It Should Be a Crime (33 page)

“Not a problem. Gerald may think that because his father’s a bigshot, he can throw his weight around, but I happen to know his father very well, and I urged him to have a talk with his wayward son. Gerald will be happy with whatever grade he truly deserves from you.”

“Enough chatter, people. Let’s get this show on the road.” Yolanda clapped her hands and waved them out of her office. With Jim leading the way, they made their way to the small auditorium where the rest of the faculty and family and friends of the graduating students were assembled. Midyear graduations were normally small, intimate affairs with no more than a dozen or so well-wishers in attendance, but today the room was packed. Morgan recognized many of the faces and realized Parker was indeed popular. Quite a few law school students postponed leaving for the holiday to be present for this occasion, including Dex and several 1Ls. As she continued to scan the audience, Morgan noted several faces from the bar where she met Parker for the first time. Parker, however, was nowhere in sight and Morgan fought the urge to leave her colleagues to go looking for her.

*

“Stand up straight. You can frame this one and hang it in your new office.”

Parker shifted one last time as she waited for Kelsey to take her picture. As much as she wanted to take off the silly robe and run far away from all the pomp and circumstance, she knew this day meant as much to her friends who had always been there for her as it did to herself. At least the ceremony for early graduation was a smallish affair. Parker was ready to reenter the real world and swap solving hypothetical problems for championing genuine causes. Kelsey’s next words killed her hopes about a modest, intimate affair.

“You should see all the people who are out there. I heard someone saying it’s standing room only.”

“Jeez. Think we can sneak out the back door?”

“Not on your life. I know of a certain woman in particular who would be very disappointed if you didn’t walk across that stage.” Kelsey paused. “And speaking of disappointed women, Skye’s here.”

“I saw her come in.”

“Does it bother you that she’s here?”

Parker shook her head. “No. It’s okay. I’m okay. Skye doesn’t have the power to hurt me anymore. I think what happened with Teddy Burke shook her to the core. She’s resigned from the force and her only involvement with the law will be to testify at his trial. He’ll go away for a long time for what he did to Skye.”

“Not long enough. Too bad they can’t prosecute him for murdering Camille.”

“Damn straight.” Parker grabbed Kelsey’s arm. “Walk me to my seat?”

The ceremony itself was a blur. Because she was sitting in the front row, Parker didn’t register how many people were in attendance until she walked across the stage. Irene must have closed the bar for the day and required all her employees to attend. And, of course, there was Dex, who had teased her unmercifully about graduating early. He insisted she did it so she could win their competition to be top of the class. Most surprising were all the other law students in attendance.

And there, in the front row of the faculty section, was her favorite professor. As Parker crossed the stage, she flashed Morgan a smile full of promise.

*

“I thought I’d never get you alone.” Morgan slipped her arms inside Parker’s gown and pulled her close.

“There are a hundred people about ten feet away. At some point they’re going to get tired of punch and cookies and go in search of more.” Despite her words, Parker didn’t move out of Morgan’s embrace.

“Scared they’ll find us in a compromising position?” Morgan ran her palm along Parker’s breast and sighed at the shivered response.

Parker unzipped her gown and pulled Morgan all the way in. “Maybe.”

Morgan held her close. She didn’t care who witnessed her passion. This day was about celebration. Parker was graduating and she and Morgan were poised to begin their new life together as lovers and partners. She resisted the urge to shout her feelings, instead whispering in Parker’s ear, “Would you like to know the first thing I have planned for us?” Morgan didn’t wait for Parker’s response, instead relying on her demonstrative skills to make her case.

Carsen works by day (and sometimes night) as a criminal defense attorney in Dallas, Texas. Though her day job is often stranger than fiction, she can’t seem to get enough and spends much of her free time devouring other people’s fiction and plotting her own. Her goal as an author is to spin tales with plot lines as interesting as the true, but often unbelievable, stories she encounters in her law practice. Her first stab at fiction, truelesbianlove.com, was a pure romance, released as one of the debut novels in the Bold Strokes Aeros eBook line. It Should be a Crime, Carsen’s second novel, draws heavily on her experience in the courtroom.

Carsen is married (Canadian-style) and she and her spouse live near White Rock Lake in Dallas, where they enjoy cycling and walking the trails with their four-legged children.