Page 29 of Viper

Sherry nods. “Well, I’m sure things will pick up for you today. There’s a lot on the docket, and I think that you’re in with a lot more interesting cases if I look at the schedule.”

I pull up said schedule on my screen and look it over quickly. “I have a first appearance divorce proceeding with Judge Wilkinson, a custody case with Judge Gamble, and finally a criminal drug trafficking case with Judge Cabrera. Well, at least with Judge Cabrera I should have an okay time. The other two will be mindless and probably the same things I always hear.”

Judge Pauline Cabrera is a no-nonsense judge that often makes most lawyers want to cry before they leave her courtroom. She’s in her late sixties, refuses to retire, and has a very hard line on decorum and behavior that she will never allow anyone in the room to cross. Including myself, though she and I have always gotten along. Not to mention, when she’s not in her robes, she’s dry, sarcastic, and straight forward enough that she’s told me that when she’s presiding, she specifically requests me because she knows I’m less likely to screw anything up with the report. Well, that and she knows she intimidates the other reporters, and has no time for any of it.

“Yeah I noticed that there are a few more drug charges than the norm the past few months,” Sherry remarks. “It’s a shame. All these young people that are wasting their lives away in prison now because of them, or because they get sucked into a life because of money or a bad home life, or whatever it is.”

On that I agree.

The door opens and Daniella and Hana come walking in, both laughing and talking excitedly. The two of them have been friends since they both started here, to the point that when the schedule is being made up, they insist they’re on the same rotation so they can break together. I’ve brought up my concerns about that to our manager, Sonia Cruz, but she’s mostly ignored me and left them together. The problem is that, while the girls are nice enough, they’re big gossips, and that means they don’t watch what they say and who they say it to. They’re going to get themselves in a load of trouble and at some point, I’m predicting, that they are going to blow a case and cause issues in the courtroom. But that won’t be my problem, it will be Sonia’s.

I smile at the two girls and continue working quietly until I have to head back into the courtroom. I don’t get back to the room before the end of the day since all my cases run over. Which means I’m running from room to room without any break, or time to forget everything I’ve heard in the one previous. Thankfully, I’ve done this enough times that I can handle it, but by the time I do get to leave the final case, I’m exhausted and a headache is brewing. Especially once I realize I still need to start my transcriptions of them all before I head home. I give a low groan, but stiffen my resolve and put on my headphones and get to work. Hopefully I can get out of here before it’s too late.

I lose track of time as I work, until I finally realize how stiff I am, and how tired my fingers are. I slowly straighten, groaning at the pain in my muscles. Damn it, how long was I sitting like that for? I glance at the clock on the computer. Shit, it’s after eight o’clock. I should have gone home an hour ago. No wonder I’m so stiff and sore. I’ve been working for over three hours straight.

I pull my headphones from my ears, stand, and stretch. It feels damn good, and I let out a low moan. I definitely am going to need a hot bath when I get home to release some of the tension in my aching muscles. I see the hallway lights are dimmed. It’s not the first time I’ve stayed this late, but considering that I wasn’t planning on it, I’m starving, and my bladder is about to burst. So I guess bathroom first, and then I’ll head home.

I leave the office and head quickly down the hall. By the time I emerge, I run into one of the night guards, Dwain, who looks at me in surprise but then smiles and remarks, “Working late again, Eden?” He’s a good looking man, in his earlier forties and he keeps himself in shape. He and his wife have been together since high school, and he’s so utterly devoted to her that it’s sweet to watch him light up when I talk to him about her.

“Afraid so,” I reply ruefully. “I thought you were taking some time off this week?”

“Got a few bills I need to pay so thought I would pick up some extra shifts,” he replies as we start walking back down the hall. “Daisy wants to go to Vegas for a week away, so I’m trying to save up a bit of cash as well to surprise her.”

“I’m sure she’ll be excited,” I say with a wide smile. “But don’t be working yourself to the bone either. Vegas isn’t going anywhere.”

He smiles at me. “And I know that, but she’s been working damn hard lately, and I want to spoil her a bit.”

“She’s lucky to have you, Dwain.”

He shrugs, a blush making his neck red. “I think it’s the other way around, Eden. I’m damn lucky to have her. She keeps me going most days.” We reach my office area, and he gives me a parting smile and then continues on. I stare after him for a moment. I wonder what it would be like to have a man that devoted to me. An image of Viper pops into my head at that, but I push that away immediately.

Nope, not going there. After last night, I woke up this morning, determined to make sure I keep Viper firmly out of my mind and at the very edge of my life. I have a feeling he’s going to try to worm his way in, but I can keep him at arms length. I didn’t reply to his text this morning when I woke up, and being so busy today he’s been off my mind, but now that it’s quiet and the day is almost over, here he is, trying to intrude my thoughts.

Nope, can’t allow that to happen. So I need to finish up and get the hell home. Maybe call Sadie, or even my mother if I’m really desperate to talk to someone. My parents and I aren’t all that close, but my mother at least will try to understand. My father is a professor back home, and he keeps his nose in old stuffy books rather than the real world. Including his only child’s life. My mother is a former teacher, but when I came along she left her job to be a stay at home mother. We were close growing up, but as I grew up and started to be more loud and open than quiet and reserved like her, she struggled to understand me. When I finally moved out, it was a breath of relief to feel like I could be truly myself without disappointing her, but the problem is that my mother still struggles that I’m not quiet and introverted like she and my father. She thinks I’m too loud and that I take unnecessary risks. My father couldn’t care less, of course. Now, we don’t talk as much, and it’s pretty awkward at times, but I have hope we’ll get back to where we were when I was young.

I walk into my office and push all thoughts of my mother and Viper out of my mind as I finish printing all the final documents that need to be filed. I quickly file them, but curse when I realize one of the ones I printed is for Judge Brown’s office from the other day that I forgot about. Shit. I need to make sure it gets done right away so that there are no delays in any paperwork that might need to be done.

I glance at it, and I freeze when I realize it’s the transcript of my conversation between the judge and Archer MacKenzie. Of course it would be this one. I hesitate on whether to wait until the morning, but I know it’s going to bother me all night if I don’t do it now. Shit. I glance at my phone. Well, it’s already heading toward nine, so what’s another few minutes?

Thankfully, the filing area for Judge Brown isn’t far from my own office. I pause when I reach it and realize the door is open. Odd, but then again, sometimes the Judges stay late to finish up reviewing cases, and I know he has a rather large criminal case coming up for a murder trial. I won’t disturb him. I’ll just quietly file the paperwork and then get the hell out of here. I quietly go in, but before I can reach the filing cabinet, I stop when I hear a voice that definitely isn’t Judge Brown’s.

Who is he meeting with this late? I don’t recognize the voice, so it’s not someone who works here. My curiosity gets the better of me and I eavesdrop on the conversation, but it’s when I really start to understand what they’re discussing that my blood runs cold and I realize just what kind of danger I’ve stepped into.

“You and I can have a lucrative relationship, Judge,” a deep voice says, a Russian accent thick enough that it’s easily recognizable. “All you need to do is make sure that my men are in the clear and all your debts are paid off and you’ll be able to take your lovely wife on all the vacations and shopping sprees she’s ever dreamed of.”

“As much as I would love that, how am I going to suddenly explain the sudden money?” Judge Brown asks shrewdly. “I do this and I could land myself in the slammer with you and your men. And I have no desire to do such a thing.”

“You have no need to worry, Judge. I protect those that work for me,” the voice promises smoothly. “Including those that ensure my men are doing the work they are meant to and not sitting in places they shouldn’t be. So do we have a deal?”

“As long as you can make sure that nothing comes back on me, we have a deal,” Judge Brown agrees, sounding smug. I hear the sound of a handshake, and my stomach sinks. God, Judge Brown has just accepted bribes to keep some local thug and his men out of jail. What the hell is going on here? This isn’t some big city courthouse, so who the hell would have that kind of money or empire that they can afford to do that? God, I don’t want to think about it.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Judge,” the Russian voice says politely. “However, I would like to ask you for a favor.”

“Yes?”

I have to bite back a gasp when I hear the next part. And everything in me is screaming to run. To get out of here before I hear something else I shouldn’t. But I don’t. I silently pull out my phone and start an audio recording, careful to keep it as quiet as possible. I can’t have them hear me in here or else I’m in deep shit. And as wild as I am, I don’t have a death wish.

“The Devil’s Soldiers. What do you know about them?” the Russian asks casually.

---