Kelly's voice dropped even lower, her fingers tightening around her coffee cup. "The footage would corroborate their alibis. You know it does. I've seen the preliminary reports—they were nowhere near the warehouse when the inventory discrepancies occurred."

James shifted his weight, a man caught between two versions of himself. "I know what the footage shows, Kelly. That's the problem. If I release it voluntarily, it raises questions about why I sat on it for this long. If the defense requests it formally and I've been delaying..."

"Then we go through proper discovery channels," Kelly said, her jaw set with determination. "File the motion now, before your supervisor suspects anything. Make it routine."

He shook his head almost imperceptibly. "You're asking me to sabotage my own case. Do you understand what that means for my career? For the DA's office?"

"I'm asking you to do what's right." Kelly's eyes held his for just a fraction too long, and she saw him register the double meaning. Right for the case. Right for the innocent men rotting in cells. Right for whatever this was between them.

James picked up his empty cup, a signal that their time was ending. "I'll think about it."

It wasn't a yes, but it wasn't a no either. Kelly understood that this was all he could offer right now—the possibility of consideration, the weight of his internal struggle. She turned away from him, moving back toward her corner table, when the bell above the door chimed again.

A woman entered, stamping snow from her boots. Kelly's breath caught. It was Patricia Hendricks, a court clerk who worked in the same building where Kelly filed her cases. Patricia's eyes swept across the coffee shop with casual interest before landing on James, who had frozen mid-step.

For a moment that stretched like taffy, no one moved. Patricia's gaze lingered on James, then tracked toward Kelly, who had deliberately turned her back and was shuffling papers with exaggerated focus.

Patricia smiled politely at James and moved to the counter. It might have meant nothing. It might have meant everything.