Beyond Innocence (31 page)

And there were a lot of them. Serena counted six news outlets among the crowd in the courtroom. She could understand all the media attention, but who were all the other folks filling the seats? Don and Marion sat in the first row, but she didn’t recognize any of the other faces in the crowd. She asked Cory who grinned again.

“Paul wanted to pack the house since it’s great PR for the clinic. I got Melinda to make all the first year associates at her firm come watch. The rest are students from the law school. It’s good for them to see real justice in action.”

Serena realized these events were usually populated by friends and family of the wrongfully convicted, not a room full of strangers. She’d told herself she wouldn’t cry today, no matter what, but she felt tears begin to well and she was too choked up to talk.

Cory leaned close and asked, “You don’t mind the crowd do you?”

She had to get a grip. The hearing hadn’t even started. She cleared her throat. “Mind? No, I don’t mind at all. Especially since no matter what you say about why these people are here, I know you wanted there to be a crowd for Eric’s sake, not just so the clinic could get new donors.” She dropped her voice to a soft whisper. “I love you more every day.”

Before Cory could respond, the bailiff shouted, “All rise!” and the crowd lumbered to its feet. Judge Fowler took the bench. The rest was a blur. Moments later, Eric wrapped her up in a big bear hug and then everyone was hugging—lawyers, court personnel, students, strangers. The crowd flowed into the hall and posed for pictures in front of a hungry press corps before they adjourned to the clinic to celebrate with a catered barbeque dinner. A few hours passed before the crowd finally began to thin out, and Serena wandered through the halls looking for Cory.

She found her sitting at the folding table she’d used as a desk during her term at the clinic. “Hey, lover, what’re you doing in here all by yourself?”

“I just wanted to clean up this space before I left. Did I miss anything?”

“Nope. All the food and beer are gone and most everyone’s headed out. Paul arranged for Eric to have a hotel room. I invited him to come with us, but Paul suggested he might want to be by himself for the first few nights, to adjust. You about done?”

Cory pointed at the neat stack of documents on the edge of the table. “That’s my final report on the case. I guess this chapter is closed. You ready to go home?”

“With you? Absolutely. There’s no place I’d rather be.”

THE END

Carsen Taite works by day (and sometimes night) as a criminal defense attorney in Dallas, Texas. Her goal as an author is to spin plot lines as interesting as the cases she encounters in her practice. She is the author of six previously released novels,
truelesbianlove.com
,
It Should be a Crime
(a Lambda Literary Award finalist),
Do Not Disturb
,
Nothing but the Truth
,
The Best Defense
, and
Slingshot
. She is currently working on her eighth novel,
Battle Axe
, the second book in the Luca Bennett bounty hunter series. Learn more at www.carsentaite.com.

“Law professor Morgan Bradley and her student Parker Casey are potential love interests, but throw in a high-profile murder trial, and you’ve got an entertaining book that can be read in one sitting. Taite also practices criminal law and she weaves her insider knowledge of the criminal justice system into the love story seamlessly and with excellent timing. I find romances lacking when the characters change completely upon falling in love, but this was not the case here. As Morgan and Parker grow closer, their relationship is portrayed faithfully and their personalities do not change dramatically. I look forward to reading more from Taite.”—
Curve Magazine

“Taite is a real-life attorney so the prose jumps off the page with authority and authenticity. [
It Should be a Crime
] is just Taite’s second novel…but it’s as if she has bookshelves full of bestsellers under her belt. In fact, she manages to make the courtroom more exciting than Judge Judy bursting into flames while delivering a verdict. Like this book, that’s something we’d pay to see.”—
Gay List Daily

“Taite, a criminal defense attorney herself, has given her readers a behind the scenes look at what goes on during the days before a trial. Her descriptions of lawyer/client talks, investigations, police procedures, etc. are fascinating. Taite keeps the action moving, her characters clear, and never allows her story to get bogged down in paperwork.
It Should be a Crime
has a fast-moving plot and some extraordinarily hot sex.”—
Just About Write

“Taite’s tale of sexual tension is entertaining in itself, but a number of secondary characters…add substantial color to romantic inevitability.”—Richard Labonté,
Bookmarks

In Nothing but the Truth…
“Author Taite is really a Dallas defense attorney herself, and it’s obvious her viewpoint adds considerable realism to her story, making it especially riveting as a mystery. …I give it four stars out of five.”—Bob Lind,
Echo Magazine

“As a criminal defense attorney in Dallas, Texas, Carsen Taite knows her way around the court house. This ability shows in her writing, as her legal dramas take the reader into backroom negotiations between the opposing lawyers, as well as into meetings with judges. …Watching how Carsen Taite brings together all of the loose ends is enjoyable, as is her skillful building of the characters of Ryan and Brett.
Nothing But the Truth
is an enjoyable mystery with some hot romance thrown in.”—
Just About Write

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The Jetsetters
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