Broken

Chapter 2

Chapter 2~Manipulated

Cressida Dash sat behind the desk in her large, elegantly designed executive office. Letting out a sigh of relief, she opened the file her father, Charleston Dash, had placed on her desk. It was a case he wanted her to personally take on. Cressida looked over the papers, horrified by what she read. Confused and infuriated, she stood and stared at the file on her desk in disbelief. How did her father expect her to defend such a person?

She quickly gathered up the papers, shoved them back into the file folder, and stomped her way down to her father's office at the end of the hall.

Charleston Dash was a stern businessman and loving father. He had three, now adult children. Jackson, his oldest son, was a neurosurgeon living in Albany, New York. Christian, his youngest, was a full-time musician and part-time mailroom clerk at the family firm. Then there was Cressida, his only daughter, whom he cherished. Charleston's wife, Harmony Davis Dash, had been placed in a psychiatric hospital three years earlier.

"Dad, what is this about?" Cressida stormed into his office and threw the files onto his desk.

Although on the phone with a client, Charleston took one look at his daughter's face and knew the conversation with his celebrity client would have to be placed on the back burner. "Yes, something just came up. I will have to call you back. No, I promise you. Everything is going to work in our favor.

Okay, take care now." He set the receiver down and picked up the file his daughter had so dramatically thrust before him.

"Cressida, I gave you this case because I thought you would be the perfect person to handle it." He spoke like the self-confident businessman that he was.

"What? Are you kidding me? Dad, this is the same man Mom said broke into our home and attacked her!" Cressida's shrill voice echoed across the walls of her father's office. She was furious at her father's carefree demeanor.

"Pudding, your mom is not in any position to talk. She has lost her mind. You can't listen to her," Charleston replied. He made his way over to the bar to pour himself a drink.

Cressida regretted the harsh words. She knew the topic of her mother always led him to a drink. "Daddy, I'm sorry.

It's just that... this man is pure evil. I can't defend someone like this. Daddy, Blake Carter, raped and killed over 23 young girls and boys." She went to stand behind her father. A tear rolled down her cheek as she pictured the faces of the innocent children who'd been hurt by this man. "Only a fool would take this case. His guilt is obvious."

Charleston set his glass back on the bar and turned to face his daughter. "Cressida had I had another option, I wouldn't have asked you. Nobody will take this case. I would take it myself, but my workload is already overflowing. I can't afford to lose any more cases with your mother's illness. Look, honey, it truly is a done deal for Blake Carter. It's an easy case.

No jury in their right mind is going to let him off." He placed his arm around his daughter's shoulder and pulled her closer to plant a kiss on her temple.

"Please, for Daddy? I have no one else."

Cressida crumbled under her father's embrace. "Okay, Daddy. I'll take it." She felt as if a part of her had just died.

"That's my girl. Hey, we can't always have good cases. We have to sometimes defend filth. At the end of the day, all you need is a shot of rum and a piece of a..."

"Daddy!" Cressida cut him off before he could finish.

Charleston let out a hearty laugh as he walked back to his desk. "Well, you know what I mean." He smiled and settled into his chair.