Tribal Court (8 page)

Brunelle shook his head. "You're not fooling me. That was too passionate. You'd be just fine to let the families fight this out and leave the cops and the courts out of it."

Freddy stared at Brunelle for several second, then down at the table. "Yeah, well, that's not really an option, so it doesn't really matter."

Brunelle took a moment to look up at Talon. She was still talking. It seemed like she had moved on to part II, Freddy's argument. Based on where she seemed to be in her presentation, Brunelle figured she'd talk for another three, maybe five minutes.

"I would think," Brunelle whispered as he turned back to face Freddy, "that the bigger problem is Traver doesn't have any surviving family."

Freddy turned away again. "Is that right?" he whispered.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure I told you that at the casino the other night."

Freddy didn't reply.

"What would happen then, Freddy?" Brunelle pressed. "What happened to the blood feud if one side ran out of family members? Would that end it?"

Freddy shrugged. "It could."

"But it might not?" Brunelle asked.

"Depends."

"On what?"

Freddy shifted in his seat. "On whether another member of the tribe agreed to take up the feud on behalf of the victim."

Brunelle frowned and ran a hand through his hair. "That's what I was afraid you were going to say."

"…and for those reasons," Talon was summing up, "the court should deny the prosecution's motion to exclude the defense of justifiable homicide by way of blood revenge. Thank you."

Talon sat down and gave Brunelle a 'How ya like them apples?' smirk. He almost wished he'd listened to her.

"Any rebuttal, Mr. Brunelle?" the judge asked with a raised eyebrow. The direction of his question to Brunelle and not Freddy was clearly intentional. Also clear, from the expression on his face, was the fact that he really didn't want to listen to any more lawyers talking.

"No, Your Honor," Brunelle replied. "Thank you."

Silence fell over the courtroom as Judge LeClair nodded and raised pressed fingertips to his lips. "This is a difficult question," he began. "One with wide-ranging impact. There is no doubt that current Washington law would not permit a jury to consider this killing to be justifiable homicide. At least not for the reasons put forward by Ms. Winter. Under Washington law, this would be a vigilante killing at best, cold-blooded revenge at worst. Under Washington law, this would be murder."

He paused to take a sip of water.

"But this isn't a Washington court. This is the Duwallup Indian Tribal Court. And this court's jurisdiction arises pursuant to a treaty between the Tribe and the government of the United States. And that treaty is over one hundred years old. So the threshold question is: Does this court apply Washington law of today, or tribal law of last century?"

Brunelle looked at Freddy again. He knew they disagreed on the answer to that question.

"If I decide that Washington law applies," Judge LeClair continued, "then that ends the inquiry and the defense is excluded. But if I decided that tribal law applies, then there is a secondary question: would this really have been a defense?"

Brunelle nodded. He was right. LeClair had already analyzed this upside down and sideways. Maybe Freddy didn't do any damage after all.

"Ms. Winter asserts that it would have been a defense," LeClair observed. "And interestingly, Mr. McCloud agrees."

Then again…
Brunelle glowered at Freddy.

"Accordingly, who am I to disagree? The prosecution motion to exclude the defense of blood revenge is denied."

A ripple of murmured cheers filtered through Quilcene's friends and family in the gallery.

"Yesss," Talon hissed under her breath. She turned and looked at Brunelle. "Your ass," she whispered. "Kicked. By me."

Brunelle rolled his eyes. He was really starting to dislike her. And it really pissed him off that she was so hot. He tried not to think about what he wanted to do to her ass.

"The next motion," Judge LeClair announced, "is the defendant's motion to disqualify Mr. Brunelle from the prosecution of this case."

"Your Honor?" Talon jumped to her feet. "The defense would ask the court to delay the hearing on that motion."

"Delay?" Brunelle and the judge asked at the same time.

"For how long?" Judge LeClair demanded suspiciously.

"And why?" Brunelle added.

"Just a few minutes," Talon answered. "And because I need to speak with Mr. Brunelle. In private."

Chapter 14

Talon closed the conference room door behind her and turned to face Brunelle. Her hands were behind her, still on the doorknob, and her hair cascaded around her face, which was tipped forward, eyes inviting and dangerous. He could smell her perfume. Jasmine. They were alone.

Enemy
, Brunelle told himself over the blood rushing in his ears.
Remember, she's the enemy
.

"David," she started. Not Brunelle. Not Jackass. Not even a simple 'Dave.'
David
. She was good. "Let's talk."

Brunelle swallowed. He wasn't even sure he could talk. "Okay," he croaked. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Us," she said, finally releasing the doorknob and taking a step toward him. Her hips swung as she walked. "And this case."

Us? What the fuck does that mean?
"Okay. Talk."

Talon's mouth spread into a full-lipped smile. She crossed her arms, which only succeeded in pulling her well-tailored jacket even tighter against her frame. "Did you see how I kicked your ass just now?"

"Actually," Brunelle raised a finger, "you kicked Freddy's ass."

The smile twisted into a grimace. "Yeah, I know. That was no fun at all. I already know I can kick his ass. It's your ass I want."

Oh, Talon
, Brunelle managed not to say.
I want yours too.

"Sorry about that," he said instead. "I didn't know he was going to argue that. I wouldn't have let him if I'd known."

"Well, still," Talon pressed on, another step into his comfort zone. "You have to admit, my argument against your written brief was pretty amazing."

Brunelle shrugged. "I'm sure it was. I wasn't really listening."

Talon's perfectly shaped shoulders fell.

"I was busy," Brunelle explained, "yelling at Freddy. In whispers, of course, but it distracted me from your undoubtedly stunning oral skills."

Brunelle winced.
Nice choice of words, counselor.

Talon shook her head, apparently oblivious to his phraseology. "That damn Freddy. He's already screwing things up."

"To your advantage," Brunelle noted.

"Whatever. There's no challenge. No glory in taking him down. He doesn't even have a real job."

Brunelle bristled at that. "Prosecutor is a real job, even a smaller assignment like tribal prosecutor."

Talon cocked her head at Brunelle. Her eyes held back a laugh. "He's not the tribal prosecutor, Dave. There is no tribal prosecutor."

Brunelle offered a puzzled expression. "But I thought…"

"This court doesn't normally handle criminal matters," Talon explained. "That's why this is such a big deal. Usually it's just family and child welfare matters. And parking tickets. Lots of parking tickets. Pays for the casino."

"I thought the casino paid for the casino," Brunelle remarked, recalling the fifty dollars he'd dropped the other night.

Talon laughed lightly. A perfect little laugh. "Yeah, I suppose it does. Fine, the parking tickets pay the judge's salary. But they don't pay for a prosecutor too."

Brunelle thought for a moment. "So where does Freddy normally work then? Pierce County Prosecutor's Office? Tacoma City Attorney?"

Talon shook her head and let out another perfectly dark little laugh. "No, he doesn't have a law job at all. He couldn't find one after law school. He had given up and was working as a bank teller or something. But when the tribe decided to do this, they wanted tribal members as the lawyers. Freddy's a member and he's got a bar card, so
voilà
, he's the prosecutor."

Brunelle pointed at her. "So you're not the public defender?"

"Oh, please!" Talon scowled. "Don't offend me."

"It's not an insult," Brunelle replied instantly. "The best defense attorneys I go against are public defenders. Dedicated to the cause, not the fee."

Talon took a moment to consider. "So, you're complimenting me?"

Fuck
. Brunelle fought off a juvenile blush. "I suppose I am," he admitted. Then he pushed the conversation along. "So where do you work usually? Or don't you have a law job either?"

"Oh, no, I have a law job," Talon nodded confidently. "I'm a senior litigation associate at Gordon, High and Steinmetz. I'm one experienced-homicide-prosecutor-ass-kicking away from making partner."

Brunelle grimaced at the corporate ritual of 'making partner.' The reward for seven years of slavish, round the clock-and-calendar work for the already rich partners. "Well, congratulations," he managed to say.

Talon frowned at him. "Don't judge me, Mr. Public Servant. It's a good job and I'm damn good at it. The tribe called me first. I could have chosen to be the prosecutor, but I chose defense."

Brunelle's eyebrows shot up. "Why?"

Talon laughed again. "Well, the first reason is, I'd rather defend the guy who killed the child molester than try to vindicate the child molester."

"I'm not trying to vindicate anyone." Brunelle put his hands up. "I'm just trying to enforce the law. Murder is murder."

"Unless it's justified," Talon teased.

Brunelle just shook his head. "What's the second reason?"

Talon's eyes sparkled. "When they told me a senior prosecutor was coming down from Seattle to prosecute the case, I knew I'd much rather notch my belt with a victory over him than carry his briefcase."

Brunelle had to nod. It made sense. "You're going to use me to make a name for yourself, huh?"

"My phone isn't going to stop ringing once word gets out that I got an acquittal for a guilty-as-hell murder defendant."

"You're that sure you're going to win?"

Talon offered a delicious grin. "Yep. And you know it too."

Brunelle pursed his lips. He didn't know it, but he didn't mind her being overconfident either.

"Unless…" Talon started.

Brunelle narrowed his eye suspiciously. "Unless what?"

"Unless you offer my guy a manslaughter. Then we both win and go back to our real jobs."

"Manslaughter?" Brunelle was incredulous. "He stabbed him in the heart. That's murder."

"Naw," Talon waved it away. "Murder is intentional. That was reckless. An accident."

Brunelle thought for a moment. "The heart," he repeated. "He stabbed him directly in the heart."

"Lucky shot," Talon insisted. "No one studies anatomy any more."

Brunelle looked down at the left side of his own chest. "Everyone knows where the heart is.

"Lucky shot," Talon repeated. "Manslaughter One. Then we go our separate ways."

Brunelle suddenly realized he was in no hurry to go separate ways from Talon, but that wasn't the point, or his motivation. "I'm not giving you a manslaughter."

"Fine," Talon shrugged. "I'll get it from the jury then, if they don't just acquit outright. There's no way they convict my guy, especially after the ruling I just got. It means I get to bring in all the sick shit your guy ever did."

"Traver is not
my
guy," Brunelle insisted. "My guy is Lady Justice. Well, my gal. Whatever. Anyway, the only stuff that will come in is what your guy knew at the time of the murder. Which means you have to put him on the stand. Which means I get to cross examine his ass."

Talon laughed. "You think so, huh? Nope, Judge LeClair is going to let me bring in every last sick-fuck thing Traver ever did to anybody. And you know it too. Have you even talked with the mom of your guy's last victim? Johnny's sister? Have you seen her daughter? Do you know how much the jury is going to love my guy after I put that little princess on the stand and she tells them what that bastard did to her?"

Brunelle paused. He knew she was right. The judge was going to let it all in.
Damn it
.

"I told you," Talon said. "I'm going to kick your ass. And get rich from doing it. And you're going to lose a slam-dunk, blood-on-his hands case and crawl back to Seattle with your tail between your legs."

Brunelle rubbed his chin. "Talon?" he said.

"Yes, David?" He voice was like a chainsaw purring.

"You're overconfident." He crossed his arms and smiled. "Get ready to get schooled."

Talon returned the grin with a broad smile, her full lips parting to show off her perfect teeth. "Let the battle begin."

~*~

"Talon and Brunelle returned to the courtroom and the bailiff went to fetch the judge.

"What happened in there?" Freddy asked Brunelle when he got to their table.

"I'll tell you later," Brunelle replied. "We've got some work to do."

"All rise!" the bailiff commanded as Judge LeClair retook the bench.

"Are you ready to argue your motion, Ms. Winter?"

Talon stayed standing as Brunelle and Freddy sat down. "The defense withdraws its motion to disqualify Mr. Brunelle. Indeed, we welcome his presence on the case. We believe it will enrich all of us."

The judge nodded slowly, then turned to the prosecution table. "Any comment, Mr. Brunelle?"

"None, Your Honor," Brunelle replied.

LeClair nodded. "Then the motion is withdrawn, and Mr. Brunelle shall remain on the case. Anything further at this time?"

"No, Your Honor," Talon answered first.

"No, Your Honor," Brunelle agreed.

Then LeClair adjourned court and left the bench. Freddy turned to Brunelle and put a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry."

"Sure," Brunelle replied. "We can talk about your argument in a minute."

"No, not that." Freddy shook his head. He pointed at Talon. "
That
. She really is going to kick your ass."

Brunelle looked at Talon and frowned as he considered how the trial would likely unfold.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I know."