Page 28 of The Devil's Advocate

Chandler drew a gray tongue over his teeth. Then spoke slowly, every word coated in venom.

‘I will withdraw the contempt if Flynn apologizes to this court, and to the district attorney. Now.’

Kate said nothing.

I said nothing. I flicked my eyes straight ahead at Judge Chandler.

He stared right back. His jaw set.

‘Eddie …’ whispered Kate.

‘What are you doing here? I thought you had your big divorce case.’

‘We settled late last night. Harry called this morning. Said I needed to get here fast to save your ass. So, I’m here. Saving your ass. Just swallow it down and apologize. It doesn’t mean anything. We’ve got to work smarter here. Not harder.’

‘I don’t like this town. I don’t like this judge. And I hate the DA and his big ass assistant.’

‘I know all of that, but this isn’t about you. It’s about Andy Dubois.’

I nodded. She was right, but it didn’t make it any easier.

‘Your Honor, I apologize for my earlier remarks,’ I said.

‘Case dismissed,’ said the judge, and he rose and left, his right hand shaking in a tight fist.

Korn picked up his papers, and as he was leaving, he said, ‘I hope you don’t get any foolish ideas about trying to mount a defense for Andy Dubois.’

‘Like I said, Andy is innocent.’

‘Andy is going to fry,’ said Korn. ‘One way or another.’

CHAPTER TWELVE

EDDIE

At five o’clock in the afternoon, sweaty, sore and bleeding, carrying my property in a clear plastic bag, Kate escorted me out of the front door of the courthouse into the last hours of atomic sun.

‘Thank you,’ I said.

‘You and Harry have a capacity for getting yourselves into trouble. I knew this case would bring its fair share, but I didn’t think it would happen this quickly. This must be a new record, even for you,’ she said.

‘I try to better myself at every available opportunity.’

‘You should try keeping your head down. Harry has been filling us in on the Andy Dubois case. That kid needs all the help he can get. Royally pissing off the judge who will be presiding over Andy’s murder trial isn’t the way to do things.’

‘I know, but I needed to see Andy. And besides, pissing off judges is kinda my thing. How else am I going to enjoy myself?’

Bloch sat behind the wheel of a dark blue Chevrolet SUV, Harry in the passenger seat beside her. I held the rear door open for Kate, she got in and I followed her inside. The AC in the car wasn’t even switched on.

‘Could you put the air conditioning on? I don’t do well in the heat.’

Bloch said nothing. Harry began adjusting a knob on the dash, turning on the AC. Bloch glared at him, shut off the air conditioning, then pulled a small lever that cracked open my rear window two inches.

‘AC is bad for you,’ said Bloch. She turned the wheel and took us into the light traffic of Buckstown.

‘When did you get in?’ I asked.

‘About an hour before you were due in court. It was tight. Bloch managed to get us a place in town. Harry tells me you guys had some problems with accommodation.’