Ms. Lawyer

by Lea Coll

  I didn’t envy him, but I was proud of him for pursuing his dreams. He was doing it in spite of any criticism about his age and experience. He was so passionate about the issues, and I was confident that would come through in his speech. Even if he didn’t win the election, he should be proud that he tried. Although I had a feeling he wouldn’t feel that way. He would probably accept nothing less than winning.

  “Good evening, everyone. Thank you for coming out tonight to support me. I’ve listened to a lot of you over the years tell me your issues and concerns. As sheriff, I want to maintain the close relationship I have with the community and continue to make a difference.

  “I’ve lived here all of my life. My dad was a farmer, and I’ve been an officer here for fifteen years. I’ve taken continuing education courses and it was there that I learned the value of community policing in small towns such as ours. I want my officers to have more presence than they already do. I want them walking or riding bicycles in the streets as opposed to riding in their squad cars. That way, when issues come up, anyone will feel free to approach my officers and discuss things with them.

  “I want a police presence in the schools so that kids will respect us and not fear us. I want to create volunteer opportunities for the young people so that everyone is working to make this town better. Plus, it serves the dual purpose of mentoring young people and keeping them out of trouble. I’d like to divert youth from the criminal justice system to misdemeanor diversion programs. I’d like to increase training for juvenile minority sensitivity and mass casualty events.

  “There’s a huge opioid and heroin crisis in this county. You hear about it in the news and maybe you think it doesn’t happen here. But it does. Drug addictions lead to desperation and desperation leads to other crimes, like burglary, robbery, larceny, murder, domestic violence, child abuse, and neglect. I want to stop this crisis before young people turn to drugs, by providing more education in the schools.”

  “Why, he sounds impressive,” I whispered to Ashley.

  She nodded in agreement. I looked around the room and everyone was listening with rapt attention. Maybe Luke had a good shot at this after all.

  Luke continued, “In that vein, I’d like to divert addicts from jail to treatment facilities. This will decrease recidivism and provide better opportunities for these people to prosper in our community. Ultimately, I would like a closer relationship between the sheriff’s office and the community to build trust. I’ve worked as a school resource officer, patrol officer, and now as a patrol commander. My experience with the different departments with the sheriff’s office and the fact that I’ve lived here all of my life make me the optimal candidate for sheriff.

  “Thank you for coming out tonight and supporting me. If you would like to sign up to volunteer on my campaign, you can sign up at the back table. I will be going door-to-door to meet with everyone soon and hear your concerns, but feel free to approach me at any time. I’d be happy to talk to you. Thanks again.” He nodded and then stepped down from the podium, shaking hands, and accepting congratulations.

  “I don’t know which side is more attractive, Luke the cop or Luke the politician,” I whispered in Ashley’s ear.

  “You are in so much trouble.”She grinned.

  “I’m only here a short time, though. I can’t really get into anything with anyone.”

  “Does he know you’re only here for three months?” she asked, concerned.

  “I don’t think so. It hasn’t come up. He also hasn’t asked me out yet.”

  “Well, I’m getting tired and I still have a case to prep for court tomorrow morning. Are you hangingaround?”

  “Yeah, I promised Luke I would say goodbye before I left.”

  Ashley looked at him, deep in conversation with some of the business owners. “It looks like he’s going to be awhile.”

  I sighed when I saw him shaking more hands. There was still quite a crowd here. “I’ll be okay. You go on.”

  “Okay, don’t stay too long,” Ashley said. “Bye.”

  “Bye.” I looked longingly at Ashley as she got to escape. I wanted to be here for Luke but I didn’t know anyone except for him and Stella, and I didn’t see Stella. She must have left right after Luke’s speech so she could write up her article for the paper tomorrow. I’d wait a little longer, but if he wasn’t done, I would interrupt him and say goodbye. I had court early in the morning.

  “I haven’t seen you around before.”

  I looked up at the man who’d approached me. He looked like the man Ashley was talking about earlier. He was tall with black hair. Ben, maybe? “Hello, I’m Emma.”

  “I’m Ben Harris.” He introduced himself, shaking my hand. “I work at ArcherMetal Recycling.”

  “It’s nice to meet you. I’m an attorney for the public defender’s office.”

  “Oh, you’re the attorney taking over for Penny Shaw, right?” he asked. I guessed everyone knew everyone in this small town.

  “I think so. She’s out on maternity leave,” I answered.

  “Right. So how do you like it here so far?”

  “It’s great,” I answered. I hadn’t mentioned to anyone that I had dreaded coming here and it was not my choice. As eager as I had been to get back to my fast-paced life in the city when I’d first arrived, it was starting to feel like home. I liked the people I’d met. I was hopeful about something starting with Luke. This worried me since my job here had an expiration date.

  “You have a boyfriend back home?” Ben asked.

  I looked up at him in surprise. Was he asking because he was interested? Was he flirting with me? I hadn’t thought so. He seemed friendly. “No, I wasn’t dating anyone when I left.”

  “That’s good,” he said, smiling.

  “Hey, what’s going on here?” Luke asked, sliding an arm around my shoulders as he pulled me into his body. I looked up, surprised at the contact. Luke had barely touched me during any of our interactions. Now it seemed like he was claiming me in front of this guy.

  Ben looked from me to Luke and back again in confusion. “Great speech, Luke,” Ben said, offering him a congratulatory shake.

  “Thanks, man. Glad you could make it here tonight. I’m grateful Archer is supporting me,” Luke said. His body seemed tense despite his friendly words with Ben.

  “Yeah, that’s the CEO, Mark Grant’s decision.” Ben pointed at a gentleman deep in conversation with the mayor.

  “I will have to thank him then,” Luke said.

  “I’ve got a few other people to talk to tonight so I will leave you two alone. It was nice meeting you, Emma,” he said, as he turned to walk away.

  “Nice meeting you, too,” I said. Suddenly, I was exhausted. I was tired of standing in my heels all day. I couldn’t wait to get home and take them off. “What was that about?” I asked, turning in Luke’s arms so I could look at him.

  “What was what about?” Luke asked innocently.

  “You know, that caveman act you put on?” I asked. “You put your arm around me when I was talking to him. It was like you were claiming me or something.”

  He smiled in response. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Before I could respond, he said, “Just give me a few more minutes and then I can walk you home.”

  Since it was dark, I doubted Luke would agree to let me walk home by myself and I nodded in agreement.

  WE WALKED DOWN THE STREET towards the center of town. The breeze off of the water lifted my hair and it blew into my face. I brushed it back behind my ears. I felt like I was in high school again, wishing for Luke to grab my hand. Though our hands brushed a time or two, he didn’t make a move.

  “Your speech was great,” I said sincerely. The word ‘great’ didn’t seem to really encompass how impressed I was with his drive and motivation.

  He glanced at me in surprise. “Thanks. I didn’t think public speaking was my thing, but it wasn’t so bad.”

  �
��You seemed like a natural. You commanded the room. I guess that’s the cop coming out,” I said, smiling.

  “Yeah, I think I surprised myself,” he said, smiling in response. “I don’t think Brad is a great public speaker, but we will see. He’s not exactly a people person,” Luke said.

  “Hopefully that will work in your favor then. I get nervous when I’m in court still. My back is to most of the people so I pretend the courtroom is empty,” I admitted.

  “You get nervous speaking?” He sounded surprised.

  As I walked, I tried to avoid the cracks in the sidewalk with my heels. I couldn’t wait to get these shoes off. “Yes, I’m much more comfortable behind the scenes. I don’t know how I ended up as a trial attorney.”

  “How did you?” he asked.

  I looked over at him, gauging his interest. He seemed genuine. “I signed up for the criminal clinic in law school. It’s an internship your last year of school where you actually get to try cases in court under the supervision of a mentor under Rule 16. It was awesome. I loved the fast-paced nature of court. It was nerve racking, but exhilarating too. I thought, ‘Hey, I could do this.’ Plus, you can get some of your law school loans reimbursed if you work in the public sector for ten years, so that was a motivator too.”

  “Interesting,” he said. “I’ve always known I wanted to be a police officer.”

  “But how did you know? In the way that all little boys want to be a cop or a firefighter?”

  “Well, I grew up on a farm and I helped out a lot. Sawyer, my younger brother, was more into books and not as interested in manual labor. So I bore the brunt of the farm chores. I didn’t have a lot of time for sports or other activities as a result.” In response to my questioning look, he further explained, “I honestly didn’t mind at all, but I did get some flak from the richer kids at school. They liked to make fun of the farm kids who they thought were poor, or poorer than them at least. You’ve met Ben Harris and Justin Moore right?”

  I nodded. I had met Ben tonight and Justin was my landlord.

  “They were two of the worst in school. Not much has changed, honestly.”

  “I can see Justin being that way.” I’d seen him with Samantha and it definitely seemed like he enjoyed pushing her around. I didn’t know Ben well at all. He seemed like a smooth talker, though.

  “Anyway, that experience of standing up for others who were bullied in school motivated me. I decided then that I wanted a job where I would be respected and where I could protect others. Being a police officer seemed like the best solution, and I love what I do. I feel like I’m making a difference. I don’t care about making the most money or anything like that. I’m comfortable. My parents gave me the farm and the house, so I don’t really need a lot of money, but I would like to be sheriff. That’s my ultimate goal, where I think I could do the most good.”

  “That’s really admirable, Luke. I’m impressed that you’re so young and know exactly what you want in life. You didn’t want to pursue art though?”

  He laughed at that.

  “What? Those drawings you gave me are impressive. I don’t know if you can make a living off of drawing these days, but they’re amazing. You’re a talented artist.”

  He seemed a little embarrassed by my compliment. “I guess I never really considered art to be a serious career for me. My art teacher did encourage me but I was pretty determined to be a police officer.”

  He seemed uncomfortable with the subject, so I decided to talk about something else. “I don’t think my job makes much of a difference in the world. That’s for sure.”

  “Yeah, lawyers aren’t exactly known for changing the world.” He teased.

  “Hey!” I said, laughing and slapped his arm lightly with my hand. “No picking on lawyers.” With the contact, my breath caught and I peeked at him to see if he was affected too. We had reached the stairs to my apartment. We started up the steps and he came to a stop at the little deck outside my door. Samantha had strung lights from the posts in the corners so it gave the deck an intimate ambiance now that it was dark out.

  He turned me so that my back was to the wall of the building. “Emma, I’m intrigued by you and I just can’t get enough of this mouth.” He outlined my mouth with his thumb, which was the single most erotic thing I’d ever experienced. His mouth hovered over mine, his other hand cradled the back of my head tilting my head up towards his, and his leg moved between mine.

  I thought I might have moaned out loud when his lips finally touched mine. The kiss was light and gentle. I opened my mouth to let his tongue in. Right before I leaned into his body to deepen the kiss, he pulled back. Both of us were breathing heavily.

  He ran his fingers through his hair. “Unlock your door, Emma,” he said, as he backed away and I felt the loss of his heat to my front keenly.

  “Um, what?” I was out of sorts from the kiss.

  “Hand me your keys. I’ll unlock it for you.”

  He knew exactly how he affected me. Somehow I found my keys and handed them over. He unlocked the door and pushed it open for me to enter. “Good night, Emma. Lock your door when I leave,” he said, with one last kiss. He waited until I went inside, closed and locked the door. Then I heard him walk down the steps.

  I WOKE UP TO MY phone dinging with an incoming text message. I pushed my hair out of my face and tried to feel around for my phone on the nightstand. I only succeeded in pushing it off the edge to the floor.

  “Damn it!” I was not ready to get out of bed yet. I raised my head and looked at the alarm clock. It was six, so I needed to get up anyway. I pushed the covers off and leaned over to grab the phone, which dinged again.

  I entered my security code and opened my messages. The first message was from an unknown number: Stay out of it bitch if you know what’s good for you.

  That was it. I ran a shaky hand through my hair. The first time could have been a mistake but this was twice now. Was it a disgruntled client? If it was, it must be one from this office since I’d just moved here. There’s no way it was an ex-boyfriend. The last guy I dated was a co-worker and we’d only gone out a few times. We ended it because it was awkward dating someone at work. It was mutual. There were no hard feelings.

  I debated telling Luke about this new text. The only reason he found out last time was because he was hovering over me when I got the message.

  I pushed off the bed to get ready for work. As I took a shower and dressed, questions kept running through my head. Who would send me this message and why? I couldn’t figure it out. There was the client’s boyfriend who grabbed my arm a few weeks ago, but how would he have gotten my number? He had two reasons to be angry, his girlfriend getting locked up and then Luke throwing him in lockup for grabbing me. I hadn’t pursued the issue and had him charged with assault or anything, though.

  It could be a wrong number too. The part of my mind that wanted to dismiss this as nothing was leaning in that direction.

  I walked into court a few minutes late, and Ashley grabbed me and pulled me to the side to talk to me. In a hushed voice, she asked, “Did you see the paper?”

  “No, what are you talking about?” I got all of my news online but the printed paper was still somewhat of a big deal here in Chestertown.

  “The op-ed letters are starting to come in on the election races. Brad Campbell typed his own letter to counter Luke’s speech last night. He outlined his platform but also ripped into Luke.”

  The text message now forgotten, I asked, “What did he say about Luke?”

  “He criticized Luke’s age, his years of experience on the force, and his lack of life experience or some bullshit. He says the town needs someone older and more experienced. He painted Luke as this small-town cop who has never seen the real world.”

  “Did Luke work here his whole life?” I looked around for my client. I didn’t want to miss him if he came in. The hallway was crowded, as the courtrooms hadn’t been opened yet.

  “Yeah, he never left. He even went to
college here.”

  “What about Brad? What’s his background?”

  “That’s the thing. Brad actually started out on the city police force. So he’s using that as support to say he’s better equipped to handle the drug crisis. He has more experience overall so he’s better equipped to head the sheriff’s office. He’s worked in all of the departments at one time or the other and he’s been with the office long enough to see it grow. He’s second in command now so it’s an easy transition.” She looked down at her phone reading the article from her phone now. “He wants to come down hard on known drug users. He wants to send undercover officers into communities known for drugs to put more people behind bars.” She continued scanning the article for the highlights.

  “Hmm. Isn’t that similar to what they did in the city? I think it actually alienated certain communities from the police. People became afraid of officers and crime increased, not decreased. It’s the opposite of Luke’s approach.”

  “The worst part is that he completely stole Luke’s thunder. The entire town is abuzz with Brad’s letter and not about Luke’s speech.”

  Before I could respond, someone called out, “Ms. Cook? Is there a Ms. Cook here?”

  “Ugh, fucking client is here,” she whispered, so no one could hear. “Come find me when you’re done in court,” she said louder. I nodded and then she turned around with a bright smile on her face. “Hello, are you Ms. Newsome? It’s nice to meet you.” She shook her hand and led her over to a bench. “Let’s touch base on your case, okay?” she asked, as she sat down taking out her case file.

  I made a mental note to sign up for online notifications from the local paper. It wouldn’t hurt to know more about what was going on in the community in general even if I was only living here for a short time. I felt a pang thinking about the fact that I would be leaving in a few short months. I didn’t expect to like Chestertown or the people here so much. I figured I would be itching to head back to the city.

  Now I was really late to talk to my clients this morning, so I rushed over to my courtroom to see if they had arrived yet. Once I was prepared and checked in with the state’s attorney, I saw Luke talking to some other officers in the back of the courtroom. He did not look happy. He was hair was really messy, like he’d been running his hands through it all morning. I decided he had enough to worry about with his campaign so I didn’t tell him about the new text message. I could tell him another time.