Andy stood in the empty conference room, staring out the rain-streaked window. It was hard to make out the shapes scurrying to and from below, dodging the cold April rain. But, it gave her something to do as the jury deliberated. Katie said it could take an hour or it could take days.
Andy hoped for the hour, but it had already passed that mark.
The door opened behind her, and she turned, face hopeful.
"Any word?"
Carl shook his head. "Not yet."
She made a face and resumed her vigil over the wet Boston streets.
"Want any lunch?"
She didn't look at him, just shook her head in response. A chair scraped against the floor. "You're not eating?"
"I'm not hungry," Carl answered. "Katie went downstairs for a sandwich. She'll be right back."
"I enjoyed your closing argument, Mr. Sack. Made me want to stand up and cheer."
"Hope the jury feels the same."
Finally, she turned away from the rain-streaked window, settling across from him in another vacant chair. "Does taking longer look worse on my part?"
He studied her with dark eyes. "Not necessarily. It could mean many different things, not all of them to your disadvantage."
Andy huffed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Gee, thanks. You made me feel so much better."
He gave her a small smile. "I wouldn't lose this case for anything. You're the only one who's been able to put up with Denny's antics for this long, and you're not going anywhere as far as I'm concerned."
It was her turn to smile. "I owe him eye candy time for the time I've been gone for the trial."
Carl's eye brows raised. "Eye candy?"
Andy shook her head, glad to have something else to talk about. "We have a deal. I sit at my desk and let him admire me for two hours everyday. In turn, I get to go find something to do with one of the other attorneys for the rest of the day."
Carl was momentarily speechless.
"Don't look at me like that. It was my idea. Plus, he has about enough for me to do to keep me busy for a couple of hours, anyway."
Carl shook his head. "Just when I think I've seen it all, Denny and/or Alan come along and prove me wrong."
"They're harmless. All you have to do is draw a line in the sand and enforce the rules. Like children."
"Apt comparison, I think."
They grew quiet again, Andy's thoughts once again slipping to the jury deciding her financial fate. She probably should've been worried about the amount with the six zeros at the end. But, for some reason, she wasn't. Taking a page out of Scarlett O'Hara's book, she'd worry about that tomrrow. First, she had to get past their decision.
"Can I ask you a question, Andy?"
She wrenched her attention back to the man in front of her. "Sure."
"Why did you choose to work for the police department?" He leaned forward, his arms on the table, hands folded.
Andy was surprised this question had not come up while working on her case. She was also surprised the prosecutor hadn't dug this tidbit of information from her past.
And, for some strange reason, she had no qualms about telling it to Carl Sack.
"I was 18 when I married Chris. He was a crab fisherman. In Alaska in my hometown, you either were a crab fisherman or married to one. I married one. Women aren't always encouraged on the boats, anyway, you know."
She paused, and he motioned for her to continue.
"That year was particularly bad. Some sort of virus was killing all the crab, deforming them, making them useless. Men were out of work, laid off during the one time of year they earned all the money their family needed to live. My family was no different, but we were so large, it was easy to help each other out." She paused, gathering her thoughts. "Chris didn't like getting money from my brothers. So, one morning, he went to the bank. To ask for a loan. The same morning another fisherman walked in the lobby with a sawed-off shotgun."
Carl knew how this was going to turn out. Not that he'd done any research on her. She was just another secretary in a law firm full of them.
When she told him – in a calm voice as if she were reciting a movie listing – that her husband had been taken hostage, then shot and killed with two other people in the bank, he saw the same tiny inflections in her demeanor and in her voice that he'd heard while she was discussing the Sanchez case. Slight inflections. Nothing more.
"We'd been married for less than a year, but we'd known each other forever."
He could see her clasping and unclasping her hands as she continued her story. Nervous gestures. He almost told her she did not have to continue, but he stopped himself just in time. Didn't want her to know that he knew her cues just as well as she seemed to know his.
"I couldn't stay there. Too many memories. So, I packed up my little house, sold it, took what little bit of life insurance money I got and left."
She said it like she was deciding to go to the park for a walk. But, he could relate. It's better to keep everyone at arm's length. Safer that way.
Now that she was talking, he was just plain curious. "Why a police officer?"
She smiled. "After growing up with a ruffian bunch of crab fishermen, everything seems tame."
"I imagine."
She chose her words carefully. "Plus, I wanted to help. People like the man who killed Chris. If I could stop them, I just might be able to save someone the . . . the heartache, the pain I suffered."
"You manage it well."
She gave him her sardonic look he'd grown accustomed to. "It's been over 15 years, Mr. Sack. Time may not heal all wounds, but it sure makes them easier to bear."
"Especially after everything you've seen." That he understood. After all, his job required him to see the after-affects, as well. And they were rarely pretty.
Andy was surprised she'd blurted out the entire story – abbreviated, of course. As intimidating and just plain imposing as Carl Sack could be, he could be just as kind-hearted as well. She'd seen it around the office. His quiet support of his attorneys. The way he handled the numerous sticky situations they all seemed to get in.
And, if he could be nosy, she could, too.
Hell, it gave her something else to think about besides the blasted jury!
"What about you? Why'd you become a lawyer?"
He rolled his eyes and leaned back, his fingertips drumming on the table's shiny surface. "That's too long ago for me to even begin to contemplate."
"You're not that old."
"Easy for you to say."
Andy grinned. If anything, she was glad to get off the subject of her own life. "I guess I could be cliché and say 'you're only as old as you feel'."
Carl adjusted the lapels on his coat. "That makes me even older than my actually age."
"Your hair might give you away, but wit and wisdom never age."
"I guess Alan will live forever then. According to the man himself," he said sarcastically.
Andy laughed aloud. "He's too vain, that man! I bet he's already had more Botox than all the women in the office combined. Some people just can't age gracefully."
"There's nothing graceful about popping joints and arthritis. Trust me on that."
"I've sat on enough cold, hard floors for hours on end to know about that. But, you avoided my question. Do I have to sic the judge on you to answer it?" she teased.
He waved his hand for a moment before propping his elbow on the table, chin in hand. "I haven't forgotten. Just buying time."
"Even you're not rich enough to buy time, Mr. Sack."
He gave her a 'watch-it' look, but she didn't even seem fazed by it.
But, she wasn't fazed by much.
"I wanted to become a lawyer . . ."
"A bazillion years ago."
Another dirty look.
She snickered. "Sorry, sorry. I couldn't help myself. Go ahead."
"I wanted to become a lawyer to change the world. To make it a better place. Right the wrongs and save the day."
"Grandiose plans."
"Pick any law school today. They're full of the exact same ideals."
"So, did you? Change the world? Right the wrongs?" Andy figured she knew the answer.
"Some of them. But, not enough." For a moment, he looked detached, more than likely haunted by the wrongs he could not right.
"It's harder than it looks to be Superman."
"Or Superwoman," he motioned towards her.
Her smile was sad. She certainly understood. "What would you tell those idealistic young men and women at the law schools? If you had the chance?"
He looked in her eyes, startled at what he saw. Sadness. Pain. Loneliness.
Not once had he ever seen her emotions on the surface. Like an open book.
Without thinking, he reached out and put his hand over hers.
"I'd tell them just what you said on the stand. Some cases you win. And some you lose. Real character is not how you deal with the successes, but how you deal with the failures."
Andy was startled at his touch. Carl Sack was generally strictly a hands-off kind of guy. But, his hand was warm, firm. Soothing. And strangely arousing.
Must be a power thing. Natural to be drawn to such a man.
She almost didn't pay attention to what he was saying. It took her a moment to respond.
Her brain stumbled over itself for an appropriate response. "So . . . if I'm found guilty, I better deal with it in an admirable fashion, huh?"
He smiled, the lines alongside his eyes deepening. "From you, I would expect nothing less."
The moment passed, and he removed his hand from hers just as Katie, breathless, entered the room.
"They've reached a verdict!"
Andy looked like she was going to be sick.
But, Andy stood, smoothing the front of her skirt demurely.
He noted the slight tremor in her hands as she gathered her briefcase.
"Let's get this over with folks. I'm sure Denny has a pile of stuff waiting for me at the office."
"Our Denny?" Katie asked a little incredulously, leading the way.
"The man does do some work." Andy paused as Carl held the door open for them both. "Granted, most of it is ordering out of porn magazines, but it's a livin'."
Katie laughed, the sound echoing across the lobby of the courthouse.
Andy paused just inside the doorway as Carl was waiting for her to exit in front of him. His dark eyes watched her carefully, gauging her reaction. "Thank you, Mr. Sack. Even if this doesn't turn out, I really appreciate all you have done."
His eyes crinkled around the corners as he smiled. "You're very welcome. And please, call me Carl."