Page 21 of Pursuit of Happiness

When Reinhardt called her case, she hurried to counsel table,while the bailiff led Ortiz to the chair next to hers. “Judge, I’m standing infor Alice Luther, who is ill,” Stevie said, deciding to risk his anger. “May Ihave a brief moment to confer with Mr. Ortiz?”

He glared at her, but she stared back at him, knowing fromexperience that showing weakness would only make him mad. She had a reputationfor fighting hard for her clients, and she knew Reinhardt respected hertenacity even when she threatened to throw his tight schedule off the rails.

“Very well,” Reinhardt said, waving a hand impatiently.

Stevie turned to Ortiz and shoved a copy of the PSR toward him.“I assume you know you failed the drug test,” she whispered.

“Yes.”

She flipped through the pages of the report until she got to thepart about his criminal history. She pointed at the extensive list. “Is any ofthis not true?”

He scanned the list and shook his head. “I’m not getting out, amI?”

“No. I can stand up and make some arguments, but the crime you’recharged with carries a presumption that you should be kept in custody untiltrial. There are a few exceptions, but you don’t qualify for any of them. Thebest thing to do is to set a trial date, get discovery from the prosecutor, andsee if you have a viable defense or if you can work out a deal.”

“Okay. Let’s do all that. I can handle myself inside.”

How refreshing to have a client who actually communicated withher. Too bad he wasn’t hers for the long run. For a second she consideredoffering to trade the Barkley case for this one, but something about WilliamBarkley intrigued her, and she wasn’t ready to give up on him just yet.

After Ortiz was squared away, Stevie walked out of the courtroomand scanned the hall, almost grateful Emily was nowhere in sight. She wanted toknow what she had to say about Barkley’s case, but she could find outlater—after she’d finished working on her motion. She headed for the elevator,eager to get back to the office, but Emily was waiting by the elevator bank.

“We need to talk,” she said, her tone ominous. “Do you have aminute to come by my office?”

Stevie hesitated for a second before giving in. She’d be workinglate this evening, but if she could get this meeting out of the way, maybe itwould clear a path for her to focus on everything else she had to do. “Sure.”

The prosecutors’ suite of offices was a lot like theirs. Lots ofyoung attorneys, bustling around, but the vibe was a little more tense, likethey were scared to show any signs of humanity lest it affect their ability toput people behind bars. She followed Emily past the cubicles to Emily’s office,one of the few that had a door, befitting her standing as a veteran AUSA. Shepurposely didn’t sit, hoping Emily would take the hint that she was in a hurry.

“That box is yours.” Emily pointed to a small box sitting on atable by her desk. “Don’t be fooled by the size. There’s a hard drive in there,a mirror image of the one we got from Folsom in response to our subpoena. It’spretty extensive.”

Great.Stevie managed a fake smile as she mentally factored a large document reviewinto her already overblown schedule. “Thanks. What’s up with the earlydiscovery? You have another couple of weeks before you have to produce thisstuff.”

Emily sighed heavily and steepled her fingers, pressing them toher lips like she was conflicted about whether to respond. Stevie’s inner voicewhispered that she should just go and get back to work on her motion, butcuriosity rooted her in place. They’d known each other a long time, and whilealmost all of their interaction had been in the role of adversaries, sherespected Emily as an opponent and a person. Stevie finally sat down in thechair across from her desk. “Spill.”

“The case agents asked me not to tell you yet, but it’s mydecision, not theirs.”

“You’re right about that,” Stevie said, hoping to urge her along.

“What your guy did was bad, and he’s looking at going away for awhile.” Emily tapped her fingers on the desk for a few seconds and then crossedher arms. “But we have reason to think that there’s a bigger problem withFolsom Enterprises.”

Stevie instantly perked up. “Like what?”

“I wish I could tell you specifics, but I can’t. At least notright now. Let’s just say we believe there are other leaks, but the company isstonewalling us.”

“I thought Folsom was fully cooperating with your investigationof my client.”

“They were, which makes their lack of assistance now prettyglaring,” Emily said.

“And you want to find out if Barkley knows anything about theseother leaks?”

“Yes. It could be very beneficial for him to talk to us.”

Stevie heard the unspoken promise. If Barkley ratted out hisemployer, the bigger fish, he could cut a deal for a better sentence. And if hedidn’t happen to know anything, well then, he was an unlucky bastard. Exactlythe conundrum she’d described to Meredith on their unofficial first date.“You’re going to have to give me something to work with here. I’m not going toask him to start spilling company secrets without an idea of what you’relooking for and some specific guarantees about what you’re willing to do if hehelps you.”

“What’s your general feel for him?”

Stevie spent a moment contemplating the question, and longerwondering how much she should share about the fact her client barelycommunicated with her, making the idea of him outing an entire conspiracyperpetrated by his former employer ludicrous at best. She skated the question.“He seems like a nice guy. Pretty young to be caught up in any of this.”

“Youth. I remember when idealism spurred us to action thatactually helped people instead of flipping off the establishment.”

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