AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s best that you don’t.”
“How?”
“The less you know, the more authentic your testimony will be.”
“So, all I have to do is say I saw this man,” he pointed to the photo, “and that he was there that night in the parking lot around eleven thirty?”
“Yes.”
“Why me?”
“Why not you?”
“Because I’m just a small-time lawyer who just picked up a case my firm doesn’t want anything to do with.” He tugged on his ill-fitting jacket. “I’m a nobody.”
“Exactly. Why would you have a reason to lie? Besides, you were in town that day, and who knows, maybe you did see him and just forgot.”
He rubbed his head, and the crow’s feet that sprouted around his eyes deepened.
“If he’s found guilty, how long will he go away for?” I hid my amusement that this man was a criminal lawyer and couldn’t figure out the answer himself.
“If this guy went and shot up a club and your brother was one of the people slaughtered, what would you want him to get?”
“Fuck.” He covered his mouth, and his face drained to a pale gray. “I’m not sure I can lie. What if someone finds out?”
“They won’t.” I didn’t miss a beat. “You’re on the side of the law. This is what you do. You protect the unprotected, only this time you’re doing it in a different way. But it all means the same in the end. The bad guy goes to jail and justice is served.”
“Shit.” His shaky hand stroked the loose skin under his chin.
“He’s getting off easy if he gets death row.” I pushed one last time. “He isn’t a good person, Morey. The law failed all his victims.” I pulled out photos from multiple other homicides, but he couldn’t know that. “Why should the families of all these people live the rest of their lives without their loved ones, while he gets to walk free?” He placed his elbows on the table and leaned his chin on his hands. “If you do this for me, I’ll make sure WestPoint Industries drop all the charges against you.”
“How?”
“Does it really matter how, as long as it goes away?” He closed his eyes and muttered something I didn’t care to hear. “I have a meeting in an hour. This is your chance to turn your life around. Take the deal, Morey, or maybe he’ll end up your cellmate.”
“Fine,” he bit out. “Tell me where and when I need to do this, and I’ll be there.”
Excellent.
“First, learn this script. Meet me here,” I handed him a business card with an address on it, “when I say so.” I shimmied out of the booth and stood. “Think, Morey, by the time this is over, you’ll be free of that demon on your shoulder. You’re doing the right thing.”
“Wait.” He twisted in the booth to see me better. “How do you know so much about me?”
“It’s what I do.” I pushed my sunglasses on and headed back outside. Two down, three to go. I was determined to make sure that son of a bitch went down for good. I stroked my tattoo like I often did for good luck and fought like hell to curb my grin.
Grim
My head pounded as I leaned against the headboard in my bedroom. I loved my suite in the penthouse. I’d had it redecorated a few years back when I was forced home from Singapore for a few months to recover from a business deal that had gone bad.
The designer spent a week with me and decided my bedroom would be an expression of who I was. Dark and powerful with a note of elegance, she said, and I had to agree she’d captured my taste perfectly. The massive bed was custom built, and she had it flown in from Italy. It was magnificent and the main focal point of the room. Leo said it reminded him of a bed from Game of Thrones.
The bed did have a castle-like look to it with its fifteen-foot headboard with black satin cushioning part way up topped with black wood that came to a square with a half-moon on top and a vine carved out in the center. The half-moon had spears sticking out the top and represented a cast iron gate.
To me it was a masterpiece of craftsmanship.
The same wood was used on the wall across from the bed, which ran the entire length of my room. A five-part bookshelf with a backdrop of red velvet held my leather-bound books.
An arm twitched where it lay across my stomach as last night’s events came back to me. Three women in the lobby approached me and wanted to party. I was wound so tight from my fight with Kenna that I jumped at the chance to release some of the pent-up anger that consumed me. They weren’t quite as exciting as the triplets Rail had suggested, but Jesse would have vetted them, or they’d never have been allowed in. Most of the pool bunnies were regulars, and I recognized the blonde as one who often hung off the high rollers. I knew it would only be a Band-Aid for my problems and not a fix, but at this point, I’d take it.
