“I'm not sure, sir,” she said, afraid to venture a guess.
“The ability to lie while saying hello,” Solomon volunteered.
“Dignity,” Pincher fired back. “Ms. Lord, do you know what happens to prosecutors who bring disrespect to the office?”
She stood rigidly, unable to speak.
“Hellfire, damnation, transfer to hooker court,” Steve enumerated.
“Termination,” Pincher said.
“C'mon,” Steve said. “Give her some room. She's gonna be really good if you don't squeeze the life out of her.”
Great, Victoria thought, a compliment from Solomon, as helpful as a stock tip from Martha Stewart's broker.
Steve said: “She's already better than most of your half-wits who want to plead everything out and go home at four o'clock.”
“Not your business, Last Out.”
Last Out. What was that all about? She'd have to ask around.
“My point, Ms. Lord, is that you cannot let Mr. Solomon badger, befuddle, or bedevil you.” Pincher often employed the preacher's habit of alliteration and the lawyer's habit of using three words when one will do.
“Yes, sir,” Victoria said.
“I myself have tried cases against Mr. Solomon,” Pincher said.
“You're the best, Sugar Ray,” Steve said. “Nobody suborns perjury from a cop like you do.”
Cuff links jangling, Pincher wagged a finger in Steve's face. “I recall you bribing a bailiff to take two six-packs of beer to the jury in a drunk-driving case.”
“‘Bribery' is an ugly word,” Steve said.
“What do you call club seats for the Dolphins?”
“The way they're playing, torture.”
“You're Satan in Armani,” Pincher said.
“Men's Wearhouse,” Steve corrected.
“You have raised contumacy to a high art.”
“If I knew what it was, I'd be even better at it.”
“We have a dossier on you. Contempt citations, frivolous motions, ludicrous legal arguments.”
“Flatterer,” Steve said.
“Any more circus tricks, I'll have the Florida Bar punch your ticket.” Pincher shot his cuffs and flashed a hard, cold smile. “You don't watch your step, you're gonna end up like your old man.”
“Leave him out of this.” Steve's tone turned serious.
“Herbert Solomon felt he was above the law, too.”
“He was the best damn judge in the county.”
“Before your time, Ms. Lord,” Pincher said, “Solomon's father was thrown off the bench.”
“He resigned!”
“Before they could indict him. Bribery scandal, wasn't it?”
“You know goddamn well what it was. A phony story from a dirty lawyer.”
“I was only a deputy then, but I saw the files. Your father's the dirty one.”
The room had grown tense.
“What's the penalty for slugging the State Attorney?” Steve said. His hands were clenching and unclenching.
Pincher balanced on his toes like a prizefighter. “You don't have the balls.”
The two men glared at each other a long moment.
“Boys, if you're through wagging your dicks,” Victoria heard herself say, “I need to know whether to go back into court or look for a new job.”
After a long moment, Steve laughed, the tension draining away. Now she was trying to help him. “Aw, fuck it, Sugar Ray.”
“Never saw you back down before.” Pincher sounded suspicious, like Steve might sucker punch him the second he dropped his guard.
“Vickie's influence.”
“Victoria,” she corrected icily.
Pincher appraised each of them a moment, tugged at an earlobe, then said: “Ms. Lord, because I know of Mr. Solomon's predilection for provocation, I'm not firing you today.”
“Thank you, sir.” She exhaled and her shoulders lost their stiffness.
“For now, consider yourself on probation.”
His good deed for the week, Steve thought, helping save her job. But what a prick, that Pincher, hacking away at the newbie. Steve felt embarrassed, like he'd been eavesdropping on another family's quarrel. Victoria tried so hard to be tough, but Steve had seen the tremble of her lower lip, the flush in her cheeks. She was scared, and it touched him.
A loud rush of water interrupted his thoughts, the unmistakable sound of an ancient toilet. A moment later, the door to Judge Erwin Gridley's personal rest room opened, and the judge walked out, carrying the sports section of the Miami Herald.
“What's all this caterwauling?” the judge drawled. He was in his mid-fifties and fighting a paunch but could still waddle down the sidelines after a wide receiver. Suffering bouts of double vision, he wore trifocals in court, but not on Saturdays, which Steve figured might explain some of his more egregious calls, including too many men on the field when replays clearly showed only eleven.
“Mr. Solomon and I were reminiscing about old cases,” Pincher told the judge.
“Mr. Pincher remembers cases the way a wolf remembers lambs,” Steve said.
“I was just about to tell counsel that I'll be sitting second chair to Ms. Lord for the rest of the Pedrosa trial,” Pincher said.
“You, working for a living?” Steve said.
“It would be an honor to have you in my courtroom,” the judge allowed.
“It's my new hands-on plan,” Pincher said. “One week every month, I'll be in court.”
“Then who's gonna shake down lobbyists for campaign money?” Steve asked.
“Keep it up, I'll sue you for slander, Solomon.”
“Now, don't you two git started.” The judge tossed the sports section onto his desk. “Mr. Solomon and Miss Lord wore me out this morning with their grousing.” He turned to the two of them, squinting through his eyeglasses. “I'm hoping a few hours in the cooler settled your nerves.”
“We're fine, Your Honor,” Victoria said. “Thank you.”
“Cell mates today, soul mates tomorrow,” Steve vowed.
“Hah,” Victoria said.
The judge said: “The clock's running down, so let's talk business.”
“Yes, sir,” Victoria said. “State of Florida versus Amancio Pedrosa.”
“University of Florida versus Florida State,” the judge corrected. “Gotta lay five points to take my dog-ass, butt-dragging Gators, for crying out loud.”
“You don't want to touch that, Judge,” Steve advised.
“Hell, no. Gator's QB got a stinger on the turf at South Carolina last week. I oughta know. I called roughing on the play.”
As the three men continued to talk about football in grave tones, Victoria took stock of her career.
Humiliations great and small.
“Consider yourself on probation.”
She had felt her face redden as Pincher berated her. Why did he have to do it in front of Solomon? It was doubly embarrassing when Solomon spoke up for her, though for a moment, it made him seem almost human. She wondered if the florid tint had faded from her neck and cheeks. Victoria could not remember a time when she didn't
