Jack walked past Audra's office, glancing through the blinds on her door.  He stopped and pressed his ear against the crack in the door and started to laugh as he heard an old David Bowie song slipping through it.  He opened the door and stood on the threshold, watching Audra dance around as she took a few books out of a box and place them on the bookshelf.

          "I can't even imagine you in a night club," he said, leaning on the doorjam.

          Audra jumped and dropped the book on her toe.  "Jesus, Jack!" she said, limping over to her couch and pulling over her shoe.  Jack started laughing and sat down next to her.

          "Sorry, I've just never seen any other ADA dancing around her office like that," he said as he watched Audra rub her sore toes.  "Are you ok?"

          Audra looked up.  "Yeah.  I just had every single legal term land on my foot, but I'm fine." She smiled; Jack laughed.  "How's the case coming along?" she asked.

          Jack shook his head.  "This guy is nuts.  It had to be premeditated.  No man can cut out a person's heart, leave it next to his head, and then remember to leave seventy-five cents. It's impossible."

          "I had a hard time buying that too.  Blake knew how the ancient Greeks did things, because he studied history…" Audra's voice trailed off; she quickly moved to her desk and ripped a sheet of paper off a notepad.  She scribbled something down before continuing, "He studied history, but he obviously doesn't know police procedures."

          "How many people know police procedures?" Jack asked, sprawling out on the couch.

          Audra could feel her face go red. 'Calm down,' she thought.  "Anyone who watches TV would know not to leave any evidence at the scene.  Blake didn't know the procedure, or he wouldn't have left his fingerprints all around the victim." 

          "You think it was premeditated too, then?" Jack asked.  "Where are you going with this, Audra?"

          "I'm not sure yet." Audra looked at the case file, the police report, and her own notes.  "We'll have to see what happens in court."

          "Which is where we are supposed to be in fifteen minutes.  Are you sure you're ready to second chair after a day?" Jack said, collecting himself and heading towards the door.

          "I'm sure," Audra said.

          "All right. Well, we're having a meeting with Blake's lawyer in a few seconds, so whenever you're ready," Jack said, pulling the door open.

          "I'm coming," Audra said, grabbing her file and following Jack out the door.  "Oh, by the way," she said before they entered his office, "thanks for the rose.  It was really sweet."

          Now it was Jack's turn to go red.  He shrugged it off and smiled, opening the door and walking in on Blake and Bailey arguing.

          "You said there was no way I would be found guilty if I agreed to the insanity plea!" Blake screamed.

          "Well there was no way I was to know that you had left seventy-five cents on the victim!  Sir, you're going to convict yourself!" Bailey exclaimed.

          "Hey!" Jack yelled. "What the hell is going on?"

          "McCoy! This is your entire fault! If you hadn't gone snooping around into my personal business and found out that I had majored in history, then--"

          "Mr Blake!" Jack said.  "Don't go digging yourself a grave over nothing. You're going to jail.  We're charging him with murder one.  It's the jury's choice whether or not he should receive the death sentence." He pulled on his suit coat.  "We're needed in court." He walked out the door with Audra in tow.

(end chapter three)

          Audra sat second chair and watched Jack as he got up to give his closing argument.  The trial had taken a week to close; Blake had fired his lawyer after two days, and then had called for two recesses.  He had finally cracked.

          "Robert Blake murdered his brother in cold blood," Jack was saying.  "Nothing will change that.  He knew what he was doing when he cut out Ralph Blake's heart; he knew what he was doing when he placed the quarters over his brother's eyes and in his mouth.  He remembered the Greeks, for god's sake, and their methods of preparing a man for his journey to the afterlife." He took a minute to let the effect settle on the jury before he continued.  "If the defendant is allowed to walk away from this court room without a conviction, who knows what he may do to the next man whom he believes is trying to kill him?  Ladies and gentlemen, I will leave you with this: Robert Blake had planned the murder of his brother almost three weeks before the murder took place."  His eyes swept up and down the jury before sitting down.  The jury filed out and court was allowed to speak.

          "Lovely closing argument, McCoy," Robert said, "but I think mine was better."

          Jack smiled and swung around to look at Audra.  In the one week they had known each other, his feelings for her had grown.  Every time he passed her in the hall, every time he went over something for court, his heartbeat sped up.  He didn't want to have feelings for another assistant, but he did.

          "What?" she said.

          "Nothing." He rested his head on his hand and continued to stare at her.  Audra smiled and looked down at her notes.

          As much as she wanted to, Audra wasn't going to let herself develop more feelings for Jack than necessary.  She didn't want to be thought of as another affair.  She didn't want to add to his reputation.  Plus, she hardly knew him.

          "Something wrong?" Jack asked.

          "No, why?" Audra said.

          "I have a knack for seeing when something's wrong with someone," he answered, slouching in his chair and loosening his tie a bit.  "Is something wrong?" he asked again.

          "No!" Audra said, smiling.  "Should something be wrong?"

          "No," Jack answered.

          Audra shook her head and looked up as the jury walked back into the courtroom.  Jack sat up and straightened his tie, staring at them.

          "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, on the count of murder in the first degree, how do you find?" the judge asked.

          "We find the defendant, Robert Blake, guilty," the jury spokesperson answered.

          "You are aware that the sentence for this conviction is death?" the judge said.

          "We are, your honor," the woman said.

          Jack sat back in his chair as the jurors and the gallery began to empty out of the courtroom.  Blake was cuffed and pulled out, kicking and screaming.  The judge retired to her chambers, leaving Audra and Jack alone in the courtroom.

          "So, your first trial is your first death sentence," Jack said, sitting up on the table.  "How do you feel about that?"

          Audra shrugged and started to doodle on her notepad.  "Fine, I guess.  He deserved it," she replied.

          Jack nodded.  "Audra what the hell is the matter?" he asked.  "You've been quite the entire time; you've hardly said a word to me since yesterday.  Did I do something to upset you?"

          Audra shook her head and continued to doodle.

          "Then what is it?" Jack asked, looking her in the eye.

          Audra sighed.  "Three years ago I was clerking for an ADA in Boston.  He was really nice and I looked up to him, because I was hoping to be an ADA the following year."

          Jack looked at her quizzically.  "And…?"

          "Three months into the job, we started having an affair.  Two months into the affair, and I find out that he's married! So I had to quit my job, find a new one, and pray that he wouldn't tell anyone," Audra explained.

          Jack could feel his cheeks going red. 'Crap,' he thought.  "What does that have to do with me?" he asked.

          Audra raised her eyebrows.  "Oh come on, Jack.  I'm not stupid." She put her papers into her bag and pushed her chair in, but didn't go anywhere.

          "Then I must be, because I have no idea what you're talking about," Jack said quietly. 

          Audra stood still, confused and embarrassed.  Not thinking, she kissed Jack on the lips and then started to walk out of the courtroom.

          "Oh, now I know what you were talking about!" he called after her, laughing quietly to himself.  At least now he didn't have to be too secretive around her; she had  kissed him.  That must have meant she had feelings for him as well. 

          Collecting his things, Jack walked out of the empty courtroom and out into the hallway, where several janitors were cleaning up, sweeping the floor and sanitizing the payphones.

          "She just left, Mr McCoy," one of them said.  "Looked really flustered…her face was bright red."

          Jack smiled.  He couldn't remember the last time he had made someone go bright red except when they were lying to him on the stand or in his office.  Other than that, the last person was probably Claire.

          Thinking of Claire brought back painful memories.  He tried not to remember that this was the exact reason that he didn't want to get into another relationship with someone inside his office.  Either they left the office for another job, or things just started to get messy; everyone in Jack's building plus a few judges and other lawyers all knew about his reputation for having a thing for his assistants.  He didn't want to subject Audra to that; he didn't think it would be fair for her to have a black mark on her record like him.

          Jack walked out the front door and headed down to his bike.  He drove home in the dark, hoping for a miracle and praying for nothing.