“El has returned to her prosecution roots,” Cassie announced as she gathered her things.
“You can do that?” Nat’s confusion was clear.
“Depending on the state,” Ellie explained. “Most allow lawyers to act as both prosecutor and defense council as long as it’s not within the same county. Normally I would’ve said no, but this case was one of the last ones I worked on before leaving the D.A.’s office there to open my own practice here in Seattle. Abusive jerk who was running a meth business out of the same house his wife and son still lived in.” She shook her head in disgust. “The first trial ended in a mistrial due to a technicality. The cops finally got what they needed to ensure a conviction, and since I knew the case forward and backward, my old boss all but begged me to come back for the retrial.”
“And since Tacoma is in Pierce County”—Cassie piggybacked off her explanation—“it’s perfectly legal for El to serve as prosecutor.”
“I see.” Natalie nodded. “Well, I hope the jury puts the guy away.”
“You and me, both.” Ellie smiled.
Cassie pulled Ellie in for a friendly embrace. “And thanks again. You’re the best Maid of Honor a girl could ask for.”
“I know,” Ellie teased. “Tell Arch I said hi. And if you think of any last-minute things that need to be done, let me know.”
“Drive safe.” Natalie also gave her a quick hug. “Let us know about the verdict.”
“I will.”
The three women walked out of the café together, the morning sun shining bright as they went their separate ways.
Two hours later…
“Nice work, counselor.”
Dressed in a white puff-sleeved button-down blouse and a houndstooth pencil skirt that fell mid-calf, Ellie kept a tight hold on her briefcase as she turned toward the familiar voice. She smiled, immediately shifting directions down the wide, tiled corridor.
“Mr. District Attorney,” she greeted the man who had convinced her to return to Tacoma.
Back to the same courthouse where she’d made a name for herself throughout the legal community. Back to being a prosecutor. Back to what she’d come to refer to as ‘the dark side’.
Just this once. Just for this one case.
Her heels clicked as they traversed the shiny floor, their echoes dying off when Ellie began to slow her steps.
“Mr. District Attorney?” Donald Hennessy snorted. The fifty-three-year-old balding man’s brows turned inward even as he grinned. “Since when are you so formal where I’m concerned.”
“Uh…since we’re standing in the middle of the county courthouse surrounded by other ears.” Ellie shifted her leather briefcase from her right hand to her left and gave her former boss and mentor a firm shake. “I wasn’t sure you’d make it in time.”
The powerful man was dressed in a black suit she guessed had been personally tailored, a slick blue tie, and a perfectly pressed white dress shirt. As always, his black shoes had been shined to military standards, and the long wool coat he seemed to love hung loosely over one arm.
“I almost didn’t, thanks to a last-minute phone call from the Mayor,” he shared. “I texted him as soon as the verdict was read. Told him what a stellar job you did while I was at it.”
Ellie’s chest tightened as a slight rush of heat began creeping up the back of her neck and into her cheeks. “That wasn’t necessary, Donald. But I appreciate it all the same.”
“It may not have been necessary, but that doesn’t make it any less true.”
Her former boss and mentor nudged her playfully as the two began walking down the hallway toward the building’s main entrance. Several others passed by along the way, each lost in their own conversations and thoughts as they rushed to their own destinations.
Lawyers. Defendants. Witnesses. Uniformed officers and other courthouse employees. The building was a steady bustle of constant movement and murmured conversations.
Donald spoke up again. “I knew bringing you in on this one was the right call. You nailed it, just as I suspected you would.”
“The evidence stacked against Leonard Knowles was so overwhelming, a first-year could’ve handled this case. Especially given the wife’s cooperation in the matter.”
Not to mention, Ellie had already tried this one once before.
Unfortunately, thanks to a technicality recently uncovered by the defense, Knowles had been granted a new trial. A trial the man walking beside her had all but begged her to take on.