Page 60 of Fifty-Fifty

I had no doubt that if she was convicted she wouldn’t survive twenty-five to life in Bedford Hills Correctional. As prisons go, it’s not bad. There are much worse. But it’s still a maximum-security facility. The only max-security prison for women in the state. From the outside you can see the razor-wire-topped fences and what looks like an old Victorian house beyond. It’s a large facility once you get inside, with buildings in a circular shape surrounding the exercise yards and training areas. Sofia would be placed on suicide watch – but not forever. I knew, first chance she got she would check out. Either deliberately, or she’d cut too deep and that would be it.

Sofia brought a tray of cookies from the kitchen. We ate and drank while I gave her an update on what was going to happen in court the next day. It looked like she understood – but maybe didn’t fully appreciate – the turn the case could take if the hearing went badly.

Harper and I thanked her for the cookies, and we left her clutching her blue rabbit for comfort.

That was yesterday. Today was the beginning of the fight to keep her out of jail. The opening skirmish. And it had to go in our favor.

Her life was on the line. The only way to save it was to make sure we got a ‘Not Guilty’ from the jury. The pieces used to make that verdict a reality would be set in play this morning, in this courtroom.

I had copies of the motions under my arm, and I dumped them on the defense table. Harry had his copies, which he placed beside mine, and took a seat next to me. He looked around the room.

‘It’s weird being on this side of the judge’s bench,’ said Harry.

‘You’ve had four weeks of retirement, don’t tell me you’re starting to regret it now,’ I said.

‘I didn’t say that, I just said it’s weird,’ said Harry, who then used his feet to rock back on his chair, and locked his fingers together over his stomach. He had put some weight back on, and I was glad of it. It made him look more solid, curved out some of the lines on his face. We’d had a lot of late nights working on these motions, and those nights usually ended in Scotch and pizza at three in the morning in my office, with Harry’s dog snatching the pizza crusts we tossed him. That dog would eat anything.

There was no one else in the courtroom. I liked to get there early. Get my seat.

Get a feel for the room. Plus, I liked watching my opponents show up and find

me already there – established and ready. It was a psychological thing. A subtle form of manipulation. I wanted my opponent to feel like they were stepping into my house.

‘How do you think things will go today?’ said Harry.

‘Depends on the judge,’ I said.

‘I tried my old clerk three times, and she wouldn’t tell me which judge was taking the case. Said she couldn’t. She was sworn to secrecy. Loyalty ain’t what it used to be.’

The doors at the back of the court opened, and I heard footsteps approaching.

One pair of heels, and one pair of boots. I turned and saw Kate Brooks marching down the aisle, with a tall lady in a leather jacket behind her. Hardly the entourage I’d expected from Levy, Bernard and Groff.

Kate took a seat at the next defense table, furthest from the central aisle.

Across the aisle was the table reserved for the prosecution. In front of us was a raised plinth, a mahogany bench and behind that a high-backed leather armchair

flanked by the American flag.

Kate said, ‘Hi,’ as she passed my table.

Harry stood up and introduced himself, ‘I’m Harry Ford. Consultant with Eddie Flynn. And you are?’

‘Kate Brooks, from Brooks Law. That’s my investigator behind you, Bloch.’

Harry turned around, and the tall lady with short black hair and the biker jacket shook hands with Harry. ‘Ex-law enforcement, I presume?’ said Harry.

Bloch nodded.

‘Sorry, I didn’t get your first name, Miss Bloch,’ said Harry.

Bloch merely nodded in agreement. Harry sat his ass down.

I got up and went around to Kate’s table. She stood behind it, arranging her papers. From her bag, she took out five different colored pads of Post-It notes and five different colors of highlighters and began arranging them. I didn’t want to disturb her, but I wanted to make sure I’d heard her correctly.

‘You said Brooks Law, right?’

‘Right. I left Levy, Bernard and Groff about a month ago.’