Chapter 7: Adverse Inference

Christine paced the marble hallway outside Judge Delgado's courtroom. Although Frank had banned her from all appearances here, the Albrizzio hearing, for which she was to be Carlotta's "silent co-counsel," was scheduled in Erik's court.

She hadn't seen Erik since the surreal night of the reception. But she'd dreamed of him every night, sometimes dancing in his arms, sometimes gazing into his eyes beneath a wide sky full of stars. Every day, she'd tried to catch him parking his car in the morning or walking the streets to order his lunch, but meeting him in the rush-hour crowds had been as impossible as finding a four-leaf clover in an overgrown field.

Hope was swallowed by profound sorrow. The Post article had probably given him second thoughts; she wasn't worth risking his career.

Still she looked forward to seeing him today, however he felt about her.

Stiletto heels echoed in the corridor as Carlotta marched from the elevator bank. Christine steeled herself.

"What are you doing out here?" Carlotta shouted from several yards away. "Did you check in with the clerk?"

"I can't go in there alone," Christine hissed. "Everyone's read the Post by now!"

Carlotta rolled her eyes. "Just keep your mouth shut and watch how this is done." She all but dragged poor Christine across the hall and through the double doors.

Erik was already on the bench, hearing another case, and the gallery was almost full. As Carlotta burst into the courtroom with Christine in tow, the attorney giving argument faltered, the court reporter looked up from her transcripts in exasperation, everyone turned to see who was interrupting proceedings. Judge Delgado glanced at the opened door and leapt to his feet at the sight of Christine—a reversal of custom, since everyone usually stood for him when he entered the courtroom.

His jurist's façade vanished. His jaw hung open in surprise (and pleasure?) at having her again in his court. His gray eyes shone in their deep sockets, their spectral hue enhanced by his silver-colored suit. His swarthy cheeks blushed, his pale abnormalities more pronounced.

In all these years, she'd never seen him more handsome.

No one else noticed his fluster. They were all fixated on his rose corsage—which, for the first time, was a whimsical, cornflower color.

He pursed his lips and continued to stand as his clerk hurried to Carlotta to take her appearance. The interrupted lawyer cleared his throat. Judge Delgado glared at him, but returned to the bench and resumed proceedings.

Done with the clerk, Carlotta pulled a stricken Christine towards the back of the gallery. More than one head turned as the two tardy women crossed the room, and Christine kept her head low.

Jake Ratner winked at her theatrically.

She stifled a groan and refused to acknowledge him. He was the last person she wanted to see today—and in Erik's courtroom, of all places, with her knees turning to jelly over the judge.

She had to wait the rest of the morning before her case was called. Although Carlotta spent the time reviewing her case file and responding to emails on her smartphone, nothing could divert Christine from watching Judge Delgado. He heard each attorney with enduring courtesy, his eyes half closed as he considered the validity of the speaker's reasoning. Sometimes he smiled at a lawyer's witty remark. To many of them, he promised to render a decision in the coming weeks. A few he ordered to behave themselves. His voice drove through her mind like a purring motorcycle: smooth and low with a thrilling undertone.

As he finished each hearing, many of the lawyers returned to their seats in the gallery. Some had recognized Christine, had read about her in the Post, and decided to watch her hearing. Others who didn't know her stayed to discover the reason for Judge Delgado's deference when she'd entered. Carlotta's friends, too, wished to offer her their support. As the morning wore on, the gallery became a crowd of spectators.

At last the clerk called the Albrizzio case.

Ratner stood for the plaintiff. Christine followed Carlotta to the defendant's table, her stomach twisting in terrible knots the closer she came to Erik's bench. She could look but not touch—and, as silent co-counsel, she couldn't even speak. And no matter how she behaved, Ratner was bound to interpret her feelings.

To make matters worse, last night she'd dreamed that she was alone with Erik here in his courtroom, on his bench—in his lap. He was hard for her. He held her wrists firmly behind her back and pulled her so close that his ragged jaw tickled her ear. In a courtroom monotone, he'd issued private, provocative orders.

Now all business, he wore his glasses and reviewed his clerk's memorandum.

His gaze slipped from the page to eye her over his horn-rimmed frames, and she forgot to breathe—a searing fire lit his dark eyes. Did he have the same dreams? "Um... Excuse me, I..." He took a deep breath. With both hands, he slowly removed his glasses and smoothed his hair. "Please be seated, everyone. Um... This is Plaintiff's motion? Mr. Ratner, please state your case."

Ratner stood and buttoned his suit. If he noticed what passed between Christine and the judge, he gave no sign. "Your Honor should judge in our favor, as there are no issues for trial. The plaintiff, Fordham Realty, is seeking an eviction for non-payment of rent." He scowled at Carlotta. "Defendant Albrizzio claims she paid, but she can't prove even a single payment. The evidence is overwhelmingly in our favor," he concluded. "Evict her."

Christine opened her mouth to object, but Carlotta beat her to it. "Mrs. Albrizzio is over eighty years old," she snapped, rising from her seat. "She made consistent payments for twenty-five years. Now that her health is failing, she trusted her forty-five-year-old son to take her cash and pay the rent. He stole the money instead."

Judge Delgado stared at Christine, his brow creased in confusion over her silence.

Carlotta continued, "And he read the mail for her, too. That's why she never made a single payment—because she had no knowledge of her son's theft, nor of the landlord's complaints."

"Then why didn't she call the police?" challenged Ratner. "It doesn't change the fact that she hasn't paid her rent!"

Judge Delgado wasn't paying attention. He saw only Christine, and spoke to her in glances instead of words. Even as she watched Carlotta and Ratner debate, she felt Erik's iron gaze slide over her like a caress.

"—not her fault," Carlotta was saying.

"There is no evidence—"

Judge Delgado stirred and tapped his gavel, and the attorneys fell silent.

"For the record," he said calmly, "another attorney is present for the defendant, and she hasn't given her appearance."

Christine swallowed. Beside her, Carlotta's mouth dropped open as she realized that the judge had completely ignored her statements.

Ratner only smirked.

Erik turned bodily to Christine, such that not only his blazing eyes acknowledged her, but so did his shoulders and chest and blue corsage. "Miss Dale, are you here to present argument?"

"I'm… No, I'm just… I'm here only as silent—"

"¡Cállate, puta!" Carlotta hissed at her. "You're ruining—"

"Order! Miss Contreras!" he shouted, whacking his gavel two or three more times. His thundering voice shook the rafters, and the bronze chandelier flickered. "Did I not forbid you all from passing judgment in my courtroom?"

"But she's not here to argue! She's not here to make an appearance! She's not here to speak at all! I'm the one arguing the case."

"Watch your tone, Miss Contreras, or I'll find you in contempt!"

"Actually," said Ratner, "I, too, object to your preference for Miss Dale."

"What's this, now?" cried the judge. "You take Miss Contreras' side, though she's your adversary?"

"On the contrary, I'm sure Miss Contreras expected you wouldn't judge fairly with Miss Dale sitting here."

Carlotta scoffed. "What are you saying? That I brought Christine as a ploy?"

"Why else would she be here? You said yourself she's not here to say anything. You read the Post and figured you could win with her silently by your side."

A mocking laugh was Carlotta's only reply.

Ratner was probably right. Christine wished she could disappear.

"Enough of this," Erik commanded with a dismissive wave of his arms. "We've been sidetracked. You're too concerned about Miss Dale rather than Mrs. Albrizzio. As for the evidence in the case—"

"Excuse me, Judge, I wasn't finished," said Ratner.

"You are now, Counsel. Or I'll find you in contempt."

"You must recuse unless Miss Dale leaves the courtroom."

"It's you who's leaving the courtroom, sir. You're in contempt of court." He gestured for the bailiff to assist. "Take him out of here."

Murmurs of astonishment sizzled from the gallery. Judge Delgado had never held a litigating attorney in contempt, let alone Jacob Ratner, who considered himself a model of professional conduct.

"Just a minute!" said Ratner as the bailiff took his arm. "You can't intimidate me, Judge—I'm still filing for your recusal."

Erik steepled his fingers against his lips and made no reply. His dark eyes seethed with anger.

"My motion's already drafted!" Ratner persisted as the bailiff led him from the room, "Have you lost your mind?"

Erik turned to his clerk. "Decision reserved. This case is adjourned."

"Now look what you've done!" Carlotta said to Christine. "I couldn't even finish."

"Me?!"

"Yes! This is your fault. Jake's in contempt only for demanding that you leave—"

Erik slammed his gavel again and again until Christine's ears rang. "Miss Contreras," he said, struggling to keep his voice even, "I've had enough. You have a troubling dearth of etiquette. An absolute absence of ethics, actually—assuming it's true that you intended to unduly influence the court—And now your lack of contrition, your persistence in flouting my authority—your behavior, in short, is contemptible!"

In the gallery, gasps and protests burst from Carlotta's friends.

"Mark my words carefully, Miss Contreras," he continued. "I'll not have you in my courtroom until you learn propriety! Where's my bailiff?"

As the bailiff was with Ratner in the hallway, it fell on Erik's clerk to turn Carlotta out. Her supporters exploded into uproar as she was taken away.

Meanwhile, Christine stood at the defendant's table, caught in a whirlwind, unsure whether she should leave with Carlotta, afraid to provoke the judge's impatience. But this scene wasn't merely the consequence of Judge Delgado's infamous temper; it was too strong a coincidence that he'd ejected both of her tormentors.

Her father had promised her an angel, and here he was.

She dropped back into her chair. She wanted to fall to her knees.

The clerk who'd evicted Carlotta rushed back into the room. "Th-there's a dead body in the courtroom vestibule!"

Fresh gasps erupted from the gallery.

The judge tugged at his hair with a heavy groan. "Everyone remain calm and stay in your seats." He charged down from the bench and followed the clerk out to the vestibule.

No one stayed in their seats.

Everyone stood, rushed to pack their briefcases. Voices rose and speculated whether the body was Ratner's or the bailiff's.

A moment later Judge Delgado returned, accompanied by both his clerk and his bailiff, who was speaking into the radio clipped to one shoulder. Now Erik's face truly terrified Christine; he was not the steady judge she knew. His furious expression had fallen into fright. His hollow eyes were wide, his permanent sneer stretched taut, his large forehead in distorted furrows.

"No one leave yet," he commanded. "I'm sure the police will have questions. And please stay in your seats, if you can. We have a corpse wedged into our vestibule and his face is…" He cleared his throat. "He burned up."

The lawyers cried out in alarm. Goosebumps prickled Christine's arms.

"So I strongly recommend not taking a peek," he concluded.

Chaos erupted as everyone tried to leave.

Erik glanced at Christine, who couldn't move even if she'd wanted to; her muscles had seized. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She knew from the look on his face that there was something he wasn't telling them. There was something more, something else that'd left him so disturbed. While they waited for the police, he paced in front of her table and paused to stare at the closed doors of the vestibule.

Where a dead man had materialized as though answering a court summons.