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I rubbed my tired eyes, glancing toward the clock. I wasn’t surprised to see it was past nine. Darkness had descended outside, the only light in my office the reading lamp behind me. My lined notepad was filled with my “chicken scratch,” as Rene called it. Wyatt had found a lot of bad behavior from my client’s soon-to-be ex-husband, some of which would help disprove his side of the story and give any judge pause before granting him anything but supervised visitation.I stood, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and sipping it as I stared out the window and thinking.I only took cases I believed in. I fought for embattled spouses, kids too little to have their voices heard, teenagers being screwed by the system. I dug and searched until I was certain my clients were on the up-and-up, refusing to represent anyone I felt was lying. You lied to me, and that was it. I removed myself from the case. The truth, I could handle, work with, figure out how to let it do the least amount of
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I ran a hand through my hair, my anger dispersing at her genuine distress. Up close, I could see the exhaustion on her face, the signs of sleepless nights and worry, all too familiar, that were etched into her skin.“Call my office on Monday, Fiona,” I said, my voice calmer. “Tell Rene I said to fit you in.” I could at least listen to her.She shook her head. “I tried that. Your pit-bull assistant won’t let me past him.”Her description of Rene was accurate, but I frowned. Rene never made the judgment call. That was my responsibility.“I’m sorry, I don’t understand. You’ve called?”“Yes. I came to the office as well. He told me your caseload was full and you weren’t interested in speaking to me.”Something about her voice caught my attention. That feeling of familiarity hit me again.“Have we met?” I asked.“Once,” she replied. “It wasn’t exactly, ah, comfortable.”“Oh?”“I was with my husband. The man divorcing me now. The man I need your help to fight against.”A memory tickled the
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Another attorney at the table chuckled. “Now, now, Scott. This is social. When we’re out of the courtroom, we can all get along, right?”Scott’s expression said it all, even though he laughed along with everyone else, but he insisted she switch seats. He made a great show of flinging his arm around her shoulders and kissing her. I was certain at the time she had turned her head slightly, so the kiss fell on her cheek rather than her mouth. I studiously ignored Scott the rest of the evening, although I found my glance fixated on Fiona on occasion.She spoke little to anyone else and seemed uncomfortable and anxious, as if she felt out of her depth. On occasion, a pained looked crossed her face, and I wondered if Scott’s behavior embarrassed her. I recall thinking she looked out of place beside him—almost too gentle to be associated with him. I wondered then how she could stand to live with someone so unscrupulous—unless she was cut from the same cloth. I knew all too well that appearan
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I mulled over his words. “From what she said, this hit her out of the blue. I don’t know the whole story yet, but she is lost. Her world got pulled away, and she is having trouble coping—not thinking clearly.” I had seen it many times with other clients. “I think I believe her, but I need to be sure. I need your gossip connections.”Rene frowned. “I’ll make a few calls.”“Good. I need it fast. She’s coming in today.”“When did you meet her?”I told him the story of the bar and her following me. He listened with interest.“Tenacious,” he murmured.“Desperate too,” I replied. “If she’s telling the truth, Hutchings handled this all wrong. He, of all people, should know to take the proper steps to end your marriage. You don’t kick someone out of their home and abandon them financially. He’s creating huge problems for himself.”“Problems you are only too happy to make worse.” Rene smirked.“I’m looking forward to nailing that bastard to the wall.”Rene opened his tablet, scanning the scree
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He stood, straightening his vest. “She is. I explained you were running behind schedule, and she was fine. She said she had her tablet with her and could read until you showed up. I gave her coffee, and we had a chat.”I lifted one eyebrow. “A chat?”He nodded. “I apologized to her for my assumptions, and we talked awhile. She is quite lovely.” He shook his head, pulling his jacket over his shoulders. “She is intelligent. Very gracious.” He pondered his next words. “Not what I would have expected from someone married to Scott Hutchings.”I tilted my head, remaining silent, but we shared a look of understanding. Rene had great instincts. If he trusted someone, then it carried a lot of weight with me.“Your sandwiches and coffee are in there on the table. Your favorite notebook and pens are on your desk. I started a file in the system and a paper one, which is waiting. Do you need anything else?”“No, go home. I have my laptop and recorder if I need it.”“I assumed you did. Call me if y
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Hal leaned back in his chair, still eating, although his pace had slowed. He didn’t push or ask any questions, allowing me the space I needed. He seemed to be lost to his thoughts, giving me the chance to study him again.He was a good-looking man. His dark brown hair was swept high off his forehead in a widow’s peak, short on the sides, and brushed until it gleamed. He had a moustache and short beard, carefully trimmed and neat. It emphasized the sharp angles of his jaw and full mouth. His eyes were a deep navy—so dark, at first, I had thought them brown, but up close, I could see the blue catching the light. His expression was serious, intense at all times, with shadows that seemed permanently etched under his eyes adding to the severity of his expression. Even when he smiled, he never seemed to relax. Yet, unlike my soon-to-be ex-husband, Hal’s intensity wasn’t underwritten with a general contempt for everything around him. There was kindness in his eyes—something I had been missin
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Halton“Where do you want me to start?” Fiona asked.I pulled my notepad closer. “At the beginning. I don’t want to hear every detail of your courtship, but I need your history.”She nodded, rubbing her arms as she looked around the room. “We met when I was nineteen. He was older and in law school. He had started late, so there was a six-year difference between us, not that it ever bothered me. I was going for my English Lit degree. I wanted to teach.” She frowned ruefully. “I never finished.”“Why?”“Scott was like a whirlwind. A tornado, really. He swept in and overtook everything. My dad had died not long before I met him, and I wasn’t myself. I was struggling. Scott sort of stepped in and filled that void.” She sighed and ran a hand over her eyes. “He liked to make decisions, and I was so lost at times, I let him. A year after we met, we were married. I stopped going to school and got a job. The deal was I would work until he became an established lawyer, and then I would go back
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“Why did you stay?”She was quiet for a moment. “I think for the longest time, I hoped. Hoped he would remember when he couldn’t wait to get home to me. That he would find that spark I had seen in him when we first met. I kept thinking it would get better. I did everything I could. I stayed busy volunteering, doing charity work with other wives at the firm since school was no longer an option. I helped out at dinners and functions until Scott informed me he had no desire to attend them anymore. I kept the house immaculate and tried to be a good wife. Anything he asked of me, I did, but it never seemed to be enough. The time just…slipped away while I waited for him. I lost so many years.” She blew out a long breath. “My identity was so wrapped up in his, it was as if I no longer existed without him.”I nodded, remaining silent. Once again, her story was familiar.“From the outside, I had everything. A big house, a successful husband. I drove a new car, I had nice clothes, no money worr
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