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“You comfortable?”

“As comfortable as I’m gonna get.”

“Good, because I have plenty to say.”

I opened my laptop, trying to look like somebody who could take criticism without getting an attitude or crying.

“The lawyer is compelling,” she began. “I like that she can walk into court and argue for somebody’s freedom, then go home and make terrible decisions about her own life.”

I laughed.

“She’s a mess.”

“She is. But I want to follow her into another book.”

That was what I needed to hear. Each book would have its own criminal case, while the problems in her personal life followed her through the series. I had so much planned for that woman, she probably wished I would leave her alone.

“The case loses momentum here,” my editor said, opening to one of the tabs. “These two interviews give us almost the same information. Combine them and move the next discovery up.”

I pulled up the chapter and made a note.

“And when she makes this decision about her husband, I need a consequence sooner. She’s hiding something that could hurt her career, but then she goes several chapters without worrying about it.”

“I know exactly what I can do there.”

“Good. You don’t need another subplot. You need the ones you already have putting more pressure on her,” Mia said.

I typed that down before the idea got away from me.

For the next hour, we went through the notes. A few hurt my feelings, especially the scene she suggested cutting. I had spent an entire afternoon on that shit. But once she explained why it slowed everything down, I couldn’t defend it.

I was used to arguing for a living. Today, I had to admit that somebody else had a point.

“This is strong work, Melody,” she told me as we finished. “Make these changes before you send the full manuscript out again.”

“I will.”

“Any more responses?”

“Two agents asked for the full. And somebody from a production company wants to talk.”

Her eyebrows lifted.

“About television?”

“That’s what the email said. I’m trying not to get too excited.”

“Take the meeting. Just make sure somebody qualified looks at anything they ask you to sign.”

“Absolutely.”

Nobody had offered me a deal yet, but people were interested. That alone had me checking my email more than I checked social media. A few months ago, I had been typing just to get everything out of my head. Now strangers wanted to read it.

I wanted this to work. Justice made sure I didn’t need money, but I wanted to make some of my own again. I needed to make a name for myself again. I was never the type of woman that could live under someone else’s name.

My phone vibrated while I was putting the manuscript in my bag.

Justice: You done? Your car’s outside.