He shrugged. “We chose Atlanta and fell in love with the city. I mean, we came back broke as hell. Had to play catch-up for months, but it was worth being able to have fun for a few days. Not long after, Donna told me she was pregnant, and when we found out it was going to be a girl, Georgia was the only name that made sense.”
“The nickname makes sense to me now too.”
His laugh was a deep, boisterous, belly-rumbling laugh that reminded her of Papa. “Yeah, she’s my peach.”
Nena pursed her lips.
He laughed again. He beamed talking about his daughter, reminding Nena of how Noble doted on her and Elin. She realized she really liked Cort’s laughter. It was like being at home, settled and secure. Even more, she liked being the cause of his laughter.
“Why become a federal prosecutor?” she asked, hoping to tamp down the sudden assault of emotions. She was worried about what she was starting to feel and whether she could control it.
Cort chuckled as if to say, Where do I even start? “I was a cop for a few years. Loved it and worked with my best friend, Mack. Then I got my law degree and had been working in the Economics and Environmental Crimes Section at the US Attorney’s Office for about seven years by the time Peach’s mom died.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “Don’t be.”
“Economics and Environmental Crimes?” she asked. “A mouthful.”
He laughed. “I work General Frauds, which handles investments, securities, Ponzi schemes, to name a few.” He thought some more. “Suddenly I was a single parent to a little girl, trying to make a name for myself, which was—is—tough, especially for a Black man, you know? They’re so busy thinking you don’t know as much, or you won’t work as hard, or you got where you were because of affirmative action or to check a diversity box. Or they stereotype you. I had to know more, work harder, and be more of a hard-ass than my White counterparts. The work is how I got to where I am now, handling cases like the one prosecuting Dennis Smith. And I enjoy it because I like serving up a piece of the justice pie. Which screwed with me when the guy was shot right in front of me. That easily could have been me.”
If Nena made it through the night without exposing herself to Cort, she deserved a damn Emmy.
“You like taking down the bad guys.”
He shrugged. “There are laws, rules, in place that people have to adhere to.”
“But what about when people do things outside your rule of law for a good cause?” Was she really having this conversation with him, a federal prosecutor, about what was just and what wasn’t? She was playing with fire.
“What do you mean?”
She tried finding the right words. “I mean justice by your own rules, but for the betterment of people.”
“Justice is not just black or white, you know. There are shades of gray. I get that. Still. We have a justice system in place for a reason. People should leave judgments to them.”
“Or there is chaos.”
He squinted an eye. “Yeah,” he said, nodding. “I guess.” He held up his hands in surrender. “There is no perfect system. Mistakes happen.”
An understatement.
“Not everything is perfect, not even in my office. I guess we all just have to do what we can.”
Her mind was traveling places she hadn’t wanted to revisit. “Yeah, all of us do what we can. And sometimes, it’s all that we can do.”
He agreed, pausing as if he were having an internal debate. “Don’t know if you heard about the big cartel leader killed last month.”
She kept her face placid. The image of the girl on the bed, the way her fingers had fumbled with the key to unlock her way to freedom. Then, as quickly as the image had come, she washed it away.
“The way he was killed was personal. Not like anyone else on the property, who were all shot.”
What was Cort getting at? What should she say? If she said the wrong thing, revealed information that hadn’t been made public, she’d raise suspicion. So all she said was, “How do you mean?”
“I really shouldn’t be discussing this”—he shifted on the couch—“but it’s been a minute since I was able to talk work out with someone who has nothing to do with any of it.”
Her lip twitched before she had a chance to stop it. She needed to remain in control. She needed to be clearheaded around this man who made her want to lose herself in him. She also needed to find out what he didn’t know so she could clear him with the Tribe and they wouldn’t give him a second thought.