Free Doubt (Caroline Auden Book 1) by C. E. Tobisman

taking a leave to care for her. I’m transferring this case to New York, Southern District. Judge Todd Jacobsen will be your new judge. He’ll be taking over the SuperSoy litigation. I am sorry to miss such an interesting case, but real life has unfortunately demanded my attention.”
    A ripple of murmurs shot through the crowd like a shock wave.
    “All pending deadlines remain on calendar,” Judge Samuels continued. “Plaintiffs’ opposition to Med-Gen’s Daubert motion remains due on October 5. The hearing on the motion will still be October 8. All scientific evidence must be filed by October 6.”
    His announcement completed, the judge stepped down from the bench.
    Everyone in the gallery rose, standing silently, their hands clasped respectfully before them as he began his slow walk back toward his chambers. But just outside the door, the judge paused and turned once more to face the lawyers.
    “Please remember to file your applications to appear pro hac vice in New York,” he said.
    Caroline jotted the Latin phrase on her legal pad, then waited, hoping he’d illuminate its meaning. But instead, the judge turned and finished his departure from the courtroom.
    The instant that the chambers door clicked shut, voices rose all around as the crowd digested the news that the rest of the SuperSoy multidistrict litigation would be taking place all the way across the country.
    Caroline knew she needed to figure out the implications of the move, too, but at the moment, she had a more burning curiosity. She spun around, her eyes sweeping the courtroom for the other attorney who’d purported to represent the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee.
    She spotted him walking toward the door, holding his phone to his ear.
    Weaving through the crowd, Caroline jogged down the aisle to catch up with him.

    Caroline needn’t have rushed. The attorney she’d chased was waiting outside the courtroom.
    He smiled when he saw her, his obsidian eyes full of welcome, and Caroline found herself smiling back. His manner felt so familiar that it seemed as if he already knew her. And maybe he did. In Caroline’s experience, some people just . . . shined. Who knew why? Past lives intertwined, perhaps? Some glow of necessity, of meaning in this lifetime. Some hint of some role to play. Whatever the reason for the shine, this man had it.
    “I’m Eddie Diaz,” he said with a slight drawl. “I work with Paul Tiller out in Atlanta. He’s on the SuperSoy Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee.”
    He extended his right hand. Caroline noted his fingernails looked recently manicured. At his wrists, square gold cuff links glittered in the institutional lighting.
    “You’re a long way from home,” she said, shaking his hand and finding it warm.
    “It’s a long field trip; that’s for sure.” He chuckled. “When this hearing was put on calendar, my boss, Paul, sent me to help y’all out on whatever briefing got ordered. I’ll be working down the hall from you for the next couple of weeks. You’re Caroline Auden, right? That new hire at Hale Stern?”
    “Right.” Caroline’s eyes narrowed at the man.
    “When my boss said you’d be covering this hearing for Louis, I checked out your bio on your firm’s website so I’d know what you looked like,” Eddie said.
    “I guess I’m at a disadvantage,” Caroline said. Now she had another explanation for why this man had looked at her as if he already knew her: he’d Internet-stalked her.
    Eddie smiled again, and the corners of his eyes crinkled into well-worn folds. Caroline’s mother had always said you could trust people who smiled with their eyes. Caroline wondered if that rule applied to stalkers.
    “Sorry to rattle you,” Eddie said.
    Caroline studied his face, trying to discern if his words held a double meaning. Had he seen her before the hearing, struggling to pull herself back together in time for court? She consoled herself that it was unlikely he’d have noticed one small woman