Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

there will need to wait for the next, but it’s not far behind.’
    Grayson crouched beside Reggie’s attorney. ‘How badly are you hurt?’
    ‘Arm’s busted,’ Ellis muttered, gritting his teeth. ‘Bastard snapped it. Ankle’s probably busted too.’
    Daphne could feel no sympathy for Edward Ellis. He’d had no legitimate defense, so he’d smeared the victims’ good names ruthlessly. Because she couldn’t think of a single nice thing to say at the moment, she kept her mouth shut.
    Grayson must have found himself in the same position, because he fell silent, too.
    Ellis shot them both a hostile look. ‘You think I deserved this.’
    ‘No,’ she denied quickly. ‘You didn’t deserve to be hurt, but I guess I don’t think you deserve to be terribly shocked. You’re not a public defender. You chose to represent this killer.’
    Ellis’s eyes narrowed. ‘I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth and I wasn’t lucky enough to grab one out of the mouth of a rich judge in a divorce settlement. You can afford to take the high road. I have to pay the rent, so I take the cases that come and I don’t apologize.’
    Silver spoons , she thought, her temper boiling up. If he only knew . Clamping her mouth shut, she was grateful for the arrival of the second EMT team, who took Ellis away, leaving Daphne and Grayson staring at the doors that closed behind him.
    ‘If he only knew what I paid for that silver spoon I got in my divorce settlement,’ she muttered, then shrugged uncomfortably.
    If it had just been her, she would have walked away from her ex-husband’s millions. But it hadn’t been just her. It had been about Ford, about securing his future. So she’d fought hard and was mostly glad she had. Her divorce settlement had made it possible for her to achieve her own dreams. To get her law degree and to stand for victims like the Turners.
    Grayson lifted his brows. ‘From what little I know about your ex, I’d say the silver spoon you got in your divorce settlement was well earned.’
    ‘Living with Travis Elkhart for twelve years was hard work,’ she agreed, keeping her tone light. ‘Living with his mother was even harder. And speaking of mothers . . .’ Daphne sat on the edge of the prosecutors’ table, ready to change the subject. ‘Cindy Millhouse scares me shitless. “I swear to the living God you will know how this feels, ” ’ she quoted, then shivered. ‘I guess I’m lucky she didn’t swear to any dead gods.’
    ‘Cindy smuggled a knife into the courtroom, threatened a state’s attorney, and resisted arrest. I doubt she’ll get bail.’
    ‘Yeah, but she and Bill have minions. And speaking of Bill, where was he when all hell broke loose? I saw George fighting with a cop and getting cuffed. Where was Bill?’
    ‘He left the courtroom as soon as the verdict was read, probably to give his version to the press before you could.’
    ‘So he’s out there somewhere. That makes me nervous.’ But being nervous wouldn’t fix anything and she’d be damned before she’d hide. ‘Do you want to give a statement? The press will be mobbing the courthouse steps.’
    ‘Do I want to give a statement? Hell no. But we will. Actually, you will. It was your case. Which you hit out of the park, by the way. Congratulations.’
    ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘At least I’ll be able to sleep tonight.’
    ‘I imagine you will at that,’ he said with a small secretive smile.
    ‘What is that supposed to mean?’
    ‘There’s a bottle of champagne in our fridge that has your name on it. Paige bought it the day they started jury selection. She’s very proud of you.’
    Grayson’s face softened every time he mentioned his fiancée. It made Daphne all warm inside to see how close he and Paige had become.
    Nine months ago Paige exploded into their lives, seeking justice for Ramon Muñoz, a man wrongly convicted of a brutal murder. Now she was not only Grayson’s fiancée, but she was also Daphne’s best friend. Together she and Paige had started Women Serving Women – first as a cover for Paige’s investigation to clear Muñoz, but once that job was done, their foundation grew legs. At the moment WSW housed only Paige’s karate school, but the two of them had big plans.
    The day Daphne had been assigned to the Millhouse case she’d told Paige she was afraid the case was too big, that she couldn’t handle it. That her friend had bought champagne before the trial had even