“So, youaregoing to defend her then.” Wolfe’s smirk turned predatory. “Well, this case just got a lot more interesting.”
He started moving toward Faith’s door, his hand actually reaching for the handle. “Maybe I should just pop in for a quick chat. Off the record, ofcourse.”
“Don’t even think about it.” I stepped between him and the door, my body blocking his path.
“Come on now, Kincaid. Just a friendly conversation. No lawyer present.” His smile turned sharper. “Sometimes, people are more … honest without their attorneys breathing down their necks.”
“You mean more vulnerable.” My voice dropped to a growl. “More likely to say something you can twist into a confession.”
“Twistis such an ugly word. I preferinterpret.”
“Step away from the door, Wolfe.”
“Or what?” He actually laughed. “You’ll report me? To whom? Judge Harrison, who golfs with me every Sunday? Or maybe Chief Davidson, who owes me for keeping his son out of prison last year?”
Blake moved to flank him, and Wolfe’s eyes flickered with something that might have been concern if he was capable of such an emotion.
Honestly, the balls on this guy, so used to getting his own way that he thought he could come down here and talk to Faith without a lawyer present.
My fists clenched at my sides, knuckles aching with the effort not to wipe that look off his face. Wolfe had always been an absolute thorn in my side. A guy who liked to bend the rules to his advantage and intimidate witnesses. Never far enough to get himself in real trouble, but far enough to poison almost every case he touched. He was a bad seed among good prosecutors, motivated by power, bankrolled and protected by elected officials who valued wins over justice. The actual rule of law fell somewhere below his dry cleaning on his priority list. Only one thing mattered to Bennett Wolfe: winning at all costs.
“It’s not too late for you to back out now,” he said.
“I won’t be doing that.”
“Can’t say I’m surprised.” He stepped closer, close enough that I could see the calculation in his cold gray eyes, and smell the mint he’d probably popped right before this confrontation. “Yourwin rate is better than most criminal defense attorneys in the state of Illinois.” Another step. Too close now. Deliberately invasive. “But”—he leaned in like he was sharing a secret—“mine’s higher than yours.”
Measuring dicks. How cliché.
For a second, he looked exactly like what he was—a predator who’d spotted prey.
“This isn’t a game,” I growled.
“Everything’s a game.” He adjusted his cuff links. Actual gold cuff links in a hospital at midnight—because of course he’d wear that and of course he’d take a moment to draw attention to them. “You and I both love the competition. The only difference between us is, I’m honest about playing to win.”
Blake’s hand landed on my shoulder in a warning or a restraint. Maybe both.
“That’s disgusting,” I said, though the word felt inadequate for the rage building in my chest.
Wolfe straightened his tie. “I’ll be seeing you at arraignment, Counselor. Do try to make it interesting.” As if his case was such a done deal, he was almost bored by it. He glanced toward Faith’s room, and something dark flickered across his features. “Though given what I’ve seen so far, I doubt you’ll have much to work with. Your client’s going down, Kincaid.”
He turned on his heel and strode back toward the elevators, leaving behind the promise of war.
Blake waited until the elevator doors closed before speaking. “The fuck is he up to?”
I was still staring at the elevator, mind racing through possibilities, each one worse than the last. “He’s got something. Some angle we don’t see yet.”
“You think Faith?—”
“I think Bennett Wolfe doesn’t volunteer for anything unless he knows he’s already won.” I turned to Blake and saw my own concern reflected in his eyes. “And that should terrify us both.”
Through the narrow window in Faith’s door, I could see herlying in the hospital bed, bandages wrapped around her head, looking small and fragile against the white sheets. Whatever had happened tonight, whatever bloody scene she’d stumbled away from, Bennett Wolfe thought he could use it to destroy her.
Over my dead body.
I pressed my palm against the cool glass of her door, a silent promise she couldn’t hear. Wolfe could bring his A game, his dirty tricks, his whole corrupt machine.
She was mine to protect now. Mine to defend.
