Free Beyond Innocence by Carsen Taite Page B

much to get through the first half of the day. No sleep. All she wanted was to crawl back in bed, but bed hadn’t been her friend the night before. She’d tossed and turned most of the night. Thoughts of her future, feelings about Serena—both had conspired to rob her of sleep.
    Julie had left two messages on her phone, both stating she was lonely and urging her to call. She’d ignored the pleas. The massive arrangement of roses sat on her dining room table. Cory passed it on her way out the door and fingered the card. She’d read it several times yesterday, after Serena had left. “You deserve the best. Always.” It wasn’t signed.
    No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t decipher a secret message in the sparse phrase. How like Julie, to be guarded even when expressing affection.
    When she arrived at the clinic, she felt out of sorts. Other than foisting her off on Serena the day before, Paul hadn’t really discussed what her role would be while she lived out her sentence here at the clinic. The receptionist wasn’t at her desk, so Cory wandered the halls of the office in search of Paul. She found him in a makeshift library, hunched over what looked like several volumes of trial transcripts.
    “Hi, Cory. Glad to see you back for another day.” Paul’s smile was infectious, and Cory couldn’t help but smile back. He tapped the shoulder of the man next to him and motioned for him to turn around. “Greg Levin, meet Cory Lance. Cory, Greg’s our senior writ counsel and he’s going to take the lead on the Eric Washington case.”
    Greg offered his hand and Cory shook it. Would she be working with Greg? What would Serena think about him? Senior writ counsel. He certainly sounded experienced. Serena would want the best working on her brother’s case. She should be happy for her.
    “Nice to meet you, Greg. I introduced Serena to an investigator yesterday, and I’m ready to get started. Just let me know what you’d like me to do.”
    Greg shot a puzzled look at Paul who intervened. “Cory, I thought we’d have you work in our intake division. We have a few interns who could use guidance from a pro about evaluating whether a case fits our services. I’m sure Greg will let you know if he needs help on the Washington case, but why don’t you come with me now and I can introduce you to the rest of the staff.”
    They were halfway down the hall before it hit her. She wasn’t going to be working on cases. She’d be pushing paper to serve her time. Paper about strangers. Not Eric. Not Serena.
    She went through the motions as Paul introduced her around the office. She could barely remember anyone’s names, but then again, it didn’t seem important since she wouldn’t be sticking around. She did notice that Paul used delicate phrasing to describe her experience. She was by turns a “veteran trial attorney” and a “seasoned litigator.” Did the clinic employees know who she really was? Her name had been splashed all over the papers for a few weeks. Kind of hard to imagine they wouldn’t have a clue that the enemy was in their midst. Yet, Paul treated her like an equal, no judgment, no animus.
    “Here’s where we have the students set up.” He motioned her into a small room, sparsely furnished with three folding tables and a scattering of mismatched chairs. “The interns usually don’t show up until after their morning classes, around ten. I’ll stick around until then and help you get started.” He pointed to a brass coat stand in the corner. “Make yourself comfortable. I realize it’s not the kind of space you’re used to, but we use most of the donations we receive for legal talent, not for furnishings.”
    “No problem. I’m used to county digs. Not much plush about the offices at the courthouse.” Cory hung up her coat and settled in at one of the tables. Paul pulled over a box and sat beside her. He reached in and pulled out a rubber-banded stack of mail.
    “We get literally hundreds