Tim Green: The Letter Of The Law

"You see that man at the bar?" Casey said firmly before he could do it. "He's a police detective, and if you so much as spill a drop of that wine on me, he'll throw you down on the floor, handcuff you, and drag you out of here like the punk you are…

"So go ahead, Taylor Jordan," she said defiantly. "Make a move…"

Bolinger saw his cue and stood, pulling back his coat to reveal his badge, his gun, and a gleaming set of handcuffs.

Taylor fought for composure, and actually managed to drink the wine with trembling lips before setting it down and striding indignantly out of the restaurant without another word.

"Would you please ask that gentleman at the bar with the gun and the badge if he'd like to join me for some champagne?" Casey said to the gaping waiter.

Bolinger sat down and everyone else returned to their lunches.

"Classic," he said to her, holding up a freshly filled glass. "I wish you were on the right side of the law."

"Meaning?" she said archly.

"Meaning I wish you were helping put people away rather than keeping them out," he told her gruffly.

"What about people like Donald Sales?" she said, adding, "and Catalina Enos?"

"No, I know about them," he said, "I'm not talking about them. They were innocent. I'm talking about the bad guys."

Casey laughed at him, her mirth filling the space between them like a brilliant bouquet.

"So what next?" he asked.

"I'm off to Dallas," she said. "Everything's packed and on its way. Patti is already there."

"How is Patti?" he asked. He knew that after Lipton's attack she'd only been in the hospital for a short while, but it had always seemed strange to him that after what he saw there were no complications.

"She's fine," Casey said. "There never was any critical damage to her internal organs. She's got an ugly scar, but the doctor's told her that was all."

"So she's in Dallas?" Bolinger repeated.

"Yes, hopefully with my office all set up. All that's missing is me. I figure a new life needs a new place to begin."

"More lawyering?"

"Of course," she told him. "There's a regional branch of the LDFU in Dallas and they've offered me a very prestigious position."

"LDFU?" he asked. "Never heard of that."

"It's the Legal Defense Fund for the Underprivileged," she told him. "Trust me, it's prestigious. A lot of people just don't know about it."

"How can it be prestigious if a lot of people don't know about it?" Bolinger asked dubiously.

Casey smiled for a long while, thinking. Then she said, "Because I know."