Page 29 of The System

“Anyone else?”

“Lots of distant cousins. That’s about it. I haven’t tried to contact them, and I probably won’t. At least, definitely not for a while. I just thought I might find my birth mother or father, and, I guess, technically, I could now. If I have second and third cousins out there, I can meet them, ask questions, and trace it back to my birth parents, but the idea of doing that now, with everything else that’s going on and with my mom feeling not so great about all of this, is just too much.”

“This won’t go on forever, Kieran. It will be resolved soon, and then, you can search for them, if you want.”

“I don’t even know if I want to meet them now. For the past six or so years, I’ve thought about it but never truly decided what I wanted to do. Getting my DNA tested was the first step, but I never expected that to lead to this.” She looked at Carina. “Why did you want to be a prosecutor? You said something before about billable hours, but that can’t be the only reason.”

“It’s not,” she said, shaking her head. “I had offers and could’ve gone anywhere, but I chose the DA’s office. I wanted to represent the people and put bad guys behind bars.”

“Back to black and white, huh? Good guys always go free, and bad guys–”

“I’m not as naïve as when I first started out. I’m forty years old now. I’ve learned that justice isn’t always served equally. But I try to be the good part of the system every day and do what I can to make sure the bad guys can’t do any more bad whenever I can.”

“You said you needed a drink earlier,” Kieran recalled.

“Yes. I had to listen to a rapist try to convince me that it was consensual sex when it was anything but consensual, and I have the evidence to prove it. This morning, I talked to the victim. She had to give her statement to me and his defense attorney. I hate making women go through this over and over again. I was meeting with him and his attorney to try to get him to plead so that she wouldn’t have to take the stand, but he’s insistent and wants to go to trial.”

The bartender approached with their drinks, set them down, and walked off without a word.

“That’s got to be tough,” Kieran said.

“It’s probably the hardest part of the job, but it’s a job worth doing. So, I do it, and then I come to a place like this, have a glass of my favorite red, and try to decompress before I do it all again tomorrow. So, let’s talk about something else over our drinks, if you don’t mind.”

“I understand,” Kieran said.

“Diego is a big fan of yours,” Carina noted, smiling at her before she picked up her wineglass.

Kieran laughed and said, “It’s that obvious?”

“The hand on the back, how he looks when you correct me and tell me to call you Kieran instead of using his last name, or saying ex-husband instead of husband? Yeah, it’s obvious.”

“I guess he’s not moving on as quickly as I would’ve hoped.”

“But you are, and it’s bothering him?”

“I haven’t moved on romantically or anything; I just moved on. And I think it’s really hitting him now that I’m not coming back.”

“Ending a marriage is hard.”

“You’re divorced, too?” Kieran asked.

“No. I’ve had a long-term relationship, though. Three years was the longest one so far, so not exactly married for a long time, but ending anything long-term is tough. I have an ex-girlfriend still staying with me in my guest room, so I know how it is when someone doesn’t move on, and you’re ready to.”

“Girlfriend?” Kieran asked. “Sorry, that’s none of my business.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m a lesbian. We were together for a little over a year before we broke up, and now I can’t get her to leave.” Carina sipped her wine. “I gave her one more month, so we’ll see if she listens this time.”

“Can’t you just kick her out if it’s your house? Or do you own or rent it together?”

“No, it’s mine, but I’m trying to exercise patience.”

“You’re a better person than me, then.” Kieran laughed.

“Oh, I doubt that. I just watched you give a sister you just met a hundred bucks, after what was probably not the best first meeting, just so she’d be okay in jail. I’d say you’re doing something right.”

CHAPTER 10

“Hi.”

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