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Jack knocked on the window before opening the door. “Thea,” he said. “Thank you for meeting with us. I know you’ve got to get to work so we won’t take up much of your time.”
“Sure,” she said, sitting up straight. “I want Cami’s killer to be caught.”
We took the seats across from her and I took a closer look at the silver rings she wore on each middle finger. The one on her right hand said Justice and the one on her left hand said Truth.
“Interesting rings,” I said.
“A gift from my mother when I graduated law school,” she said, looking down at them. “Kevin’s dad bought him a hundred and thirty thousand dollar Mercedes. I got rings and six figures in student loan debt.”
“We want to get a better understanding of the household dynamics,” Jack said, leaning back in his chair.
“Like what?” she asked.
“We know that John owns the house,” he said. “Any issues with rent payments being late? Money issues?”
She snorted. “Are you kidding me? John’s loaded. Like, seriously loaded. His dad owns some shipyard company that has all the defense contracts. He’s worth billions. John is dabbling in being a grown-up. He fancies himself buying up all the property and basically being the overlord over the town, renovating everything as he goes so the peasants are grateful he stepped in. It’s all part of his twelve-step plan for ruling the country.”
“He wants to run for president?” I asked.
“No,” Thea said, rolling her eyes. “The president doesn’t rule the country. He just does what he’s told. John’s goals are bigger than that.”
“Why bother with law school? Or getting a clerkship? Why live where you are when he could live in DC?”
“It’s kind of a love/hate relationship with his dad,” Thea said. “John loves the money, but not the man so much. I guess there was the expectation that John would go to law school and build something from the ground up like his grandfather did with the shipyard. John was supposed to go to Harvard Law School. His dad had everything all set, but then John pulled out and applied at KGU instead. Told his dad that the world didn’t want another Harvard graduate, but someone who was relatable to the common people.” She rolled her eyes. “So buying buildings in places like this is fulfilling the expectation but also giving his dad a middle finger at the same time. I guess John’s mom is from King George, so he’s at least got ties here. He used to spend summers here as a kid with his grandmother.”
“You know anything about his mother or grandmother?” Jack asked. “Where they lived?”
I knew Jack was thinking about where Cami’s body was dumped. The location of Hangman’s Bridge wasn’t in a location that was well travelled or well known.
“No, sorry,” she said. “I don’t really know much about his family. He doesn’t talk about them, and the only reason I know about his dad is because he starts raging about him whenever he drinks too much.”
“Does he drink often?”
“Nah,” Thea said. “John’s pretty controlled in that regard. Sometimes he and the guys will commiserate about stuff at home over a bottle of something. Kevin is always drinking so it doesn’t take much to get him to join in, and Will…”
“Yeah. Will,” Jack said, acknowledging without words that he knew about the drug problem.
“Well, anyway,” she said. “John’s always careful not to get caught in situations that might ruin him down the road. He’s always preaching at us about risk and reward, like we don’t all have our own careers to worry about.”
“How long has Kevin had a drinking problem?” Jack asked.
“Since undergrad,” she said. “He’d go to frat parties and binge drink. Had to be taken to the emergency room a couple of times for alcohol poisoning. Crashed his car a couple of times and would’ve gotten a DWI if his dad hadn’t stepped in. I’m surprised he’s still in jail. His dad usually makes people’s lives miserable where Kevin is involved.”
“But you stay with him,” I said.
“Kevin is a great guy when he’s sober,” she said. “And he’s smart. Really smart. And he’s loaded, but he doesn’t really care about that. He’s just a little reckless sometimes and he’s not always thinking straight when he’s drinking. His dad helped us both get the clerkship for Judge Perry. Compared to everyone else, our jobs are a walk in the park. Clerking for Judge Perry isn’t as prestigious as clerking for Judges Mitchell or Stevens, but any clerkship looks good on a resume. And Kevin manages to handle the workload and his drinking well enough. And he can put on a good face when we’re at events or in public.”
“You said you and Kevin were thinking about moving to a new place,” Jack said.
“Kevin’s dad said he would lease us a place in Dupont Circle,” she said. “It’s a fun area and it’s closer to the courthouse. But doesn’t look like that’s going to happen now.”
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“Because the stipulation was that Kevin would stay out of legal trouble for a year and then his dad would rent the property to us. With Kevin and I both making payments we could afford it. Barely. But now that he’s sitting in jail it doesn’t look like we’ll be moving out of the slums after all.”
“Doesn’t sound like Kevin and Will are good at taking John’s advice about risk and reward,” Jack said.
Thea snorted derisively and took a drink from the bottle of water in front of her. “The one thing I’ve learned about attorneys is that they’re not good about taking advice about anything. It’s no wonder the judicial system is such a wreck. No one really cares if they’re upholding the constitution or if victims are getting justice. They care about finding loopholes so they’re right, even if that means setting a precedent that could destroy future generations.”
