Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 95421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“Four years ago, at a mutual friend’s wedding. But he’s actually flying home today. His sister is getting married Saturday. So we’re going to get together before he goes back to India for the last six weeks. We’re having dinner Friday night.”
An uneasy feeling I didn’t like settled in the pit of my stomach.
“What about you?” Naomi reached over and stole one of my fries. When I looked at her, she halted with it halfway to her mouth. “Do you mind?”
“Does it matter? You already did it.”
She rolled her eyes. “You can take some of mine.”
“I don’t want salad. And clearly neither do you, even though you ordered it.”
“Get over it.”
Her attitude made me smile. “You’re going to fit right in, here in New York.”
Naomi pushed her salad around with her fork. “So what’s your New York story? I know you must’ve grown up in Connecticut since that’s where Ben is from, and you two have been friends forever. When did you move here?”
“I came for college. Went to Columbia for undergrad and wound up going to law school there, too. Never left.”
“I’m surprised you and Ben aren’t partners?”
I shook my head. “We both did a criminal prosecution externship here in the City the summer after our second year of law school. Emily did it, too.”
“You? Prosecution? Not defense?”
“I wanted to learn the tricks from the other side.”
“Is that how you met Emily?”
“No. Emily and I met in law school. I was first in our class, and she was second. I was editor-in-chief of moot court; she was editor-in-chief of law review. We competed against each other at every turn, but it made us both work harder, so we got a lot out of the rivalry. The day we graduated, she asked me if I was interested in going to work at her father’s firm with her. Her dad had been the Kings County DA for a decade before he opened his own practice. I figured I could learn a lot from him, so I took the job. A year later, Emily showed up at the office earlier than she normally did and caught her father getting a blow job from a first-year associate. He was married to her mother at the time. The shit hit the fan, Emily quit, and we decided to hang out a shingle together.”
“Boy, are all the lawyers like this in New York? Emily’s father was having an affair with an associate. You started sleeping with your partner. I’m sensing a theme here.”
I shrugged. “We work a lot of hours. I don’t know anyone in private practice who isn’t putting in ten or twelve hours a day. It doesn’t leave a lot of time for outside relationships.”
Naomi closed her plastic salad container. “I guess it’s a good thing I’m not an attorney anymore then. I’ll be safer at work.”
My eyes dropped to her lips. I wouldn’t be so sure of that.
I wadded the wrapper from my sandwich into a ball and tossed it into the bag everything had been delivered in, holding it out for Naomi to deposit her trash. Pushing back from the table, I stood. “Stop in my office when you’re ready. I’ll give you the Gregor case file, and you can work on getting a deposition scheduled. Maybe you can also go through it to see if anything else interesting pops out at you. You have a different perspective, coming from the DA’s office.”
“Okay. I’m just going to visit the ladies’ room first.”
A few minutes later, I was on the phone when Naomi came to my door. I was just finishing up, so I motioned to the file cabinet on the other side of my office. She took the hint and dug out the Gregor file. After, I held up a finger, telling her to wait while I got off the phone.
Naomi scanned the office, checking out the art on the walls, books on the shelves, and finally the one framed photo I had displayed. She pointed to it when I hung up, clearly about to ask a question, but I cut her off.
“I just wanted to tell you there’s a police interview that hasn’t been transcribed yet, so it’s not in the folder. The video itself is in the e-file, if you need it for any reason when you’re going over the case.”
“Okay, thanks.”
I thought I’d distracted her enough to forget about the photo, but apparently that was not the case. She motioned to the photo of me and Bailey, arm in arm. “Is this another sister?”
I shook my head. “I only have the one.”
Our eyes met. It looked like she was about to ask another question, so I beat her to the punch once again. “I have to make a call. Let me know if you find anything interesting in the Gregor file.”