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He shrugs with a small smile. “Ideally spend more time with the missus.”

Another smitten kitten. Why am I suddenly surrounded?

“In that case, I do solemnly swear to put my personal best people on it,” I say instead. “We’ll clear the deal, make sure it’s good to go through, and get you your afternoon tee times with Judy. How’s that sound?”

He nods and claps me on the shoulder. “Thanks, Lucas. I appreciate it.” Then he waves our waitress down with the universal sign for we’re ready to order. “Alright, enough talk about work. Let’s talk philosophy. Do you think objective moral truths exist, or is morality entirely a human construct shaped by culture?”

After I pay for our lunch—needing to borderline fight Randall to do it—we go our separate ways on the sidewalk. The office is only a ten-minute walk from the restaurant, so I slip my hands into my pockets, slide my sunglasses on, and start my stroll. The entire time, I’m contemplating Randall’s case.

I often work mergers and acquisitions, so technically, I could use my usual team of researchers. But between Randall’s request and him being extra important to me, I’m going to have to hand-pick this team. I know which paralegals are the best, so that part should be easy if I can get their schedules cleared. It’s Randall’s nerves that are giving me extra pause. He deserves someone dedicated to just that.

I should bring on a private investigator. It’s not uncommon for me to do that, since a lot of legal prep is just research. The firm has a few decent ones on retainer who we sometimes work with, and I could hire any one of them.

But this is Randall. He deserves the best.

I reach the floor of my office when it occurs to me that I recently met one of the better PI’s I’ve ever come across: the one who beat me in court. The one hired by opposing counsel who dug up something on my client that even I didn’t know about. And in the end, it cost me my case. A rare loss on my record, all because they were better at their job than I am.

It's a no-brainer. I make a beeline to Samantha’s desk and drop my forearms heavily onto the wood.

“I need you to find some contact information for me…”

FOUR

CHARLI

I’m firing up my laptop, still waffling on which case to take next, when an email catches my eye.

Sucking the last bit of syrup off my thumb, I wipe my hands of dinner. I don’t care how much it’s frowned upon, I could live on pancakes at midnight.

Once I’m sure I won’t be transferring any sticky residue to my too-expensive keyboard, I take a seat at my desk, pulling my legs up to get comfortable. And then I click on the—very familiar—sender’s email.

Dear Charlotte,

My name is Samantha and I’m reaching out to you on behalf of my employer, Lucas Price. I believe you recently crossed paths with him on the Click case. Mr. Price was very impressed with your work and would like to offer you a job. It’s an acquisition case; we need an excellent researcher to do buyer due diligence.

I spoke with your employer about your process for accepting work, and they mentioned you’re sometimes open to taking on freelance projects. If you have the availability/interest, I’d love to set up a meeting with you to discuss the details of the case. Just let me know a few days/times that you’re open and I can send a meeting invite.

Regards,

Samantha Lewis

Executive Assistant to Lucas Price

I let out a snort in the quiet of my apartment. He was impressed with my work? That’s a very nice way of saying I kicked his ass in court. It took me less than a week to dig up his client’s secret and the reason for his case falling apart. I was almost disappointed to see how easy it was to find. Granted, I did the digging a little bit backwards. Meaning, I found the truth slightly illegally at first, and then had to go back and do the “legal” research the long way so that it was useable in court.

I don’t have much interest in working with the man who couldn’t find it himself.

With a sigh, I take a moment to find my corporate hat that allows me to write emails that aren’t simply fuck no, I’m not interested.

Hi Samantha,

I appreciate the email and the compliment about my work. Unfortunately, I’m not available to take on Mr. Price’s case. Best of luck finding another researcher.

Regards,

Charlotte

As soon as I hit send, I turn my attention back to my other emails. Maybe I’ll accept the infidelity case; it’s been a while since I’ve worked one. And it’s so easy to catch men cheating that it shouldn’t take very long. Maybe if I⁠—