Chase frowned and stood. “Objection, Your Honor. This evidence has not been presented in discovery.”
The judge shook his head and glared at the prosecution. “I should dismiss this case for the lack of integrity on your part as a prosecutor.” The judge picked up his anvil. “The evidence will be shared and reviewed. We’ll recess for the weekend and return to continue then.”
I leaned forward to Lance. “Just three days and this is over,” I reminded him.
“Three days too long, Chase,” he said to my boss. “I didn’t rape her.”
“I know you didn’t. We’ll get you off. Don’t worry.” Chase closed his briefcase.
What the hell evidence did the prosecution have that we weren’t already aware of? My gut told me Miranda’s mother was behind the accusations. She wanted a payout, and in court today, she was here wearing a designer outfit that her salary couldn’t afford. Considering the payout she’d be expecting on Miranda’s behalf, I wondered how much of this was her doing.
Did I think Lance was guilty? No, I didn’t. Did we think Miranda’s family was after a payout? Absolutely. They’d offered to settle out of court, but settling would show a sign of guilt, and well, Lance was not guilty.
And it was up to Chase Newstrom to prove that.
And he would. He always did.
Chapter Two
Chase
Signed, sealed, and delivered. That was what I had expected when I woke this morning. A clean-cut case of an innocent man who had been accused of a heinous act he had not committed. At least that was what I had thought before the prosecutor moved to introduce new evidence.
As defense attorneys, we had the right to review the evidence disclosed. The defense was entitled to know about the prosecution’s case before trial and vice versa. Nothing was kept as a secret. We had ample opportunity to study all sides of the case. Our side, their side, and, somewhere in the middle, the truth. To pull this crap toward the end of their case was not only wrong, but it could potentially cause the case to be thrown out. No one wanted to start over, but if it meant a win for my team and me, we’d take it.
I could always hope, but we’d review this new evidence regardless. As lawyers, it was what we did, and Lance would be a free man soon.
The prosecution had offered a plea deal, which we’d refused. Admit guilt, and the sentence would be a year in jail with four years’ probation. If my client were actually guilty, it would be a great plea, but my client was innocent. We promptly gave them a “hell no,” followed by, “see you in court.”
They’d better hold on to hope that once this was over, we wouldn’t slap the family with a countersuit.
As soon as Ainsley and I entered my office building, I closed the doors behind us. The only sound was the hum of the air conditioner. It was late afternoon on a Friday, and soon the sun would set. Everyone else in the office had their door closed or was off having a glass of something other than water.
Tonight was supposed to end in victory. Instead, it ended with me back here, trying to figure out what went wrong.
“Did you know about this witness?” I asked Ainsley Speire, my intern. She wore a black dress, and her auburn hair was braided to the side. She was a plain-Jane kind of woman with curves. She was stacked and attractive but not the type I’d normally go for.
I didn’t even know if I had a type, but the women on my arm were typically models or someone equally successful as me. I didn’t date other lawyers. It ended badly, at least in my experience.
Ainsley shook her head. “No, sir, I didn’t. I know as much as you do at the moment.”
“Well, it’s your job to make sure shit like this doesn’t happen.”
I hated surprises. Don’t sneak up on me with anything, and we’d be just fine. But if you hit me with something in court that I had not been privy to? It was a sure way to get your ass spanked by the hand of the law. I took what I did very seriously, and if anyone fucked with that or got in my way, I’d mow them over before they realized anything had happened.
Ainsley took a seat at the table in my office and opened her briefcase. She hadn’t responded to my statement, which was fine. I argued for a living, but I didn’t necessarily want to fight with my own staff. I didn’t feel the need to show her where she was wrong and how to fix it. If I did that for her every time she fucked up, how would she learn?
Did she fuck up? No, not necessarily, but I had relied on her to prepare everything I needed for this case. If she wanted this to be her career, she needed to learn the ropes and learn them the hard way, like I had. If everything was always given to you, how would you ever learn? You wouldn’t, at least not in my corner of the world. You busted your ass for what you wanted, whether for your career or for personal gains.
With a sigh, I removed my jacket and tie, unbuttoned the first two buttons of my dress shirt, and rolled my sleeves up to midforearm.
I pulled out a chair from the table and took a seat. “Who the hell is this new witness?” I met Ainsley’s gaze and found her staring at me. I frowned. “What is it?”
She quickly shook her head, and a blush crept to her cheeks. She cleared her throat and started talking. “I’m reading over his information now. Please, just a moment so I can finish?”
“Fine,” I mumbled, crossing my arms over my chest and then pinching the bridge of my nose. I glanced over to Ainsley and found her watching me again. “Seriously, what is it?”
“Oh,” she said, startled, and she looked back down to the documents in front of her. The blush on her cheeks darkened. “I figured,” she started in a soft, mouselike voice, “since you were getting comfortable, I might remove my shoes. My feet hurt.”
I shrugged. “Do whatever you need to do. We need to get this shit settled.” My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out with a sigh. “Shit,” I growled and sat back in my chair.
“Everything okay?” Ainsley asked.
I raised my brows and then cocked my head to the side and looked at her. “Yeah, it’s fine. Just forgot I had something to do tonight.” More like someone, but Ainsley didn’t need to know that.
I had a date with a model. We had been seeing each other for a few months now, but by seeing, it was no more than her showing up at my place, me fucking her, and then her leaving. We laughed at each other’s jokes and pretended we were interested, but it was nothing more than sex. She was taking off for London soon. Maybe tonight would be her farewell fuck-off. I smirked at my own thoughts.
“Yeah, I have something—”
“Did you find what you were looking for?” I asked at the same time.
Ainsley cleared her throat. “Umm”—she paused to look at me and then back to the papers—“sort of. Someone has stated they witnessed the rape by peeking into the room while it was happening.”
I guffawed at her findings. “Bullshit. Who was it?”
“I’m looking into it.” She wrote something down on her paper. “I’ll get you a name soon.”
“So you have this handled, then?” I asked and stood from my chair. My phone buzzed again, and I shoved it into my pocket. My date would have to wait. They said patience was a virtue, although with her, it appeared to have run off with her virginity.