Fire on Fire

22. Neighbors can watch porn

"It's not my area, Al knows that."

Alexander sighed. "I know, but you probably know better than that shit lawyer she got saddled with." He played with his glass of beer. "I don't know how else to help her." He'd been looking for a counselor that could and would take up Emma's case, but it seemed nobody wanted to cross a Dorsey. His last option was Byron Wayne, a young lawyer he'd met through one of his architect friends.

"Come on, By," Alan Barrow – his architect friend – pleaded, "you can do anything." He grinned, rising his drink.

Byron rolled his eyes. "Guys, as much as I'd like to help, I'm a civil rights lawyer, nothing to do with criminal justice."

"But you learn the same things, no?" Alan laughed, already mildly drunk, even though they'd arrived at the bar barely an hour earlier.

"Are you the same as an environmental architect, Al?" Will, the bartender, scoffed, gaining a dirty look from his tipsy friend. "If you want to give this girl a fair shot at getting out of prison, you need one hell of a lawyer."

"Byron here comes highly recommended." Alexander frowned.

"By whom? Al?" Will scoffed. "No offense, By, but I've heard about this Nancy chick, she's a ruthless machine. She's never once lost a case."

"How do you know about her?" Alexander wondered, somewhat distrustful. Would Nancy hire someone to spy on him? She'd had him followed or had followed him before, it wouldn't be out of her character to just plant a bartender there to listen in for her.

Will shrugged while preparing a drink for another client. "I keep myself informed."

Alexander was unconvinced. Same as Byron, Will was Al's friend, and he knew Alan Barrow as a stand-up guy, they'd immediately become friends when Al had joined his firm. Sure, it'd only been something less than a year, but still, he was one of his closest friends. So, if Al trusted Byron and Will – Alexander thought –, he could as well.

He gulped down the remaining of his beer – gaining a dirty look from the bartender when he slammed down the glass forcefully enough to almost break it –, and shook his head. "Al, I thought this would be the solution to my problems," he said, then gestured for another beer, "but no offense, your friends are useless."

"Your girlfriend is in jail for attempted murder," Will argued, handing him his third beer, "and her best chance at getting out is the one person that's incriminating her." He half smirked. "It would be kinda poetic if it wasn't so tragic."

"She didn't try to kill anyone," Alexander grumbled, "from punching a guy to attempted murder, it's quite the leap."

"Indeed. Meaning this Nancy is doing her best. I don't know the backstory here, but the way I see it, there's not much you can do about it." Will concluded, grabbing his phone from his back pocket. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta have phone sex with my girlfriend before she starts whining that I don't pay attention to her." Having said that, he left, heading to the back exit of the bar.

Confused, Alexander frowned. "Did he just say phone sex?"

Al laughed, getting another drink from another bartender. "Yeah, Mel's quite ... challenging for a girlfriend. Willy can hardly keep up."

"Right. Well, so," Alexander turned to the lawyer on his left, "you really can't help me?"

Byron sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I'll review her case, see what I can do." Before the other could cheer, he held up his finger. "I promise nothing. Don't get your hopes up."

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"Oh, my God." Alexander gasped when he opened the door. "Oh, my fucking God!!!" Unable to say anything else, and before she could, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into him, feverishly kissing her all over, as if afraid it was only a dream.