Mistress of Justice

deal,” Taylor continued. “Tell you what. Give him back to me and he’ll give you a statement about the late Miss Sanchez and her friends—as long as it’s anonymous and he never has to testify in court against anybody. And I’ll make him promise to get off the stuff.”
    “Whatta you say?” Tommy Blond said to the uniformed officer.
    “Look,” Taylor pushed, “he works for the same firm got your buddy Joey off. That oughta count for something.”
    Joey, Taylor remembered, was the patrolman who maybe
did
get a little carried away with his nightstick on that black kid who maybe lifted a wallet but maybe didn’t. And who maybe reached for that tire iron, even though,funny thing, it was found twenty feet away from the scuffle. Took the ER fifty-eight stitches to repair Officer Joey’s handiwork on the kid’s face.
    The arresting gave Taylor a look that’s shorthand in law enforcement. It translates to: I don’t need this shit.
    “Okay, get him out of here. But tell him to clean up his act. I mean, like really. Next time they won’t leave
nobody
around. Have him down to Narcotics at the Plaza next week and give ’em a statement.” He wrote a name on a card. “Ask for this detective here.”
    Taylor said, “Thanks, gentlemen.”
    Tommy Blond shook her hand again. “Proud of you, little lady. A lawyer. That’s all right.” He walked off toward the locker room.
    Taylor walked back to Sebastian, who’d been slumped in his seat, out of earshot of the bargaining. He didn’t yet know he was free.
    She knelt down next to him, looked at the blood on his face and shirt. It was quite brilliant. She said, “Thom, I may be able to help you out. But I’ve got to ask you something. I need an honest answer.… Look at me.”
    Boy’s eyes. Indignant, hurt, scared boy’s eyes.
    “You went through Mitchell Reece’s file cabinet sometime recently. Why?”
    A furrow ran through his bloody forehead as he frowned. He sniffed. “What are you talking about?”
    Taylor said brutally, “Fuck it, Thom, I can get you out of here or I can make sure they book you. That’ll be the end of your life in New York. Now, it’s your call.”
    He wiped tears from his cheeks. “Mitchell does trial work for New Amsterdam. I handle a lot of their corporate work. I probably needed some files he had.”
    “You’ve been in his safe file?”
    Sebastian frowned again. “That thing he’s got in his office with the locks on it? Yeah, a few months ago I got some files out of it, some settlement agreements from a secured-loan suit a couple of years ago. I needed them. It wasn’tlocked and Reece was out of town on business. What’s this all about?”
    “You know New Amsterdam pretty well?”
    “What’s this—”
    “Answer me,” she snapped.
    “Know them?” He wiped his face with a tissue and looked at the blood. He laughed bitterly. “I’ve worked for them for years! I baby-sit them! I hold their hands and walk them through the deals. While Burdick’s collecting their fucking check
I’m
the grunt doing all the work for them. While Fred LaDue takes ’em out to dinner and plays tennis with them
I’m
the one who’s up till three A.M . doing the documents.
I’m
their lawyer.” He sighed. “Yeah, I know them pretty well.”
    Taylor looked into his eyes and she believed him. But she persisted. “You were in the firm on Saturday night, a week ago. You lied to me about it. You snuck in through the back door.”
    “How did you know that?” he asked. But his voice faded as he noticed her gaze grow cold again. “I’m sorry. Yeah, I was there. I did lie … but I had to. Look, when I got passed over for partner I decided to start my own firm. That’s what Bosk and I’re doing. Dennis Callaghan’s doing the real estate for us, brokering some office space downtown. I just don’t want anybody at Hubbard, White to know yet. That’s why I lied.”
    “Prove it.”
    Numb, he pulled out his cell phone and placed a call. “Dennis? It’s Thom. I’m putting somebody on the line. Tell her exactly what you’re doing for Bosk and me.”
    She took the phone and said simply, “Go ahead.”
    Callaghan hesitated a moment then told her the same thing Sebastian had. “Okay, thanks.” She disconnected and handed Sebastian back the phone.
    “Why’d you get all that information about me? The stuff under your desk blotter.”
    Another blink. Another dip of the head. “You showedup in my life all of a sudden. You were