"Roberts, Nora - Stanislaski 03 - Falling for Rachel" - читать интересную книгу автора (Roberts Nora)

Cursing her heels, she took them two at a time and swallowed the rest of the
bagel. There was no use fantasizing about the coffee she craved to wash it down
with.
She screeched to a halt at the courtroom doors and took a precious ten seconds
to straighten her blue serge jacket and smooth down her tousled, chin-length
black hair. A quick check showed her that her earrings were still in place. She
looked at her watch and let out a deep breath.
Right on time, Stanislaski, she told herself as she moved sedately through the
doors and into the courtroom. Her client, a twenty-three-year-old hooker with a
heart of flint, was being escorted in as Rachel took her place. The solicitation
charges would probably have earned her no more than a light fine and time
served, but stealing the John's wallet had upped the ante.
As Rachel had explained to her bitter client, not all customers were too
embarrassed to squawk when they lost two hundred in cash and a gold card.
"All rise!"
Hatchet-Face strode in, black robes flapping around all six-foot-three and two
hundred and eighty pounds of him. He had skin the color of a good cappuccino and
a face as round and unfriendly as the pumpkins Rachel remembered carving with
her siblings every Halloween.
Judge Snyder tolerated no tardiness, no sass and no excuses in his courtroom.
Rachel glanced over at the assistant district attorney who would be the opposing
counsel. They exchanged looks of sympathy and got to work.
Rachel got the hooker off with ninety days. Her client was hardly brimming with
gratitude as the bailiff led her away. She had better luck with an assault case…
After all, Your Honor, my client paid for a hot meal in good faith. When the
pizza arrived cold, he pointed out the problem by offering some to the delivery
boy. Unfortunately, his enthusiasm had him offering it a bit too heartily, and
during the ensuing scuffle said pizza was inadvertently dumped on the delivery
boy's head…
"Very amusing, Counselor. Fifty dollars, time served."
Rachel wrangled her way through the morning session. A pickpocket, a
drunk-and-disorderly, two more assaults and a petty larceny. They rounded things
off at noon with a shoplifter, a two-time loser. It took all of Rachel's skill
and determination to convince the judge to agree to a psychiatric evaluation and
counseling.
"Not too shabby." The ADA was only a couple of years older than Rachel's
twenty-six, but he considered himself an old hand. "I figure we broke even."
She smiled and shut her briefcase. "No way, Spelding. I edged you out with the
shoplifter."
"Maybe." Spelding, who had been trying to wheedle his way into a date for weeks,
walked out beside her. "Could be his psych will come back clean."
"Sure. The guy's seventy-two years old and steals disposable razors and greeting
cards with flowers on them. Obviously he's perfectly rational."
"You PDs are such bleeding hearts." But he said it lightly, because he greatly
admired Rachel's courtroom style. As well as her legs. "Tell you what, I'll buy
you lunch, and you can try to convince me why society should turn the other
cheek."
"Sorry." She shot him a quick smile and opted for the stairs again. "I've got a
client waiting for me."
"In jail?"