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)
“Sixteen? What did he do?”
“Cybercrime. He hacked into his school’s grading and attendance system and planted a virus. They lost all the information for the last three years.”
“Was he trying to wipe out bad grades?”
Dawson shook his head. “That’s the nutty part. Kid is a straight-A student and doesn’t miss school. He just did it for fun. But when they traced it back to him, they got a search warrant to go through his computer and found that he was in the middle of trying to do the same thing to a cell phone company. It wasn’t even the company he had service with.”
“I’ve never understood why people do those types of things. What do they get out of it?”
“I’ll be asking that question when they get here. Because it feels like I’m missing something.”
The intercom in his office buzzed, and the receptionist’s voice came over. “Hi, Dawson. Your eight o’clock client is here.”
He looked at his watch. “Is the entire party here? Jared, his mother, Brendan—the other kid who was charged—and Will Archer, Brendan’s attorney?”
“They are.”
“Tell them I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
“Okay.”
Dawson looked me up and down and grinned. “How’d you sleep last night?”
“Like a baby. You?”
“Pretty good. My sheets smell like coconut though, so I woke up with a hard-on.”
I covered my mouth. “I hope you took care of it. It would be pretty inappropriate to go into a meeting with a sixteen-year-old like that.”
Dawson stood and walked—no stalked—toward me. “I was hoping you’d help me out with that.”
My eyes widened, yet I couldn’t get the grin off my face as I held up my hands, showing him my palms. “Stop right where you are, Reed.”
Shockingly, Dawson stopped in his tracks. “What? I was just going to the file cabinet.”
“You’re full of shit.”
He smirked. “Just let me near you for a minute. I’ll only cop a quick feel.”
I chuckled. “No way. We are not starting that in the office.”
He stuck his bottom lip out. “You’re no fun.”
“You have a troubled sixteen-year-old and his mother waiting for you, not to mention another attorney.”
“I’ll be quick.”
I shook my head. “Finish getting ready. I’ll go grab them, put them in the conference room, and see if anyone wants coffee. Also, I think we should keep things between us professional in the office.”
“Why?”
“Because this is my job, and I don’t want us to get into habits that will make it weird after…”
Dawson’s brows knitted. “After what?”
“Well, when we aren’t…doing this anymore.”
“When? So you’re already planning our demise?” He shook his head. “Maybe you can pencil it in on the calendar so I know when it’s happening too.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just…”
“Just what?”
“Your longest relationship was three months, Dawson. I’m being realistic and trying to protect myself. I need this job.”
“Fine. Whatever.” He walked back behind his desk and started rifling through papers, avoiding eye contact. “I’ll be in the conference room in ten minutes.”
Well, that had taken a turn. And now I felt bad. But we were in the office, and I really did want to do a good job. I’d talk to Dawson more about it later.
I went out to the lobby and introduced myself to everyone, then showed them all to the conference room and went to fetch coffee for Will Archer, the only one who wanted any. Dawson’s sixteen-year-old client looked more like Ryder’s age. He also seemed terrified. After only a few minutes in his company, I was pretty sure he was going to break down in tears during the meeting today. I’d had my share of young defendants. Even when they were guilty, it never felt right.
Will smiled when I returned with his coffee. “Thank you. I was running late and didn’t get to stop for my caffeine fix. You’re a life saver.”
“No problem.”
He stood near the conference room door, while the two teenagers huddled with their moms. “You must be new?”
“I am. This is only my third week.”
“Did you come from another firm?”
I shook my head. “I worked at the DA’s office in another state, actually. I only recently moved to New York.”
“The DA’s office, huh? Me too. I left about a year ago to go into private practice.” He lowered his voice. “Not as easy of a switch as you thought, right?”
“No, it’s definitely not.”
Will sipped his coffee. “So what brought you to the Big Apple? Did your husband get transferred or something?” Before I could answer, he shook his head and held up a hand with a shy smile. “I’m sorry. That came out sounding chauvinistic, like the only reason you would move is to follow a man. To be honest, I’m just curious if you’re married. I got divorced last year from my high school sweetheart. I never learned how to be smooth. I have no rizz whatsoever.”
I laughed. “It’s okay. I only recently learned what rizz was, from my ten-year-old nephew. But no, I moved to the City to be near my sister. I’m not married.”