Courting Death Read Online Free

hurricane-driven ocean waves filled my ears. Claire had had another baby who’d died? They’d never mentioned it during our first interview. I had asked about other children, hadn’t I?
    I hadn’t had time to recover from that afternoon’s court fiasco. A fresh onslaught of the self-doubt no one knew haunted me, not even my friends Carling and Kate, swept over me.
    Sam’s lips twisted as his sharp glance took in my reaction. “What? Your clients forget that little detail?”
    Moaning, Claire swayed. Brian tightened his grip even as he cursed at Sam. “You bastard. You don’t know what my wife’s been through.”
    Rocking back on his heels, Sam narrowed his eyes. “I know that having two babies die in the first year of life smacks of infanticide, not SIDS.”
    Claire thrust out a trembling hand as if to stop the onslaught of accusations. “Please. Don’t. The paramedics told me Rebecca was still alive when she arrived at the hospital. I didn’t, couldn’t kill my babies.”
    “So you claim, Mrs. Whitman.” Sarcasm laced Sam’s tone. “We’ll just wait to see what the medical examiner has to say…as well as the ME in Chicago.”
    Brian paled. “Wh—what?” he stammered.
    “We got a court order allowing us to exhume Sarah’s body in Illinois. We’re going to see if both babies struggled for breath before they—”
    Claire’s low wail was heart wrenching. I understood all too well the breaking point a person could reach.
    “Bastard.” Brian threw a punch and struck Sam’s jaw.
    Sam rubbed his chin. “I figure you have a right to that one.”
    “Enough.” I stepped between the grieving couple and Sam. “I’m reporting your actions to your captain. My client hasn’t been charged with any crime and hounding her at her child’s funeral is inhumane.”
    Glancing over my shoulder at the husband, I snapped an order, “Get her out of here.” Already fragile, Claire’s expression was wild-eyed. Whatever deep, dark secrets she hid, now was not the time to reveal them.
    “What’s all the commotion?” Colin Depp rushed down the hall. He flapped his hands in an agitated manner. “You’re disturbing the guests.”
    Then he saw the Whitmans and made a tsking noise in his throat. “Oh, my dear.” He grabbed up a box of tissues from the table. “I know this has been a terrible ordeal for you. Come into my office for a moment to compose yourself.”
    Relieved, I watched him whisk the couple away into a room next to the parlor. Then I turned my sights on Sam. I placed a hand on his chest and shoved him—hard—into the chapel.
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I planted my fists on my hips. “I know you’ve never let anything stop you in pursuit of a case, but this really transcends the bounds of all decency.”
    Sam leaned against the bench seat. “They didn’t tell you about the first baby, did they, Red? I could have bowled you over with a feather you were so stunned.”
    No, and I was going to have a little chat with them tomorrow about my continued representation. Defending someone accused of a crime was hard enough, but when that person lied or omitted certain facts, it made the job even more difficult, sometimes impossible. To believe in what I did, I needed to trust my clients.
    It was the only way I could transition from prosecuting hard-core felons to representing the accused.
    Having already lost a child was an important fact that I was certain hadn’t slipped my client’s mind. If she didn’t trust me with the truth our relationship was going to be over in a heartbeat.
    But I wasn’t about to clue Sam in on how upset I was.
    “Don’t try to sidetrack me.” I folded my arms.
    “Still running scared, Red?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Look at you. Just because you lost the Archer conviction on a technicality, you turned tail and ran from being a prosecutor.”
    Hanging in the air were the unspoken words and me, and I could see the glint of resentment in his