Free Justify My Love: An Interracial Romance (BWWM) by Candy Caine Page B

feeling that if evil could be transformed into the likes of a man, he’d look exactly like John Kalb.
    His attorney, Dariah Phillips, rose from her seat, straightening her skirt. Resembling a librarian wearing horned-rimmed glasses over her sharp blue eyes and her dark hair swept up to a French knot, she was actually more of a barracuda. “Your Honor, my client wishes to lodge a complaint before the court.”
    “What is it, Ms. Phillips?” the judge asked.
    “Since the divorce proceedings began, my client has not been able to see his children in violation of his parental rights.”
    “That’s too bad. Perhaps we can arrange a supervised visitation here at court.”
    “We had something quite different in mind.”
    “I’m certain you did. To safeguard all parties involved, the meeting will take place here or not at all. I will not have anything jeopardize this hearing until it is over. Do you understand, Ms. Phillips?”
    “Yes, Your Honor.”
    “Good. Now, let’s get on with this.”
    * * *
    Scott had no idea where Angel was. She had disappeared days ago, leaving him to fear the worst. As usual, it was the wrong time for this to happen. It wasn’t as if she’d never done something like this before. Yet, no matter how many times she’d pull such a stunt, he couldn’t get used to it. Nor could he merely ignore it, though he wanted to. Therefore, he’d usually check the morgue and hospitals first. He’d hit the streets after that, but all that had to wait for now. Time was tight. To console himself, he recalled one of his father’s sayings: “No news was good news.” For Angel’s sake, and his own, he hoped his father was right.
    The Old Man had given him a fairly involved case, probably as a test to see how he handled it. If he wanted to gain worth as a litigator in the DA’s eyes he needed to remain focused and do the best job he could. He couldn’t afford to blow this chance because he was ill prepared and overlooked some important aspect. Even so, his mind began to wander.
    He’d overheard another A.D. A. speaking about Marnie the other day. He thought he had gotten over “The Ice Maiden” as he had nicknamed her. But when hearing her name merely conjured up those same images he’d longed to forget, the fire that still glowed within him melted that image of ice. He couldn’t stop himself from wondering what might have been. There were times at court that he would catch himself looking for her. It was so ingrained that sometimes he was unaware he was even doing this. He wanted the chance to explain to her about Angel and what had happened that night, if nothing else, than to clear his name. He didn’t want her thinking of him as a womanizer. Besides, if there was still a slim chance that she would understand and give him another opportunity to show her what kind of guy he really was, he didn’t want to pass it by.
    He tried to console himself with the thought that she was only another woman. There were others who would gladly welcome his attention. However, like the brass ring on the carousel, Marnie seemed impossible to reach. And despite everything, he wanted to snatch that prize more than any other.
    * * *
    The Kalb case continued. Marnie needed more evidence to prove that the husband’s abusive behavior towards Marishka and her daughter. It would ensure that her client would be awarded full custody of the children.
    The psychiatrist, who examined her little girl, could only testify that the child exhibited traits consistent with being abused. Marnie needed to provide the court with hard evidence of Kalb’s abuse to keep him from gaining custody of the children.
    That night she went to the safe house where Marishka and her children were staying. The building looked like a small hotel from a distance, but the bars on the windows and armed guards who staffed it 24 hours a day, said otherwise. No one got in without first checking in at the main desk and going through a metal detector. To