I ignored him and answered the phone. “Amber. What do you know?”
“Hi, Colt. I have a parole hearing date for you. If you want me to be present there with you, I can come. It’s with sympathetic parole board members now. It will be good for them to see how far you’ve come. The date is Monday next week.”
“Yes. I’m in. Can you help me prepare?”
“Yes, I can. I will bring notes to you. I’m confident you can get released. Stay strong, Colt.”
“I will. I look forward to seeing you, Ms. Atwood.” I rolled her name off my tongue shamelessly.
Ten
Amber
The amount of chocolate I’d been eating couldn’t have been good. I was stressed to the max about Hector, and my caseloads were rising. I still had to get a handle on the parole hearing for Colt, which on Monday. It had to go through. I had to save my baby brother, Hector. I bit my lip with anxiety as I made the umpteenth drive to work at the department.
I followed my usual routine as soon as I got to the office. I watered my baby Josie on my desk and turned my computer on. As if I didn’t have enough on my plate, Lucy showed up to lean on my cubicle and irritate me. Her strong perfume made me want to sneeze.
“Hey, Lucy,” I said wearily.
“Oh, that was a little lackluster. Have you been burning the candle at both ends?” she asked with narrowed eyes.
What was her problem lately? I coughed and kept going with my normal routine. I opened my second drawer and pulled out my coffee sachets. Her penetrating gaze was burning into my back. “No. I’m good. I just have an increase in my caseload. Sorry, Lucy, I can’t pow-wow with you this morning. I have a lot of work to do.”
“I see. It’s all good. I have a few things to wrap up on cases, as well. How is the cowboy?”
I frowned at her as I rose from my desk, heading to the break room. “Cowboy? What do you mean?”
A few people were already in the break room, laughing and conversing. She ribbed me with her elbow to my extreme annoyance as I lifted my long hair out of my face.
“Oh, you know. Colt? I looked him up. He rides horses and has cowboy boots. I found a nice little pic of him on the internet. Oh, baby. Break me off a piece of that!”
I gave her a hard eye roll. “He’s a client. I’m doing my job. You shouldn’t be talking about clients that way, anyway. You know we are supposed to remain impartial.” My skin crawled as I said it. I felt like a complete hypocrite.
“Somebody has their panties in a bunch. I’m just having some fun with you. Anywho, I have to go. Good luck with Colt.”
A fake smile crossed my lips as I watched her ample physique walk away. I made my coffee and planned to plunge into my case files when I got back to my desk. My phone rang as soon as I sat down.
“Hello.” I kept my voice low, though most people were talking on the phone, so it was okay.
“Hey, sister.”
“Hi, Hector. I’m working on things. Colt is going to help you. I have to get him out first. Let me work on it.”
“You have to. Word on the street is they know I’m in San Fran. Las Balas is looking for me. I don’t know how the fuck they found out. Sis, you have to help me.” He sounded frantic with worry.
“You and everybody else. You will have to do your best until I can get this appeal finalized. Can you move? How did they find out?” I asked in a shrill tone. I looked around to see if anybody heard. They hadn’t.
“I think one of the guys low-key got some money for ratting me out. I don’t know, but I’m on the move again. Call me when you find out. If I didn’t tell you already, Amber, I love you, and thanks for everything.”
I sighed deeply, the overwhelm making me feel like I was drowning in a river. “Why are you talking as if you’re dying? Please stay safe and move now. Call me when you’re out of San Francisco.”
“Okay. Work your magic.”
“Bye.”
My golden hair was starting to annoy me, rubbing on my neck. That was the problem with having thick hair. I trawled through the case files and made several necessary calls. The day ran away from me. I was the last one left in the office, and I didn’t realize it.
“Amber. It’s time for you to go home.” Donald came to my cubicle to chastise me.
