The FBI Thrillers Collection Books 6-10 - Catherine Coulter [461]
The three men looked ready to be sick.
Sonya McGivens, another law clerk to Justice Sumner Wallace, grabbed a slice of cold pizza out of a delivery box from Pizza Heaven and began chewing on it. A long string of cheese fell over her chin but she didn’t seem to notice.
Savich noted that she was a knockout—a tall blond with classic features—and a bare midriff down to well below her navel. She was wearing bad-girl pants that barely covered her pelvic bones, and a lacy white top. Savich wondered if one of the reasons Justice Wallace had hired her was because of her looks. He also wondered if the Justice had ever lost his head with this young woman.
She said between frantic bites, “None of us know a thing, honest, Detective Raven.”
Bobby picked up the last slice of pizza that looked nearly petrified. He held it out belatedly toward Callie. “No, thank you, you go ahead,” she said, and tried not to shudder.
Ben said to Bobby, “I understand you were in Justice Califano’s chambers Friday morning, shooting the breeze with Eliza Vickers until you remembered the Chief Justice’s meeting, and took off.”
Bobby Fisher slowly nodded. “Yeah. I wanted—” He stepped away from the other three law clerks, came close to Ben. “Okay, I don’t want you to think I’m keeping anything back. The deal is I wanted to ask her out, but Eliza was playing hard to get. There was this show at the Kennedy Center I wanted to see. I wanted her to go with me.”
“Did she accept?” Sherlock asked.
Bobby shook his head. “No, she never accepted. I guess that was maybe my last shot. Who cares? No tragedy. Usually she acts like a bitch to me, anyway.”
“She was a bitch because?” This from Callie, who, if they believed she was a local cop like Ben Raven, was fine. Better yet, since she hadn’t ever met these four, they didn’t know her relationship to Justice Califano.
Bobby shrugged his narrow shoulders, looked away from her, not meeting her eyes. “She didn’t like me. Called me Justice Alto-Thorpe’s clone, and the way she said it wasn’t nice. Sure, I usually agreed with my own Justice, she’s brilliant, you know? Why wouldn’t I want to be like her?”
Callie said, “So, you think Eliza was a bitch because she wouldn’t go out with you? Isn’t that a bit over the top, Bobby?”
The other three law clerks were standing, all attention. Tai Curtis and Sonya McGivens nodded in agreement. Dennis Palmer looked blank, probably an expression he’d cultivated.
“Look, she wouldn’t go out with me, and she wasn’t very polite about it. It’s not like I’m a pauper. I could take her nice places. And being a law clerk in the Supreme Court means I’m no run-of-the-mill law school graduate.”
Ben said, “Yeah, I hear it’s a great opportunity for all of you.”
Bobby said, “Oh yes, it is. And when I met Justice Alto-Thorpe, I knew it would be a great year. I’m going into litigation, civil litigation in the entertainment industry, and I’m going to live in Malibu.”
Ben Raven saw Tai Curtis and Dennis Palmer exchange looks that clearly said, Can you believe this idiot? Let them keep listening, Ben thought. When he got them each alone, there was no telling what would pop out of their mouths.
“Okay,” Sherlock said, “she’s a bitch because she wouldn’t give you the time of day. Most guys move on, Bobby, they don’t get all hung up on it, don’t insult the woman who rejected them. Did she dislike you because you respected Justice Califano less than Justice Alto-Thorpe?”
He flushed a bit. “The truth is I thought Justice Califano was pompous and overbearing, not at all like Justice Alto-Thorpe. Yeah, sure, Eliza knew what I thought. It’s the truth.” The other three law clerks were frowning, as if embarrassed to be in the same room with him.
Savich glanced over at Dennis Palmer, one of Justice Gutierrez’s law clerks, a stocky young black man with a tough jaw and hard eyes. He was the