Sadies Suspicion

The fluorescent hum of the precinct was a familiar lullaby to Detective Sadie. It was late, the kind of late where the stale coffee tasted like despair and the only company was the ghost of cases long past. She traced a finger over a crime scene photo, the stark white of the victim’s apartment a canvas for the brutal efficiency of the killer. The Viper. A phantom, a whisper, a meticulously executed elimination.

And then there was Sadie. Sadie Sterling, the defense attorney. Sadie had crossed paths with him on a few grim cases, always on opposite sides of the courtroom’s chasm. He was sharp, unnervingly so. His arguments were like surgical strikes, dissecting evidence, exposing flaws with a precision that bordered on artistry. He possessed a calm, almost detached demeanor, even when defending the indefensible.

Lately, however, something had been gnawing at Sadie. A persistent itch under her skin, a disquiet that refused to be soothed. She’d been reviewing the Viper’s victims, a grim rogues’ gallery of those who’d crossed powerful people, those whose secrets were too dangerous to be unearthed. And she’d been reviewing Liam’s recent clients. The overlap, at first, seemed like coincidence. A few prominent businessmen, a shady real estate developer, a politician with a conveniently forgotten past. Standard fare for a lawyer who specialized in keeping the wealthy and influential out of jail.