TLC Shots

C.A.J. Part 15

Cinder detested the idea of meeting with Thorne and his idiot lawyer. Nothing good could possibly come from it. But Cress practically begged her to do this, and seeing as she was having a hard time as it was, Cinder thought she could at least give it a try.

Even if it was a complete waste of time.

In Ciner's office, she and Cress waited for Thorne and his lawyer. Cinder sat in her chair to rest her leg with her cane close to her. Checking her watch, Cinder noticed that Thorne was five minutes late. If he even showed up, it would probably be much later.

She sighed, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Do you think he'll actually show?"

Cress glanced at her phone, and saddened when she saw the time. "He said he would be. He said he was going to tell the truth."

Cinder rolled her eyes. "Cress, I know you thought he was innocent, and I'm sorry you proved yourself wrong. But, Thorne's no the guy he was pretending to be. He's a criminal. Worse than that, he's a conman. He gets people to like him by doing anything it takes. It's his job."

"I know that," Cress retorted, her voice cracking. "But ... he seemed so ... upset. When I testified against him. And when I told him why I did it, he - ... He understood why I did it. He didn't act like I was the bad guy. He was so concerned, and he seemed genuinely sorry when he said he wanted to tell me the truth."

She couldn't rap her head around it. Not Thorne's behavior. Cinder could read him like a book. He wanted people on his side. If he could get someone like Cress to go back on her testimony and say she was wrong, the case could take an entirely different direction.

Yet, how much Cress believed in Thorne was a mystery to Cinder. To her, everything was black and white. People were bad, or they were good. There was no inbetween. People like Thorne and the Lawyers at EC Law, they were the bad guys. Cinder and Cress, they were the good.

Cinder couldn't see how Cress had such blind, misplaced faith in a person like Thorne. After everything he'd done, everything Cress knew about him, she still thought he was a good person.

That would be like Cinder forgiving Levana and EC law for what they did to her and her adoptive family. Completely insane.

Before Cinder could add anything else to counter, someone knocked on her office door.

Biting back any rude comments she had for Thorne, Cinder called, "Come in."

As she told them too, Mr. Huang and Thorne entered the room. Thorne had his tracking anklet on, thank the stars. His lawyer had a briefcase with a few papers sticking out the edges.

If they can get world class criminals off scott free, how can they afford to be messy and unorganized? she wondered.

Huang and Thorne took the two seats on the other side of Cinder's desk. The lawyer eyed Cinder's cane, interested. Cinder got the feeling he'd try to bring it some point in the future. Whether it would be here, in the courtroom, in the news, or at Cinder's funeral, Cinder couldn't decide.

For Crescent, Cinder bit back the urge to scream "GET OUT!" She couldn't emphasize her hatred of EC Law enough.

Cinder coughed to clear her throat. "What are you here to tell me, Thorne."

He fumbled with his thumbs in his lap. "I didn't steal the necklace because I wanted it," he admitted. "I stole it for a buyer."

"I know," Cinder told him, now thoroughly uninterested in the conversation.

On the contrary, Thorne was wide-eyed. "You knew?"

"It's your classic M.O.," Cinder scoffed. "You get hired by a powerful, criminal client looking to procure a rare or specific object, you steal it, they pay you, and you cover it up with falsified documents you create. It's what you do."