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.“Thoroughly.Now all we have to do is convince the jury.”Running up the steps of 100 Centre Street, Sara glanced at her watch and cursed the New York City traffic that had held her taxi hostage for the past half hour.It was now almost quarter past twelve, which meant she was already fifteen minutes late for Kozlow’s arraignment.Hoping that Kozlow still hadn’t entered his plea, she darted into the building, through the metal detector, and took the elevator to the eleventh floor.She read room numbers as she ran and headed up the hallway until she reached room 1127.Pausing in front of the courtroom, Sara took a moment to catch her breath.The much-needed minibreak made one thing clear: If she didn’t go to the bathroom soon, she was going to explode.Looking through the glass window in the door of the courtroom, she saw that Kozlow was seated on the left side of the room.He still hadn’t been called, which meant the proceedings were running late.She raced for the bathroom.Inside, she headed straight for the first of the four bathroom stalls.Moments later, she heard someone else enter the bathroom and turn on the water at one of the sinks.Curious, Sara peeked through a crack in the door.But by the time she got a good look at the sinks, the person was gone.Sara was startled by a loud knock on the door of her stall.“Who is it?” she asked nervously.“It’s me.Rise and shine.” The familiar voice sent a chill through Sara’s chest, and there, peering over the top of the stall, was the man with the sunken cheeks.She jumped to her feet, readjusted her clothes, and barreled out of the stall.Sunken Cheeks was leaning against one of the sinks, waiting for her.“Caught you with your pants down, huh?” he asked as she charged toward him.“What the hell are you doing here?”“Just checking up on my inves—”Before Elliott could finish his sentence, Sara swung her briefcase through the air, attempting to hit him in the face.Raising his hand to block her attack, he caught her briefcase in midair.“Nice briefcase,” he said.He threw it to the floor.“I see you rubbed my message out.”“Stay away from me.”“You’re not the one I care about, Sara—although I’m glad you kicked your hubby out.”“Don’t you dare touch him.”Elliott grabbed Sara by her lapels.“Don’t tell me what to do.” He shoved her backwards, sending her crashing into the stall.Tripping over the toilet, she banged her head on the back wall.As Elliott left the bathroom, he added, “By the way, check out Doniger’s basement.You’ll like what you find.”Picking herself up as fast as possible, Sara raced after Elliott.But by the time she reached the hallway, he was gone.“Damn,” she said, vigorously rubbing the bump on the back of her head.Her heart was drumming as she peered through the window in the door of the courtroom.To her surprise, Jared and Kozlow were standing at the defense table, addressing the judge.With a sharp tug, she pulled open the door.When she walked into the room, she heard the clerk of the court ask Jared, “How does your client plead, sir, guilty or not guilty?” Wondering how the arraignment was proceeding without her, Sara headed briskly to the front of the room.Maybe she should shout an objection, she thought, her mind scrambling for a solution.But as she was about to open her mouth, she noticed that Conrad was sitting at the prosecutor’s table.Nodding, she offered a silent thank-you to her mentor.“Not guilty,” Jared said, standing next to Kozlow at the defense table.In response, Conrad approached the bench and handed a bundle of papers to the judge.Without saying a word, Sara sat at the prosecutor’s table.Glancing to her left, she locked eyes with Jared.He looked haggard, with heavy bags under his eyes.He clearly had had a rough night.Purposely turning away Sara waited for Conrad to return to the table.When he sat down next to her, she whispered, “Thank you
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