by Lexy Timms
“I hope I get assigned to Barbara Jess.” Crystal looked over next to her towards the sound of the voice. It was Cindy Kim. Cindy is one of those people who is practically a genius on paper, but rarely speaks above a whisper and acts like she hates confrontation. Crystal wouldn’t normally have an issue with that, but she wondered how the mousey little woman would ever make it in a cut-throat environment like the law especially as a prosecutor. She understood wanting to be assigned to Barbara though. She’d followed her career and the woman never failed to amaze her. She had an outstanding conviction record and whenever she spoke in an interview or at a press conference, her intelligence and confidence shown through. She was sure those weren’t Cindy’s reasons however. She smiled at her and asked,
“Because she’s the only female?” Cindy nodded. Still smiling Crystal said, “You do know that she has a reputation for being tough and very outspoken, right?” Cindy nodded again and then she said, “But she has to be nicer than the others, right?”
Crystal laughed and shrugged. Art, another classmate of theirs said, “They’re going to stick me with Steel. I just know it.”
“So what’s wrong with that?” Crystal asked. “You’re cute Art but from what I hear you’re not his type.” Art is openly gay and he and Crystal have become pretty good friends. She knew him well enough to feel comfortable joking with him about his sexuality.
“Don’t be surprised, I’ve turned men before,” he said with a mischievious grin. Crystal laughed and Cindy gasped. “It’s not about that,” he said, turning serious. “I just hear he works his interns to the bone and never allows them to have an opinion of their own. You know I have fabulous opinions.”
Crystal pat his hand and said, “Yes, we all know your opinions are fabulous. Think of it this way though, he’s supposedly the best D.A. this city has ever seen. In his five year career he has the highest conviction rate of any New York D.A. Imagine how good working with him is going to look on your resume. Besides, I’m sure you’ll learn a lot along the way too.”
He rolled his eyes. “I guess. You’ve got the easiest gig of us all.”
“I don’t know any more than you do who I’ll be assigned to,” she lied. Well, she didn’t know for sure, but she assumed that John would pick her. She’d rather it was Barbara, but she was at least ninety percent convinced it would be John. Art rolled his eyes again and said, “Yeah right. You’re going to get to work with John Kramer, the nicest guy in the building and the one who gets to prosecute the best cases.” John had done a few presentations for their class. Crystal had to agree with Art, he was the nicest guy on the team.
“I hear David Townsend is as much of a philanderer as his boss is.” Crystal looked over at Rebecca. Rebecca Stout was that one student it seems is in every class. She was the one who always put her hand up just as the instructor was about to dismiss the class…and asked another question. She’s smart, but she constantly second-guesses herself.
“I’ve heard that too,” Crystal said. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him.
“He’s beautiful,” Cindy whispered. That elicited a laugh from Art. Crystal was shocked. It was the first time she’d heard Cindy make a comment like that about anyone.
“He is?” she said.
“Yes,” Cindy sighed…even that was a whisper. “He’s blonde and blue-eyed…I think he played football in college. He looks like a football player still…” She looked up at his photo. Crystal followed her eyes. He was…nice looking, but his photo was next to Steel’s, and that was probably his undoing.
“How do you know so much about him?” Art asked her. Cindy looked like she’d suddenly said too much. She shrugged and looked back down at her shoes.
Feeling bad for her, Crystal changed the subject. “So what about the other one…what’s his name?”
“Kevin Waters,” Art said. “I guess I’d rather work with the Casanova than him. I hear he’s a class A asshole.”
“He’s not an asshole, he’s a perfectionist,” Rebecca said. “His conviction record is almost as good as Eric’s.” Kevin’s picture was of a middle-aged man who did look pretty hard around the eyes and mouth. Crystal never heard much at all about him and she followed the D.A.’s office pretty closely.
“Hmm, maybe he’s after Eric’s job,” Art said. “Asshole, perfectionist…either way, it would be hell.”
“Not if you remember your training…” Rebecca also had a driving need to always get in the last word. Art stopped her with the narrowing of his brown eyes. She got on his nerves and he was kind of hard at hiding it.
“There was a lot of good information in the handbook,” Crystal said, trying to take a neutral position.
“Twenty six…long pages,” Art said with a fake yawn. Crystal laughed. She looked up then as a middle-aged woman with a severe bun and a sharply pressed business suit came through the door.
“Can I have your attention please?” Everyone had been talking amongst themselves but the room fell silent and the nervous tension in the air returned. “I am Mrs. Jennifer Irwin. I’m the administrative assistant to the district attorney and also in charge of all hiring of anyone in the legal department. I’ll be giving you your assignments today. Please make a note of the office you’ll need to report to and wait until I’ve finished before going to your post. Today will be a full work day unless you’re told differently by your supervisor. From here on out your supervisor will be the one to give you your schedules but if you have any questions regarding your time sheets, you’ll come to me. I’ll be the one signing off your hours so if you have any issues or questions about that, you’ll come to me as well. I hope that your time here will be productive as well as enjoyable. If there are any questions you have that you don’t know who to ask, I’m always available. Now, here we go…Art Gwynn and Jeff Brooks,” Art and Jeff both stepped forward. Crystal almost smiled at how different the two men were. Jeff is one of those men who practically ooze testosterone. He’s not good-looking in a classic sense, but what he lacks in facial features he makes up for in his muscular frame. He’s a good six-inches taller than Art and his two-hundred pounds dwarfs Art’s one-fifty. Their differences hadn’t held them back from being friends however and they at least seemed happy to have each other when Mrs. Irwin said, “You two will report to conference room A down the hall and to the left. You’ll be interning with Mr. Steel.” Art glanced sideways at Crystal. She shot him a subtle thumbs up. She got a raised middle finger behind his back in return.
“Cindy Kim and Rebecca Stanfield?” The two young women stepped forward. Poor Cindy looked like a nervous wreck. “You two will report to conference room B. You’ll be interning with ADA Jess.” Cindy at least looked relieved by that. “Crystal Reid and Joe Riley.” Crystal stepped forward and so did Joe. Joe was one of the older students in class. He never told Crystal exactly how old he was, but she’d guess at least forty-five. He did say he was “starting his life over” after getting hurt on his old job. He was paunchy and balding, but he had a good sense of humor and although he seemed to have to work harder to keep up than the twenty-something’s, he was always willing to do it. “You two will be reporting to conference room C and you’ll be with ADA Kramer.” Crystal wasn’t surprised. She was also happy to be working with Joe. Mrs. Irwin gave the last three people their assignments and then said, “I wish you all the best of luck. Let’s get started.”
She left the room and they all gathered their things. “Who wants to meet at Nita’s tonight for a celebratory drink?” Art asked them.
“What are we celebrating?” Callie, one of the girls who’d been assigned to work with David Townsend asked.
Art rolled his eyes. He wasn’t the most tolerant of people. Callie was one of those girls who at first glance, seemed like the “dumb blonde.” They all knew differently since her grades were always in the top of their class. She annoyed Art anyways with her naivety. “Our first day of internship.”
Everyone agreed they would try to make it before heading to th
eir posts. On the way down the hall Joe said, “So, how well do you know John Kramer?”
“I’ve met him several times,” she said. “He was a friend of my mother’s.”
“Your Mom was one of the best criminal psychologists in New York,” Joe said. Crystal stopped walking and pulled her brows together in the middle. She didn’t talk much about her personal life in class.
“How do you know that?”
“I was a bailiff in my former life,” he said.
“Really? You’ve never talked about what you used to do.”
He shrugged. “It’s not a fun story to tell. I was escorting an inmate from the holding cell in the back into court and he attacked me. He had a shank and he stabbed me with it right in my lower back. For a while they thought I wasn’t going to be able to walk again. I proved them wrong there, but I won’t ever be strong enough to pass the physical for the job. Since I was hurt on the job, they paid to retrain me. Here I am.”
“Wow Joe! I had no idea. I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be sorry. I’m having a great time in law school and I think I’ll make a hell of a lawyer.”
Crystal laughed. “So do I, Joe. Come on; let’s go see what John has for us to do.”
They made their way to conference room C and found a tiny young woman with spiky black hair and bright red lips waiting for them. She reminded Crystal of a pixie. “Hi guys! I’m Dana. I’m John’s secretary. He was on a conference call but he’ll be out in just a few.”
“Hi, I’m Crystal,” Crystal shook her hand. Joe introduced himself and did the same. The small woman was rearranging things on the desk as she spoke to them and rocking back and forth on her heels.
“Nice to meet you both and welcome aboard, there’s coffee over against the wall you can help yourselves. I’m on my way down to records but like I said, John will be right with you.”
They thanked her and watched her scoop up the files in one arm and bounce out the door. When she was gone Joe smiled and said, “She’s a little ball of energy, isn’t she?” Crystal laughed and nodded. They both got a cup of coffee and a few minutes later John came in with another young woman. This one was blonde and might be attractive if not for the harsh look on her face which seemed to be directed at Crystal. Crystal smiled at her anyways and that seemed to make her pinch her face up even more.
John took Crystal’s hand and gave her a warm smile. “Crystal, it’s so good to see you again. Look at you! You’re all grown up.” Crystal felt herself blush.
“It’s good to see you too, John. Thank you for this.” Out of the corner of her eye she could see the blonde glaring at her. What is her problem?
“This was all you. Your transcripts are impressive. And you must be Joe?” He turned to Joe then and the two men shook hands.
“Yes, sir. It’s a pleasure,” Joe said.
“It’s good to meet you Joe. Your transcripts were impressive as well. This is my assistant Tanya Steadman.” Tanya smiled and nodded at Joe, once again she glared at Crystal. “I’m afraid I have to be in court this afternoon, but Tanya will get you both started with a tour and show you to your offices. I’m afraid neither of them is very large, but it’s nice that we have the space on this floor for you both to have your own.” Crystal wasn’t overjoyed at the prospect of an afternoon with Tanya. The woman couldn’t seem to look at her without a grimace. She thanked John however and so did Joe and then John left to head for court.
“Come on, I’ll give you the tour,” Tanya told them with one more hateful glance in Crystal’s direction.
Chapter 3
Crystal and Joe followed Tanya around the two story building as she hastily pointed out each office, elevators, restrooms, and conference rooms. It was a busy place and everyone seemed to be rushing in or out of somewhere. There were a lot of cops around, both in uniforms and in suits and ties with their gold shields attached at their waists. Crystal was happy that the offices all seemed to have names on them because the huge cement building was shaped like a horseshoe and one office looked almost the same as the next. She showed them where the law library was and informed them that a lot of their work would be done from there, researching case law for John. She took them into the kitchenette area and introduced them to several paralegals who were there having their breakfast. She pointed out the executive dining area and Eric Steel’s suite of offices. She looked directly at Crystal as she said, “Stay away from him. You’ll have no need to be down here.”
Even knowing Eric Steel’s reputation, the way that Tanya said it was slightly offensive to Crystal. She shook it off however by the time Tanya led them back towards John’s side of the building. They stopped in front of a small office that said, “Intern” on the door. It was two doors down from John’s office.
“Joe, this will be yours. It should be stocked with everything you’ll need and I left some casefiles on the desk with notes on them. Most of it is research like we talked about earlier in the library. When you finish with it, bring the files back up to me, my office is the one just outside John’s door.”
“Thanks,” Joe said. He pushed open the door and Crystal looked inside. There was a small window along the back wall that had thick, frosted glass in it. The desk was dark oak and looked well used and there was a black leather chair behind it. The computer, printer and fax machine also all looked used and possibly even out of date. In the center of the desk was a small stack of files. Joe grinned at her and went in and took a seat behind the desk. Crystal suppressed a smile as she thought about her friend Debbie. The difference in pay and benefits was one of the reasons Debbie told her she wanted to be a defense attorney rather than a prosecutor. If she saw this office and the equipment still from the nineties in it she would say, “I told you so.”
Tanya was halfway down the hall when she stopped and turned to look at Crystal. “Are you coming?” She spat the words out. Crystal smiled again and hurried along after her. She thought about asking the woman what her problem was, but she didn’t want to have words with her boss’s assistant the first day on the job. She followed her to the office next to John’s and with a roll of her eyes Tanya said, “John requested that I put you in here. I suppose that way you and he can share memories about your mother and what not.”
Bingo! That was her problem. She knew who Crystal’s mother was and assumed that was the only reason John gave her the internship. Crystal smiled at her again. That seemed to bother her a lot. Good! She didn’t have to explain herself to this woman, or feel bad that her mother made good connections through her own hard work. “This will be perfect, thank you, Tanya.” Crystal said it in a dismissive tone of voice and Tanya set her jaw as it fought back a retort.
“There are files on your desk with notes on them as well,” she said. “I’ll expect them all back before you go this evening and John expects all of the tasks to be completed.”
“Thank you,” Crystal pushed open the door to the tiny office that was almost a duplicate of the one they’d left Joe in down the hall. The desk in here was a little larger and the equipment looked a little newer…but none of it was state of the art. The most shocking thing about it was the stack of files on the desk. Apparently when John asked Tanya to split them, she gave Joe one-quarter and Crystal three…With a resigned sigh she stepped inside the office and sat down behind the desk. She was going to finish every one of these if it took her all night. She wasn’t going to give that…Tanya any more ammunition than she thought she already had.
Crystal took off her jacket and literally rolled up her sleeves and started to work. She separated the files according to “tasks.” Each file had a post-it note that said things like, “Call witness and ask…” the question would be there as well. Some of them said “Find comparable case law in the past five years.” Others of them said, “Organize file tabs so information is easier to find.” Crystal got the feeling that this work had actually been meant for Tanya. A lot of it seemed like “assistant” type work…but this was her first day and
she was going to do what she was told. She finished separating them and started on the phone call pile.
Three hours later she had either contacted each person or she’d left a message for them. When she finished with the last one, she sat back in her chair and rubbed her neck. Of course, that was the moment that Tanya chose to stick her head in the door. Crystal thought she may have seen her shake her head slightly before she said,
“John is back from court. He has a meeting in conference room B that he’d like you to attend.” Before Crystal could respond, she walked away. Crystal’s stomach growled. It was almost noon and no one had mentioned a lunch break. She tidied up her desk and as she was stepping out into the hall she heard Joe’s voice call her name. She turned around and waited for her as he rushed as fast as he could go with his limp to meet her.
“Hey! Are you going to the meeting with John too?” he asked her breathlessly.
“Yes. How’s it been going for you with the files?”
“Good, I’m almost finished, how about you?”
She laughed. “Not even close. I don’t think our dear Tanya likes me very much.”
“Jealousy?” he said.
Crystal laughed again. “No…I’m not sure. It seems like she is resentful of me because my mother worked with and was friends with John, but whatever. I’m not going to let her ruin my first day.”
“Good for you,” he told her. They walked together to the conference room. John was already there with another man when they walked in.
“There they are. Crystal and Joe this is Detective Alan O’Dell. He’s one of the investigators assigned to the office.” Crystal and Joe told him it was a pleasure and John asked them to have a seat. When they’d sat down John said, “Detective O’Dell has been working on a case with me that we’re taking to trial beginning tomorrow. It’s one that I’m sure the two of you have heard about. The press dubbed it, “The 5th Avenue massacre.” Crystal and Joe both winced as if on cue. They had both obviously heard about it so John went on. “I hope while you’re here we’ll get something in of this magnitude so you can see how it evolves from the beginning…” Crystal concentrated on keeping a neutral face. She was sure John had no idea how it sounded for him to say he “hoped” there was another “massacre,” just not in so many words. He went on to say, “Today was the last day of jury selection and the trial begins tomorrow. I think it would be a good one for you two to follow from at least the beginning of trial. I have two legal assistants assigned to me but I could use even more help if you two think you’ll be up to it?”
