Gemma smiled, too, but she noticed something more beneath Sal’s smile. “What’s wrong?” she asked him.
“Wrong? Why would anything be wrong?”
“You look kind of . . . harassed.”
Sal could always rely on Gemma to pick up on his moods where nobody else could. But Kamill and her fucked up life was his problem to handle. He wasn’t bringing that home to Gemma. “I’m probably just tired,” he said. “Let’s go home.”
“Gotta get Lucky first,” said Gemma.
“Already arranged,” said Sal. “He’s at Reno and Trina’s.”
Gemma smiled. “You think of everything, Sal.”
“Guess what I’m thinking of now,” Sal said to her.
Gemma laughed. “That’s an easy guess,” she said, which prompted Sal to laugh too.
And then, as if their once deliberate pace needed to change, they got in a hurry. Those prosecutors and their courtroom hijinks and Kamill and her crazy-ass stalker were far removed from their minds just that fast. They just wanted to be with each other, and the world be damned. They didn’t run. They were too sophisticated for that. But they put far more pep in their step.
CHAPTER SIX
After finishing her Danish, her coffee, and her e-copy of the New York Times on her iPad, Circuit Judge Cassandra “Cassie” Jones pressed her desk button. Her clerk, with clipboard in hand outlining the day’s docket, hurried into the judge’s chambers.
“Good morning,” the clerk said happily. “Looking forward to another session?”
“Depends on how crowded it is,” the judge said as she wiped some Danish crumbs from her desk.
“Oh, it’s crowded,” her clerk made clear as she stood in front of the judge’s desk. “It’s always crowded.”
“That bad?”
“Not bad. But the usual unusual.”
“Any high-profiles I need to know about?”
“There’s this actor that used to be in those old Destin Motors car commercials. You know that tall, goofy guy who always ended the commercial with you betcha?”
Judge Jones tried to picture who she meant, but failed. “What did he do?”
“Beat up his old lady.”
“His wife?”
“His mother. Broke the old lady’s jaw.”
The judge shook her head. “What is the world coming to?”
“It’s already came,” said her clerk.
“That’s it?”
“High profile? Pretty much. There’s a couple extradition requests, though.”
“From where?”
“Amarillo, Texas for one. Involving a young guy named Joseph Parks. He was arrested last week on a driving without a license charge. Cops want a court order to bring him back on a warrant.”
“What’s his underlying crime?” the judge asked.
“He allegedly pushed a cop when they were harassing him for trespassing in front of a shoe store.”
“That’s his crime?”
“That’s it.”
“That request will be denied,” the judge said. “What else?”
“The cops aren’t gonna like it, Judge.”
“That’s their problem. I’m not wasting taxpayer dollars to give a couple cops a vacation in Texas. Because that’s all these extraditions are usually about. What else?”
“There’s the case of Sylvia Pendle.”
Judge Jones stared at her clerk. It couldn’t be. “Sylvia Pendle?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am. You know her?”
“What’s the accusation?”
“She allegedly the mastermind behind a baby-stealing ring.”
Judge Jones couldn’t believe it.
“Ma’am, are you okay?”
The judge sat down. “A baby-stealing ring?”
Although her clerk was worried that she didn’t look right, she continued to do her job. “Yes, ma’am,” she said. “And she may not be the only one involved. But one mother hired private eyes to find her. They found her.”
“Where?”
“In Vegas,” the clerk said and it was all the judge could bear to hear.
“Are you okay, ma’am?” the clerk asked her again.
“Get my daughter on the phone,” Judge Jones said.
“I’ll get you some water.”
The judge slammed the palm of her hand down on her desktop. “Get my daughter on the phone. Didn’t you hear me? Get my daughter on the phone now!” She was yelling angrily and the clerk didn’t hesitate any further.
“Yes, ma’am,” she said. She hurried to do as she was ordered.
CHAPTER SEVEN
They were in bed, spoon-style, and he was deep inside of her, grinding on her ass. His hands were fondling her breasts, squeezing them tightly, as he fucked her. And Sal wasn’t playing around. His eyes were closed. His entire body was caught up in that rush of excitement he always felt whenever he was inside of the woman he loved.
Gemma’s eyes were closed, too, as Sal did her. There was always something special about the way he made her feel. And she was feeling it that day.
But as they made long, slow love, Gemma’s cell phone began ringing. A tribute to how wonderful they felt, neither Gem nor Sal gave that phone a second thought. They were too immersed in the feelings.
But then, ten minutes later, they were cumming. First Gemma, and then Sal right behind her. He let it loose and it saturated her.
And then that phone was ringing again.
“Damn!” Sal said. “Can’t they give us a fucking break?”
Gemma knew it could be some new bullshit from the prosecution. She needed to make sure. She grabbed her phone off of the nightstand and took a peep. Sal didn’t give a shit. He was still grinding on her. He was still feeling those wonderful feelings she made him feel, when Gemma saw that it was her mother phoning. She decided to answer.
Sal frowned. “What are you doing?”
“It’s Ma,” she said. “I need to make sure everything’s okay.” She answered the call. “Hey,” she said.
“I need to see you,” Judge Jones said.
“See me? When?”
“Today. Now.”
“I can’t just drop everything and fly all the way to Indiana. I have to be in court tomorrow morning.”
“Then tomorrow after court. Can you come then?”
“Ma, what’s wrong?”
“Can you come then, Gemma?”
Gemma nodded. “I think so, yeah.”
“Then I’ll expect to see you then.” And she ended the call.
Sal was still inside of Gemma, but he had exhausted his ability to grind on her any longer. “What was that about?” he asked her.
“I don’t know. Ma wants me to fly to Indiana after court tomorrow morning.”
“And she wouldn’t say what it’s about?”
“No.”
“She just expect you to fly all that way without knowing why?”
“That’s what she expects, yes.” Then she looked at Sal. She knew her mother was no drama queen. If she wanted Gemma in Indiana, it had to be serious. “Can you go with me?” she asked Sal.