“Gimme a break. Outside of movies and TV, that rarely happens.”
“The streets get more and more dangerous, and it gets harder and harder to convict anybody. So what are cops supposed to do? Watch all the bad guys get away? Or try to do something about it?”
“How long has this gang been operating?”
“I can’t say for certain.”
“What have they done?”
Dodds began wringing his hands. “I don’t know how far it’s gone. I thought it was mostly talk. You know, barroom bluster and poker table bravado. But then this thing with Joe McNaughton came up and … well, everything changed.”
“They wanted to avenge Joe’s death.”
“Well—yeah. Of course. Everyone loved Joe. He was a great guy.”
“So these clowns decided to hammer out some justice on their own?”
“Not at first. Everyone assumed the Dalcanton chick was going up the river, probably to death row. But after your boss pulled his fancy courtroom sleight-of-hand, and Joe’s killer got set free … well, that was too much for anyone to take.”
Loving grabbed Dodds by the arms roughly. He glared into the shorter man’s eyes. “They planted the weapon, didn’t they? They put that knife in Ben’s file cabinet.”
“I don’t know anything about that.” Dodds’s trembling intensified. “Really.”
Loving squeezed him harder. “I have to know, Barry.”
“I’m telling you the truth. I don’t know. I mean, it makes sense. All the tests show that the knife really is the murder weapon. You have to assume the killer didn’t put it there. So who else would be likely to have the murder weapon except …”
“Except cops.” Loving pushed Dodds away from him, disgusted. “Dirty, crooked cops.” He paused. “But if they had the knife, why didn’t they use it at trial? Didn’t they want a conviction?”
“Of course they did. Everyone wanted a conviction. If they’d had the knife, they’d’ve made sure the D.A. used it.” A silence fell. “Unless …”
“Unless somethin’ about the way they found it didn’t incriminate Keri Dalcanton. Unless it pointed to someone else. Then they would’ve hidden the weapon, at least until they could plant it somewhere that would bolster their case.” Loving looked up abruptly. “Like in Dalcanton’s lawyer’s office.”
“Could I be going now? My wife is expecting me before midnight, and if I don’t show she’ll be worried.”
“Barry, I have to know who planted that knife.”
“Y—You’ll never find out from me.”
“I’m serious, Barry.”
“I don’t know who did it!”
Unfortunately, he appeared to be telling the truth. “Can you find out?”
“No. Absolutely not.”
“You still owe me, Barry.”
“Correction—I owed you. I paid you back. We’re square.”
“We’re not even close yet.”
Dodds squirmed, trying to break free. “I’m telling you, I can’t do it.”
“And I’m tellin’ you, you can.” Loving’s eyes burned like fire into Dodds’s. “Ben Kincaid saved your life. And now you’re going to save his.”
21
“WHERE’S BEN?” CHRISTINA SAID, as she whipped through the front doors of the office. She was looking frazzled. Between researching the legal precedents relating to the day’s hearing and investigating the case itself, she was running herself ragged. Somehow, she had thought, once she finally got out of law school, things would slow down.
Wrong again.
“So where is he? We’re due at the courthouse in ten minutes.”
From his desk, Jones gave her a tight-lipped response. “I think he’s in his office. Keri’s here.”
“Keri? This hearing’s about him, not her. Why is she here?”
“Don’t ask me,” he said, slow and pointedly. “She’s been hanging out at the office a lot lately.”
Crinkles formed around Christina’s eyes. “Why would she be—” She paused. “Jones, what’s going on?”
He swiveled around in his chair. “Don’t ask me. I’m just the office manager. I don’t know anything. No one listens to me.”
Christina rolled her eyes. “We’ve got a hearing. We can’t be messing around.” She marched toward Ben’s interior office.
The door was closed. Without pausing a beat, she flung the door open …
Ben and Keri jumped away from one another, startled and embarrassed. Ben wiped his mouth dry. Keri readjusted the strap on her blouse.
Christina’s jaw dropped low enough to tickle the carpet. “What in the name of—”
“Did you need something, Christina?” The look in Ben’s eyes told her in unmistakable terms to keep her trap shut.
Christina spoke through clenched teeth. “We’ve got a hearing. We’re going to be late.”
Ben glanced at his watch, then at Keri. “She’s right. I’ve got to go. I, uh, I’ll call you.”
“I’ll wait here.”
“Oh, you don’t need—”
“I’d rather.”
“Well …”
“Unless you don’t want me to.”
“No, it’s not—”
Christina’s eyeballs practically propelled themselves from their sockets. “Ben, we’ve got to go!”
“Right, right.” He took a step toward Keri, hesitated, lowered his head toward hers, stopped, then finally patted her on the shoulder. “Be back soon.”
The sound of four heels racing down the marble-tiled hallway of the county courthouse made a lot of noise, but it was nothing compared to the thunderous sound of Christina’s voice.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Christina, please. It’s … personal.”
“It’s not personal. She’s your client.”
“I am aware of that.”
“Have you taken leave of your senses?”
Ben kept his eyes focused on the courtroom at the far end of the hallway. It was a lot easier than looking at her. “I really don’t see that it’s any of your business.”
“You don’t, huh? Well, let me remind you of something, Lothario. We’re partners now. I’m in the firm. That means she’s my client, too.”
“Technically, that’s correct.”
“Technically? It’s a fact, period. And you’re screwing around with my client!”
“Christina, keep your voice down!” His own voice dropped to a whisper. “We are not, as you so delicately put it, screwing around. We’re just … very close.”
“Very close? You were practically doing a tonsillectomy on her with your tongue!”
“Christina …”
“Not that she was exactly anesthetized. I guess that dance training really comes in handy.”
“Christina, honestly. It was nothing.”
Christina stopped dead in her tracks. “Nothing? Have you forgotten about the Rules of Professional Conduct which, last I checked, preclude lawyers from performing tonsillectomies on their clients?”
“The Rules don’t absolutely forbid all relationships—”
“Don’t get technical on me, buddy. What you’re doing is wrong and you damn well know it.” She started marching down the corridor again, leaving him in her wake.
Ben double-stepped to catch up to her. “Look, Christina, I didn’t plan this. It just … happened.”
She halted again, outside the courtroom door. “You’ve got to promise me this is not going to occur again.”
His face took on a sickly expression. “Christina …”
“Promise me. Or I’m not walking into that courtroom.”
“What are you, my mother?”