David Dun - At The Edge

"No 'just a minute'! We're out of here," he yelled, literally picking her up and running for twenty feet or so.

"All right," she said as they burst into the corridor and ran down to the stairway. Now something was stinging her eyes. He yanked a fire alarm.

"Everybody out," he shouted as they reached the stairwell.

The stairs were filled with running people. A man stumbled after them into the stairwell, looking violently ill and vomiting. They ran down the stairs and out the door, not stopping until they were across the street.

In minutes the entire courthouse had emptied onto the lawn. Detectives came through, telling everyone to stay. Yellow ribbons were strung around, separating those who had come from the courthouse from the gawkers.

"Where were you?" A young officer approached Dan and Maria with a clipboard and radios hanging off him.

"Judge Traxler's courtroom."

"How many in there?"

"Lots," Dan said.

"Everybody who was in Judge Traxler's courtroom, right over here."

''Actually, we were in the jury room just off the courtroom," Dan explained further. "Court had just adjourned. They may have been in the hall."

The questions seemed endless, it was warm, and after all the adrenaline rush, drowsiness set in. People were allowed to leave after giving complete statements. An hour and a half later, Dan and Maria had given their statements to the police and been excused to the coffee shop where they settled the case. After a time they got word that nobody died. Someone had called in and said to turn off the air conditioner, and the intake fans had already been on low. But thirty people were taken to the hospital. Ross wasn't among them; Maria called and found him at the Palmer Inn, oblivious to what had happened and grateful she was safe.

Dan wrote as Maria sipped her coffee and occasionally argued about a word or a phrase. The devil was always in the details. As she watched him concentrate on the page, she noticed the way his shoulders and arms filled the suit, the thick strength of his neck. Across his chest his blue dress shirt was nearly stretched tight. Although he'd gained a little since the photos she had seen, his face was still relatively lean and there was sharpness in his blue eyes. Periodically he glanced at her from under his heavy brows. She decided that they made him look wise and that in middle age a pair of gold reading glasses would only add to his charm. His thick blond hair was becoming uneven and had grown over his ears; he should have it cut. Then she considered that such a thought-considering her long-haired boyfriend, and all her many wavy-haired colleagues-must be some kind of mental regression. Perhaps it was a throwback to the days when she would tell her father he needed a haircut. She caught herself smiling, on the verge of laughter.

Then she noticed some of her friends from the cafe looking at her and felt suddenly very uncomfortable. Almost ashamed.

"What?" he said, searching her face.

"Utterly nothing. Just nothing."

Then the whole courtroom scene and his words overtook her again and she could feel her jaw set, angry with herself that she was acting like a schoolgirl.

As they finished penciling the settlement stipulation, Dan seemed to notice Maria's people gathering at a nearby table-and staring.

"This isn't real comfortable," she said.

"Why? We're settling a case."

"We already did that."

"You'd rather be with them."

"Dan, this isn't the twelfth grade. I'm heading to the John and then I'm going to go be with my friends and coworkers. I'll call you."

"You're still mad about what I said in court."

"You mean calling me an ass?".

"Well, it wasn't personal. It was a debate over something we both have deep convictions about."

"We can talk about it later." As she rose, he followed.

''I suppose you're looking for some kind of apology about my 'ass' joke. And the attorney-client-privilege stuff."

"Is that your idea or mine?"

Walking behind Maria, down the hallway to the rest room, he couldn't help but take in her appearance. Her suit, somehow both powerful and soft. The gentle, perfect sway of her hips.

"Great outfit," he whispered.

Maria halted abruptly and turned, causing Dan to come within inches of running her down. There they stood, her nose eight inches from his chest. Dan wondered if he detected a slight change in her demeanor.

He felt both tired and irreverent. "A beauty unlike any other." He smiled. "I am speaking, of course, of your oral argument."

"Dan, there can never be anything between us," she responded flatly.

He shrugged. "I also thought you looked terrific on the counsel table."

Her eyes betrayed nothing. "You are a hopeless throwback to the Old West, when white people butchered Native Americans and destroyed everything in their path. Frankly, after that display in the courtroom, we shouldn't have anything to say to each other.''

"Going to battle together doesn't count?"

"It does and it doesn't. I'll call you."

"Now that we've got a deal, I feel like maybe I could bend the rules and tell you what happened."

"So now ethics don't matter?"

"For five minutes, why don't you just quit being a hard-ass?"

She stood with her weight on her right foot and crossed her arms. "OK, spill your guts."

"This is just between you and me. Nobody else."

"Why should you trust me?"

"Because you may be a lot of things but you aren't untrustworthy."

"Don't tell me anything about the future. Only tell me about the past. I'm only curious about what you did."

Dan took a deep breath. "All right. I fought them tooth and nail on the extra cutters. So did Otran's chief of forestry. To shut us up, Anderson led us to believe they wouldn't do any accelerated cutting. I thought they were doing the usual thing. So did Otran's foresters all the way up to the vice president of natural resources. Normal work on the weekends, nothing else."

"You told them not to do anything out of the ordinary. No winks, nothing like that."

"No winks. I thought it was in their own best interests not to do that sort of thing. So did Otran's people."

"You know you'd be a real asshole to lie to me now."

"I'm not lying to you. I was absolutely trying to keep you away from the Anderson logging show on Sunday morning. Everything you said about that is true. I suppose nothing will make this right between us?"

"More self-flagellation might be a start." She turned to leave. "I can tell you hate it," she said over her shoulder.

"Hey," he called out. "We have to discuss the chemists and the zoologist. We gotta keep going."

"Yes, we do." She turned to face him. "I was going to call you when I thought I could be civil. I have a zoologist who has spent his life studying bats. And he's rounded up a chemist. Perhaps I should go see them and give you a report."

"Look, Maria, as one human being to another, I'm sorry about these trees. I know how important they are to you."

She shook her head. "You couldn't possibly know. You probably believe that the tooth fairy is a Rockefeller."

"Peace." He held out his hand. Even as she shook her head as if she had reservations, she took his hand in hers. "So let's make an appointment for this zoologist."

"I have a feeling, Dan. We're into something dangerous. You have a little boy. Are you sure you want to pursue this?"

"I'm sure." He squeezed her hand. For a moment she squeezed back and then the touch was gone.

Other than security people everywhere, the next day people returned to the courthouse as if nothing had happened. Maria had not called Dan.

She first saw him standing in the courtroom doorway, watching her argue another case. Once again there were plenty of people in the gallery. A San Francisco attorney for Metco was opposing her, and she was in her element, showing the judge a six-foot blowup of a clear-cut. Although she knew Dan would label her argument as full of grand generalizations, simplistic and biased, she also knew she was effective. And on these ancient trees, she was certain she was right.