LITMIR.BIZ

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      She sounded genuine, but how could he be sure? “You mean the television people, the crowd or Ezra Burkhalter?”

      “Any of them. All of them. I guess the Burkhalter man particularly. Why is he angry that I’m here? I’d think he’d be grateful that Thomas has someone to defend him.”

      Trey shrugged, trying to get rid of the tension in his shoulders. “The Amish don’t want to find themselves in the news. There’s prejudice enough against them without that. They believe in living separate, and they don’t go to the law.”

      “Thomas said something like that, but in this case the law has come to them. I’ll do the best I can for Thomas.”

      “I don’t think Ezra Burkhalter will see it that way.”

      Her mouth set as she considered that. “If all the Amish react that way, it will make the situation more difficult.”

      Difficult enough to make her go away? He was tempted to paint a black picture, just to achieve that, but he couldn’t.

      “Not all. I’m sure there will be those who welcome your help. Thomas’s family, certainly.”

      She nodded, brushing a wing of auburn hair back from her face. “I suppose. I certainly didn’t expect the crowd at the jail. Is there really that much prejudice against the Amish?”

      “Not so much out in the country, where people know them.” He tried to answer fairly, but the Amish were such a constant part of his life that it was hard to see them as an outsider would. “They’re different, and plenty of misconceptions float around among people who don’t know them.”

      He’d known there would be strong feelings about the ugliness of the crime and the Amish connection, but he hadn’t expected a mob at the jail, either. If people were this worked up now, what would it be like by the time the case came to trial?

      He drove automatically, his mind turning the situation at the county jail over in his mind. It still rankled, having the television people there exactly when Jessica would be coming out. It was too pat.

      “Were you really surprised by the news crew?” He put the question abruptly, not sure how much good it would do. If she’d tipped them off, she’d hardly admit it.

      He felt her gaze on him and flicked a glance in her direction. The blue eyes had widened.

      “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I be surprised?”

      “You wouldn’t be if you were the one who told them you’d be there.”

      “Told them—that’s ridiculous!” Her voice rose. “I’m not in the habit of headline-hunting.”

      “The reporter knew your name. That means that someone told her you were going to represent Thomas.”

      “I wasn’t that someone.” Her voice grew icy. “I understand that you want to protect your mother from any unpleasantness, but I’m not your enemy. All I want is to do my job for my client.”

      He shot another look at her as he turned onto the road that would lead them out of town. “If you didn’t tip off the news people, who did?”

      “Ask yourself that question,” Jessica said tartly. “It seems to me the leak was far more likely to come from your end of things than mine. My office would have no interest in tipping off the press at this point. Does anyone else know your mother was hiring an attorney for Thomas?”

      A good question, and one he didn’t have an answer to. “Who knows? My mother is not exactly a model of discretion, as you may have noticed.”

      “I found your mother delightful.” The frost was back in her voice.

      “Try being responsible for her and see how delightful it is.” He muttered the words and was instantly sorry. He didn’t need to be confiding in this woman, of all people. “She may have told any number of people. And there are people in Bobby’s office who might think it worth a tip to the paper.” He lifted an eyebrow. “The same might be said of your office, I suppose.”

      “You suppose wrong. Any hint of indiscretion in an employee of the firm would lead to immediate dismissal.”

      There was a note in her tone that he couldn’t quite read. “Sounds like your boss runs a tight ship.”

      Her hands clenched on her lap, then eased, as if she made a deliberate effort not to show a reaction. “He does,” she said shortly. He felt her gaze on his face. “You’d better get used to the publicity. There may come a time when I’ll have to talk to the press. Thomas is going to need all the goodwill he can get.”

      “If and when that happens, I’d advise you to keep my mother’s name out of it.”

      “If you wanted to keep attention away from your family’s role in the case, you shouldn’t have interfered with my handling of that reporter. I was perfectly capable of dealing with her myself.”

      His mood wasn’t improved by knowing that she was probably right. He’d acted on instinct, just as he so often accused his mother of doing.

      Maybe it was time to change the subject. “How did you make out with Thomas?”

      Her frown looked worried. “Not well. I’ll have to talk with this Mr. Frost as soon as possible. Thomas trusts him, and he’s not going to open up to me until Frost assures him it’s all right.”

      “That’s easily done.”

      He drew the car to the side of the road and stopped, then pulled out his cell phone and touched the number for Leo Frost’s private line. In a moment’s time he’d set up an appointment for Jessica for the next morning. When he ended the call, he realized that she was looking at him with more than a little annoyance in her face.

      “What?” he said, answering the look. “You said you had to meet with him.”

      “I didn’t say I wanted you to make an appointment for me. Or to interfere in my handling of the case.”

      “Interfering? I thought I was being helpful.” He gave her the smile that women usually found disarming. It didn’t seem to have that effect on Jessica.

      “I don’t need your help. I’d hoped I’d made that clear.”

      He found he was gritting his teeth. “You’ve made your position clear enough. Now you’d better understand mine. As long as my mother insists on being involved in this case, I am, too. So you’d better get used to it, Counselor. We’re going to be seeing a lot of each other.”

      CHAPTER FOUR

      BY THE TIME JESSICA pulled into the parking lot at her town-house complex in Philadelphia, her head was splitting. She’d hit the city just in time for rush-hour traffic. Nobody wanted to be caught on the Schuylkill Expressway, known as the Sure-kill by locals, at that time of day.

      Her headache intensified when her cell phone rang just as she walked in the front door. She frowned at the number.

      Her father. That was unusual enough to give her a jolt of apprehension as she answered.

      “Dad. Is anything wrong?”

      “Perhaps I should be asking you that question, Jessica.” Her father’s voice was as crisp as if he were talking to an erring subordinate. “I understand you’re on shaky ground at work.”

      She was tempted to ask how he knew that, but that would be pointless. Her father moved in rarified judicial circles, where everyone seemed to know everyone else’s business.

      “It’s nothing I can’t handle,” she said, hoping that was true as she closed the door behind her.

      “I hope that’s true.” His voice echoed her thoughts. “I’ve invested my own political capital in obtaining that position for you. Don’t disappoint me.”

      That was all. No

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