Accidents of Marriage Read Online Free

of standard beige folders. Color-coding hot cases was but one of the many innovations she’d managed to foist on everyone. “I got here at six.”
    “And that’s why you’re the gem of this ocean in which we drown each day.”
    “I’ve pulled together everything I thought we’d need.”
    He had to watch this one. Ben already found himself drawn to Elizabeth’s cool blondeness, and she seemed besotted by his power as senior trial counsel for the Boston Public Defender Division. Admiration could be as addictive as cocaine.
    “Unavoidable delay,” he said. “Problem at home.”
    “Serious?” Judging from her concerned expression, she expectedan enormous story. Fire! Broken limbs! Ben wanted to construct the tale well—keep that sympathetic look going.
    “Caleb cut open his foot yesterday. It looked like hell this morning.”
    Elizabeth appeared confused, unimpressed even.
    “He needed to go to the doctor, and Gracie had to go to camp.”
    Their morning drama sounded weak. Exactly what had riled them so?
    “But we wrapped it up—all’s well in family world again.” Ben waved his hand at Elizabeth as she started to rise—ready to return his rightful seat—gesturing for her to stay put. He settled in the worn leather guest chair he’d pulled from promotion to promotion since starting in the Public Defender’s office. Before that he’d tried to work with his father, but Benedikte Illica Sr. ran his law firm as though it were the Ottoman Empire. Room for only one ruler there.
    Ben leaned back. The chair gave a satisfying creak, like pulling on his knuckles and getting the snap. “Review what you have for me one more time, okay, Lissie?”
    Elizabeth mock-glared. She’d told him Lissie was infantilizing. He grinned.
    “Summary first?” she asked, shuffling through her files.
    Ben pushed back a hank of hair and scribbled haircut into a memory Post-it, along with a reminder to call the trophy store. He wanted to give Elizabeth an engraved plaque with a quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes for her twenty-third birthday: Young man, the secret of my success is that at an early age I discovered I was not God.
    Maddy would say he needed that plaque far more than Elizabeth. Of course, Maddy would be more interested in knowing why he was planning presents for Elizabeth’s birthday. That’s why you had to rush into the office?
    He’d given birthday presents to male interns, hadn’t he?
    Right.
    “Sure you don’t want your seat back?” Elizabeth balanced her legs on the open bottom drawer she’d pulled out to use as a footrest.
    Ben held his hand up in a gesture of generosity and then pointed to the papers in her lap. “Shoot.”
    “Okay. Nutshell. What we have, and what they’ll say: Prosecution says B-bird, a.k.a. Barry Robinson, allegedly murdered Joseph Kelley last January. B-bird admits he was mad that the victim tried to pick up his girlfriend, but swears he didn’t kill him . . .”
    Ben laced his fingers behind his head, leaning back to make his stomach appear flatter. As Elizabeth read facts that he’d already memorized, he concentrated on the pleasure of judging her and her performance.
    Finished, she folded her hands. “Did I cover it?”
    “B-bird’s girlfriend. What’s up with her?”
    “She wasn’t at the scene.” Elizabeth swung her legs off the desk drawer.
    “The girlfriend was the reason for the fight, right? Will she be on his side? Will we see her in court?”
    Elizabeth’s stricken face made Ben feel almost guilty. Almost. She had to learn. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I spoke to her. She’ll be sitting right next to B-bird’s mama.”
    “Sorry. I thought I had it covered.”
    “Don’t be hard on yourself. It’s called learning.”
    Elizabeth wrung her hands, now more Oliver Twist waiting for gruel than Oliver Wendell Holmes. She gave a determined smile as she gathered her papers and then stood. “Next time, I’ll ace it.” Her hips strained her skirt as she