The Cartel Lawyer by Dave Daren (ebook reader below 3000 TXT) 📕

“The power of coffee and breakfast,” I said with a shrug. “Are you ready?”

“Yep,” the young man gave me a nod. “We shouldn ‘t be here long, right?”

“No,” I confirmed. “You’ll be able to get to school before lunch.”

“Great,” he said. “I’ve got a test this afternoon, and the teacher doesn’t do make-ups.”

“You’ll be back in plenty of time,” I reassured him.

We made our way through security and headed toward the courtroom we’d been assigned. We weren’t the first case of the day, but the hallways were still nearly empty. I exchanged nods with the lawyers that I recognized, and I saw my client do the same with some of the defendants.

The morning dragged by, and Luke finally gave up and pulled out his phone again. He pulled up Candy Crush on his phone, and I found myself watching him to pass the time. When my client’s name was finally called, he had just managed to level up again, and I was starting to think I should download the game myself.

The judge was already at her bench when we walked in with the prosecutor, Sheila, right behind us. Sheila had on a royal-blue dress that hugged her curves, black high heels that showed off her calves, and had pinned her hair in a loose bun with a butterfly clip.

“Good morning,” the prosecutor said quietly with a small smile.

“Good morning,” I replied as I set my briefcase down and pulled out Luke’s case file. “How are you?”

“Fine,” she said with a slight tilt of her head. “Ready for Friday.”

“Well, I’ll try to make this fast,” I chuckled.

“You’re always so sure of yourself,” the prosecutor said as she put her hand on her hip and stared at me with a smirk.

“I usually have a solid case,” I replied, though my grin faded as I remembered the last time we had been in a courtroom together.

“Yeah,” the woman said with a sigh, and I was sure she was remembering our last appearance together before a very different judge. “I am really sorry about that one. I don’t know what he was thinking.”

She glanced toward the current judge on the bench, the Honorable Judge Belinda Brown. The prosecutor turned back to me and pursed her lips as if she wanted to say something else, but talking about a judge’s colleague in front of them was always risky, so she just sighed and gave me another apologetic look.

“Shall we get this party started?” Judge Brown said as she set her own copy of Luke’s file down.

“The prosecution is ready to proceed,” Sheila responded.

“The defense is ready as well,” I replied.

“Good,” the middle-aged magistrate said with a grin. “I understand that you wish to have the case dismissed, Mr. Torres?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said as I stood up straight. “The officers who arrested my client held him for hours without a phone call to his parents or his representation while they questioned him.”

“I believe the officers offered the call, but your client refused,” Sheila countered.

“If they did,” I said with a gesture to the file in front of me. “They didn’t note it in their files. And my client has informed me that the offer was never given to him.”

“Is that true?” the judge asked with a lifted eyebrow as she turned to my client.

Luke played his part perfectly, he stood with his hands in front of him with his eyes downcast until the judge addressed him, and when he looked up, he looked contrite.

“It is, ma’am,” he answered.

“Your honor,” Sheila said with a frown. “The officers know better than to question a minor without his parents or representation. Surely, if there wasn’t an adult there, then it was because the young man refused their help.”

“And yet,” the magistrate said with a shake of her head. “They didn’t document it. Which means it’s his word against theirs. And while I’m inclined to believe the officers, there’s no way to prove that counsel was refused. I have no choice but to dismiss.”

She banged her gavel, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Camilo’s sentence had been a fluke after all, and I hadn’t lost my touch. Now all I had to do was convince my new boss that I wasn’t completely incompetent. I packed up my briefcase while Luke relaxed his posture a little.

“That was great,” the teen said with a smile.

“It was an easy case,” I said as I gestured for him to walk ahead of me.

“You got lucky,” Sheila added as she walked out with us. “But try to stay out of trouble. Rob can only get your case tossed so many times.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the young man said to the prosecutor before she hurried off to her next case. “Am I good to go to class?”

“Yeah,” I said with a nod. “Good luck on your test.”

“Thanks, Mr. Torres,” Luke gave me a bright smile and then rushed off toward the lobby.

I watched the teen with a twinge of regret. I knew he would be back in court at some point because as long as he continued to work for Osvaldo he was at risk for being arrested, but I hoped that he would manage to keep his head down and his nose out of trouble.

The courthouse was starting to fill up as I made my way toward the lobby, and I found myself weaving between packs of lawyers, sobbing family members, and court security officers who looked bored with the whole thing. It suddenly occurred to me that I had a whole day with no real plans, and I stopped so abruptly that an older man walking behind me knocked into me. I started to help him, but he waved me aside and muttered a few curse words as he continued on his way.

There