Page 53 of Studfinder

“I’m waiting on a friend. His nephew graduated.”

“Oh, really? Who?” Lance asks me.

“Rory Drummond.”

Lance slowly smiles. “Ah, Rory. Great student. He’ll make an excellent lawyer. He’s the one I was telling you about.” Lance turns to his wife, but Parker is looking at me.

“His uncle is Jake Drummond,” Parker states as if I should recognize the name.

“Actually, that’s the friend I’m waiting on.” I wink at her. Parker’s forehead hitches upward, causing her blond hair to shift in her tight ponytail.

“You know who he is, don’t you?” Her voice is full of concern and compassion, and once again, the sound grates on me.

“I believe you prosecuted his case a few years ago. A fire, correct?” I meet Parker’s eyes, letting her know I’m aware of Jake’s case.

“Honey, I’m going to go congratulate some of the students,” Lance interjects. “Nice meeting you, Rita.” He steps away, but Parker remains.

“You know, I never really thought he did it,” Parker states, surprising me once again. “I remember that case. It’s one of those that haunt you once it’s over. The evidence was so sketchy.”

I’d love to ask how she can prosecute such a case, but I know the objective is to prove the guilt of the innocent from her position. If he was innocent, she’d have no case against him.

“Why would you say that?” I still question.

“There was just something about him. His background didn’t match the criminal mind of a pyrotechnic, nor did he have any prior convictions or even complaints within his department. There wasn’t a scrape or dent on his record. Factor in the circumstantial evidence of his background, linking it to the crime with no proof, and I never felt good about that case.”

I stare at Parker for a long moment, wondering if one day I would have become like her. Hardened to the truth, in the name of winning, not justice.

“Who do you think did do it then?”

Parker shakes her head. “I don’t have a clue, but I suspect someone else in the department. Someone lower in the ranks. Maybe someone passed up on being a chief. When budget cuts occurred, those candidates would have been the most upset if they didn’t have other income.” Parker shrugs. “It had to have been someone who understood fire mechanics and maybe electrical work, but that could have been anyone.”

Passed up for being a chief. I remember Jake telling me Nolan had been up for that type of promotion. It would have been a paid position within the department.

“So you’re dating him then?” Parker questions, interrupting my sudden thoughts.

“Something like that,” I state, flippantly dismissing a label for us.

Someone who understood fire mechanics but also electrical work.

Drummond Brothers Electrical had been a discussion . . . Don’t tell Nolan, I didn’t trust him to be responsible.

Parker’s brows pinch, and she looks up to notice her husband waving her over.

“It’s been great to see you again, Rita. I miss your dad.” Her words are like a final stab to my chest. He was respected by those who entered his courtroom, but I miss him a million times more than anyone else because he was my father.

“Yeah. Me too,” I mutter as Parker rubs a sympathetic hand down my arm before excusing herself. I watch as she walks away before turning back to the gathered crowd, hoping to find Jake among the mass, only to find Nolan on the periphery a few yards from me, watching me.

Firemen started fires to save jobs. The words come back to me in Jake’s voice when he explained the judge’s reasoning behind a motive for Jake’s actions. The actions he didn’t make.

Oh my God. I didn’t like what I was thinking.

22

Jake

“Rory,” I call out around the cluster of people. I’d gotten Nolan out of the fray, pushing him to the edge of the sprawl of graduates and families who trickled outside before I headed back through the crowd to find his son.

Rory turns as he hears his name and waves at me. We both work our way around bodies before we connect then I drag his body into a hug.