Page 7 of Ridin' True

She stepped into the room and held up a folder. Her apologetic smile said it all.

“New client. I meant to drop this by yesterday evening, but I got caught up with something else and missed you. Jacob wanted you to have this one specifically.”

“Let me guess, divorce case?”

“Close,” Cora laughed, handing over the folder. “Custody battle. He called in yesterday. He’ll be in this afternoon. I already blocked your calendar. I saw you had the availability. Again, I’m sorry to drop this off last minute, but it’s just an initial meet, so you shouldn’t need much prep time.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault Jacob is allergic to family law.”

“Look at it this way, he trusts no one else as much as he trusts you to handle these things.”

I nodded, appreciative of her attempt to point out the silver lining.

“Thanks, Cora.”

“You bet. Court tomorrow, right?” she asked, backing her way out of the room.

“Yeah.”

“Happy hour drinks after?”

“I’d love that,” I agreed.

“Great. I’ll leave you to it.”

When I was alone, I blew out a sigh and peeked inside the folder.

Jed Barker. Working with the father as opposed to the mother made it somewhat interesting, at least.

I closed the folder and set it aside. I’d give it a proper glance after lunch.

Cases likeMr. Barker’swere why I was so adamant about hanging my own shingle one day. I wasgreatat family law. Not because it was a specialty of mine or because I loved it, but because I had so much practice taking on cases of that nature. I was capable of much more, but I rarely got the chance to showcase my other skills.

Every once in a while, I got something really interesting or challenging—a case I could truly sink my teeth into. That’s when my job was really fun. Not to say it wasn’t generally fulfilling. It was. I just didn’t relish the constant onslaught of hand-me-downs from Jacob.

I knew I shouldn’t complain. Jacob taking me under his wing was an honor and a great show of respect. It’s what earned me an office. Granted, I worked in a shoebox, but it had a door, and that was something. The trouble was, it was hard not to feel like I was working in a boy’s club.

Sure, we had a female partner—but including Elizabeth, there were three of us in the office who practiced law. While I hated to play the gender card, I could count on one hand the number of custody cases Jacob assigned to any of the other associates.

“Get over it, Alexia,” I whispered to myself.

My paycheck was generous. My win-column was long. My respect had been earned with hard work and integrity. I had nothing to complain about.

What Ididhave was court in the morning, and I needed to focus.

I kept my head down until I was too hungry to concentrate, at which point I stepped out to grab a quick bite for lunch. There was a local coffee shop not two minutes’ walk from our building that had an awesome turkey pesto sandwich I ordered often enough I didn’t actually have to order it when I walked in. They just started preparing it when they saw me headed for the register.

I ate it there, enjoying a few minutes away from my desk, then ordered a hot tea to go before returning to work. I took the stairs to the second floor rather than the elevator, because it always felt like a good idea after lunch, but stopped short when I saw my office was not empty. There were two men inside, each occupying a seat opposite my desk.

I checked the time on my phone. I wasn’t expecting Mr. Barker for at least another ten minutes, and the rest of my afternoon was free of scheduled appointments. Aware I’d only find out who the men were if I approached them, I took a sip of my tea and continued to make my way to my office.

“Hello, gentlemen. Can I help you?” I asked, crossing over the threshold.

They both turned to watch me enter. In one glance, I knew something was off. They weren’t right, somehow. They had on suits, but they were ill-fitted and cheap looking. The shirts they wore were patterned and bold. One of the men had a tattoo on his face and another on his neck. He was scary looking and big. The other was smaller and less scary but sleazier, with slicked back hair and an obnoxious gold chain around his neck. He smiled at me, revealing a golden grill along his bottom teeth.

He spoke first.

“You Alexia Torres?”