Kate thought of the smooth, confident Member of Parliament who had listened to her plea for empathy for Frances Sloane with little of his own. “Where? Why?”

“At his parents’ home. He shot an intruder. With his father’s unregistered, prohibited firearm.”

Kate raised a brow. “But why is he coming to you? You don’t do criminal defense.”

“I’m deflecting for him. After the screw-up by his publicist this morning, it’s obvious he needs someone to speak on his behalf.” Randall gave a wry smile. “Having been through the media gauntlet myself in the not-too-distant past, I think I can help him. And I thought this case would be perfect for you to join as second chair.”

Had jet lag made her brain stop functioning? She was having a hard time following this conversation. “You’ve lost me. First you tell me that the firm can’t handle any more negative publicity, but you take on a client who is going to have international media coverage for shooting someone with a prohibited gun. And then you tell me that I’m going to be moved to family law but—”

“—This is most definitely not a family law case,” Randall finished for her, with a small smile.

“So what gives?”

“First of all, Harry Owen is a popular Member of Parliament—except with you,” Randall added, “—who will receive a considerable amount of sympathetic press coverage. He did shoot someone, but it was in self-defense. His father was being robbed.”

“Again?” Despite Kate’s aversion to Harry Owen, she was horrified that his father had been victimized for a second time.

“Yes. It was a terrible situation. His mother died during the break-in attempt.”

“She was murdered?” This was getting more awful by the minute.

Randall’s gaze narrowed. “We aren’t sure. The ME is doing the autopsy. She was very ill.”

“Regardless, what a terrible way to die.”

And judging by her horrified reaction, it was a wonderful case for McGrath Woods. The Honorable Harry Owen would be a sympathetic figure. And the firm would have its name associated with him, time and time again.

“It has been heart wrenching for Harry Owen.”

“It’s his father that I feel the most sympathy for. Regardless, why would you want me involved in this?” And then her stomach tightened. “Did you think adding me to the case would up the sympathy quotient? A crime victim defends another crime victim who was driven to killing his attacker, just like she was?” She raised a brow when she saw the confirmation in Randall’s eyes. “Why does Harry need that? Isn’t being a victim of a break-in enough to make the public sympathetic?” Her mind worked through the implications. There was only one reason that Randall would want to stack the defense team with someone with her kind of warped public profile. “He shot someone who shouldn’t have been shot, right? The suspect was unarmed, I bet.”