Noa (October)

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! | Book 2 Sneak Peek

So, I wanted to thank y'all for being super patient with me regarding Book 2's writing. I had an absolutely awful bit of writer's block combined with the day job deciding to shit in my cheerios for about a month and a half now, and I am only seeing the lightened workload at the end of the tunnel sometime next week — but suffice to say that I've only gotten one chapter written in the last 6 weeks. Which really, really sucks.

To thank everybody for your patience, I wanted to g...

Status Update — What's Next?

You know, I'd been meaning to write this up for the last 2 weeks, and I figured a brief lull in a (finally back to a regular-size docket) workday was the perfect opportunity to do so.

First thing's first, though — I'd like to give all of you who've decided to show your support an incredible thank-you. It's not understatement to say that I have been utterly flabbergasted, shocked, amazed, and mildly terrified at just how many of you showed up here, and I can only hope I can maintain th...

Why did that happen?… odd

So uh, Chapter 29 got double-posted for some reason. Which is very odd.

No, I don’t know what caused it, nor do I have the ability to easily remove one because I’m on my phone at the office. Just, uh… ignore it, for now? I’ll edit one to have (accidental double post) on it once I’m home.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I didn’t usually miss my time in Japan. It’s hard, feeling nostalgic for such an unstable time in my life, with some of the highest highs competing against a larger amount of the lowest lows, all combined with the ever-present worry that I might wake up one day to a prison sentence, or worse. But there was one time of year that always had me remembering good times, untainted by anything else. 

It was early April, and that meant it was cherry blossom season here in DC. 

Intermission | Can’t Ask, Won’t Tell

April 30, 2020

Megan Barnes hadn’t exactly complained when the position of Staff Judge Advocate fell in her lap. It was, after all, the exact kind of position she’d been working towards for the past decade.

She just hadn’t expected to receive the position under such sudden circumstances… nor have to deal with one of the headaches she’d been warned about quite so soon into her tenure.

Foxfire. DC’s local cryptid. The NMR and FMB ...

Chapter Twenty-Eight

My boss’s secretary waved me into her office within thirty seconds of me arriving at the door. I gave Charlie a smile and a brief thanks, making a mental note to email him after this asking where he’d gotten his nails done because wow that was a pretty set of colors. Regardless, I pushed open the door to Alice Tanaka-Schotz’s office, ears perked up and curious. 

“You wanted to see me?” I asked.

“I did,” Alice said, taking off her reading glasses as she ...

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The defense was not, in fact, ready to put on its case in chief that afternoon. They instead requested a meeting in chambers that afternoon, where they put forth a motion to dismiss the current trial and allow us to refile in separate suits, alleging that there were irreconcilable differences between the defendants at this stage.

“Absolutely not,” Judge Friedman had replied, his voice tight with controlled fury. “You want the plaintiffs to put on their case four times? No...

Chapter Twenty-Six

Fatima’s cross-exam went on for another little bit after that, and it would’ve lasted almost a full half hour longer if I hadn’t given her the signal to cut it off. Cross-examination was the point at which far too many attorneys shot themselves in the foot, the same way Fatima had done during her prior trial against Amir. Being the aggressor was a delicate balance, and Fatima had already shown that she had the right instincts for ferreting out problems, but still didn’t know when to r...

Chapter Twenty-Five

The police finally found Mrs. Leslie King at 8:47pm that evening, at an Amtrak station in Kingstree, South Carolina. We’d been assured that she would be extradited back to DC and delivered to the courthouse tomorrow, accompanied by law enforcement personnel at all times. 

In the meantime, though, none of us on the plaintiff’s side wanted to waste an afternoon, not when we had momentum on our side. So Julio went ahead and called Miguel Arroyo to the stand.

The man arrived ...

Chapter Twenty-Four

“—never worked with an expert witness before, what if I mess up?”

I hadn’t initially wanted to leave for court an hour earlier than usual. But I woke up before my alarm clock went off, and the subsequent quick glance at my phone dashed my plans to run by Yumi’s for a matcha latte before heading to court.

Thirty texts, seven emails, and four missed calls, and two voicemails. All from my second seat, who’d apparently been awake since half past five. Why?

“Julio?�...

Chapter Twenty-Three

“What are you looking for, exactly?” Casey asked. I’d expected him to be looking over my shoulder, but he instead chose to look out from between my ears, and the longer half of his side part was tickling my right ear a little bit.

“Well, partially just trying to get through this absolutely God-awful interface,” I responded, clicking through menus, login screens, saved passwords, search boxes, and more. Jesus wept, who thought it was a good idea to have four separate login page...

Chapter Twenty-Two

“How did we not know about the fire alarm?”

We’d gone and grabbed lunch at an upscale French-style bistro right next to the court. I’d invited our next witness to join us and eat on the firm’s dime, but the fire marshal decided he’d spend another hour working and just meet us at the courthouse instead. 

“It wasn’t something that mattered, was it?” Fatima answered Julio’s question with another question. “The building was on fire, the building burned down,...

Break Week Extra | Foxfire Q&A

Yes, yes, this is supposed to be the RR+Amicus break week. But you know what? I feel like y'all could do with a little something fun. A bit of a "thank you" for your support that goes beyond just giving advance chapters.

And, well. That last little bonus I gave y'all for my birthday answered some questions, yes, but it definitely raised a lot more, and brought some existing questions into sharper focus.

So today, I'm giving you, the Patrons, an opportunity t...

Chapter Twenty-One

[CONTENT WARNING: Traumatized person speaks about trauma that they endured.]

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“If you would please identify yourself for the record?”

The first day of trial had finished on a rather lackluster note for everybody who had the unpleasant obligation of being present. The trio of defense attorneys came back from our extended break, and informed the judge that they wanted to present separate o...

Chapter Twenty

[CONTENT WARNING | discussion on the effects and methods of systemic racism; if it makes you uncomfortable, good]

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Two weeks is not a lot of time in the grand scheme of things. But when you’re facing a deadline, two weeks can pass in the blink of an eye, and next thing you know, you’re staring down opposing counsel and readying yourself to win over a full jury of your peers. Happens all the time, really. 

… no?...

Amicus Patrons — Slight Delay on Today’s Chap

Hi folks;

So, um… I kinda crashed out early last night, thanks to alarm adjustments to account for daylight savings time meaning I got very little sleep Saturday —> Sunday night. Thanks to that, I forgot to schedule the chapter to go live while I was at the office.

I’ll get the chapter posted as soon as I’m home from work — my apologies!

— Noa, a very eepy fox

Chapter Nineteen

[Content Warning: N/A]

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I hit the ground running the instant I got into the firm. Conference room? Booked. Records? Checked. The most important document? Tracked down and filed with the judge. Emails to Julio, Fatima, and Casey (if he wanted to join after any morning classes)? Sent. Trial binders?... actually, where did I put those things? Uh… oh, wait, there they were. Trial binders? Acquired.

Oh, and an order for coffees, we ...