Page 20 of Snap Shot

I groan aloud, resigning to her manipulations. “Fine. Jeez.”

“So you'll do it?”

“Yes.”

“No. Backing. Out.” She wags her index finger at me.

“No backing out,” I parrot.

Gathering evidence is easy enough. There's a handful of photographs and hundreds of articles, but nothing on personal social media is substantive. Over the course of the week, I try to corroborate the different stories, hoping one of Radek's teammates will crack and give me something. They won't talk to me. They grunt and huff through my interrogations. Loyal cavemen, every last one.

Shuffling papers to one side of the mahogany desk, I squeeze my temples with the thumb and middle finger of one hand. This headache is the kind where I'd usually lock the door, tell Bea to hold my calls, and blow off some steam with a silicone pocket rocket, but my office landline beeps. I hit the speaker button with my elbow. “Yeah?”

Bea coughs out anahem.“Landon Radek is here.”

Here we go. Laser-focus. You're not here to make friends. You already have those. You serve Lady Justice. You win, you make partner.Giachetti and Davé Law Associateshas a nice ring to it.

I push off the desk surface to stand and puff out a breath. “Bring him in.”

The door clicks open to Radek’s sparkling smile. How annoying and chipper. Bea blushes as she ushers him in, tittering through small talk. His eyes swim when they meet mine. Calm and inviting. Like lapping ocean waves on a sunny summer day. My heart flutters.

Ouch. I'm gonna need extra bandages for those scars.

Chapter 7: Like Poetry In Motion

Landon

That was weird.

If she acted like the embarrassed woman who saw my big guy a few minutes ago, it would’ve made sense. Sure, we'd been kids the last time we played puck. No wonder she looked familiar the other night. Had it really been fifteen years?

This wasn’t the Indi I knew. The shy, kind-hearted girl with sad brown eyes, hiding under hand-me-down gear and oversized clothes? Nowhere to be found. This Indi's all bangin' curves: perky tits, tiny waist, and a round ass I wanna sink my teeth into. The baby boner I had for her in grade seven has ballooned into a big boy boner. A man boner.

And she treated melike a stranger. I know the guys back then gave her a hard time, but it was different between us. I told her things I never told any of them. Things I hadn't told my family or closest friends until much later.

“Thefuck?” Cooke throws up his hands before balling his fists on his hips. “Unbelievable. She can't do that!”

“But she did.” A mindless reply. I'm too occupied with how her black skirt strains against that firm backside as it turns the corner. Her ass is like poetry in motion.I need to get laid. No, you absolutely do not, you dumb fuck. You and your hands are on your own.

“Giachetti promised me her best lawyer. If that's the best they can do…”

I hum, rubbing the bristly ends of my beard with my fingers. Maybe she's right and I don't know her. But Iknewher once and a part of me wants to know her again. As a lawyer, I mean. As a friend. Not, like,biblicallyknow.

Maybe when we're alone, she'll be the Indi I remember.

“If she's the best, set up an appointment.”

“You sure?” His head shakes. “I told you she was a hardass.”

“That's the kinda lawyer we want, right?”

—————

The following Thursday, I scan up the brick front building facing the river down the way from Parliament Hill. It's one of the older ones in this section of the city sitting alongside newer, low-rise, modern condos with black window frames and glass balconies.

Giachetti Law Associatesdisplays in gold, embossed text on the frosted privacy panel on the door of the suite, an ode to retro business entrances. I hit the bell. They buzz me in. We catch the attention of everyone we pass, in various stages of surprise and recognition as Marie, the receptionist, guides me through the short maze of desks.

The walk ends at Indi's secretary, who skitters about, straightening her desktop mid-chew of a club sandwich. She sweeps the mix of papers, pens, highlighters, used facial tissues, and a spilling bag of potato chips into a drawer. Marie's face goes from pink to red as her colleague jumps to stand, realizing too late that her camel-colored jacket's on inside-out. She shrugs it on the right way with a nervous smile.

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