Dark Angels Read Online Free PDF Page B

her walk away to be charged with murder, and I silently cursed my own absent father. I was in her web now, and I was sure Kailash Coutts was not going to let me go.

FIVE
     
    ‘You look rough.’
    ‘I feel worse than I look.’
    ‘Well they do say beauty comes from within, so try to cheer up.’ Lavender smiled at me as she handed me a steaming cup of coffee. In that instant I could have forgiven her anything. Even the fact that she was sitting in my chair didn’t bother me–neither of us harboured any illusions over who really ran the show in my office. Lawyers may be the public face, but the real power lies with their secretaries.
    I sipped gingerly on the burning liquid, staring out of my office window at Edinburgh Castle, as Lavender began to read out today’s cases from the diary.
    The court diary is the most important record in a legal firm–a missed court date or a misplaced trial is a sack-able offence. The consequences of such a mistake can’t be overstated–it is imprisonment for the client, and even worse for the solicitor. If a punter does not turn up at his trial date, a warrant will be taken for their arrest–if the lawyer doesn’t attend they face contempt of court charges.
    Going over the court diary was a ritual that Lavender and I did every morning at 7.30a.m. if we could, we gave it the respect it was due even when a huge case like that of Kailash Coutts was going to blow everything out of the water. So much of my time was going to be spent on her, that I needed to ensure that nothing else was going to suffer.
    ‘How many trials?’ I asked Lavender.
    ‘One jury, and a continued High Court job. Robert Dunlop already has his papers, he’ll do it for you, and I’m sending the first year trainee in to sit with him. On top of that,’ added Lavender, ‘we’ve got five summary trials and two of them are in Kirkcaldy.’ Her voice got lower, and although she didn’t exactly mumble, she certainly hurried through the next part of her list of points.
    ‘I instructed Eddie last night and I dropped the files off at his house.’
    She fumbled with the pages of the diary as colour flooded her face. I didn’t have the energy to tease Lavender about her unrequited love for Eddie Gibb. Eddie was a brilliant court lawyer whose genius at the bar was exceeded only by his excess in the bar. I was never quite sure whether it was me or Lavender who kept forgiving Eddie his misdemeanours. I do know that Lavender had to pull him out of the pub on so many occasions we had a code name for it–Eddie was in court nine.
    Most of the Sheriffs knew about Eddie’s difficulty and forgave him for it. I reckon that we all knew we had a bit of Eddie in us.
    ‘You know I like Eddie as much as the next person, Lav, but we’re shooting ourselves in the foot to put him in Kirkcaldy on his own.’
    ‘So Sheriff Robertson hates him? He’s not too fond of you either, Brodie.’
    ‘I’m not talking personalities here, Lav–if Eddie has hit the bevvy at lunch time who’s going to pull his arse out the fire? You can’t be in Edinburgh running the show, and Kirkcaldy watching over lover boy.’
    ‘Beggars can’t be choosers, Brodie–I had to keep other agency lawyers on standby to deal with Edinburgh, leaving you free to cover the custodies–you didn’t call me last night to let me know if you were overstretched and I didn’t want another lecture on “Delectus Personae”. I did my best, and I think Eddie can do this.’
    Lavender’s blonde curls bobbed merrily–in contradiction to her mood. Her forty-three-year-old face was untroubled by wrinkles, fat was the filler she preferred to keep her face smooth, and it suited her. She was gorgeous and I loved her like a sister. Never a size 8, her figure was a walking Rubensesque fantasy. She generally drew men to her like moths to a flame, but Eddie’s love of the booze meant that he always seemed one step away from her, even though he relied on her so much.
    Lavender