The Conviction

by Robert Dugoni

  “While you’re standing there,” Sloane said, “you might want to count the number of pigeons on the ledge, and multiply that number by ten.”

  EPILOGUE

  Outside the courthouse, beneath a still blazing summer sun, Sloane said good-bye to Dave Bennett and Eileen Harper, as well as her son, Tommy. After they departed, Sloane and Jake said their final good-byes to Tom Molia and to T.J.

  “Well, I don’t think I’ll forget this vacation anytime soon,” Molia said.

  “That makes two of us,” Maggie added, squeezing her husband’s hand.

  “I’m really sorry,” Jake said, “for everything. And I’m not just saying it. I really am sorry.”

  Molia stepped forward and embraced him in a bear hug. “You know what? I believe you,” he said. When the detective released his grip Jake stepped to T.J., and the two walked off for a private moment. Molia looked at Sloane and just shook his head. “It’s always an adventure with you, I’ll give you that. Maybe one day we can actually have that quiet vacation in the mountains.”

  Sloane smiled. “I hope so.”

  Maggie gave Sloane a hug and kissed him. “Thank you, David.”

  “Don’t thank me,” he said. “Thank your husband. If it wasn’t for him we would have never found the evidence we needed to do what we did today. He’s a good police officer, but he’s a better man.”

  “I know,” she said. She stepped back and wiped away tears. “I plan on keeping him.” Then she turned to her son. “T.J., we have a plane to catch.”

  Sloane watched the two boys shake hands and say a few more words before walking back.

  “All set?” Molia asked T.J.

  “All set,” he said. “Jake’s going to come out and visit. Maybe next summer.”

  “You’re always welcome,” Molia said.

  They said their final good-byes before departing for Sacramento to catch a plane back to West Virginia.

  Sloane turned to Jake. “You still have to complete your substance abuse program, and grief counseling,” he said.

  “I know. I will.”

  “And you know that I’m always here for you, even if we’re not together. I mean it. I’ll never abandon you again. All you have to do is make a call and I’m on the next plane. You know that, right?”

  “I know it. Same with me.”

  “I’ll hold you to it,” Sloane said. There was an awkward pause. Then Jake stepped forward and hugged him fiercely. “I love you, Dad.”

  “Make her proud,” he whispered. “Make your mother proud.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  “I love you, too, son.”

  Sloane waved to Frank, wo waited across the parking lot. Then he turned quickly to his car, getting in the driver’s side. Once inside he turned his head and watched Jake pull open the door to Frank’s Mercedes. He looked away, fighting his emotions, taking another deep breath. He put the key in the ignition and reached to buckle the seat belt. Jake stood at the passenger-side window, his backpack on his shoulder.

  Confused, Sloane turned the key and lowered the window. “What’s wrong? Did you forget something?”

  “Just my backpack.” Jake opened the back door, threw his backpack across the backseat, and slid into the front seat.

  “I don’t understand,” Sloane said.

  “You did say I was spending the summer with you in Seattle, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, summer’s not over, is it? Besides, I already started the grief counseling with Father Allen and you’re always telling me to finish what I begin, aren’t you?”

  Sloane looked out the window. “What about Frank?”

  Jake shrugged. “He’s cool with it. He said we can discuss things at the end of summer.”

  “You sure you won’t be bored?”

  “I’m looking forward to being bored.”

  Sloane backed out of the spot and drove to where Frank stood, lowering the window. “You did it once,” Frank said, and Sloane knew Frank was referring to that day in court when Sloane gave up custody of Jake to Frank. “I figured I could, too.”

  The two of them shook hands. “I’ll take good care of him, Frank.”

  “I know.”

  As they exited the parking lot Jake sat back in his seat.

  “You going to listen to your music?” Sloane asked.

  Jake shook his head. “No. I was thinking maybe we could talk and that when we get home maybe we could take the boat out. The salmon run this time of year.”

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  As usual, there are many to thank.

  During my youth, a good friend and I would take trips to Yosemite Valley. After several days Chris and I would return, taking the back roads through California’s gold country, stopping in all the old mining towns. I remember those drives fondly, despite the hot weather and the occasional slow driver who would make the excursion to the next town on the one-lane roads seem to take an eternity. Never in my wildest imagination did I anticipate using that experience as the backdrop for a book. Last summer, however, I spent two days touring some of those old towns. While I could not re-create the experience of my youth, the trip once again helped me to recall those places and why I found them so fascinating. The problem was that everyone I met and spoke to—from the woman at the visitors’ center just outside Auburn to those people in the chambers of commerce of each town I visited—were each so darn friendly and helpful. I couldn’t find a nasty town in which to place Judge Earl and Carl Wade and Victor Dillon. So I made one up: Truluck, California. I also made up the county, Winchester. Since some of you loyal readers e-mail me and tell me you’ve gone looking for some of the places I’ve used as settings in my books, fair warning: you won’t find either.

  I also want to thank the correctional officer at the Auburn Courthouse who was kind enough to provide me with a tour of that historic building, including the historic courtrooms on the third floor: Though I can’t find your business card to acknowledge your generosity properly, know that I am grateful. If you are up that way, it is worth stopping for a look. You don’t see that craftsmanship in today’s buildings, and those courtrooms on the third floor are a step back in time. The courthouse and courtroom became home to Judge Earl Boykin. Judge Earl is fictional, made up, and not based on any judge in particular. There is not a judge in the country at all like him, to my knowledge.

  I also want to thank my friend Jim Russi, who owns the Piety Flats Winery and store in Yakima. Jim and I met on a trip back from Mazatlán to Seattle. I was standing at the airport curb with my daughter and seven thousand pounds of luggage, along with two boogie boards my kids insisted we drag all that way and back… and never used… when Jim greeted me. He held a briefcase and proceeded to tell me that his boogie board could fit inside it. After a very long day, tired, and waiting for my wife and son, who had gone to get the car, I don’t think Jim realized how close to death he really was. We laughed and exchanged information. He didn’t for a minute believe I was a writer and I didn’t for a minute believe he’d call. But he went home and looked me up on the computer. The next day he e-mailed me and asked if I wanted to speak to the Yakima Rotary, something I have now been blessed to do twice. On the first trip, two years ago, Jim gave my son, his two cousins and me a tour of the many hops fields in Yakima. I noted the type of plant and how it grew, its buds and smell to the untrained nose. I said I thought it the perfect cover for an illegal marijuana operation. Again, I had no idea this would become the premise for a book.

  This last trip Jim arranged a tour of a hops-manufacturing factory. Gary McGrath was kind enough to give me an hour of his time and a tour of his facility. Gary was gracious with his information and the experience was a fascinating one. Again, Victor Dillon and his illegal operation were fabricated out of whole cloth and the idea of a hops grower using his business to cover for a marijuana operation is, to my knowledge, completely fictional.

  I also want to thank Meg Peavey, a very bright young woman who hel
ped me significantly by researching not only the history of juvenile boot camps, but also outdoor marijuana grows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Her research was terrific and thorough and I was blessed to have it. Any similarities to any actual boot camps is pure coincidence. Fresh Start does not exist. And any mistakes in this novel are not the product of the research, but belong to me. Thanks, Meg. I couldn’t have written the novel without your help.

  I want to thank Dave Bennett and Lisa Lynch for lending me their names for this manuscript. Congratulations on winning the Character in a Book contest. I also want to thank Don Wicks for his generous contribution to the La Conner Rotary in exchange for becoming a character in this novel. Rotarians do good work across the United States and I am fortunate to be able to help their causes, even in a small way.

  Could the premise for this novel—widespread corruption that allowed juveniles to be sentenced to a privately owned, for-profit facility—actually occur? If you doubt it, you might want to google “jailing kids for cash” and see what pops up.

  Thanks to Meg Ruley of the Jane Rotrosen Agency, my stellar agent. Meg remains my champion and I am thankful for all that she continues to do for my career. Thanks also to the rest of the Rotrosen team who read my drafts and offer suggestions. I do appreciate all of your support. I couldn’t do it without you.

  Thanks to Tami Taylor, who runs my Web site and does a fantastic job doing it. Thanks to the cold readers who labor through my early drafts and help make my manuscripts better. Thanks to Pam Binder and the Pacific Northwest Writers Association for their tremendous support of my work and all those other conferences who invite me to teach and speak.

  Thanks to Touchstone/Simon & Schuster for believing in The Conviction and in David Sloane. This includes publisher Stacy Creamer, Sally Kim, Marcia Burch, David Falk, Meredith Kernan, art director Cherlynne Li, production editor Josh Karpf, production manager Alicia Brancato, and interior designer Renata Di Biase.

  And the biggest round of applause to Lauren Spiegel, my editor. You made this manuscript better and remain a joy to work with. Thanks for your support, your attention to detail, and prompt responses to my inquiries. I’m glad to have you.

  I’m also glad to have Jessica Roth. If there is a better publicist out there, you’ll have to prove it to me. Like Lauren, Jessica does her often difficult job with a jovial personality that makes her a joy to work with. Here’s hoping the canceled flights and storms are a minimum this year and the publicity and marketing of The Conviction are smooth sailing. And if it is not, I’m glad you’re captaining this ship.

  To Louise Burke, Pocket Books publisher, and Pocket Books associate publisher Anthony Ziccardi as well as editor Abby Zidle for great insight and support. And thanks to all on the Touchstone and Pocket Books sales forces. I wouldn’t be writing this without you.

  Thank you also to you loyal readers who e-mail me to tell me how much you enjoy my books, raise questions, and await the next. I look forward to those e-mails and read every one. You are the reason I keep looking for the next David Sloane adventure, and beyond.

  I’ve dedicated this book to my two kids, Joe and Catherine. I am blessed to have not one but two great kids. They make me proud in everything they do, from football to basketball and baseball and how they perform in the classroom. But I am most proud of the way they conduct their lives, generous and kind. For this I owe my wife, Cristina. She is such a good person, far better than I deserve, and a lot of that goodness has rubbed off on our kids. As always, thanks for standing beside me. Since I’m an old movie buff, and turned fifty this year and thus am officially an “old guy,” I’ll finish with this plagiarized and corny line a young guy could never get away with saying. “Here’s looking at you, kid.”

  Quick, e-mail me and name the movie.

  Bob Dugoni,

  June 2012

  We hope you enjoyed reading this Touchstone eBook.

  Sign up for our newsletter and receive special offers, access to bonus content, and info on the latest new releases and other great eBooks from Touchstone and Simon & Schuster.

  or visit us online to sign up at

  eBookNews.SimonandSchuster.com