"Dexter, I..." Kim didn't know what to say.
Dexter smiled. "It's okay. I was just telling you how I feel. We have plenty of time. Let's take it slow."
Hearing this, Kim relaxed a little and offered a small smile.
Until just now, Kim hadn't thought about Dexter—or honestly, any man—in that way.
But now that Dexter had brought it up...
The thought was there. Faint, not overwhelming, but there.
"So, let's get back to the case," Dexter said proactively, guessing Kim might feel awkward bringing it up again. "What I just told you is the main reason I came to you. The secondary reason is that I don't plan on becoming a partner at any firm. I'm practicing solo. I like the freedom."
"Given that, it makes more sense to come to you than to some firm full of strangers."
"Anyway, all I care about is my final cut of the settlement."
Kim listened quietly, believed him, and relaxed even more. "I see. It's true—even as a partner in a firm, there are a lot of headaches. You don't have the same freedom as a solo practitioner."
She understood completely. She thought for a moment and asked, "Regarding the settlement, what are your expectations?"
"Twenty percent. Plus, I have one other condition," Dexter said directly. "I know that HHM, or any other firm for that matter, would want to drag this case out to maximize their fees and the settlement amount."
"My condition is that this case must be settled within one year. It cannot drag on indefinitely."
"The reason for this is partially because I want my money sooner rather than later. But the main reason is that the elderly residents at Sandpiper could pass away at any time. They don't have much time left. I have to think about them."
Look at that. So sincere. So noble.
At this moment.
If Dexter had an affinity system, he would have seen notifications popping up over Kim's head: Affinity +1, Affinity +1...
Kim's smile grew brighter. "Your request is very reasonable. I can't agree to it right this second—I need to discuss it with Howard—but I will fight for it."
"That's good enough," Dexter nodded. "And when the time comes, don't forget to fight for yourself too."
Kim smiled. "I will."
Just like that, the distance between them shrank significantly.
Right then, the waiter arrived with their food.
They stopped talking shop and enjoyed a rather sumptuous dinner.
After eating.
Kim suggested they shouldn't wait until tomorrow. They should go to HHM right now and lock this down.
Dexter had no objections.
They got into their respective cars and headed to the HHM offices.
In the HHM conference room.
Howard heard the details and was overjoyed. He immediately showered Dexter with praise, pulling out all the stops with his smooth talk.
After a round of flattery, Howard got down to business. "Dexter, I can agree to the twenty percent settlement fee."
"However, I'm afraid I can't guarantee closing the case within a year. The timeline isn't entirely within my control. But I can promise you that, for the sake of the residents at Sandpiper, HHM will do everything possible to wrap this up within twelve months."
Dexter pretended to think it over for a moment before agreeing. "Alright. And Kim?"
Howard looked at Kim and spoke up. "Kim, you brought a massive case to HHM. I think it's time we talked about partnership."
His wording was precise.
It's time we talked... The implication was clear: Howard didn't plan to make Kim a partner immediately, but he wasn't rejecting the idea either. There were conditions...
In short, in Howard's eyes, the Sandpiper case wasn't quite enough to punch Kim's ticket. She still needed to prove herself.
Kim was smart. She understood the subtext perfectly but smiled and replied, "Okay. We'll talk later."
Dexter understood too. He didn't say much—it wasn't his place. Given Kim's personality, if he tried to strong-arm Howard on her behalf, it would likely backfire.
Howard turned back to Dexter. "Dexter, HHM doesn't do referral fees. We believe taking a referral fee on a case is unethical."
"So, what I'm proposing is that HHM pays you for your legal services over the past few days. Twenty-five thousand dollars. How does that sound?"
Dexter nodded crisply. "Works for me."
"Excellent. Let's go to my office then," Howard stood up.
Ten minutes later.
Check in hand, Dexter was escorted to the HHM lobby by Kim.
"Dexter, really, thank you for this. I owe you dinner," Kim said gratefully.
Dexter gave a sly smile. "Dinner. And a movie."
Kim paused for a second, then realized what he meant. She thought about it. "Okay."
"Then it's a date," Dexter grinned.
"Yeah," Kim nodded.
"I'll head out then. Call me."
"Okay. Bye. Drive safe."
Dexter got in his car, drove back to the hotel, and called it a night.
---
A new day.
In the morning.
The DNA results from the blood collected at Chuck's house finally came back.
The blood belonged to Chuck and Jimmy.
The detective in charge didn't waste time. He called the reporting party—Kim—almost immediately to explain the situation.
Even though she had suspected this for days, hearing the confirmation still sent Kim into a daze. She couldn't believe this was actually happening...
It took her a long time to compose herself. She found Howard, and together they went to the police station.
On the way, Kim hesitated for a while before sending a text to Dexter.
Dexter was also on his way to the station. Mike had called a short while ago—he needed Dexter to handle the aftermath of the stolen notebook incident. Dexter called Kim back directly. "I'm almost at the station. See you there."
"Okay," Kim replied, her voice incredibly low.
In the police station parking lot.
Dexter saw Mike and smiled. "Everything sorted?"
Mike was his usual stoic self, stone-faced.
In that regard, Mike really fit in with Gus Fring and his crew of thugs... none of them acted like normal human beings.
Mike didn't answer the question directly. He just said, "Handle it."
Dexter smiled. "Give me the thing. And don't say a word in there."
They walked into the station and met with the two officers from Philadelphia.
Resolving this was simple.
In America, the principle was "innocent until proven guilty."
That was why lawyers did such brisk business here.
Dexter did the talking. From a legal perspective, he explained the situation to the indignant young cop, stating simply that Mike had found the notebook and knew nothing else about it.
The young cop obviously didn't believe it, but he couldn't prove otherwise. He could only threaten Mike in impotent rage. "I know you stole it. And I know you killed Hoffman and Fensky..."
"Hey, hey, hey, Officer! One more word, and I'll sue you on behalf of my client for harassment!" Dexter cut him off decisively, speaking with righteous indignation.
Angry as he was, the young cop was smart enough to stop. He clamped his mouth shut.
Dexter grinned. "That's better. We're done here then. We're all busy people."
The young cop stormed off, fuming.
The older cop stayed behind.
Mike spoke up, telling Dexter to go ahead.
Dexter left them to it and went to find the detective in charge of the Chuck and Jimmy case.
After finding the detective, he waited a short while.
Kim and Howard arrived.
The three exchanged brief greetings and didn't waste time, listening together as the detective explained the situation.
It was what it was.
The DNA results showed that Chuck and Jimmy had been attacked in the house, lost a significant amount of blood, and that the perpetrator had cleaned the blood from the floor before taking Chuck and Jimmy away...
"The key question is whether Chuck and Jimmy are still alive," the detective said. "Based solely on the blood we found, we can't determine that."
The detective was being diplomatic.
But all three of them understood.
The detective's meaning wasn't complicated...
Because they couldn't confirm if Chuck and Jimmy were dead or alive, this was essentially still a missing persons case. At most, it was a "suspected homicide," not a confirmed one.
And...
If it wasn't a confirmed homicide, there was a limit to what the police could do.
Besides, with the investigation and missing status dragging on for so many days...
To put it bluntly, the trail was cold.
Unless new leads appeared, this case would end up like every other cold case in Albuquerque... filed away and forgotten.
And Albuquerque had a lot of missing persons cases.
Kim gritted her teeth, listening patiently, but she couldn't accept this outcome.
Neither could Howard... though Howard's concerns were primarily for HHM. Simply put, Howard needed confirmation of Chuck's status—dead or alive.
Subsequently.
Quite reasonably, Howard went to speak with the Chief of Police, hoping to pressure the department into doing more...
Dexter and Kim went to the waiting area and sat down.
Sitting on the chairs, neither spoke for a moment.
After a long while.
Kim let out a long sigh, shaking her head helplessly. "I never thought something like this would happen to people we know..."
Dexter nodded in agreement, keeping it brief. "Yeah."
"Who did Jimmy mess with to make this happen..." Kim didn't even mention Chuck. After all, Chuck hadn't left his house in ages; it was almost impossible for him to have invited a death sentence on himself.
"Maybe some criminal," Dexter mused, feigning a complex tone. "Maybe Jimmy went back to being Slippin' Jimmy and crossed the wrong person."
He paused, then added, "Chuck probably just got caught in the crossfire."
Kim knew Jimmy's past well, and she felt this was a very real possibility. She didn't know what to say.
Dexter didn't press further.
They sat in silence, waiting for Howard.
About five or six minutes later.
Kim wiped her face with her hand, trying to distract herself from thoughts of Jimmy. She asked Dexter, "What are you doing at the police station?"
"I have a client the police are harassing," Dexter said briefly.
"A public defense case?" Kim asked.
Dexter shook his head. "No, a private client."
"You're doing well," Kim was slightly surprised. "You picked up another client so quickly?"
Dexter gave a faint smile. "Albuquerque is a messy city. Lots of potential clients. If you look in the right places, it's pretty easy."
Kim thought about it and understood the implication. "Is your client a criminal?"
"Everyone has the right to legal defense," Dexter said, knowing Kim's stance on this.
Kim blinked. She didn't judge, but after a moment's thought, she said, "You need to be careful. Dealing with criminals is dangerous."
"Yeah, I know," Dexter replied with a smile. Then, changing the subject, he asked, "How did it go with Howard yesterday after I left?"
Kim's expression shifted slightly. "It was okay. The case you brought definitely sped up my path to partnership. Probably... once I bring in a big case of my own, I'll make partner."
Hearing this, Dexter deliberately stayed silent for a few seconds. Then he turned to look at Kim, staring unblinkingly. "Kim, is this really what you want?"
Kim: "??????"
She didn't react immediately. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, just like I told you before dinner last night... I like you, so I've been watching you. I've noticed that since you became a lawyer at HHM, you rarely smile..." Dexter said calmly. "Are you happy?"
For Kim, this was a question that pierced straight to the soul.
Kim froze.
Happy?
She probably wasn't.
Kim was speechless.
Howard returned then and updated them.
At Howard's request, the Chief of Police had agreed not to shelf the case for now and would keep investigators on it...
But the Chief also made it clear: the investigation couldn't go on forever. If nothing turned up after a while, the police would have to move on.
After the update.
Howard called Kim, and they returned to HHM.
Kim said goodbye to Dexter.
Dexter left as well, heading to the courthouse to continue dealing with his criminal clientele and expand his reputation in the underworld.
In the blink of an eye, it was noon.
After grabbing lunch out, and having nothing else immediate to do, Dexter drove to his law office near the courthouse.
He hadn't hired a paralegal or assistant yet, so most of the time, the office remained closed.
Today was no different.
Dexter took out his keys, unlocked the door, walked in, turned on the answering machine, then lay down on the sofa and lit a cigarette.
There were no messages on the machine.
Not surprising.
Dexter didn't care. He smoked leisurely, resting.
While he was resting.
Suddenly, the sound of the front door being pushed open echoed through the quiet office.
Hearing it, Dexter opened his eyes and turned his head toward the outer room.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.
Accompanying the approaching footsteps, the door to his inner office was pushed open.
He focused his gaze.
Oh?
Nacho.
What does this guy want?