Beyond Innocence by Carsen Taite

Author:Carsen Taite [Taite, Carsen]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Fiction, General, Romance, Lesbian, Contemporary
ISBN: 9781602827578
Google: gWE7uAAACAAJ
Amazon: 1602827575
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2012-11-13T00:00:00+00:00

*

Serena took about fifteen minutes to decide she was tired of doing what Cory told her to. She didn’t take an indefinite leave from work, fly all the way out here, and rent a hotel room to sit around and wait for someone else to make things happen. She certainly wasn’t going to watch Cory yuck it up with other attorneys, attorneys who probably thought whatever wrong she’d done was for the greater good. Put those criminals away; fry them if you have to. Doesn’t matter if they’re innocent; at least we can sleep at night knowing we erred on the side of caution.

She made her way to the edge of the crowded row and was about to leave the courtroom, when one of the bailiff’s approached her, a clipboard in his hand. “Ma’am. Have you checked in?”

She was confused at first. Were she and Cory supposed to check in? Had Cory done so? She’d seen her approach one of the bailiffs. Had she taken care of it?

She’d waited too long to answer and he tapped the clipboard with his hand. “Are you sure you’re on today’s docket or that you’re in the right courtroom?”

Realization dawned and it wasn’t pretty. This man with his uniform, badge, and gun, thought she was a defendant. That she’d committed a crime. That she was here to have justice meted out to her. She surveyed the rest of the people in the gallery. Lots of Hispanics, a few poor looking whites, and about a dozen African-Americans. Of course she fit right in. Didn’t matter that she was wearing her best suit, the color of her skin lumped her in with the rest of the ne’er-do-wells of Rinson County. She kept her reply short. “I’m definitely not in the right place.”

Once out in the hallway, she wasn’t sure what to do. The halls were teeming with people, and it didn’t take long to separate the accused from their counsel. The conversations were all laced with a thread of desperation: is that the best deal you can get? What am I looking at? I’ll lose my job. I’ll never get a job if this stays on my record. She walked as far away from the crowd as she could and took a seat on a wooden bench.

Thirty long minutes later, Cory burst into the hall. Serena saw her looking around, but wasn’t in the mood to help her out. She waited until Cory finally found her and let her have the first word.

“Obviously, that didn’t go as well as it could have, but I’ve laid some groundwork.”

Serena stood. “Can we go now?”

Cory looked confused. “Sure. I know a great place for a late breakfast if you’re up for it.”

“I’m not hungry.” She didn’t wait for Cory’s reaction. Instead, she walked as quickly as she could, her entire focus on getting out of the building. Cory followed, but wisely didn’t try to engage her in conversation. Once they were in the car, she turned to Serena. “You want to tell me why you’re so angry?”

“I’m not angry.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.