Page 90 of Crash Course
No way.
Cilla turned, spotted her father—what was he doing here?—talking with a reporter she recognized from the NBC affiliate. The man could spot media people a mile away.
She stood with her gaze pinned to him and his Baroni suit, while she shuffled through reasons he might be in an Asheville courtroom this morning.
Had something happened to Mom? Some emergency he might know of? Her chest tightened, the thump of her heart echoing in her ears.
She’d checked her phone before coming into the courtroom and there’d been nothing.
Finally, Dad broke from the reporter and met her gaze, holding it for a long few seconds that sent tension curling down her arms. No emergency. She knew this for sure. If there had been, since court hadn’t started yet, Dad would have marched straight for her.
"All rise," the bailiff said.
Time to go to work.
Cilla faced front, gave her suit jacket a light tug and adjusted her cuffs. All neat and tidy and ready for action.
The clerk, a woman in her mid-forties with a scowl carved into her face, called the hearing to order. Judge Nagle entered and took his seat on the bench. He wore a dark robe with a red tie peeking from underneath. His thinning gray hair was combed back away from his face, accentuating his heavy jowls and large nose.
Nagle.
He and Dad were golfing buddies. Maybethat’swhat brought her father to court this morning. Could be lunch afterward.
"Court is now in session," Judge Nagle said. "Please have a seat. Counsel, please state your appearances again?"
Both Cilla and Rick stood.
"Good morning, Your Honor," Rick said. "Rick Bandy for the government."
"Priscilla Randolph for the defendant, Your Honor. And Mr. Donovan Jenkins is here as well."
Rick and Cilla reclaimed their seats and the judge peered at Cilla. "Ms. Randolph, visiting from Charlotte today, I see."
She smiled. "I go where my clients need me, Your Honor."
"Good to know. Okay. I understand the parties have finally reached a plea agreement."
"Yes, Your Honor," Cilla and Rick said.
"All right then." He cut a glance at her, then to Rick. "I’ve read through the most recent signed version, and although I generally honor plea agreements, in this case, I find the sentencing options completely inadequate." His gaze came back to Cilla, giving each of them equal parts of his attention. "After much consideration, I can’t find one justifiable reason to accept this agreement. The charges here allege greed and selfishness that caused financial ruin for victims. Therefore, I’m rejecting this agreement."
Wait. What? Cilla cocked her head. Did he just say . . .?
Beside her, Donovan leaned closer, bumping her arm. "What’s going on?"
Good question. In ten years of criminal work, she’d never had a judge reject a deal.
Until now. Until her father unexpectedly showed up to watch a proceeding that he had zero connection to other than his friendship with the judge.
Cilla lifted her hand, silencing her client while her mind went warp speed, her thoughts banging around like bumper cars. "I’m sorry, Your Honor. You’re rejecting the agreement?"
"Good to know your hearing is intact, Ms. Randolph. Yes. I’m rejecting the agreement. How would you like to proceed?"
Um, no idea.
Pushing her shoulders back, she took a second to organize her zipping thoughts.No guilty plea.Donovan wouldn’t be pleading to anything until she and Rick figured this mess out.
"Your Honor," Cilla said, "my client would like to withdraw his guilty plea. We also request a continuance so we may confer with the government."
