Weekend Warriors (Sisterhood #1)(26)

“I hope you had a search warrant,” Nikki snapped.

“I had probable cause. That’s all I needed,” Jack snapped in return.

“Did you put out an all-points, Mr. Emery?” the judge asked.

“Yes, Your Honor, we did.”

The judge jammed his finger in Nikki’s direction a second time. “That means Ms. Rutledge forfeits the bond she posted. You tell me now, young lady, did you have anything to do with your client’s disappearance?”

Nikki’s eyes popped wide. Now her shoulders did stiffen. “Your Honor, I did not lift one finger to help my client leave. I didn’t even know she was gone until Mr. Emery notified Mrs. Rutledge, who by the way asked me to ask you if she has any recourse to regain her money. She also said to give her regards to your wife Mavis.”

“Hrumpf,” the judge puffed. He leaned back in his old, cracked, leather chair that fit his lean, bony body like a glove. “I’m leaving the case on my calendar. I want weekly reports on my desk every Monday morning by seven thirty. File the necessary papers as the occasion arises. I’m not happy with this situation, Counselors. Not happy at all.”

“Nor am I,” Nikki said.

“It’s appalling,” Jack Emery said.

“It’s appalling because you want your face splashed all over the news, Jack. I want to know what your probable cause was. You went out there in the middle of the worst storm ever to hit this state knowing Marie was going to take off.” She jabbed her finger at Jack and said, “It wouldn’t surprise me one little bit that you have your fingers in this somewhere. A case like this looks real good to the media. You’ll be on the noon news, the six o’clock news and the eleven o’clock news. And your face will be the first one we see when we wake up in the morning to click on the TV. I want to know why and how you thought you had probable cause in the middle of the night or whenever the hell you went out to my client’s house. Your Honor, I want an answer!” Nikki bellowed.

Throwing his arms in the air, the judge stood up. “Both of you, get out of my office and do your fighting somewhere else. Discuss it and settle it.”

“But Your Honor…” Nikki pleaded.

The judge’s face turned red and then purple.

“We’re leaving, we’re leaving,” Jack said, cupping Nikki’s elbow in the palm of his hand to usher her out the door.

“Take your hands off me, you…you…prosecutor.”

“Nik, wait.”

Nikki spun around. “I’m going to bring you up on charges. Tell me now what your probable cause was…You didn’t have one, did you? You son of a bitch!”

“Oohh, I love it when you get mad.”

Nikki whirled around, Ruth McIntyre’s perfume circling her like a fog. She got in his face and said, “Read my lips and kiss my ass!”

“There will be none of that in this office, ladies and gentlemen. Remove yourselves immediately,” the judge’s secretary bleated.

Nikki gave the old bat the evil eye. “You can kiss my ass, too, lady,” Nikki shot back as she slammed the door behind her. Great, that was just great. I think I just said goodbye to my law career. The thought made her laugh. I already did that when I joined the Sisterhood. Her stomach stopped rumbling and the fluttering in her chest went away with the thought.

“Nik, wait up. C’mon, hold on here. Listen, we need to talk.”

She kept on walking, trying to ignore him.

“Nik, listen to me. Don’t go doing something stupid like filing charges. Goddamn it, I did have probable cause. I’m a damn good prosecutor because I have that gut instinct, that extra sense you need to be good in this job. I knew she was waiting for just the right moment. I knew, Nik. I swear to God, I did. I acted on my gut instinct. I was right, too. We both know it. She was looking at a possible life sentence. Hell, if I was in her position, I would have cut and run, too. She killed a man in cold blood. The whole world saw her do it. You want to burn my ass for that, go ahead. I’m going to find her. I will, Nik. If I find out you had anything to do with her taking off, I’ll come after you. Whatever went on before won’t matter. Now, let’s go get a cup of coffee and talk like the educated lawyers we are.”

Nikki smiled and offered up a single-digit salute by way of answer. Jack’s eyes almost popped out of his head. Other lawyers striding up and down the hallway grinned as Nikki marched away.

That was stupid, Nikki. You just gave him license to start watching you like a hawk. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Think. You need to think about what you just did and remedy the situation.

And then he was beside her again. Ah, God does work in mysterious ways.

“We really do need to talk, Nik. Come on, let’s grab some coffee.”

She knew how to play the game. “Who was the redhead, Jack?”

“Is that what this is all about? You’re jealous. I’ll be damned,” he said, smacking his forehead. “Okay, okay, I see now where that little tantrum came from.” He looked down at his watch. “The sun will be over the yardarm soon, let’s grab a brew at Gilligan’s. It’s public. Judge Olsen told both of us to talk this out. So, what do you say?”

You dumb schmuck. Like I’m really going to fall for this. Whatever it takes to get you off my back. “All right, Jack. One beer and that’s it. I have to go on to the office and I need to get back to the farm to pick up my car. So, who was she?”