“Tell me what happened?” Sadie asked kindly, like she did in her initial divorce proceedings.
“I had a banana in my pocket.” Harry seemed to think this was a completely normal thing. Which it could‘ve been if it hadn’t been the beginning of the story of how one got arrested.
“Okay, and then what happened?” Sadie asked.
“The ski mask covered too much of my eyes, so I had to follow along the wall with my gloves. I didn’t see the cameras until it was too late.”
Sadie cleared her throat. “Okay, and after you saw the cameras…?”
“It was too late,” Harry replied.
“For?”
“They caught me sneaking in to Nadzeija’s room.”
“Babushka’s room?” Well, wasn’t this interesting.
“Yes.” He nodded. Curt. “They don’t allow us to fraternize, if you get my drift.” He waggled his eyebrows. “But we do it anyway.”
“So you wear ski masks and keep bananas in your pockets?”
“Yes, ma’am. We get creative.”
Sadie nearly asked what the banana was for. Nearly. But she swallowed the slew of questions that had nothing to do with the legal case being presented to her. “So the police showed up.”
“Because I was on camera,” Harry added. “You should write that down.”
Sadie did as she was told. “Then what happened?”
Harry leaned forward, right into Sadie’s personal space. “I pointed the banana at them.”
Oh dear. That was a horrible idea. “You shouldn’t point anything at a police officer, you know that. Fruit or otherwise.”
“I understand that now.” Harry flipped open his notebook. “Now, let’s talk about my defense.”
“Harry, I have to be honest here.” Sadie set her pen down. “I don’t generally practice this kind of law.”
“Well, my dear, I’m going to teach you a thing or two about criminal defense.”
“Harry—”
“Harold Whittimaker the Third,” he said, eyes bright.
Holy shit. Harry Whittimaker III had an entire wing of the courthouse named after him. He had once been Denver’s best criminal defense attorney.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Sadie said. “Why would you pull a banana on a police officer if you’re Harry Whittimaker?”
Harry smiled a wrinkled smile and his eyes literally twinkled. “Nadzieja says you are the best attorney as long as no one is dead. The woman can talk a man into doing anything to help someone she cares for.”
Sadie took a deep breath, holding it with an expression she was sure did nothing for her appearance. “So you’re going to teach me how to defend you?”
“That’s the plan.” Harry held out his hand to Sadie.
She shook it. “Then let’s get an engagement letter signed. Shall we?”
Sadie hada new client who was not getting a divorce. He was royalty among trial lawyers in Denver. But he washerclient. A client she was certain was going to teach her more than she’d learned in all her days of law school.
She was staying.
