His Permanent Mistress: Mistress Under Contract

‘He’s not innocent.’

‘I didn’t realise you were judge and jury.’

‘Hmmf,’ she growled. Her hands shook. She was in a right rage. ‘Why are you defending him?’

‘Because I happen to believe he’s innocent. And even if it’s proved he isn’t, he’s entitled to good representation.’

‘By good you mean resourceful. Get him off on some technicality…or look for some legal loophole, some procedural slipup that renders half the evidence inadmissible?’

Daniel blinked, in a bit of a headspin. ‘No, I—’

She didn’t let him finish. ‘And what about the victim? You put her on the stand and tear shreds off her, right? Pry into her personal life? Cast shadows and doubt?’

‘Lucy, I…’ have had a really long day and don’t need this. But one look at her face and he knew he needed to straighten this out. He’d seen her cross, he’d seen her excited, but he’d never seen her looking hurt before—never this agitated. He didn’t like it.

‘Ever been a victim, Daniel? Ever known what it’s like to have someone come in and screw over your life?’

‘No. But…’ I’m guessing you have. He bit the words back. She was distressed, something must have happened and he wanted to understand, not upset her more. He stood, took her arm and marched her towards the office. ‘I think we need to continue this in private.’

She didn’t argue. Just pulled her arm roughly from his and stalked ahead into the room. He could hardly believe this was the woman who had launched on him in lust last night. She stood as far from him as possible. Arms barred tight across her body. ‘It’s so unfair. What woman would put herself through that—through the trial, have her life paraded in front of everyone—if he wasn’t guilty?’

He spoke calmly, quietly. ‘I have no doubt that something happened to her. What I doubt is whether they’ve caught the right guy.’

‘There’s a witness saying he was there.’

‘Him and half the city. There might be another explanation. Look, Lucy, my guy isn’t Snow White, but his line is burglary and car theft, not sexual assault. He’s not the sharpest tool in the box—he doesn’t have the smarts to pull something like this one off.’

‘Yeah, right.’

‘He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The cops got a match and patched the story together. It’s not a strong case, they shouldn’t have gone ahead with it because it’s not fair on anyone—let alone the victim—but I’m not going to see an innocent man go to jail.’

His reasoning didn’t stop her tirade. ‘You lawyers are all the same. Only in it for the money. I remember the law students sauntering round campus like they owned it in their flash clothes, drinking their expensive wine, thinking they were so sophisticated.’

‘Whoa, check out the size of that chip, Lucy. It’s not about money. Not for me.’ He had an inheritance. Money was never going to be an issue.

‘Really?’ she spat. ‘Is he paying you a mint?’

‘Actually he’s paying me nothing.’

That shut her up—for a moment. ‘You don’t know what it’s like. Victims don’t have a voice.’

‘Not true, Lucy. Not nowadays.’

‘The system is geared towards the defendant. When it’s he said versus she said, it seems like nine times out of ten they believe him.’ She paced the tiny room. ‘Are you putting him on the stand? Are you going to ask him all about his private life, his past, like you did her?’

‘We have to test the credibility of the witness’s evidence.’

‘Hers, sure. What about his credibility? He doesn’t have to get up there and face a scary inquisitor like you—she does. She’s the one who’s been through the wringer and you just make it worse. The bad guy gets to sit back and watch it all.’

‘We’re talking about a person’s liberty, Lucy. We have to err on the side of caution. Beyond reasonable doubt.’ Deliberately he kept his voice slow and low, forcing her to stop her pacing so she could hear him. Treating her as he would a fragile witness on the stand.

‘What about justice, Daniel? Look at the stats—the bad guys hardly ever get put away. You know this—not unless you have some solid scientific evidence. They never believe her. It’s always him.’

‘So what would you have—anarchy? Vigilantes retaliating who knows how violently in their code of justice?’

She looked at her boots. ‘Why don’t we tie a rock to him and toss him in a lake? If he sinks he’s telling the truth and if he floats he’s lying? You know, that worked for all those witches a couple of hundred years ago, didn’t it?’

He wanted to put his arms around her and cradle her—she was putting on the brave front but her eyes were over-shiny and her voice wobbled. ‘We work within the system, Lucy. I’m not saying it’s a perfect system, but it’s not bad. If we work at it, we can make it even better.’