Page 11 of Free to Judge
I snap around. A court officer eyes me with thinly veiled disgust. “You pressing charges?”
I let the thought circle in my mind. Then, like a ruthless sovereign, decree Kalie Marshall’s fate. “Take her to the station. I’ll let you know.”
The officer’s sneer cuts through the tension. “I figured you’d say something like that.”
I don’t say anything. Choosing—as is the better choice in the world I presently inhabit—to let my silence speak for me.
He snickers. “Still, the lady’s right hook is something else.”
I glare as fiercely as I can, forcing him into a hasty retreat. Deep down, I admit he’s right. I never would have imagined my attending a Harvard Law graduation just so I could hear a speaker would lead to my meeting a woman.
Nor did I predict the way our lives would diverge in the manner they have now.
I rub the unexpected ache in my jaw. The raven-haired dynamo packs a shockingly powerful punch. It wasn’t as brutal as the beatings I endured while working for the bureau, nor thetorturous trials I took back in the early days proving my “loyalty” to the Byrnes scion. Yet, I’m still caught off guard that Kalie managed to clip me, but good.
I was unaware of the vicious torment occurring to Kalie's cousin—an exceptional ER doctor. Instead, under my cover as the Byrnes’ family’s lawyer—silently passing along information to my actual boss—I began building up a reputation for being able to get their soldiers and enforcers off using my brains instead of threats.
It got me noticed, giving me more access and helping to facilitate my own agenda.
Still, I wasn’t expecting what happened next. Since there was a business tie between the Byrnes and the Tiberis, they called in a marker. Suddenly, I was being ordered to represent thepezzi di merda.Since I wasn’t in any way associated with the raid in Darien—something the Tiberifamigiliaconsidered fortunate—it appeared to be a legitimate business transaction.
The only benefit is the extremely long leash the Byrnes gave me by sending me to Darien after they entrusted me with the defense. In fact, this case has taken so long that I’ve been asked to check up on their business interests “as a favor.”
The Byrnes ordered me to do it.
Favor, my ass. With most of their crew either dead or behind bars, the entire outfit is in danger of crumbling. Which is just how myrealbosses want it.
As much as their family may be in the dark, the late-night strategy sessions I’ve had with my true bosses led to the necessity of getting Sal Tiberi released to keep the least dangerous of the rackets functioning without getting my handsany dirtier than they are while we continue to funnel more critical information to the Feds.
While avoiding having my head chopped off in the process.
Now, the Byrnes assume I’m playing nice with the Tiberis. The Tiberis are overjoyed I managed an actual break in what was presumably an airtight case. Neither has the slightest idea that I’m secretly aligning with federal prosecutors to bury them so deep in the penal system that retribution becomes impossible.
Still, as Kalie is dragged away in handcuffs, bitter remorse tugs at me—hating how her unwavering loyalty to her family has snared her into this mess. The reality is, I do know members of her family far better than she would appreciate. I suspect by the time she’s done being fingerprinted, her connections will bail her out—long before she ever sees a real holding cell.
Impassively, I continue dabbing at my lip as the crowd disperses, and only when they vanish entirely does the tension leach from my muscles. The last thing I need is further attention.
Not now, of all times.
“You okay?” my direct supervisor, Jonathan Lockwood, asks quietly. I’ve been on the Hudson Investigation payroll for years now, trading my badge for a broader, potentially lethal cover that let me weave through the murky depths of the Byrnes family’s operations.
My thoughts flash back to the long-ago night at Director Holder’s office when I received a text from a shadow account. Without the tech wizards at Hudson Investigations, it’s a certainty my cover would have crumbled under the first computer upgrade.
But here I am, years later, still alive.
“I didn’t expect to run into your family,” I murmur.
Jon’s heavy exhale bristles with frustration. His reason for being at court today to testify for another case gave us an opportunity to meet in person. While we try not to meet in public too often, it would seem odd if our pathsnevercrossed. “Yeah. If I’d known Kalie was going to be here, I wouldn’t have paraded you around.”
I work my jaw from side to side slowly, barely concealing my dark amusement. “Who would’ve thought the biggest reaction to seeing me would come from your cousin?”
“You’d be surprised,” he replies, his eyes deep with unspoken history I can’t penetrate. “Sometimes you have to worry most about the smallest members of my family.”
I maintain a blank face, but her word “traitor” echoes violently in my mind, repeating over and over.
That label has haunted me since the rumors began to swirl about me. It hardly mattered if they were whispered, shouted, or spat in a thousand tongues. It was the price I agreed to pay to find out what happened to Tanya. Worth every ounce of pain, in my opinion. Yet those in the know—those who’d have a target in between their eyes if the truth escapes before we’re done—know I fought for something far larger than my own judgment.
“We’ve got your back,” Jon murmurs.
