In the afternoon, I took a bit of time to go to the court house with Erika, as I promised not to abandon her in her time of need. To distract her from her pending meet up with the sleazy Judge Cole, I confessed that I reluctantly accepted a date with my ex-fiancé, which undoubtedly worked without fault.
I knew my best friend that well.
"I'm actually excited for you, and I don't know why!" She exclaimed as we walked through the concrete side walk, arms linked and cups of afternoon coffee in the other. "I think it's because that dumbass finally got his senses knocked into him, and well, Annie, you deserve every bit of happiness after what you've been through."
"But I don't even think that I'm capable of getting through with this second chance."
"Don't say that. Dominic Walsh may be a dumbass, but he is no liar." She defended him, despite the insult.
The court house and rooms were as busy as always, the echoing footsteps of lawyers and convicted citizens were heard as soon as Erika and I walked right in. I took a deep breath and enjoyed the nostalgia that came from those dull colored interior of the court house, all those times as a PD were mostly spent in and out of here. There were so much memories in each and every area of the court house that I got distracted, and by the time I looked to my side, then up ahead, Erika already wandered off.
My attempts to catch up to her failed as I heard, "Holy crap, if it isn't little Lawler."
Oh geez.
Only one person in the world called me that, but that was not him. It sounded feminine.
I fully stopped in panic and turned to the side, and there sat on the bench was the pregnant, soon-to-be Mrs Walsh number three, Julia. To me, she still didn't look pregnant, and she was supposedly expecting the baby a month after the wedding. She stood up with a bit of struggle and let her belly poke out at me, her two-tone blue and black dress surely complimented the curves created by her protruding belly, but I was amazed at her ability to be able to walk in stilettos despite the extra weight on her body.
I don't know. There was something different about Julia's pregnancy that I wasn't completely convinced about. Just couldn't put my finger on it.
"Hi Julia. I didn't think you'd still be working? Aren't you supposed to be as stress free as possible? Especially with the whole wedding ordeal coming up pretty soon." I asked her out of curiosity, since I once read baby books to help out with an ex-coworker back in my PD days.
So I knew a thing or two.
"Oh, dear, yes. And Nathaniel really wants me to rest too, but I want to finish my business and not leave paperwork behind while I'm gone for a whole year," She explained as she beckoned to the folders shoved carelessly into her designer black bag.
Couldn't blame her. District Attorneys were always busy.
"I'm sure someone else could cover for you."
"Hah, and ruin my streak? It's okay."
Julia was still braggy too, so I see a long future with her and Nathaniel being together with their boy. However, I don't think it'll last too long if she found out about all the things that happened behind her back. Poor Julia.
"Anyway," I heard her clear her throat before she placed a hand on my shoulder and pouted. "I heard about you and Dominic. I'm so sorry, Lawler. I really thought you two would get married and have your own little bundles of joy running around too."
Talk about rubbing salt to the wounds.
"It's no big deal. We mutually agreed on the split."
"Still, that's ridiculous. Seven years, he put a ring on your finger but never followed through? That's just mean."
My face twitched. I felt it. My fingers curled and tightened their grips on the strap of my bag, my lips forcefully open and pretended to smile at her - supposedly - 'concerned' statement, and sure enough, her own level of smugness reminded me of her fiancé. I needed to get out of that conversation before she started to push more buttons than she already has.
"Don't worry, Lawler, I'm sure Hamish would be more than happy to marry you. I see the way he looks at you, even while we sat in that ugly public defenders office." She winked. "Besides, you're better off."
"Better off?"
"Since I've been with Nathaniel, Dominic has been nothing more than being a clingy brat to his Uncle. He keeps going to the mansion-" Julia went on a long explanation, listing down all the things Dominic's done that didn't meet her standards.
Apparently, other than going to that mansion - remember when his Uncle sent me and him for a couple-like retreat turned sour? That one. Well, other than that, Dominic has apparently been snooping and being suspicious, like he was looking for something. It was strange for him to act that way, considering it was only recently that he told me about knowing about his Uncle's bad reputation amongst other things, or maybe he knew all along and only spilled the beans now? I wonder what else he knew. I mean, he did know that his Uncle was up to something with me and he came to be my knight in shining armor when I least expected him to be.
So maybe Dominic does know more.
Hopefully, he'll come clean on his own.
"Julia, I'm sorry, but I need to go chase after Erika. We have a meeting." I spoke up as soon as her mouth stopped yapping, and I could've sworn if went on for five minutes without a pause. I gave her a side hug, avoiding to squeeze her belly and dashed off before she could say another word.
Erika shouldn't have wandered too far if Judge Cole's office was in the center of the court house, he and three other judges shared an office, mainly because they weren't wearing their robes full time like the younger ones. I stared at the wooden door, it called for me to go in, but I was hesitant to knock at his door. The first thought to cross my mind was what if Nathaniel was there? I was getting paranoid, I know, but it's become second nature for me wherever I went. I kept my guards up since I was nearly rape, and I became more cautious of my surroundings to make sure neither Nathaniel nor his driver could get me. I made sure I wasn't alone too, although it's already failed as soon as I made up the rule.
But my gut urged me to knock on the door.
I scratched at my arm, nipped my bottom lip and looked around. The lawyers and other employees around the court house didn't take a minute - or even a second - from their busy life to acknowledge my existence. So I supposed I had no choice but to go in. I needed to be strong. Erika may have already wandered in without me and placed herself in danger with the sleazy Judge Cole. Worry began to fill me up, my brows frowned at the thought of my best friend being taken advantage of. I pushed myself to get closer, one step at a time, my fingers curled at the gold knob and gripped tightly, very prepared to face whatever was behind that door.
"There you are!"
I nearly collapsed from the fright. My hands were now at my chest, my heart gurgled at the back of my throat as I slammed my back against the nearest wall, out of breath and in a frozen state. When I reopened my eyes, Erika stood opposite me with her arms crossed and frowning. She looked exasperated and flustered at the same time.
"Jesus, Erika!" I moaned.
"Where the hell were you?"
"I tried to follow after you, but then Julia came out of the blue and started a conversation with me." I desperately tried to explain in on breath. "Why are you still out here?"
"I went to look for you after I got here and managed to get lost." She snickered to herself in the end as she tilted her chin upwards to beckon to the door. "Care to do the honors?"
"Our plan of attack, boo?"
"Wing it."
"You have the video, don't you?"
She nodded. "It still disgust me."
"I would not blame you." I agreed.
Erika was more than half Judge Cole's age, and he had got to have sex with her. But judging from his and Nathaniel's track records, I wouldn't be surprised if he'll reveal that he's been with 20-something year olds.
"Okay, we can do this." I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
The deep voice of Judge Cole could be heard from behind, his words muffled from the wooden door, but regardless of what he said, I opened the door anyway. The old man sat behind his desk, glasses on and reading over something. It's been a while since I last entered this particular office, but not for him, this was the first time I came to the office for him. The female judge who also used the office was my favourite, she always handled my cases.
"Judge Cole, how are you?"
Always start of easy.
He peeped from his glasses and looked surprised to see us. He shouldn't have been surprised since the meeting was set since earlier this week. He slowly lowered his glasses and smiled. "Why, hello there Miss Lawler, Miss Barnett. How can I help?"
I was only there for support and to do something else, other than that, Erika had all the information. I walked further in and took a seat, Erika followed not long after and took the other seat. She was stiff and looked very uncomfortable being in that room, and the way she stared back at Judge Cole was deadly. I didn't expect her to be that way, compared to how she was building up to that moment, she was more... Vocal.
"Oh, is this about signing the confirmation contract for the car dealer?" Judge Cole kept his smile, yet a bit brighter that his eyes vanished in that grin of his. He tapped onto the paper he read earlier, from index to middle to ring and the pinky, in that exact order. The tapping filled the room as I waited for Erika to say something - anything.
"Is it?" I heard the judge ask my best friend with a mocking tone.
"Uh hum- Yes, here-" She laid out the contract and whatever else she needed to show him. "There isn't much to change, they've already approved and agreed and just need the signature and it will be just that," She added and said in one breath.
"Then that is fine," Judge Cole replied and clicked his pen with no delay, scribbling the ink across various areas.
I couldn't help but be buried in the tension, each time their skins made contact, either Erika and / or Judge Cole reacted, it wasn't an obvious, physical reaction, but the tension and some sort of spark kept being reignited. I didn't want to think whether those two had a sexual tension or it was a negative tension after having sex - I couldn't really decipher. As I sat there, fingers clasped together, legs shut and I sat straight and proper, like a well behaved student, the two continued passing pieces of paper back and forth.
It made me impatient.
"So, I'm assuming that's not all?" Judge Cole said out of the blue, right after he handed back the last piece of paper. "I mean, Miss Lawler didn't need to be here for signing contracts, so there's something else, isn't there?"
Erika's gaze shot back at me as I merely nodded at her to signal it was going to be okay. After all, I was still there. I watched her tuck her hand into her bag, rummaging about and pulled out her phone.
"What is this?"
"Keep quiet." I hissed as Erika played the video, turned the screen around and fully showed the judge what he did. I hadn't seen it before as Hamish said it had to be on Erika's terms as it was her video - even he hadn't seen it - so I was just as focused as he was.
It wasn't just their sex, at the beginning of the video was of him ranting on about how he successfully blackmailed a lot of people with his bargaining technique, especially CEOs of big named companies. Judge Cole fully confessed that he was behind the break up of Dominic and me, saying that he forced Nathaniel to take a case and passed it onto Dominic so he could sleep with Rebecca, and in return, the video he had of the daughter and my ex having sex was used to blackmail the Father for his own dirty needs.
I felt sick listening to it, especially since it was about my ex fucking some other woman while we were together.
Judge Cole didn't stop there. While Erika gave him head, he continued to boast about how his plans to fully take down Lawler & Walsh was going to plan, from manipulating Adrian Lawler's daughter to destroying Nathaniel Walsh's relationship with his protégé. The video stopped once the two began jumping each other's bones on the desk, and now I was on the edge and Erika became stable. She put away her phone and smirked at the the man's distraught face.
"W-What is this?"
"Listen old man, I can send this to both Adrian, Nathaniel, the police, and especially, your darling wife." Erika threatened.
"Your bluffing!" Judge Cole was sweating, he began to shred corners of anything on his desk, his teeth clenched and his nostrils flared at every huff and puff. He was practically panting. "You're in the video too!"
"Actually, no. I watched this video, and if I showed Annie, she'll be my second set of ears and eyes to see I never showed my face as well as hear that you made the mistake of not saying my name."
Oh-hoh-hoh!
A snicker escaped me, covering my mouth with one hand and tried not to laugh at the sweaty, old man's reaction. I needed a good laugh to calm my nerves, the video fully distracted when I saw it, thank goodness that I got my sense back because Judge Cole just asked, "What do you want from me?"
"What should we do, Annie?" Erika turned the attention to me. I had no idea she would do that, since when we planned it out, we agreed we'd leave it up to her since it was her decision to take down Judge Cole in the first place. I cleared my throat and said, "Honestly, I just want you to leave."
"Leave?" He repeated.
"Yes," I frowned. "You should retire now, don't you think?"
"I thought you'd choose to clear off our bargain, Miss Lawler."
"Oh ho," I shook my head and wiggled a finger between us. "Don't you think that all bargains should go with him too, Erika? Doesn't matter whether they're completed or not."
"Only someone stupid wouldn't consider to add that to a bargain itself." Erika chuckled, mocking him. "This was better than what I originally had in mind."
"Which was?" The man scoffed. He sounded a bit defeated, possibly because he never saw it coming - he may have, but you know, not to this extent. "Just tell me I've already lost everything."
My best friend and I exchanged glances, we both giggled before she said, "Make you go to Nathaniel and accuse him of Janina Miller's murder."
He laughed so shallowly. "All you have is a folder with a photo given by Nathaniel's ex-wife. What makes you think that'll prove anything? What's the motive?"
Silence.
"To think you were once a great public defender around here, Miss Lawler," He snorted and pushed himself to his feet, thinking he'd had the last laugh.
But I revealed, "Because Janina Miller and Nathaniel Walsh had a child together, and their past is easy to trace back."
Erika looked as surprised as the judge. I lied at the end, but if I got rid of Judge Cole and told my Father about how we did it, I have a feeling his mouth would open up to. Even if we may have to blackmail him too.
I can't believe I'm playing the game now.
Both the judge and I kept glaring at each other, the eye contact was no where near breakable. I'm not going to back, nor did he.
"Fine," Judge Cole grunted. "If you don't mind, can you both leave me be? I'd like to soak in this final hour of being a judge."
Erika didn't hesitate to stand and drag me out of there. She dragged me pretty much all the way out of the court house.
"Holy shit, my adrenaline level was all the way up there!" She squealed.
"I know. I didn't think I had it in me." I looked down at my shaking hands, they were calming down compared to when we marched out.
"We have one man down. How do you feel?" She really was excited about this. "I can't wait to tell Hamish."
"But we still have Nathaniel, you know."
"Relax, that's in a few weeks time."
"Okay, if you put it that way, then at least I have one thing to look forward to this weekend."
"Which is?"
"My date." I grinned from ear to ear.
"Use protection." Erika teased and nudged me with her hip, which nearly made me stumble to the side. She pulled me back and wrapped her arms around me into a tight embrace.
"You think it'll be better this time?"
She nodded. "Hell, if he doesn't, I'm not afraid to kick some ass." She laughed.
And to think that we only lasted a week.