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Gardner,” Judge McCafferty looked over
his reading glasses, “I’m granting your motion for summary judgment. Both of
you will have my opinion by the end of the week, although if I had my way, I’d
have the defense write it for me. Why do you work for an idiot like Dan Dennis?”
    Liz looked him squarely in the eye, fighting back the urge
to kiss both men to celebrate her win, “Your Honor, Attorney Dennis gave me a
job. Your office didn’t.” She turned to look at Ty. “And neither did your firm,”
she said to him.
    McCafferty looked at her in astonishment. “You’re kidding.”
    “No, Your Honor. I applied for a clerkship and got a rather
snide letter from your Chief Clerk telling me, in not so many words, that my
grades weren’t good enough, I didn’t graduate from the correct law school in
the first place and I was too damned old. Apparently, whoever did the initial
screening of applicants didn’t get as far as my writing sample. Attorney
Hadley’s office was much along the same lines but more succinct.”
    McCafferty leaned back in his seat. “Well, I’ll be damned.
I’ve been looking for a good excuse to get rid of that snotty pain-in-the-ass
Chief Clerk. I may have a job for you yet. And by the way, Young Lady,” Here he
plucked at his robe, “Only the one wearing the black robe gets to swear in the
courtroom. Remember that for future reference.”
    Liz couldn’t resist. “Does this mean I just earned a
contempt citation, Your Honor? Will I be in the cell next to Attorney Hadley?” She
heard Ty cough as he covered a laugh.
    McCafferty didn’t laugh. He didn’t look angry, either. “You
two wait here. I declare a 10 minute recess.”
    “All rise” as the judge left the courtroom and Liz’s first
day in court was concluded. With a win.
    She went back to the defense table and covered up her
shaking by carefully putting files back into her briefcase. Her eye and head
were throbbing. Liz searched her purse for some kind of pain relief. All she
found were breath mints and a pack of bubble gum. Sugarless.
    “Here.”
    A masculine hand held out two tablets of extra-strength pain
reliever, Liz’s drug of choice. She looked up at Ty. He had a glass of water in
the other hand. Liz took both the water and pills from him with a grateful,
“Thanks. How did you know?”
    “I didn’t. But, I figured that if I was wearing that shiner,
I’d probably be hurting, too. I can personally recommend this brand, especially
for hangovers,” He said it casually. “Congratulations on your first win,
Counselor.”
    Liz washed down the pills with a good-sized swallow of
water. “Thanks.” She had no idea what else to say. “What happens next?”
    Ty shrugged, “I tell White he lost. I didn’t think the case
had much of a chance in the first place and I told him so.”
    Liz looked at him curiously. “So why’d you take it?”
    Ty smiled. “He was my first client and he’s brought me a lot
of other clients over time. I owed him one. Besides, you’ll learn that he and
Randazzo have this ongoing legal feud. They’ve been at it for years. If it’s
not one thing, it’s something else with those two and it’s all trivial.” His
smile broadened. “Sal Randazzo will probably have you back in court suing my
client within six months.”
    “Not me,” said Liz. “I’ll stick to my nice, quiet
transactional stuff that doesn’t require litigation.”
    Ty looked at her, puzzled. “But you’re good.” Liz started to
protest, but he overrode her, “No, you have talent for litigation, why don’t
you want to do it?”
    “Just because you’re skilled at something doesn’t
necessarily mean you enjoy it. I was very good at the job I held before I went
to law school and I hated every minute of it,” Liz replied. “Anyway, I was
talking about McCafferty when I asked what happens next. Is this sort of
behavior normal?”
    Ty actually laughed. “I don’t think ‘normal’ really applies
to Judge