Natural Suspect (2001) Read Free Page B

enough shop talk. How have you been? You look great."
    Devin deflected the compliment by pretending it was addressed to her clothes. "Oh, you like this suit? It's new."
    Trent wasn't that easily avoided. "I wasn't talking about your suit. I was talking about you. You look great. And that business suit can't hold a candle to the hot pink Speedo number you were wearing at Barkley." He flashed a smile that could charm the petals off a daisy. "Although this is probably more appropriate for the courtroom."
    Why was he flattering her? It's not as if there were a hot tub in the back of the courtroom. Devin instinctively distrusted people who tried to flatter her. No matter what anyone said, she was never happy with the way she looked. When friends told her she was pretty, she didn't believe it. That's why they're friends, she told herself quietly, every time she heard a compliment. She'd done the best she could this morning with her straight, dark, auburn-tinted hair, but somehow it never came out looking like the women in those magazines. She was wearing her new suit, but new or not, women's business suits weren't really designed to be flattering. No matter what she did, she felt frumpy.
    "Look, Trent, if you're going to be handling this trial, it would probably be best if we kept this on a professional basis."
    Trent stiffened, and his face took on a mock seriousness. "Of course. I understand completely. We'll keep this clinical." He winked, then returned to his own table.
    Devin closed her eyes. Why did it have to be him? Once a man has frolicked with you in the Jacuzzi, there's no chance he's ever going to take you seriously. He'd be patronizing, at best. Maybe even drop sly remarks to the judge, hinting at their dirty secret. Why, why, why?
    She flopped down in her chair, feeling exhausted. And the trial hadn't begun yet.
    "How're you holding up, Julia?"
    Julia tried to smile, but her expression didn't change much. Too many face-lifts, Devin suspected. "Not as well as I'd be doing if that pitcher on the table was filled with martinis."
    "Sorry, Julia, but it's strictly water in the courtroom. And please don't try anything sneaky. We don't want the jury to think you're an alcoholic. If they think you were drunk and out of your head . . ."
    Julia made a sniffing noise. "As if I would have to be drunk to kill Arthur."
    "Mummy!"
    Turning, Devin saw that the family had arrived. She had reserved seats for them in the front row of the gallery. She liked the jury to see that the defendant still had the support of her loved ones, although with this family, she considered making an exception.
    "How do you feel, Mummy?" Morgan said, grasping her by the shoulders. "We've been so worried about you."
    "Stop slobbering, Morgan." Julia shoved him away. "I'm going on trial for murder. How do you think I feel?"
    "Mummy, I want you to consider changing lawyers. Joe Kellogg said he'd be willing to take on your case, even this late. I've asked him to be here this morning, just in case."
    Devin looked away and tried to pretend as if she weren't listening. Son of a . . .
    "Stop interfering, Morgan," Julia shot back. "If you want to use Joe Kellogg when you're fighting for your life, fine. But I like Devin, and I'm sticking with her. Why do you think I chose her in the first place?"
    Actually, Devin had wondered about that herself. No one had been more surprised than she when Julia strolled into her tiny office on Fourteenth Street. There were hundreds of capable lawyers in New York. If she'd had a reason for choosing Devin, she'd never shared it. But given the way Devin's business had been going lately, she wasn't about to turn the lady away.
    "Mummy, please reconsider. This is very serious. If you're convicted , they could--could--"
    "Stop stuttering, Morgan. They could execute me. Fine. We all have to die sometime. But I spent fifty thousand dollars on specialists to cure you of that stutter, and I don't want to see it all go down the