Jane marveled at the calm and even cadence of Miss Clarke's voice discussing such an egregious breach of privacy. Did she not care? Had she so little to hide that the overstep didn't matter to her? She was a lawyer, and a damn good one from the rumors; surely she knew the criminal implications of such a violation. Sure, what Jane knew about Miss Clarke could barely fill a thimble. Whatever she knew she heard from around the water cooler, from Joel, or from this very conversation but even from speaking with her for these few moments, Jane knew the counselor was too smart, too tenacious, too strong to stand for this sort of bullshit. She was biding her time for the right moment; Jane could respect a person with such cunning and patience.
At the insinuation that Jane didn't take Joel's word, the cop bristled.
"I trust my partner more than I trust myself," Jane said defensively. She shifted the papers in her arms. "But you gotta understand that rogue cops running around are a huge fucking deal. If there's anything I hate worse than people thinking the law doesn't apply to them is cops that think the law doesn't apply to them. Police misconduct cannot fly, even now, especially now. Dirty cops need to be put behind bars but the evidence has to be airtight or it'll never stick."
Jane followed Miss Clarke's sight line casually; she thread a hand through her hair and turned in the direction the lawyer was looking as if she was simply fluffing her long, blond locks. More of Olinger's lapdogs and they were, presumably, keeping tabs on Miss Clarke. The presumption gnawed at Jane but she didn't let it show; not with the thugs for hire standing so close. She stepped closer to Miss Clarke, inclining her head as to block her lips from any prying eyes trying to determine the nature of her and the lovely lady's conversation.