But Faye held the real power. And after last night she now understood what her role was. The secret thrilled her. Cami thought she was the one in his confidence. Cami didn’t know shit.
For someone as smart as Cami, she could be so dense about some things. Cami thought she had nothing to fear.
FOURTEEN
The guardian of the court records was a six-foot-tall fifty-year-old black woman with dreadlocks who wore jeans against the dress code, bright shirts that lit up the dingy basement archives, and hoop earrings so big Julia was certain she could have worn them as bracelets. Selene Borge didn’t take shit from anyone, especially lawyers, but she had a soft spot for Julia Chandler.
Julia knew this had quite a lot to do with her quarterly “donation” to Selene of a Starbucks gift card. The woman lived on hot lattes from the Starbucks across the street.
Julia brought two double lattes to the basement at eleven that morning. Selene smiled, took one before Julia had even offered. “Good morning, Ms. Chandler.” Her French-Jamaican accent was artificially exaggerated. Selene was from Jamaica and spoke fluent French-as well as Spanish and German-but she’d moved to America when she was four and could speak perfect “American” when she chose to.
“How are you today?” asked Julia.
They made small talk while sipping coffee. Julia saw two empty cups on Selene’s desk. So she was no longer the only attorney who knew Selene’s weakness.
Selene finally asked, “What is it you want from me today?”
“Your magic. A list of the case files assigned to a regular court-appointed psychiatrist.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Word is you’re on administrative leave.”
She hadn’t expected word to get out so fast. Julia said nothing.
Selene sat at her computer. She briskly typed. “Name?”
“Garrett Bowen.”
She punched in some numbers and his name. In seconds, a long list of case files was displayed on the screen. She printed them. “I take it you need these files.”
“Only the last two years.”
Another few keystrokes and the list was shortened to about fifteen.
“These are all juvenile cases.”
That meant she’d need a court order.
“I just want to look,” said Julia.
“Juvenile files require the consent of a judge,” Selene said as she slid the printout across the desk to Julia. “I’m sorry I can’t help you.”
“I understand.” Julia folded the paper and slid it into her purse. “I also need a list of every case Victor Montgomery presided over for the last two years.”
Selene frowned, fingers flying across the keyboard. Julia suppressed a smile. She’d seen Selene use only her index fingers in a painstakingly slow fashion when she didn’t like someone. Julia was glad she was on the “good” list.
“Here.” Selene handed her a three-page printout. “I take it you want to look at the files?”
“I’m happy to pull them myself.”
“Good, because I need to take my lunch break. Union rules. Can you stay here until my replacement comes?”
“Sure.”
“You’re a doll.”
Julia watched her leave and mentally thanked her. This was no longer a gray area. Julia was breaking the law. But she had to help Emily, and if this helped her, dammit-
All adult criminal cases were stored in the computer system, so she could access those from her office. Though she was on administrative leave, Stanton hadn’t asked for her ID or keys.
The juvenile files, on the other hand, were not on the network.
The files were sorted by year, then case number. Pulling them was easy. Some were surprisingly thick. She went to the copy room and shut the door, locking it. Her heart beat too loud, the truth of her deception hitting her. It wasn’t just her career on the line, but that of an overworked county bureaucrat and everyone else who was helping her, including Frisco, who promised a copy of the autopsy report in her desk drawer before the end of the day.
She fed dollars into the copy machine and quickly copied the pertinent pages, not spending too much time reading them because she needed to put them back before Selene returned.
One name caught her eye.
Jason Ridge.
Why was that familiar? She glanced at the summary page. Deferred Entry of Judgment-DEJ. Nearly two years ago after a juvenile court trial resulted in a guilty verdict, the judge issued a sentence of Deferred Entry of Judgment, which basically told Jason that as long as he behaved until he was eighteen his record would be expunged.
Jason had gone back to court the week after his eighteenth birthday and the judge wiped his record clean.
According to the records, Jason’s psychiatrist, Dr. Garrett Bowen, testified on his behalf. But these were Bowen’s records, not the court’s, and there was no transcript. She needed to find out exactly what the court said, but it wasn’t in this file.
Because it had been expunged already? She’d never get it if that were the case. Unless one of the attorneys involved still had a copy.
Jason Ridge. Now she remembered why she knew his name, even though it was a juvenile court case. Eight months ago, first game of the season, he had died on the football field for apparently no reason. An autopsy showed steroids in his system and the cause of death was heart failure. She remembered the news story only because it was another example of a young life cut short.
She copied his entire file, though it was much thinner than it should have been. She could ask around, find out who the judge and prosecutor were on the case, but that would get back to Stanton and her job would be in jeopardy. She had to find another way to get the information she needed.
She put the files back when she was done. Selene was at her desk working on the computer.
“Thanks,” Julia whispered as she passed, the copies secure in her briefcase.
“Ms. Chandler, I didn’t know you were here. Do you need anything?”
Julia was confused, then saw two of her colleagues at a table only feet away looking at files. “No, just returning a file.”
“Thanks.”
Julia practically ran out of the building, heart pounding. If Andrew Stanton knew what she’d done, she’d be severely reprimanded. Possibly fired. And the bar wouldn’t look too kindly on her pulling juvenile files
She gathered her wits while sitting in her car. She pulled out her cell phone and called Connor.
His voice mail picked up.
“Dammit,” she said, irritated. “Do you deliberately not answer my calls? I have the files and am going home. You have the address.” She hung up. She shouldn’t get angry with him, but she wished he would just pick up for once. He probably saw her number on his cell phone and ignored it.
First, she stopped by her office. Her secretary was still there. “Donnell,” she said, “I have a favor.”
Donnell glanced around, tucked her hair behind her ear. “Anything.”
“Can you print out these files for me? I’ll pick them up tomorrow.”
Julia slid the list of Victor’s cases across Donnell’s desk.
