Page 26 of Contention

Even as she’s thinking about all the ways she can earn her own glory winning the case, a certain image keeps popping up in her memory. Just a flash, a brief moment. A glimpse, reminding her how quickly it made her fast beating heart nearly leap out of her chest like a bat out of hell.

It was the way Calais’s throat moved when he swallowed. In the car. A small crack in that wall of pure indifference, a taste of something that just didn’t fit the image. His neck, unmarred, perfect, it would have been easy to lean over and sink her tee-

No.

Kara snarls, storming into the bathroom to brush her teeth, wishing she could brush Nicholas Havenwood-Calais and his stupid long blueblood name from her mind.

One of these days, Kara,she thinks,you’re going to have to stop with the self-abuse.

Because if you don’t, you’ll end up just like Mom.

{razorblades and pills}

And you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.

Chapter 9

Court crawls at a snail’s pace in the morning, despite ending by noon. The split defense has them working against Sunshine, Rugby, and their shady client, Debbie’s abusive Dom, Max Dotaire. It’s either good or bad that Paxton Brooker’s case has now been postponed due to hinging on the outcome of Max’s.

A motion had been made, apparently after hours, that the direct threat against Paxton Brooker and theDark Miragemade it necessary for the defensive team split, along with time for the defense to re-align their defensive strategy due to this unexpected issue. Derrick had scoffed at the ruling; he didn’t believe Judge Canry should have given Calais such a large gap of time to prepare.

It seemed…biased.

“He’s got a fancy old name and knows far too many people. Not to mention his damn mother sits like an old dragon on her east coast judge seat. What did you expect, Derrick?” Bob, as it were, hadn’t been surprised in the least.

Debra Mills got on the stand to discuss her ‘sessions’ with Max Dotaire and for the most part, it went relatively well. Max ended up looking like a sadist on a power trip by the end of it. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, Debra had agreed to work with him continually. The jury still looked skeptical on the issue of rape, considering Debra apparently had an on-and-off sexual relationship with Max.

A sexual relationship…which came out on the stand. Awkwardly. Rugby was been bursting with joy as he pulled that painful little detail out of Debra. Bob had stifled a groan of dismay next to Kara, rubbing his eyes in frustration. Debra hadn’t disclosed this to them.

When Judge Canry finally closed the session for the day, Kara used the time to call a mechanic to come take her car away for fixing. One less thing to worry about. At least the sun was shining today. After her car got towed off, she went to meet Derrick and Bob for lunch to discuss the events in court earlier.

“That was a burning garbage dump, that’s what it was,” Bob says through his food stuffed mouth, still irritated over the little detail that their client had neglected to mention.

Kara pushes at the fish on her plate. “It wasn’t that bad. Dotaire doesn’t look like a saint.”

Derrick is texting, leaning back in his chair, his steak sitting untouched in front of him. He seems stressed and Kara can’t help but wonder what’s been bothering him so terribly these past few days. Derrick doesn’t look up from his phone when he says, “Neither does our client, Kara. This will end up being the dreaded ‘he said, she said’ flop if we don’t button this up fast.”

Biting her lip, Kara feels a little bad for Debra. It had to have been sucky to admit that she’d been with Max Dotaire before the allegations. But now her own prosecution team had doubts about her? “She was embarrassed to say anything to us. It’s an embarrassing situation.”

Bob scoffs, flopping his burger onto his plate. His belly pushes at the table edge. “Oh, bosh. I don’t care if she has to admit to fucking five dudes at once while on the stand; she just better tell us first before it comes out and we all look like we’ve been bent over a table.”

Derrick’s eyes flicker up from his phone screen. “Bob.Enough.”

The senior associate rolls his eyes dramatically. “Oh no, HR, take me away. By the way, Kara. Didn’t you mention that the PI actually found something useful for us to use?”

Nodding, Kara takes a bite of honey roasted carrot, humming her pleasure as she does so. Man, she loves when Derrick takes them out for lunch. “I’m not sure if it’s going to implicate Max Dotaire, Paxton Brooker, or both. The PI mentioned he found a woman that had signed a gag order. She had gone to a place called ‘The Room’.”

Derrick’s brow furrows and he pauses in writing an email on his phone. “Huh. That sounds ominous. Are we going to set up an appointment? Will she meet with us? Better yet, is she going to talk?”

Kara nods eagerly, desperate to give him some good news, desperate to make up for her failings the other day. “Yes. To all of it.”

Her boss smiles, the soft lines around his eyes crinkling. “That’s what I like to hear. Get it set up for the weekend.”

It’s like a weight is lifted from her chest; he’s finally pleased with her again.

Derrick’s gaze returns to his phone and his eyes harden a bit. It’s on the tip of Kara’s tongue to ask him if it’s about his partner, Gale Clarke. How Calais had mentioned offhand that Gale was breaking off from being partnered with Derrick. Kara looks at Bob and mouths Gale’s name silently.

Bob grimaces, shaking his head quickly.Don’t ask.

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