The Bad Judgment Series: The Complete Series Read Online Free PDF Page A

flashes going off; I squinted against the noise and the lights. “No comment. No comment right now,” David yelled at them, jostling me forward. “We’ll make a statement at the press conference.” The guards formed a barrier around us. I had to hold onto my laptop for dear life. I felt like I was in a mosh pit, even though I’d never been in a mosh pit. Walker, used to attention, had put his game face on and waved calmly and handsomely, nodding to the reporters he recognized. He knew better than to open his mouth. We finally got through the doors and I could breathe again. David took one look at me and sighed. “You’re going to need to get used to this part, Nicole. There’s gonna be a lot more of it.”
    I nodded at him and straightened myself. Then I looked at him closely for the first time this morning: he had on a beautiful pin-striped suit, and a tie that probably cost more than my “good” shoes. He looked expensive and professional, Walker looked gorgeous, and I was wearing a cheap blue suit and too much of Tammy’s bronzer. I cringed.
    “Courtroom four,” David said, checking a monitor.
    We went in and sat in one of the first rows; I watched as the government’s team assembled on the other side. Marnie Edmonds was the U.S. Attorney and it looked like she was handling this case. I’d never seen her in person, just on TV, and I couldn’t help staring. She was wearing a cream suit that set off her pale skin beautifully. She looked like she’d had her makeup professionally done, looking more like an actress who played a lawyer on television than an actual United States Attorney. She’d managed to look relaxed and refreshed even though I knew she wasn’t; I wondered briefly when was the last time she’d slept. Probably before I voted for her in the last election. I had a feeling that I was going to regret that particular decision more than I’d ever thought possible over the next few weeks. Marnie Edmonds was a brilliant, aggressive attorney, and she’d made a point of tackling high-profile cases during her term. There was talk that she was interested in a federal appointment by the current administration. She was in the public eye, and she was not going to take it easy on Broden Walker. She would try to put padlocks on his coffin, not just nails.
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    “ T en fucking counts of fraud ?” Walker was saying to David. The hearing had lasted four minutes. Four minutes, twenty charges.
    Walker looked pale, and very, very pissed. “What the fuck, David?” he said. We were pulled over to the side of the hallway, collecting ourselves before we went out and dealt with the press. Although we weren’t really collecting ourselves. Walker was seething, David was trying to calm him down, and my mind was racing with the amount of work we had to do to prove that Walker was innocent.
    “We’re going to handle this,” David said. “I’ve been through this before, Walker. We’re going to break it down, charge by charge, and we’re going to negate everything. That’s why you hired us. Trust me. Let me do what I do best. You’re job right now is to keep calm, assemble the things I need you to assemble, and make sure you don’t do or say anything stupid. Okay?”
    Walker paused for a beat. I looked at him sympathetically. “Okay,” he said. “But there are going to be some repercussions for this shit show they’re pulling.”
    David patted him on the back. “We’ve gotta go out there,” he said, looking at the throng of people out on the steps. “Marnie is going to make a statement first, and then I’ll say a few words. Both of you, keep your faces neutral. It’s gonna be all over the news. Poker face, poker face, it’s the safest way to go.”
    We stepped outside to a deafening roar. A security guard led us over to the side of the steps. I could feel cameras on me. Poker face, poker face, I chanted to myself. I could feel David fidgeting next to me; Walker had managed to calm himself, at least