Cold City Streets Read Online Free

knew the city could claim “eminent domain” if it was rebuilding the entire neighborhood; it could offer the owner something slightly north of market value. She’d be forced to figure out a new location, a new lease, maybe even new funding to help pay for it. It didn’t seem fair, given the work they did. No one ever said helping people would be a popularity contest , she told herself.
    She turned on the car radio for the distraction. The CBC was part-way into the eight o’clock news and she cursed her bad luck for getting up so late.
    “…and will likely now grant an extension so that Sidney can find a new lawyer, Janet.”
    “Thank you, John. That’s John Richmond at the courthouse.”
    Damn, missed the front end. Jessie had followed the Paul Sidney case since Brian Featherstone’s death, three months earlier; every lawyer in town had, because the victim was an oil executive. Wonder if he recused himself, or…?
    She parked on the street across from the clinic, ignoring the meters and knowing she’d likely only be there for twenty minutes. She had an appearance for a client at the courthouse, eight blocks away, in an hour. Jessie locked the car; then she crossed the street quickly and took the three concrete steps up to the entrance. The air smelled like exhaust fumes and wet dirt. The streets offered a background din of bus engines, brakes, emergency sires, and horns slammed in frustration.
    The black lettering on the front door window read, “Legal Assistance Society of Edmonton.” The glass was clean, polished, and Jessie could see her long black hair framing the reflection of her face . Yay! Three months unbroken , a new record .
    The door chimed when she pushed it open, a leftover from its earlier days as a regular storefront. But instead of being filled with shelves and counters, the room was sparsely furnished, perhaps forty feet deep, with a small office at the back and just an empty twelve-seat waiting area in the front, along with a reception desk.
    A woman with short jet-black hair and Jessie’s olive-brown complexion sat behind the desk, answering phone calls in rapid succession.
    “No, ma’am, that wouldn’t make a difference, unfortunately. Ms. Harper is far too busy to take something like that on. And Fairview is just too far… All right then… I hope you do, ma’am. Thank you for calling. Wow, that one was rude. Good morning, Legal Assistance Society. No, we can’t handle a divorce. He what? You need to call the police, ma’am. Uh-huh. No, don’t dial nine-one-one unless he’s there right now and a threat. Is he there? At work. Okay, I’m going to give you the number for Downtown Division…”
    A few moments later the receptionist hung up the phone. The nameplate on the desk read Rhonda Wilson, but the similarities between her and the younger woman were striking. Rhonda face was heavier, with more lines, and her eyeglasses framed with thicker plastic rims, brown and practical. Though Jessie used her father’s last name, she shared her mother’s dark almond eyes.
    “You have an insane number of messages,” Rhonda said. “And you’re late.”
    “Your support is appreciated as ever, Mom.” Jessie paced the cheap carpet towards her office. “You know they plowed my car in again today.”
    “In Edmonton? In Winter? Shocking. You also have a client coming in for a quick consult in ten minutes.”
    Jessie looked at her phone. “I have to be in court in fifty…”
    “She’ll only take twenty. We’re right down the street from the courthouse, sweetie. You’ll make it easily. And she sounded pretty desperate.”
    It would be cutting it close. But that was fairly typical. “Fine. But if she’s late, I have to go.”
    Rhonda shooed her towards the office. “Go put your face on. You forgot again.”
    Jessie loved her mom, but Rhonda could also be infuriating. She had a knack for organization and getting things done, but she also had an immature streak a mile wide. For a long