Trust Me by Anna Wells Read Free Book Online Page A

girly.  Alaina
simmered inwardly, angry with herself for even noticing.  She felt a
growing resentment toward him for the attraction she felt, but quickly reminded
herself to concentrate on the case and not that dimple or his deep blue knowing
eyes. 
    He held out his hand when he reached her. “Alaina,
it’s good to see you again.  I've looked forward to seeing you.”
    Alaina shook his proffered hand, and he held onto hers
just a bit longer than necessary.  She removed her hand from his and
returned sardonically, “I'll just bet you have counselor.  I suppose I
should wish you good luck, but I really wouldn't mean it so I think I'll
refrain from doing so.  I hate hypocrisy.”
    Donovan Prentice laughed good naturedly, refusing to take offense at her comment. “This battle is going to be
interesting,” he paused giving her that charming smile. “Good luck, and Alaina,
I do mean it.” He turned and went back to his seat.  Alaina watched him
go, aware that they would soon be presenting their opposing arguments to the
judge and regretted that they were destined to be antagonists.
    The morning seemed to drag endlessly as she waited to
be called before the court.  Her motion to override the subpoena was finally
going to be heard.  She stood in front of the judge appearing confidant,
but far from feeling it, and began her arguments.  Judge Wallace appeared
to be in his early fifties and presented an intimidating presence especially to
a lawyer such as herself with only two years of experience.
    Alaina began speaking hoping her nerves were not
evident to the judge, “Your Honor, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was
refused access to the papers of Tom Simmons by the Eastern United States
Historical Society on the basis of a donor-repository agreement between the
Society and the late Tom Simmons.  The FBI, in reaction to the refusal of
access, issued the subpoena.  Your honor, I have two arguments on which to
justify the continued denial of access to the Tom Simmons papers: 1) allowing
access would violate Tom Simmons First Amendment rights of association, free
speech, and privacy; and 2) that the Tom Simmons’ papers should be protected by
an “archival privilege” not unlike the attorney client privilege.
    “The attempt by the FBI to gain access to Tom Simmons’
papers is nothing short of a harassment tactic on their part.  The
Organization Against Surveillance, of which Tom
Simmons was a member, was formed to halt harassment and surveillance by
authorities.  The essence of the right to privacy is protection of the
individual from government abuses.  There are several precedent cases,
outlined in my brief to the Court where civil rights organizations have had
their records protected through limited subpoenas.”
    Donovan listened to her, impressed with her archival
privilege argument, but fairly convinced that the Judge wouldn’t buy it. He
knew she was stretching it, but really it was a brilliant attempt on her
part.  Damn, what was sexier than a smart woman?  He sure as hell
didn’t know.  As she continued to speak, he once again focused on her
words, and maybe a little bit on her ass as well.
    “To return to my argument of archival privilege,
although an archival privilege is currently without precedents, there are
similar cases which recognize researcher privilege.  Your Honor, if archival repositories do not have the right to control access to
their collections, historical information will be lost for future
generations.  The right of freedom of expression also includes the right
of the listener to hear.  It is clear that if an archive is inhibited from
collecting material the public will suffer.  My Client, the late Tom
Simmons, was only trying to preserve the free flow of information for future
researchers.  We ask that the subpoena for his papers be denied. Thank
you, your honor.”  Having finished her arguments (which had been clearly
outlined in her brief submitted earlier to