Page 17 of A Walking Shadow

“Macomber.”

“She’s good,” Sasha said. “She runs a tight ship. I’m surprised she got the case because she’s handling a massive monopoly trial right now.”

“Right, and Naya said that case is probably why the judge has already set a hearing date for us. She probably wants to get rid of the case. Maybe dismiss Simmons’ complaint and our counterclaim.”

“Maybe. Or maybe she’ll grant us judgment on the pleadings. The counterclaim is solid. If this is the bad news, I’m not so concerned.” She shrugged and sipped her coffee.

“That’s not the bad news.”

“Rip off the Band-Aid, Ellie.”

“The hearing’s the day after tomorrow.”

“This Friday?”

She nodded, wide-eyed. “That’s really fast, isn’t it?”

“It is. What else are you working on?” Sasha drained her mug in one long gulp and broke off another square of chocolate.

“I think the correct answer is I’ve cleared everything else off my plate.”

“Have you?”

“Not yet.”

“Go do that and then meet me in the small conference room.”

Ellie hurried out of the office. Sasha waited until she’d vanished from sight to let her head drop to the desk with a groan. There was no doubt Naya was right. Macomber absolutely wanted to get rid of this case, which meant she had until Friday morning to come up with a rock-solid argument why her counterclaim should be granted and Gray Simmons’ complaint should be dismissed.

Once upon a time, this challenge would have energized her. Now it exhausted her before she’d even started. She knew she’d get it done, but she also knew she’d be depleted all weekend. She hated that she wouldn’t be emotionally present for Connelly, who’d just been summarily fired. But she knew from experience she’d be a zombie.

Once this case was over, she’d make time to help her husband come to grips with his sudden unemployment. But now she had to focus, so she scooped up her files, undocked her laptop, and headed down the hall to her favorite conference room, the little one on the end where nobody would hear her blasting her pretrial playlist.

The remnantsof the lunch Caroline had ordered in from Sasha’s favorite Greek place littered the table and the looping playlist had long since faded into background noise, the pulsing beat no longer noticed but still driving Sasha and Ellie forward. It was one of Sasha’s favorite prep tricks, inspired by her long-ago mentor Noah’s ritual of watchingBraveheartbefore every trial. It kept the team pumped up, energized.

Ellie’s phone beeped and her laptop dinged simultaneously. Sasha lifted her head from the case she was reading and watched the junior attorney scan the notification.

“Gray Simmons got back to us about a meet and confer. He said he’d come here tomorrow morning so we can meet in person.”

“Sure, since he likes Jake’s coffee so much.”

Ellie gave her a puzzled look.

“I asked him what he was doing in the alleyway yesterday, and he told me he just happened to be in town for a meeting and stopped by for Jake’s coffee.” She snorted to make clear what she thought of that reason.

“It’s possible,” Ellie insisted. “Jake’s did make the Best of Pittsburgh list. It’s turning into a hot spot.”

“Maybe,” Sasha allowed. The recent pressmightmake the purported coincidence less suspect, but she still didn’t trust Gray Simmons. And surely there was a decent cup of coffee available somewhere between McMurray and Shadyside.

“Let’s go over the facts one more time,” she told Ellie. “Then I’ll call Daniel and?—”

This time, it was her notification that chimed. She read the message and smiled.

“What is it?” Ellie asked.

“I reached out to a friend in the U.S. Attorney’s Office. If this case does wrap up the day after tomorrow, I want to get Boone on their radar now so they can be prepared to file criminal charges right away, if that’s what they want to do.”

“Hit them fast.”

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