The door opened before she even used the knocker. Charlie yelped in delight, throwing herself in delirious circles. “Kate.” Randall gazed at her with as much delight. “I should have guessed it was you. Charlie was going nuts in here.” The Lab rushed over to Kate, licked her hurriedly, and then danced around Alaska. “Please come in.” He held open the door.

Kate walked past him, suddenly aware of the patch of sweat between her shoulder blades.

“How are you? Did you get some sleep?”

For once, she was able to say, “Yes.” She smiled, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the hem of her shirt. “It was a bit hotter than I realized.”

“Let me get you and Alaska some water.” He turned toward the kitchen. She followed him, as familiar with his kitchen as he was. He filled a crystal glass with chilled water and handed it to her. Alaska found Charlie’s water bowl and helped himself. “Did you have a good run?”

“Yes.” She gulped the water. “It was glorious. I needed to clear my head. It’s been a little nuts.” She threw a sideways glance at him. “I negotiated a plea deal for both Leah and Joey.”

“Nice work. I did the same for Mel Owen.” Randall smiled. “Ellis was extremely compassionate toward him. Especially since this was the second time he was a victim of break-and-enter.”

“Leah’s charge has been reduced to trespass,” Kate said, holding the chill glass to her cheek.

Randall raised a brow. “Well, good for your client. But not entirely accurate.”

“Hillcroft recognized that the law doesn’t protect whistle blowers, so he was willing to recognize the desperate measures Leah took to inform the public. Although part of the deal was that Leah not publish the files.”

Randall leaned against the counter top. “All those lives damaged, and the files remain top secret.”

“Pretty top secret.” She grinned.

“What do you mean?”

“Our intrepid journo Nat sniffed a story and has dug up some interesting information about a data breach.”

Randall raised a brow. “So maybe not entirely in vain.”

Kate shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess it depends on what you view is a just result. That hacker Tr0lz seems to have disappeared.”

“What do you think is a just result, Kate?”

She shook her head. “You know I wanted to be a prosecutor because I felt I could help victims. But in this case…there were too many victims and too many crimes.”

“The many faces of Lady Justice.” Randall’s gaze rested on her face. “Do you think that this case has changed your mind?”

“It’s given me another perspective. But Hillcroft told me that Kenzie Sloane’s preliminary inquiry is on Wednesday.” She looked past Randall, through the window. A white butterfly fluttered above a stunning indigo delphinium.

“That’s sudden.”

“I know.” Kate shrugged. “They want to have it before the judge goes on vacation.”