Page 25 of Rescue Them

“I need to clean up, but we didn’t get that far.His mother showed up.Long story.”He hurried to his room, grabbed his things, and commandeered the bathroom, since it was empty.He meant to take a quick shower, but Lyle kept intruding, and damned if James didn’t stay under the warm water, soaping himself up until he couldn’t hold back any longer.By the time he turned off the water, he was clean… and more relaxed.

After dressing in comfortable clothes, he found the others at the table, just sitting down, so he joined them, called their attention to the first case, and went through what he’d found.Then they went through the other cases, reviewing the highlights and details along with the precedents and research they had done.

During these sessions there were no holds barred, so James asked a lot of questions.The others did as well, and soon the afternoon passed, filled with lively conversation, sometimes bordering on argument, but that was the purpose of these sessions.

By the time they were ready to review the last case, the snacks were running low and James needed more water.He grabbed one from the fridge and closed the door.“Dude,” Wes said as he got one too.“You’re, like, all fired up and ready to fight… like, more than usual.”

“I guess,” James agreed.

“Didn’t you get any?”he added, and James took a good-hearted swipe at him.“I mean, I thought a boyfriend would mellow you out.The last one did for a while.”He rolled his eyes.“Though he didn’t last long.Not that I blame you, he was a jerk, and he was a law junkie.”

“A what?”

“A guy or girl, equal time you know… who dates people in law school… same as folks who date med students.They think there’ll be a big payoff at some point.Ray was like that.”

“Lyle definitely isn’t.”At least he hoped so.Jesus, he wanted to smack Wes for putting that idea in his head.“Anyway, he and I are taking things slow, so we can get to know each other.”

“Aww, that sounds way too gay for words.”He grinned, and James smacked him on the shoulder.“Though maybe if I had that idea, I’d get more dates.”

“Or one date in the last six months.”Wes had a bit of a reputation as a hound dog.“Anyway, it has nothing to do with that.You heard Professor Leland last session.He said that the cases would get tougher and more intricate, so we need to dig deeper.”He wagged his eyebrows, and they returned to the others.

“I did the review of the next case, and I think the judge made a critical error in how he applied the precedent, and since it had never been challenged, it still stands.”James went through his logic and all the research that he had done, including the state of the law at the time the case was being heard.Then he continued and brought the case up to the present day.“Can you find holes in my research?Do you see anything I missed?”

The others were quiet.“I read the case and didn’t come up with any of this,” Ray said.“My analysis was much more straightforward.”He reviewed what he’d found, and they discussed it as well.“Maybe there are two things in this one,” James added.“I wonder which one the professor wants.”

“Maybe both.We’ll each take a piece of it and see where it leads us,” James offered, and Ray nodded.

James was mentally drained by the time they were finished.The temptation was to close the books and case notes and go to bed, but he pulled his laptop in front of him once more and got out his notes, returning to the paper he had been working on.It was nearly finished, needing only a final review, and James was determined to just get it done.He spent another hour working, finishing up, before saving the document with a smile.He stretched and groaned.It was a big task done and a huge part of his assessment in that class.

He checked the time and then pulled out his phone to read messages.He sent one to Lyle to say good night and then closed his materials and sat back in the chair, arching his back.The others were still in the area, all working, but he was done, so he left and closed the door to his small room.He undressed and climbed into bed.Even though he was tired, he found it difficult to fall to sleep, his mind on Lyle.

“HOW DIDyour classes go?”Lyle asked Monday evening.

“Really well.I think I really impressed the professor with the case where I found that the judge erred.I don’t know if he was totally convinced, but he did like my analysis and said that he wouldn’t want to be up against me in the court of appeals, so that was really positive.”

“So he didn’t just tell you that you were right?”Lyle asked.

“With the law, it’s often what you can argue.Basically he said that I had a really good case if I were arguing it in court, and that’s high praise coming from him.”He was pleased.“How were things at work?”

“Pretty good.I caught one of the guys on the floor of the warehouse putting something in one of his boots.Turned out it was a gold pen from the lockup.They fired him, but that also instigated an inventory of that section of the warehouse, and it appears that he has been taking that sort of thing home with him for months.”

“Sounds wonderful.At least you caught him,” James said.

“Yeah.The police are going to search his place to see how much of what he’s taken is still there.But this is going to mean a ton of additional security measures and a complete review of our processes.In short, I’m going to be very busy.”

“I hope there isn’t any blowback.”

“Nope.I was the one who brought the issue to the attention of the supervisor on the floor, and it’s in all contracts that we have the right to search bags and things when leaving.So she had him take off his boots, and the pen dropped on the floor.I’m kind of a hero, but it also means that I’m involved in the investigation.It will be okay, though.”

“How are the dogs?”

“They’re all in their beds on the floor, looking up at me wondering why I’m talking on the phone and not going to bed so they can sleep.They know it’s nearly that time.”He sighed softly.“Mom messaged me to make sure we were both coming on Wednesday.I told her that we would be there.”

“If you and your mom need to talk, then I can stay home and the two of you can have dinner.”

“If you don’t want to come, that’s okay.My mom can be a little much.”

“No.It’s fine.I don’t want to step into family business.”The last thing he wanted to do was push in.