Page 30 of Indiscretion

“I’m pretty sure she almost didn’t. And I was this close to hiring her on the spot during the interview, too. Luckily, something held me back.”

“Did she tell you why she lost her license?”

“Felony assault.”

“She tell you the details?”

“No. And I didn’t ask for them. I can’t hire a damn disbarred attorney.”

“I get that you feel that way. If I didn’t know Naomi as well as I do, I would probably feel the same. But Naomi is a good person.”

“Who…assaults people.”

“It was one person.”

“Who the hell did she assault?” I shook my head. “You know what? I don’t even want to know. It doesn’t matter. My gut told me not to even interview her, and I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t played games.”

“Sorry, man. I was only trying to help. Naomi is really smart. Lily really wanted to hire her to work for the City, but the DA couldn’t get past the felony.”

“Because the DA issmart.” I shook my head again. “I gotta go. Thanks for wasting my time.” I hung up without waiting for a response and tossed my cell on my desk.

Hours later, back at home, I still couldn’t shake my angry feelings. I kept replaying all my interactions with Naomi, over and over in my head. What was I looking for? I wasn’t sure. But a forty-five-minute run, followed by a half hour of weightlifting, didn’t do shit to help me relax. I felt…restless, the same way I felt during a trial when things weren’t going my way and the case was soon going to the jury.

After a hot shower, I attempted to do some work. Lord knows I had enough to keep me busy for a solid three months now that I had no staff and no partner. But I couldn’t focus. My eyes kept moving from the motion I should be drafting in Word to the Google icon at the bottom of the laptop screen.

I’d told Ben I didn’t want to know Naomi’s story, but that was the anger talking. And maybe even a bit of disappointment. I was way too curious of a person to put this shit to rest without knowing more. Though I reread the first paragraph of the motion on my screen three more times, giving it the good ol’ college try for another ten minutes. But eventually I gave in. Toggling the mouse down to the bottom of the screen, I double clicked the Google icon.

“What the fuck am I doing?” I grumbled as I typed into the search bar. N-A-O-M-I H-E-A-R-T

A shit ton of results came back. The very first headline gave me what I was looking for, and I stared at it a long time. I don’t know what I’d been expecting, but it definitely wasn’t:

Richmond County Assistant District Attorney Naomi Heart arrested for assaulting an innocent man.

What the fuck?

I needed to know who the hell she’d assaulted.

I clicked into the article, dated a year ago, November 3rd, and started scanning.

Naomi Heart, 28, an assistant district attorney at the Richmond County DA’s office, was charged last night with one count of assault. At 5:05 PM on November 3rd, officers responded to a 9-1-1 call at the Richmond County Family Court. According to court records, Ms. Heart was previously the lead prosecutor on a criminal case involving the victim. The victim was transported to Our Lady of Lords Hospital in Richmond.

I clicked into the next link, and it opened to a picture of a man in a wheelchair. His face had been blurred out to protect his privacy. The caption read: Victim of ADA’s violent assault leaves MKC Rehabilitation Center.

Jesus Christ. Violent assault? Is the guy paralyzed?

I scrolled through a half-dozen articles. All of them gave the same type of information—previously the lead prosecutor, assault, arrest. But I didn’t find anything that explained what had happened, or said anything about the trial since the media won’t release the victim’s name without permission. Eventually, I went to the Virginia State Bar website and found the disciplinary section. Typing Naomi’s name into the search bar, I came up with a hit.

By Order entered February 1st, the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board revoked Naomi Heart’s license to practice in the Commonwealth of Virginia. So ordered based upon her affidavit that consented to revocation. By tendering her consent at a time when a disciplinary complaint, investigation, and proceeding was pending, Heart unequivocally acknowledged the material facts of the complaint to be true and acknowledged that she had no successful defense for her actions.

So she didn’t even fight being disbarred?

More searching revealed that she’d also plead no contest to felony assault in exchange for a reduced sentence of probation and community service. The last article I read had a picture of her coming out of the courthouse. Her face was partially shielded by a jacket she held up, but there was no doubt it was her.

Damn.Not only had I been close to hiring her, but I’d also really liked her, after our initial altercation. She was funny, sort of quirky, and didn’t put up with my shit. Not to mention, she was drop-dead gorgeous.

I stared at her photo a few minutes longer.

What the hell is your story, Naomi Heart?I’d spent the last ten years of my life reading people, mostly criminals, and I was damn good at knowing when I was only getting half the information. Something told me there was a lot more to Naomi Heart than met the eye.

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