her. Was the woman crying? If so, what a pathetic pair they made. Before she could leave, the other woman stepped out of the stall. Linda turned to look at her.
And barely stopped herself from flinching.
For a split second the woman seemed to look at her with an expression of utter hatred. Then the expression was gone and the woman smiled. She moved to the sink beside Linda and washed her hands.
Was she a friend of one of the defendants Linda was prosecuting? Or a defendant herself, one who’d been released on her own recognizance after her arrest? If that was the case, she was likely being charged with a petty theft, minor assault or drug charge. Given those three options, though she couldn’t know for sure, Linda would place bets on the woman being a druggie. Despite her subdued clothing and makeup, the woman had a pinched look to her face and a jittery way of moving. A look in her eyes that seemed all too familiar to Linda. For all she knew, the sniffing she’d heard had been the woman ingesting a controlled substance.
Then again, would she really be so foolish as to do it here? With Linda present?
It didn’t matter. Linda hadn’t seen her doing anything illegal and she couldn’t avoid her own troublesome situation by imagining another one.
Tony had come back into her life with a vengeance. Now she had to deal with it.
* * *
The courtroom doors opened and the room quieted as Linda walked back inside. Though Tony stared at her, practically willing her gaze to his, she refused to look at him.
The bailiff called his name, signaling that Tony should stand again. Pain shot through his left thigh, causing him to grit his teeth. Thanks to Guapo and the damage he’d done, Tony now walked with a strong limp that his leg shackles only worsened. But to Tony his physical injuries weren’t what hurt the most.
It was the memory of Linda’s expression a few minutes ago. The horror and betrayal she hadn’t quite been able to hide. Just as she hadn’t been able to hide her disappointment on the night she’d woken and found him in the kitchen, staring at that damn bag of drugs.
He was overwhelmed with conflicting feelings of joy and anger. God, he’d tried so hard to put his past behind him. Didn’t that count for something? Didn’t he deserve to at least tell her the truth, so that he could leave this world knowing she still cared about him? Knowing that she didn’t think he was some kind of sick bastard?
But no. It didn’t matter that he’d tried. He’d failed. He’d still ended up hurting the people he’d cared about most. His failure could hurt them yet again.
The emotions circling inside him momentarily paralyzed him.
Grief. Confusion. Regret. Longing.
He pushed all of them away. Forced himself to remain impassive as the clerk read the charges against him.
When the judge asked him how he pled, Tony followed the advice of the public defender he’d met with earlier. He lied. “Not guilty, Your Honor.”
Chapter 4
As soon as the arraignment calendar was over, Linda rushed back to her office to read Tony’s entire file. She’d just reached for it when a voice broke her concentration.
“Hey, are you ready for lunch?”
She looked up to see Allie hovering in the doorway. What was she talking about?
Oh, right. Lunch.
“I’m sorry, Allie, but something’s come up. I need to go over a few files so I’ll have to skip lunch today.”
“No worries,” Allie said. “Can I help?”
Linda hesitated. Despite her inexperience, Allie was sharp and had already proven helpful numerous times before. Maybe she could help Linda see beyond her own past and stay objective.
“Sure, take a seat,” she said, waving the intern into her office. She flipped open Tony’s file. The first things she saw were Tony’s booking photos.
At first glance he looked like any other hard-eyed street thug. Defiant. Posturing. But to her he also looked desolate. Empty. Abandoned.
She closed her eyes. Took a deep breath.
I didn’t abandon him. I broke up with him because I had to. He wasn’t healthy then and he obviously still isn’t. So move on.
Aware that Allie was waiting, Linda opened her eyes and forced herself to speak. “Tony Cooper,” she said. “Arrested for murder.” She handed the photos over to Allie, who took her time perusing the black and whites, no expression on her face.
Linda read the arresting officer’s report and said, “Last week the police received an anonymous