Burden of Truth (Cass Leary Legal Thriller Series Book 1)

by Robin James

  Diane Ames screamed. Dan Ames sobbed. Jack LaForge dropped his chin to his chest. And beside me, Aubrey Ames slumped to the floor in a dead faint.

  Chapter 45

  Pandemonium. It’s a word you hear, not one you really understand. But it confronted us all as I walked in front of the Ames family and took to the courthouse steps. Camera phones flashed. Microphones seemed to sprout everywhere. The Freep was there. All the local channels. Seven live trucks lined the street in front of the courthouse and I recognized two national cable news outlets.

  I couldn’t even hear the questions they asked. Before we walked through the doors, I told Aubrey and her family to let me do the talking. No comment. Not now.

  “My client feels vindicated,” I said, almost on auto-pilot. “This was the first step toward a much bigger fight for justice. But the truth is out. My client is innocent.”

  “Ms. Leary,” one of the reporters shouted. “Can you comment on the attorney general’s statement?”

  I blinked hard. Beside me, Jeanie gave a little shrug to indicate she had no idea what that meant either. Another reporter chimed in.

  “The Michigan Attorney General’s office has just announced an investigation into the Delphi school district. People are demanding answers relating to Coach Drazdowski’s conduct. Can you comment for us?”

  “As I said,” I started. “Today was the first step toward a much bigger fight for justice. I’m happy to hear that the state is hopefully picking up that fight as well. Aubrey Ames is not the only victim here. There are many more. Larry Drazdowski can never hurt another child again. We need to make sure those who shielded him and made his conduct possible can never hurt another child either. Thank you. Please let my client and her family have their privacy.”

  The deputy sheriffs formed a barrier as I made my way down the stairs. Corwin’s imposing form waited beside an eight-seater SUV directly across the street. As much as I hated it at the same time, I was grateful for his looming, protective presence.

  “Come on,” he said. “You can pick up your car later.”

  With that, I slid into the back seat with the Ames family as Jeanie climbed in the front. Corwin spoke into an earpiece and pulled away from the curb.

  “Is it over?” Aubrey finally asked.

  “It is,” I said, reaching for her. “It’s all over. You’re free, honey. We did it.”

  “You did it,” Dan said. He pulled me into a hug. “Praise God, you brought our baby back to us.”

  “He lied?” Aubrey said. “That detective lied?”

  “I don’t know about lied,” I said. “More like withheld information. He’ll be dealt with. Trust me on that.”

  Corwin weaved through traffic. He knew Delphi streets like the back of his hand now. He took a circuitous route, throwing any potential followers. Within five minutes, he pulled up the driveway to Dan Ames’s house in the woods. I hugged Aubrey one last time.

  “Get back to normal, if you can,” I said. “The world knows you’re innocent. And they know you weren’t lying about what Coach D did. I’m proud of you.”

  Her parents had already exited the car. I stood apart from them, my arms around Aubrey’s shoulders. She finally looked like she was breathing again.

  “It’s only … I don’t understand.”

  “What?”

  “Cass … I don’t want to lie. Not ever again. Not about what Coach did. Or what I did. And I didn’t lie. I promise. But … I wasn’t at Beanie’s the night I met with Coach D. It’s like I told you. I just drove around for a while. I was scared to go home but scared to go anywhere else. I mean, I did go to Beanie’s. But it was the night before.”

  My throat ran dry. The air grew thick and it got hard to draw breath. “Aubrey, it’s okay.” It was. She was right. She hadn’t lied. I hadn’t called her back to the stand. The surveillance tape spoke for itself. I couldn’t tell her to lie now.

  “Maybe you just got everything jumbled up in your mind,” I offered.

  She gave me an absent nod, but I knew her well enough now to know she was still very much confused. “Maybe,” she finally said. Something changed in her. She plastered on a smile. “Sure. Yeah. I must have got the dates jumbled. I can … I can never, ever thank you enough.” She hugged me once more then, with a confident step, she walked up the porch and went inside to the waiting arms of her mother and father.

  My phone buzzed as Corwin made his way back to my office. I opened my text messaging app. Killian’s words blinked back at me.

  “Congratulations, counselor.” Of course news traveled quickly to Killian Thorne.

  “Thank you,” I texted back.

  “You’re welcome. I hope the favor I did for you worked out as you hoped.”

  I let the cursor blink for a few moments. “It did,” I answered. “And now you need to recall the favor I didn’t ask you for. Send Corwin home.”

  “He already has his orders.”

  I wanted to type thank you again, but it just felt like another reminder that I was in his debt for finding Vangie. I didn’t know where or when, but he would collect. And I knew the price would be steep. I clicked my phone off and left his last message unanswered.

  Corwin pulled into the parking lot of my office. Miranda stood at the front door waving wildly. Joe’s truck was also in the driveway. I slid out. Part of me felt like I should say something to Corwin. He didn’t give me a chance. He slid the windows up, obscuring his face, then slowly pulled away. Just like that, he was gone. He had his orders, after all.

  Miranda rushed forward and hugged me. “The phones. They’re off the hook. Oh my God, Cass. You’re amazing. I can’t believe it. You’re in demand. Danielle Ford and Chelsea Holbrook’s family. They’ve both called. They want to sue the school. They want you to represent them.”

  “Well, that ought to do wonders toward putting me in the town’s good graces.” I joked, but I also felt that familiar tingling excitement at the prospect of going after the bastards who covered up for Larry Drazdowski. I meant what I said on the courthouse steps. I just hadn’t realized I might have the chance to fight them in a direct way again so soon.

  Joe and Matty waited for me in the conference room. Joe popped the cap on sparkling grape juice in lieu of champagne. Matty was on the wagon again. With his track record, it might not last forever, but we could celebrate today.

  Only Vangie was absent and my heart twisted. Matty had country music blaring from the office speakers as Joe and I took a quiet minute away.

  “She left you a note,” he said. “It’s back at the house.”

  “What does it say?”

  “She’s good. She’s going to keep in touch. She promised to come back for Christmas. By the way, you’re hosting it at the lake house.”

  I laughed. “I figured.”

  “She likes her life in Indianapolis. She has friends there. A job she likes. She’s thinking about going back to school.”

  “She should,” I said. “Once I get this practice fully off the ground, I’d like to help her pay for it.”

  “I still don’t get how you managed to find her so fast. And I can’t say it doesn’t worry the shit out of me.”

  I slid my arm around my brother’s waist and rested my head on his shoulder. “I can’t make you stop worrying. But I can tell you that I’m okay too. It took me a while to figure it out, but I know I’m where I’m supposed to be now.”

  He pulled away so he could see my face. “Do you promise? No more running. I like it better when you’re here. It’s good for Emma too. Josie’s … well … she tries hard … but she hasn’t always been the most positive female role model.”

  “What about Katy?”

  Joe shrugged. It told me all I needed to know. So they were struggling too. I only wanted him to be happy. I suppose that’s all he wanted for me too. So, here we were. Trying.

  “It’s good to have you back,” he whispered, kissing the top of my head. I felt a lump in my throat as I saw the mist in my brother�
�s eyes. His desperate worry for me, for Vangie, for Matty, it would never go away. It wouldn’t for me either. But it helped that we could face it together now.

  “I love you, you big dummy,” I said.

  “I love you too, shrew,” he answered back.

  “Fine,” I said. “I’ll do Christmas. But that means you’ve got to help me get that house fixed up once and for all. The roof is leaking in the back bedroom. The water pressure is for shit. That deck is sagging. There’s a damn mole tearing up the yard …”

  He squeezed me hard. “Yeah, yeah. Slave driver.”

  “Slacker.”

  His whole body shook with deep, infectious laughter. And, for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was truly home.

  Later, Joe took Matty home. I sat at the end of the conference table in the dark. Miranda had turned the corkboard toward the wall while the others were here. Now that it was just me, I walked over to it and slowly turned it around.

  Now that Matty was gone, Miranda came in holding a bottle of wine and two glasses. Jeanie came in behind her as I stood in front of that corkboard.

  “Relax,” Miranda said. “Job’s over.” She poured the wine and held a glass out for me.

  “None for you?” I asked as she handed the other to Jeanie.

  “Time for me to get home. I’ve got cats to feed. And I’m taking the damn day off tomorrow.”

  Smiling, I lifted my glass to her. Miranda gave me a little salute. “Lock up when you leave,” she said. “You want me to call you an uber? That tall guy was menacing as hell but he would have made an excellent designated driver for the night.”

  Smiling, I took a sip. “Stop worrying about me. And take more than one day off. How about I see you next Monday?”

  Miranda waved over her head as she flicked off the office sign. We were closed for business.

  “Come on,” Jeanie said. “Let’s get the hell out of here. I’m fine if I never see another picture of Larry Drazdowski’s face.”

  His lifeless form stared at me from the top of the corkboard. Beneath it, I had head shots of every other witness in the case. Jeanie moved a push pin and stuck it right through Detective Tim Bowman’s right eye.

  “How the hell does he screw up like that?” she asked. “I’ve known Tim since he was a beat cop. He’s an asshole. And he was the wrong man for this case … but … he was a good detective once upon a time. Losing alibi evidence like that? I’ve been in that property room. It’s not like it’s that big. My God, they probably would have convicted her without that tape. You know that, right?”

  I raised a brow. “Gee, thanks.”

  Jeanie tilted her head. “Come on, you wanted me to blow smoke up your ass?”

  “Well, maybe just the one puff.”

  Jeanie laughed then looked back at the board. “The stink of this is going to rub off on his partner, Megan Lewis,” she said. “There’s no help for it. Too bad. She’s a good kid. Promising rookie. Man, it’s such a small department to begin with. They’ll have no choice but to suspend her pending an investigation. That’ll just leave Wray and Knapp to handle shit for the foreseeable future. Here’s hoping nobody else gets robbed or murdered in Delphi anytime soon. Never mind them figuring out who really killed that bastard. Jack will never get a conviction now if and when they do reopen the case.”

  I froze. The air grew thick just like it had when I dropped off Aubrey earlier in the night. Jeanie was still talking but her voice blended in with the howling wind outside. I went to the corkboard and ripped Bowman’s head shot off. I took another long sip of wine then stuck the picture back on the board.

  I don’t know how long I stood there. Long enough that Jeanie put a hand on my arm and turned me to face her, her eyes wide with concern.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  “What? Yeah,” I said, mustering a smile. “It’s just … you’re right. Let’s turn out the lights and go home.”

  Jeanie narrowed her eyes, searching my face. But whatever she saw there, she left it alone for now. Arm in arm, we left the conference room. I was the last one out. I looked back, letting Tim Bowman and Larry Drazdowski stare at me one last time before I turned out the lights.

  Chapter 46

  Three Weeks Later

  Early November had brought the first light snowfall, heralding the brutal Michigan winter yet to come. On the Friday after Thanksgiving, I made the slow, winding turn to the back of Shamrock Park. Joe had just put brand-new snow tires on my Jeep. It was a lease, but I was falling in love.

  He waited for me on the park bench like I asked him to, wearing a black jacket, his hands stuffed in the pockets. I followed his deep footprints in the snow. He didn’t even turn when he heard the crunch of my footsteps, but he saved a space beside him on the park bench. I pulled back the hood of my down parka and sat.

  The swing set stood ominously beside us, seats swaying in the slight breeze. Icicles formed at the top. A few weeks ago, there had been a makeshift shrine here. Cards, letters, candles honoring the hero they thought had died here. Construction on the commemorative statue halted. Just a few uneven bricks marked its place. Red graffiti stained those bricks, freshly painted. Drops of it dotted the snow like blood. Instead of “rest in peace” the message was now “burn in hell.” It jarred my conscience just as much.

  “Thanks for taking my call,” I said. “I’ll be honest. I wasn’t sure you’d come.”

  He smiled at me, showing those straight, white teeth. Those pale blue eyes seemed to see right through me, reading my thoughts. I studied his face again. Dark brows, just the slightest touch of silvery gray at his temples. He had a cleft in his chin when he smiled and when he scowled.

  “Sure you were,” he said.

  “You’re right,” I said. I waited a moment, not sure how to start. “They’ve put Kevin Sydney on administrative leave. He’s going down though. The superintendent may too. They’re cleaning the whole house.”

  He nodded. “I suppose it’s about time.”

  “What about Bowman?”

  He turned to me. He was handsome in an unassuming way that I knew drove women crazy. Like he knew, but absolutely didn’t care.

  “Suspension with pay for now,” he said. “But he’s not coming back from this.”

  The wind kicked up, sending a swirling cyclone of snow toward us. Then it died down just as quickly as Detective Eric Wray faced me.

  “I know it’s hard for you to believe this, but Tim’s not a bad guy. He really did think he was doing the right thing at first. And he really did just forget about Benny Hyde. That guy, he’s come in and reported shit on just about every major case we’ve had. Anything that makes the news, there’s Benny showing up saying he saw something or heard something or knows somebody.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “And you may not believe it, but I don’t have it out for him. I don’t hold him responsible for what his idiot nephew pulled with my sister. Or what he pulled with me.”

  Two weeks ago, Luke Bowman had been arrested for vehicular assault. The paint scrapings on his front fender matched the car I’d been driving when he ran me off the road.

  Wray grew silent. The wind howled and I shivered. “Come on,” Eric said. “Whatever you wanted to talk about, we can do this in the car where it’s warm.”

  “No,” I said. “I like it here. It makes sense.”

  A beat passed between us. He was a good cop. A seasoned detective. Of course he could read something in my face. He swallowed hard and a muscle jumped in his jaw. He could have gotten up and left then. He could have told me to just piss off and mind my own business. Except he didn’t. For a long time later, I’d wonder why he didn’t or what might have happened if he had. Instead, he worked something out for himself as I stared into his eyes.

  He looked down and pursed his lips. “Maybe it does.”

  “It’s just a lucky thing someone found that surveillance footage.” I kept my eyes locked with his. Eric Wray was good. Almost too good. But the
corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly, almost in a smirk as he looked back at me.

  “Yeah,” he said. “A very lucky thing.”

  It was just one thing. One tiny alteration. The date on the counter of Beanie’s security tape. Someone with access and know-how could have easily changed it if they knew what they were looking for. If they knew the timeline. Aubrey had told the detectives and me she’d been there the night before the murder.

  Eric shifted. The smile faded from his lips and his eyes grew cold and dark. I stared straight ahead, considering my next words. “Bowman hasn’t figured it out yet, has he?” I asked. Eric looked down and cleared his throat.

  “Cass … I don’t know what …”

  I put a hand up and made a decision. “Eric, how much money do you have in your pocket?”

  He cocked his head to the side. “I …” He let out a breath.

  “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “Anything will do.” Again, I think he could read something in my face. I wasn’t here to hurt him. I was only here for the truth.

  He pulled his wallet out of his pocket. My breath caught. The wallet was old and well-used with worn leather and faded circles where he kept his change. He pulled out a single, crisp dollar bill and held it out to me.

  I was wearing black knit mittens. I pulled one off with my teeth. The bitter cold air hit my fingers. My cheeks were already numb. I hesitated, keeping my fingers curled near my chest. Then I took the dollar from him and folded it into my pocket. I slid my mitten back on.

  “It’s a small department,” I said. “Just you and Tim. Knapp and Lewis. Four people. Lewis might be great someday if the fallout from this doesn’t hit her too hard. Knapp, I hear he’s a good guy too. Just a year from retirement though. Not one to make waves, right?”

  “Cass …”

  “He loves you,” I said. “Dan Ames. He trusts you. You’d have done anything for him.”