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The woman’s hair was tucked behind her ears and it swung in a blond sheet as she whipped her head back to Lucas. “They have probable cause. The murder happened in his house. He was standing near the body.”
“Standing?” Lucas growled through a clenched jaw. “He was vomiting near the body! Does that sound like a guilty person?” Lucas spun around and braced his hand on the wall. His coat parted revealing a gray pinstriped suit that probably cost more than Jude made in two months. “Ash can’t stay here, Sarah. There is no way he would have done something like that to an innocent man. He saves lives.”
She stepped in, lowered her voice. Neither had noticed Jude yet.
“He may save lives but as you know, I’ve had to get creative with keeping him out of trouble a couple of times in the past. And the police can argue that he got sick over the horror of what he’d done. That this time, he just took things too far. This would be so much easier if your best friend didn’t have a reputation.”
“You may be my favorite lawyer, but Sarah, even you can be fired.”
“For being honest?” She lowered her voice even more. “Listen, Lucas. A lot of people saw them fighting at The Dock and you and I both know he’s known for being rough.”
“Rough? That’s not rough, that’s slaughter and there is no way Snow did that.”
Sarah sighed, her hand tightening on the handle of the briefcase she held in her right hand. “I admit, it does seem strange that he took the man home and screwed him all night after fighting with him.”
Lucas held up his hand, his eyes narrowing to mere slits. “Do you believe he did this because you sound like you do?”
“Hell no, Vallois,” she snapped, her expression just as fierce. “But right now, he looks guilty as hell and though I kept him to the facts, the one fact he didn’t share was the name of the stranger he went home with last night.”
Jude cleared his throat and they both turned his way. The anger pouring off Lucas felt like it could take off the top layer of his skin.
“Excuse me,” Lucas said through gritted teeth. “We’re having a private conversation.”
“I know and I’m sorry for butting in.” He looked at the woman who screamed lawyer. “They can’t keep Ashton Frost if he has an alibi, right? For the whole night?”
She nodded, her sharp gaze raking him up and down.
“I can attest to the rest of the night after the bar fight. He spent the night with me after we left The Dock together. There’s another witness, Geoffrey—I don’t know his last name—but he seemed to be well liked there. He saw us leave together. Oh, and my work partner can, too. She was at the club with me.” He frowned, his gaze moving to Lucas then back to Sarah. He thought it better that he keep the Southgate House trip to himself. “Didn’t Snow tell you this?”
“He told me he was with someone all night but said it was a stranger he picked up.”
“He did, huh?” Jude’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not a stranger. I work at the hospital. He knows me.”
“He not only knows him, he lusted after him,” a new voice said in an amused draw. The man had just come in from outside. Apparently, he’d been out there a long time because his dark blond hair was plastered wet to his head and his black leather jacket was darkened in places. Little beads of water rolled down the surface. “I caught the sparkage at the hospital between you two.” He held out his hand. “I’m Detective Hollis Banner. You said you were with Snow all night?”
Jude nodded, liking this big, friendly cop.
“Wait.” Lucas’s voice carried a snap loud enough to startle everyone within earshot. It grew momentarily quiet, then noise picked up again. He frowned at Hollis. “Is this enough to get Snow out of here?”
Hollis nodded. “Should be. He’ll still be the number one suspect. The guy was beaten to death in his home and there are signs of sex that happened beforehand.”
“Snow had sex, but not at his house and not with whoever was found there. He was with me and trust me, he crashed when we were done.” He caught Lucas narrowing his eyes out of the corner of his own.
“Wait here,” Hollis said. “I’ll see about getting you to the right people for a statement.”
Jude turned to Lucas and the lawyer once the detective had disappeared into the warren of desks and cubicles holding other police officers. “Tell me what Snow found when he went home.”
“They’re not giving us all the details—”
Jude held up a hand, not caring that Lucas’s eyebrows went up. “Please, I know who you are and I bet you hire only the best lawyer available. Please tell me what Snow found in his own home.”
