”And ladies?” the Judge wasn’t quite ready to dismiss them. ”On the assumption this union isn’t common knowledge, I’ll keep it out of the court record, but you may wish to consider how many times you want to chance this before making an admission to your colleagues.”

They exited the judge’s chambers and walked down the quiet hallway to the courtroom.

”Staff in my firm would go wild over this kind of gossip,” Bette said. ”Me? Involved with someone from the D.A.’s office?”

”Those who tell the tale, control the story,” Tina said.

”You’re okay with having people know?” Bette asked.

Tina stopped mid stride and placed her curled up fists on her hips defiantly.

”Are we having a short term dalliance? Because if that’s all it is, let’s get it done with and move on.”

”You know it’s more than that,” Bette replied gently.

”I know,” Tina said. She reached to place her hand on the side of Bette’s face. ”But I didn’t want more than a fling; it’s why I picked you.”

”And I just took the bait didn’t I…”

”You’re quite a bit more than I bargained for,” Tina replied. ”We’ll figure something out. We’d better get back in there. The Judge will be on her way soon.”

After they entered the courtroom, Bette communicated news of the continuance to her client and Tina started to gather her papers as they waited for the judge.

Around the corner of the back hallway, and unbeknownst to Bette and Tina, a third party had been privy to their conversation. Present at the courthouse today to give evidence on an unrelated case, was Tina’s former sister-in-law, Detective Alice Pieszecki.

Chapter 9

”As you can well imagine, I have an unexpectedly light workload over the next couple of days,” Tina said.

”I have to get this case farmed out,” Bette said. ”All I know is it won’t be me at the defence table next week.”

”You have to get it off your plate, Bette,” Tina said. ”This is a slam dunk for me, and I don’t want it fucked up because your client found out you were sleeping with the prosecutor.”

”I know, I’m taking care of it,” Bette said.

”Besides, I don’t really want to take you on in court,” Tina said. ”Hey, you’re hogging all the covers.”