Chapter 2 The Murder

JENNA'S POV

"I guess the only thing you ever think about is fun. Isn't it, Jace Maddox?" Jace chuckled and took the empty seat beside me. I groaned. "So what are we discussing, lawyers? Any criminal we're going to be jailing this week?" he said. "Not really, you know. I've not prosecuted anyone in weeks," said Alaric, "I've only been doing civil cases." "Well, I'm prosecuting some pedophile on Bindley Street," said Daniela, "The accused was caught forcing two kids to give him a mouth f*ck." "Oh!" said Jace, "That guy should be locked in a dungeon, and his jailers should throw the key away." I looked at him and raised my eyes. "Since when did you start knowing right and wrong, Mr. Maddox?" "I know right and wrong more than you, Miss Defense attorney." I glared at Jace, ready to scratch his eyes out at any moment. He returned my fierce look, and we glared at each other for a few seconds till Grace said: "My, my. Jace and Jenna, we can't enjoy this evening if there's no consensus between us, so please let's agree, relax and enjoy this evening." We sat, an uneasy truce between us, but every time our eyes met, the air grew thick with unresolved tension. A tension that wasn't purely antagonistic. And despite our charged exchange, Daniela tried to keep the conversation light. Still, the palpable tension between Jace and me overshadowed everything-every comment, every look was layered with years of animosity. "So, Jace," Daniela said, smiling slyly and fluttering her eyelashes seductively, "What are you up to this weekend?" I rolled my eyes. Here we go again. Daniela and her terrible flirting skills. Jace smiled warmly, his black eyes glittering from the restaurant's light over their heads. "Well, nothing much. I want to surf with my buddy, Peter, this weekend." Daniela's eyes lit up. "Really? I love surfing!" I choked on my beer and started to cough. Everyone's attention focused on me. "Are you okay?" said Jace, drawing closer and patting me softly. What was he doing? Get off me! I wanted to tell Jace to stay away from me, but my throat felt sore. I looked up at Daniela, who was smiling sheepishly at me. This silly girl was the cause of my choking. The f*ck! Daniela did not like surfing! She had never done it before. She hated surfing! The last time we as a firm went out together to celebrate the firm's twentieth anniversary and we had all gone to the beach, I still remembered how she had fled from the water when I had gone surfing and how she had ranted all day about how she would rather die than surf on the water. Finally, after hours, I slid out of the booth. "It's getting late. Daniela, ready?" Daniela shot a regretful glance at Jace. "Yes, time to head home." Grace and Alaric stood up as well and started to leave the bar. "So we'll see you on Monday, right?" said Alaric. I smiled and hugged him. "Of course." "Take care of yourself this weekend, okay? My, you look pretty exhausted. You can't kill yourself because of your work," said Grace. "And what if I do?" "Then I shall file a lawsuit against you." I chuckled. "I assert that I am completely fine and that the plaintiff should not worry about me," I joked. Grace smiled. "We'll be off then," Alaric said winking at me, and he and Grace left together. They lived around the same area. Daniela left with me because we stayed close to each other, too. As we left, I could feel Jace's gaze on my back, that familiar mix of irritation and attraction. I had the urge to turn back and look into his ice-blue eyes-the eyes I had secretly admired for years. But I didn't and continued walking. I dropped Daniela off at her home and drove to my home. $$$ I sighed heavily as I entered my apartment. I felt a bit drunk and immediately dropped on the couch, spreading my limbs everywhere to relax properly. What was I to do now? Sleep? Eat? Watching TV? I didn't feel like eating-the beer filled every part of my belly. I didn't feel like sleeping either. I was exhausted, yet I knew if I closed my eyes, I wouldn't be able to sleep. So I decided to watch TV. I switched on the TV, hoping to find a late-night movie to distract myself. But what I saw froze me in my tracks. The news anchor reported the murder of a young teenage girl, her face flashing on the screen. I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth. She looked so young; she could not be more than fourteen. Whoever killed such a child was a monster. "Poor thing," I murmured, "whoever defends that monster will need all the luck in the world. The evidence is glaring." I checked the time. It was almost time for my favorite TV series. I watched the news for a while and then switched the channel to my favorite series. I didn't know when I fell asleep watching the series, but I woke up the following day from the loud and persistent ringing of my phone. "What the hell? What's all this about? Who the hell is ringing my phone this morning?" I picked up my phone and glanced at the caller ID. It was my boss, the owner of the firm. I looked at it for a while, wondering if I should pick it up or ignore the call. It was the weekend, after all, and he was not supposed to call me during weekends. We had agreed on this already. This only meant that what he was calling me for was urgent. I picked up the call. "Hello?" "Hello? Jenna? I won't call you during the weekend, but this is important. Can we see?" ...........,, So here I was, sitting at the coffee shop near where I lived with my boss, not believing what I just heard. "What? What did you say?" Ferdinand, my boss and the firm's owner, sipped his hot black coffee. "I said I want you to be Jace Maddox's defense attorney. You are going to be defending him." "What are you talking about?" "Jace Maddox. The main suspect of the murder of Marseille." "That...that cant be true." "It is. There's evidence. He's been arrested this morning and needs a lawyer." I didn't understand. I was confused. I didn't know what was more shocking: the fact that the young girl who had been murdered the day before and who I had seen on the news about was killed by Jace or the fact that Ferdinand had just asked me to defend Jace in court. "What the hell are you talking about?!"