Page 68 of Honorable Convictions
“You’re incorrect, Cavendish,” Mitchell commented in a voice that he’d managed not to raise, though his blood was boiling. “There is no Juris Knight more capable than Murphy. He’s exactly the right person to represent us.”
“Something about this guy you’re fucking is changing you,” Noah accused. “Now you’re advocating for someone like Murphy? He’s been stealing your spotlight for decades, and we all know it. He must’ve kissed the ass of the RKs to get so much special treatment. A couple of months in DC doing shit nothing but traveling around, and now he gets to decide how many cases he gets? None of us has ever been given that opportunity. In fact, we can’t keep up with what we have, but every fucking day we’re handed new ones.”
“Unfair, Cavendish,” Peter remarked while Mitchell swallowed the rage choking him. “You might not like Murphy, but he’s some kind of fucking phenom…genius or whatever. Have you ever asked him a question about any damn thing related to work? He’s like a fucking computer with statistics, precedents, and laws. I’d try to think of the most obscure shit I’d seen or dealt with to stump him. Never happened. Be unhappy if you want that he’s the liaison, but it’s idiotic to pretend like he’s a giant ass-kisser who didn’t earn his way to the top on his own merit.”
“What’s with you guys taking up Murphy’s cause?”
“I’m being honest, which is something you should be as well. Stop letting your opinion of Murphy influence your thought processes. That’s dangerous for a JK, and you know better.”
“It’s nearly dishonorable,” Mitchell added quietly.
“For fuck’s sake, we’re fallen knights. We are incapable of being corrupt,” Noah sputtered.
“Doesn’t keep us from being jerks,” Peter retorted. “If you don’t like Murphy that’s fine, but it’s not necessary to talk shit about him. VK Roman is right, we need to have harmony around here. I’ve been thinking about it a lot and you know, it’s pretty shitty that we treated Murphy so fucking bad that he asked to be transferred away.”
“It’s hardly fair to put all the blame on us. You weren’t there when he was first assigned to headquarters, and I was. From the moment he walked through the doors, he thought he was better than everyone and kept his distance while looking down his nose. I’m not ever going to like Murphy,” Noah growled and stalked out of Mitchell’s office.
“You think he needs to get laid or something?” Peter asked.
“He keeps it up and he’s more likely to get a punch in the face.”
Peter’s brows lifted. “He really pissed you off.”
“We’ve got a fellow JK returning after asking to be transferred out of the most prestigious office in the entire Order of the Fallen Knights. You don’t do that on a whim.”
“Without him having any friends around here, it’s impossible to know exactly why he needed out, but it’s not hard to imagine that he got fed up with something.”
“And let’s face it, we all contributed to making his work environment toxic. I helped with that, and it makes me feel really shitty,” Mitchell revealed. “I’d talk about him behind his back and cross swords with him every time I saw him. I don’t want to be part of the reason any of my coworkers are miserable. I’m going to do everything possible to meet with him first thing, so we can start fresh.”
“I applaud you on that. I’m certainly willing to treat him kindly. And as much as I like Noah, he and some of the other older JKs might not ever get over their issues with Murphy.”
“They won’t have a choice if the VKs and RKs keep a close eye on things in our group.”
“You want to know what I think? You and I got here by working our asses off across different cities to earn our spots. Murphy was one of those rare wunderkinds that went straight to headquarters. First fallen knight to graduate with perfect scores and I bet RK Drystan and the VKs were happy to sing his praises. Those that were here and had earned it like us…I think they were jealous as fuck. I’ve been thinking about this because Noah’s been working my last nerve with his complaints about him. From the shit he says, I’d guess they wanted the new sensation to fall flat on his face. Murphy does the fucking opposite.”
Letting that sink in, Mitchell couldn’t fault Peter’s logic. It was likely the same thing that had gotten under Wade’s skin during training. The same guy who’d puked his way through three days of resurrection sickness had their superiors swooning with delight from his first test. Mitchell had fallen into the same trap of envying Pierson’s success.
When his mate encountered personal situations he didn’t know how to handle, he turned inward, which gave people the impression that he thought himself above everything. The truth was that Pierson—even after all his accolades and awards—was unaware of his magnificence. The Juris Knight had blushed his way through assisting Mitchell with putting up his plaques and other commendations.
“I see your point.”
“Of course you can, Brooks. I’m close to a genius myself.”
“That’s stretching things. And I meana lot.”
“Are you okay with Murphy being the JK representative and acting as liaison? I know plenty of people have told you that you’re better suited to the job, and I’m not saying that you’re not, but I don’t think it’s enough to start up new attacks on him.”
“From what we’ve heard from other JKs, he’s doing a great job. And honestly, I think it’d be fun to get to know some of them better since we generally only meet them in courtrooms or talk cases over the phone, but the liaison thing would get boring after a while. You’re repeating the same material and eating up time that you could be working on helping society. If I’d been the one selected, I think I’d take forever to complete the training because I’d refuse to devote more than a couple of hours a week.”
“Yeah, I guess we’re foolishly adding glamor and prestige to something that is essentially a repetitive chore.”
“Not to say that it isn’t important.”
“You kidding? People I’ve talked to are so happy that fallen knights are getting what Murphy’s teaching them and applying the requirements to their cases. It’s something that should’ve been addressed ages ago, but we all know we’re underrepresented.”
“And Murphy finally points that out to our superiors,” Mitchell said. “Instead of applauding his temerity, Cavendish and the other older JKs are bitching about him.”
Peter stood. “I’ve got work, but how was your weekend? You still doing great with your guy?”
