” Alyssa finally managed, and Sam chuckled nervously.
“I know, he’s so beautiful and I’m not. It’s hard to believe,” Sam muttered, sipping her wine, old insecurities rearing their unwelcome heads.
“What? No!” Alyssa quickly corrected her. “You’re beautiful and smart. No, I thought he was gay because he never dated, like at all,” Alyssa whispered and Sam laughed out loud.
Eli reappeared seemingly out of nowhere, like a magician at a party, and placed a plate of nachos on the table between Alyssa and Sam.
“Eat up, ladies,” he said, waving as more co-workers from the firm filed into the bar toward them.
Sam and Alyssa shared the nachos, and then a few more drinks. Good to his word, Richard bought a round for everyone, and said a toast to Sam that made her face light up like a neon sign. Eli was not shy about their relationship around the people they worked with. More than once, he slipped his arm around her waist or kissed her cheek while they mingled.
By seven, Luna’s was full not only of people from their firm but others, too, enjoying an after-work cocktail. The bar was loud and packed when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She slipped it out to see it was her mother’s number. Eli was regaling Mike with some story from law school so she moved to slip away, not wanting to interrupt him, buthe halted her with a hand on her arm.
“Hey, everything okay?” he asked over the noise and she held up her ringing phone.
“Yeah, my mom is calling. I’m gonna step outside real quick and tell her I’ll call her back later.”
“Okay, don’t be gone too long,” he said with a grin, and her stomach fluttered. She was a little tipsy and very high on life by that point of the evening.
Sam stepped out into the brisk night air in just her shirtsleeves, and the cold wind seemed to go right through her. She moved to the side of the building to call her mother back.
“Hello, Samantha,” a cool voice called to her, and she turned and peered down the alley. She could just make out the form of a man hidden by the shadows, but she couldn’t fully see him. There was menace in his stance, and the same prickling of unease from before returned with a vengeance. Her heart pounded in her ears and a cold sweat broke out over her skin.
“Do I know you?” she asked the figure and kept her hand on her phone. If he was dangerous, she could dial Eli. He would come outside and help her.
“You wound me, sweetheart. I know we only met briefly, but I would hope I was a little more memorable than that,” the man said and then stepped into the pool of light filtering down the alley from the streetlamps. Sam gasped.
It was Dante. He was dressed in black slacks and a dark shirt, no tie, looking like any of the dozens of lawyers and businessmen milling the streets of downtown Alexandria at that moment, but he had an air of danger that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
“Dante,” she breathed as he took another step closer. She was frozen, limbs refused to obey her mind’s commands to move. She didn’t want to overreact. This was Eli’s brother, but everything in her gut was telling her to run.
“You know, I was
surprised when I saw you with Eli today.” He was close enough now that she could smell his cologne.
“That was you, in the parking garage at the courthouse?” she asked, and he grinned. He looked every inch a powerful predator, and dammit if she didn’t feel like his prey.
“It was,” he nodded. “I had just arrived from Texas. See, I need my brother to help the family with something important– very important– and he has been resistant to do so. But seeing you gave me an idea.” He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and she flinched away.
“What idea is that? I will not talk Eli into doing something he doesn’t want to do,” she said firmly, anger lighting a fire in her belly, but Dante’s smile only widened.
“Oh, the kitten has claws. I like that. No, you’re going to be motivational in a very different way.” His dark eyes, void of any real emotion, scared her to her very core. She didn’t know what Dante had planned, but she didn’t want to stay and find out. She turned on her heel and started to run, but Dante was quicker.
He grabbed her, an arm like steel coming around her waist and a hand muzzling her mouth. A second man appeared in front of her, syringe in hand, and Sam began to struggle, fighting desperately to be free, but the second man stepped neatly around her flailing limbs. All too soon, there was a dart of pain as the needle found her neck, and all strength left her. Unable to stand, she slumped into Dante’s arms.
“Grab her phone and let’s get her in the car. I want to be well on the way to the plane before I call my brother,” were the last words she heard Dante say, faint, as if muffled by layers of cotton wool, before her world went black.
Chapter Twenty-One
Eli
Eli couldn’t lie, he was having a damn good week.
He’d spent every night with Sam, and they had secured Debra’s freedom. All in all, everything was a win, and even Dante’s phone call on Tuesday couldn’t dampen his good mood. Tonight, though, was the best not only because they were celebrating a win for the firm, but because he got to celebrate that win with Samantha.