One Step Ahead

She Gets It Now

 August 3rd:     

      "Damn, this almost looks like one of our shows," Ashley muttered, as he scanned the crowded room. "Nobody's gonna be able to move if this keeps up."

      "No shit, dude," Wiley agreed, "I'm guessing that they're maybe half a dozen people from violating the fire codes as we speak."

      It seemed as though the court officers agreed with his assessment, as they chose that moment to close the doors, resulting in shouts of protest from the people still in the hallway who had been hoping to lay claim to a spot in the packed courtroom. The few journalists who had been granted entrance stood at the back of the room with notepads and cameras in hand, counting themselves fortunate to have firsthand access to whatever drama the day held in store.

      Their expectations weren't unjustified, as the previous two weeks had provided them with numerous headlines and "breaking news", due mostly to the antics of Harris and his attorney, Jeanette Hardesty, who had already come very close to receiving contempt citations from the judge on several occasions during the proceedings. And as she turned in her seat to see the media representatives whispering among themselves, or absent-mindedly reaching for the phones that they had been required to leave with the court secretary, Briar chuckled under her breath, and remarked to her companions, "What do you bet they're hoping for a repeat of Friday? They had a field day with that one, it even made it onto the 'Weekend Express' on HLN."

      "Hell, I wouldn't mind seeing a repeat of that myself," Wiley responded. "Prune-faced old bat's been asking for it from the minute this thing started. Maybe now she'll take a minute to switch on her brain before she starts running her mouth."

      "Don't hold your breath, buddy," a familiar gruff voice interjected. They glanced around to see that Irv Weintraub had managed to find a seat in the row behind them, and had obviously heard Wiley's comment. "I've seen more than my share of lawyers in my time, and as far as I've been able to figure, there's three basic kinds. You got the newbies that are still tryin' to get a handle on things, so you can cut them a little slack when they say somethin' stupid. Then you got the ones that actually have some respect for themselves and their job, and actually try to do it as well as they can."

      He then flicked his hand in the direction of the defense table, and added, "Then you got the ones like Hardesty, that'll basically take on any client just to make themselves a buck, and to try to convince everybody else how much smarter they are than anyone else in the room. I'd be willing to bet money that the only thing she mighta learned was to keep her scrawny ass a little further back from the witness stand before she starts pokin' the beehive with a stick."

      Briar made a rude noise, and said, "If she has even that much sense. You'd think she might have gotten a clue when the media practically crucified her for the way she treated Dolly on the stand. I heard that she has one of the uniforms walking her to and from her car every day, because she actually got some pretty nasty threats over it."

      Almost as if their words had summoned her, Jeanette Hardesty stepped through a door at the right of the judge's bench, which they had learned led to a private room where attorneys and other professionals could confer with their clients. A buzz arose in the room when she came into view, as those who hadn't been present on the previous Friday got their first glimpse of her face, which displayed a swollen, vividly bruised eye, and visible stitches in her lower lip.

      A sardonic grin crossed the retired detective's face, and he leaned forward, muttering to Ashley, "Hell, that's almost as good as what you did to Keith's mouth."

      "Maybe better," Ashley retorted. "I cheated and used a tree branch, that little lady the other day was totally bare-knuckled."

      "Doesn't it just figure, the interesting stuff always happens when I'm not here," Cody sighed. "They said on the news that somebody attacked her, but what exactly happened?"