Page 77 of Hard Heart

“I thought he’d be a mentally unstable woman-hater, going by the trial transcript.”

“You have the transcript?”

“Yes, but I paid for it myself. I didn’t try to expense it.”

Raelene put her head in her hands, and it seemed everyone was doing that these days.

“He’s just a regular guy,” I said. “A realist. He doesn’t think he’s getting out, and he spends more time nagging me to revise than pushing me to work on his case.”

“That makes it sound as if you’ve seen him more than once?”

I nodded miserably. “Can you just fire me now and get it over with?”

“No.”

“You might as well, then I can stay here until Saturday and take the bus back.”

“Remember I told you about Tasha Corrigan?”

“The woman whose baby died in the car?”

“That’s her. And I spent every evening researching the details. Lost sleep, skipped meals. When I forgot to file a petition in another case, I thought I’d be fired for sure, but my boss treated it as a learning experience, and I did learn from it. He even helped me with the court paperwork.”

My heart pounded. “So I’m not fired?”

Lloyd Bester had fired me for the heinous act of being dumped by his son, and objectively speaking, what I’d done here was a hundred times worse.

“Sera, at the Justice Project, we need the zealots. The people who care about justice rather than money. The lawyers who go above and beyond for their clients instead of focusing on billable hours and golf. Am I angry at you for getting stuck into the Sykes case while working unpaid overtime? No. I’m disappointed you didn’t trust me enough to tell me what you were doing. And I’m worried you haven’t done enough revision for the bar exam.”

“He’s been testing me over the phone,” I said in a small voice as a gamut of emotions hit me. Relief, regret, fear. “He got a book full of questions from the law library.”

A flicker of a smile appeared on Raelene’s lips. “That’s a new one.”

“He just seems glad to have someone to talk to.” I wrapped my arms around myself as another thought hit me. “I spoke with representatives from Save Our Planet. That’s an environmental group, and they’re totally on board with the whole Big Oil conspiracy. One of their people told me whoever’s behind this had connections in the prison system. That they could get to people inside. I thought he was crazy, and yet…and yet…”

Raelene checked her watch. The sirens were still wailing.

“Fill me in on the case. Start to finish. We’re stuck here, so we might as well make use of the time.”

I glossed over some parts—the Etsy store, the biker beatdown, and Heidi’s involvement—and went over the pertinent details. Sykes’s childhood struggles, his mother’s suspected illness, his deep feelings for Ruby. The betrayal by one of his roommates. I added my own thoughts on the shoddy forensics, the visit from Special Agent Rimer, and my trip to Bishop’s Junction, ending with the possibility of police corruption and a paid hit.

“That’s as far as I got. I know who most likely killed August Groveland—it seems to be an open secret around town—but as for the connection to Costello…that’s still a mystery. Sykes is certain one or more of his friends must have been paid off, probably Justin Norquist.”

“I’m acquainted with Paulson and Rimer. Rimer’s an idealist, but she got lumbered with a lazy jackass for a partner, and she’s a woman working in a man’s world.”

“She came to my apartment. Don’t you think that’s weird?”

“It’s possible she wanted to size you up on her way home from the academy.”

“And she said Paulson got shot? Did you hear anything about that?”

“A robbery call went out over the radio, and he was close by. I guess he doesn’t draw his gun often because he tried to pull it on the suspect and shot himself in the leg. Nicked an artery.”

“Ohmigosh. I…I was afraid it might be something else. I’m seeing conspiracies everywhere now.”

“Been there, done that. Paranoia sets in, and you start making connections that just aren’t there. Take a step back for a few weeks and get the bar exam out of the way. We need you to pass it. Then we can review the evidence with fresh eyes and start tackling the case in a more orthodox manner, okay?”

“Okay.”