Landra’s eyes got real big. “Like?”
I had to laugh out loud. She was so easy to goad. An employee walked by and I flagged her over.
“Excuse me, would you ring up that coffee table over there please?” I asked.
She looked around confused.
“The end table,” Landra clarified.
“Certainly,” the clerk said agreeably.
Landra smiled and threw her arms around my neck and hugged me. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Thank you! It’s beautiful. And I know exactly where I’m going to put it,” she said happily.
Her smile was contagious. I kissed her on the cheek and spoke softly in her ear, “I love you too.”
Chapter 15
I had a double setback the next week in Landra’s case. The DA again turned down my request at having Landra testify before the grand jury. I had braced myself for the outcome, but it still came as a blow. What was even more disturbing was some additional “evidence” that the DA was suddenly considering.
The autopsy had turned up traces of Rohypnol in Drake’s system, and the DA contended that Landra had drugged Drake to make it easier to push him out the window. My testimony would be even more crucial to Landra’s defense if the thing went to trial since I’d been with Landra virtually all night up until the time that Drake assaulted her. If she had drugged him, she would have had to have done so right under my nose. There was no way.
I couldn’t believe that the prosecutor was even bringing it in. In fact, I considered it risky on their part to make such a ridiculous allegation. They had to know that I could find a countless number of experts who would testify that Rohypnol is a widely-used recreational drug, especially in Texas, and that it was more likely that the drug had been self-induced.
I thought back to when I’d met Drake Reeds outside on the patio at the party, trying to remember if there had been any indication that he was on drugs. His hand had been clammy, which I supposed could have been a side effect of a drug, but then again, maybe he was one of those people who always have sweaty palms.
I called Landra over at Mrs. Howard’s.
“Do you know if Drake Reeds ever did drugs?” I asked.
“Not in front of me. Why?”
“The autopsy turned up traces of Rohypnol in his system.”
“Rohypnol? What is it?”
“I’m not really sure. I know it’s a drug often associated with sexual assaults. Do you know of any of his friends that do drugs? Anyone he could have gotten them from?”
The line was silent while she considered the question. “I don’t know, Sam. None of his friends did anything like that in front of me. After my husband’s overdose that would have been the last thing I would have ever put up with,” she pointed out.
That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. It wouldn’t help me prove anything.
“The DA is going to say you drugged him,” I said, waiting for her response. To my dismay, she remained calm and collected, which told me it was going to be bad.
“Why are they doing this to me?” she asked quietly, almost to herself.
“I don’t know, Landra. But we’re not going to let them get away with it,” I assured her. “Rohypnol is widely abused as a recreational drug. The fact that they are even bringing it up tells me that they’re trying to pad a case that has nothing to back it up. Let’s not lose our perspective on the case.”
“They’re pissed off that they couldn’t prove my involvement in my husband’s overdose, and they’re trying to get even by accusing me of murdering Drake. Why else would they be doing it? Any objective prosecutor would see that it was self-defense. If it had happened to any other girl at that party, nothing would have come from it. Nothing! God almighty, I should have let him rape me!”
“Don’t say that, Landra.”
“I have to go.”
“No, wait!”
“What?”
“What are you doing right now?”
“I’m getting ready to go over to Andy and Verna’s. I’m taking Andy to a doctor’s appointment.”
“Will you come over after you finish?”
“I don’t know. Let me just call you.”
I hated hearing her so upset, and I wanted to kick myself for not breaking the news to her in person. Damn, damn, damn! I swore to myself that I’d never do it again.
“Okay. Call me when you’re finished,” I said.
I was so pissed off when I hung up that I went straight over to the DA’s office and accused them of having a vendetta against Landra because of their previous failure to link her to her husband’s overdose. They adamantly denied that anyone in the DA’s office would fabricate a case to exact revenge, but my persistence paid off. I discovered that one of the prosecutors assigned to Landra’s case had indeed been involved in the investigation of Landra’s husband’s overdose.
Although I hadn’t accomplished anything tangible yet, at least I’d called them on the overzealous prosecution of the case. And the higher-ups were bound to take a closer look now that an allegation of impropriety had been lodged. The more I thought about it, the more I decided that Landra was right.
I went straight home from the DA’s office. Landra’s car was still over at Mrs. Howard’s, so I walked next door to the Johns’ house. Mrs. Johns answered the door and looked understandably surprised to see me. I’d never been to their house.
“Samuel! What a nice surprise. Come in.” She opened the door all the way and stood back while I entered, then she closed it behind her and smiled again. Whatever she was cooking smelled amazing. “How have you been?” she asked.
“Fine, thanks. And yourself?”
“Just fine. We’re expecting all of our boys and their families this weekend, so we’ll have a full house.” It sounded like a lot of hassle to me, but Mrs. Johns seemed excited.
“Is Landra still here?” I asked.
“No, but they should be back any time. Can I get you something to drink? A cold beer?”
I was going to say no, but a beer sounded good and I knew I didn’t have any at home. “Sure.” I figured I could always take it with me.
I followed Mrs. Johns back to her kitchen, checking out the place on the way. She had lots of pictures scattered all over the house, and lots of little porcelain figurines like old people collect. Something was simmering in a pot on the stove and I was tempted to look under the lid, but I decided I better not. If Mrs. Johns was anything like Mrs. Howard, it would be a big no-no.
I sat down at the kitchen table and Mrs. Johns brought me a beer and pulled out the chair across from mine. I took a big swig and set the bottle down on the table.
“How did Landra seem when she came over?” I asked, trying not to give anything away in my tone of voice.
“Preoccupied. She didn’t say why, but as soon as she left with Andy, Sara called and told me what had happened.” She shook her head and looked distressed. “Poor girl. She does nothing but good and yet she’s made to suffer so. It just isn’t right.”
“What did Mrs. Howard say happened?” I knew that Landra confided in Mrs. Howard, but I wasn’t sure to what extent.
“That the DA was going to say that Landra poisoned Drake Reeds.” I nodded my head without saying anything. “We’re all just so glad that Landra has you, Samuel. As you know, we love her very much. She’s like a daughter to Andy and me . . . to Sara too,” she said, looking towards Sara’s house. She reached her hand across the table and rested her hand on top of mine. “We’re all counting on you to get her out of this mess.”
“I know.”
If I wasn’t feeling the pressure of Landra’s defense before, Mrs. Johns’ comments certainly nudged me in that direction. I was beginning to feel claustrophobic despite the fact that Mrs. Johns’ kitchen was open and airy. I needed to get out of there. Mrs. Johns’ was psyching me out. “Do you mind if I take this with me?” I asked, holding up the bottle of beer.
“Go right ahead,” she
said.
“Thanks. Will you tell Landra to come over to my house when she gets back?”
“Sure. Can I send some of this meat sauce with you?” She took the lid off and I looked over her shoulder as she stirred. “It’s got fresh mushrooms, and garlic, and onions, and spinach . . .,” she said, as if the smell alone wasn’t tempting enough. “Absolutely. Tell Landra that I’ll feed her if she comes over.”
Mrs. Johns smiled. “I’ll send enough for both of you. And here’s a loaf of French bread you can take too.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Johns. Remind me to come visit you more often.”
It was another hour before Landra knocked on my door. I was afraid she would go straight home without stopping by and I kept watching out my front window to make sure her car was still at Mrs. Howard’s. I was so relieved when she finally knocked that I found myself feeling grumpy that she’d made me wait so long. I opened the door and pulled her inside then I picked her up and squeezed her.
“What took you so long?” I asked indignantly.
“What do you mean? I came straight over. What’s wrong? Verna said you came looking for me.”
“Nothing’s wrong. I was just worried about you. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay. I just wish all this would be over.”
We walked arm in arm back to the fortress. I told her about my trip to the DA’s office and about our chat, and I told her that I was convinced she was right about why they were prosecuting a case for murder when it was obviously self-defense.
“You told them all that?” she asked in disbelief. “What did they say?”
“They denied it of course. What else are they going to do? But I’ll tell you what; I think it opened their eyes.”
Landra climbed into my lap and rested her head against my chest. “You’re wonderful, Sam.”
“I know.” She thumped me on the head. “And I made you a delicious dinner.”
“Funny, your house smells just like Verna’s.”
“She told you?”
“She told me.”
“Don’t you people believe in keeping anything to yourselves?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Are you hungry?”
“Starved.”
“Good. And I did boil the pasta on my own.”
Landra put her arms around my neck and looked me in the eye. “Verna thinks you’re very thoughtful.”
“She does?”
“Well, yeah. Until I told her otherwise, she did.”
I grabbed Landra’s waist and tickled her, but she squirmed off my lap and moved to the other side of the couch. I followed her and cornered her there.
“Tell me that thing that you told me that day in that shop,” I said, resting my weight against her.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.
When my brother was about five years old, he gave our dad a tiny statue of a gorilla with the caption underneath: “Tell me you love me or I’ll beat it out of you!” It had probably been 20 years since I’d seen the thing, but it sprang to mind as I tormented Landra.
“Say it,” I coaxed, laying more heavily on her.
“No way. You first.”
I was about to relent when the phone rang. “You’re lucky,” I told her, and I let go and got up to answer the phone. She smacked me in the ass before I could get away, and I answered the phone with a stupid smile on my face.
“Collins,” the voice said on the other end.
“Niki. What’s up?”
“It was Larry,” he said. “Or at least the snake was.”
“Then everything else was too,” I said.
“Yeah. You know, you might want to keep an eye on this guy. He’s got a mean streak.”
“Why? What else did you find?” I asked.
“Your cat’s not the only one he’s hurt. He spent some time in Juvenile when he was 12 years old for torturing animals.”
I could feel my jaw involuntarily clenching up. I wanted to kill the guy. “What kind of a person does that?” I asked, not really expecting an answer.
“One that’s very unstable,” he said matter-of-factly, then he changed the subject. “Did you tell Landra about the party?”
“Uh.” I considered lying but I knew he would bust me. “Not yet.”
“Why don’t you bring Maddie?”
I looked over at Landra. “Nuh uh.”
“Landra’s right there?”
“Yep.” He laughed his easy laugh. “How do you know it was Larry?” I asked, changing the subject.
“I found out where he got the snake. How’s Maddie taking everything?”
“She’s understandably nervous. Especially after the cat. I’m going to need to talk to you about that, but not now.”
“Call me when Landra leaves.”
“In the morning,” I said. “Why don’t you come by my office?”
“I can’t do it until 1:00 o’clock.”
“I’ll see you then,” I said, and I hung up the phone.
“You want to go to a formal party with me next month?” I asked Landra.
“I’d love to.”
“You love me?” I picked her up and swung her around.
“I said, ‘I’d love to’ not ‘I love you,’” she laughed.
I put her down and took out two pasta bowls from the cabinet. “Same difference.”
Chapter 16
I’d been thinking for days about getting even with Larry. As far as I was concerned, the fact that he had it out for animals made it all the more certain that I would exact revenge on behalf of the Siamese. I’d finally come up with a plan that I was satisfied with, but I needed to enlist Niki’s help to pull it off. He was an hour late in getting to my office, but I was so absorbed in Datacare documents that I hadn’t even noticed.
“Why don’t you break his leg?” Niki suggested, when he heard what I had in mind.
“I guess because I don’t have the guts,” I admitted.
“Shit, he broke your cat’s leg. You want me to do it?” he offered.
“Let me think about it.”
We made plans for that night, and when Niki left my office I was so psyched up that I couldn’t wait until midnight. Niki would get everything we needed, including a few accomplices, and they would come by my house to pick me up. It was after 3:00 a.m. when Niki dropped me back at home, but I was way too wound up to sleep, so I invited all the boys in and we drank beer until the sun came up.
When someone knocked on my door the next morning at 7:45, there were passed-out bodies on all three of my couches. I dragged myself to the door and looked through the peek hole to make sure it wasn’t the police.
“Maddie,” I said groggily. “What’s up?”
“Oh my gosh. Are you sick? You look awful.”
“I was up late,” I said, running my hand through my hair trying to tame it.
“My car won’t start. I was going to see if you could give it a jump.”
I groaned. “Come in. Let me get my keys.”
Maddie followed me through the house, looking more amused with each body she passed. When she came to number three, she finally asked, “Did you go to a bachelor party or something?”
One of Niki’s friends, Matt, rolled over and lifted his head. He looked at Maddie and smiled, then sat up. “Good morning,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “What time is it?”
“Hi. Almost 8:00 o’clock,” Maddie told him. I hated the way they smiled at each other.
“Is this your girlfriend?” Matt asked me.
But before I could answer, Maddie butted in. “No. I live next door.”
I was insulted that in one fell swoop, I was relegated to neighbor status. But I was even more irked when Matt stepped up and introduced himself to Maddie. The two even shook hands, as if to formalize the introduction.
I grabbed my keys and directed Maddie out of the kitchen. “Let’s go,” I said.
“Why don’t you stay and have a cup of coff
ee?” Matt had the nerve to ask.
“She needs to get to the office,” I said, not even turning around. But Maddie stopped in front of me and turned back to face him.
“I’m late. But thanks for the offer,” she said in her sweet southern drawl. “It was nice to meet you, Matt.”
“Nice to meet you too,” he called out, and this time I did turn around and saw that he had a huge smile on his face. I was pissed. The guy had the hots for my neighbor and I hated it.
I tried to reason it out while I jump-started Maddie’s car, but I couldn’t make sense of it. Why should I care if the guy liked Maddie? Why should I care if he had a cup of coffee with her? She was just my neighbor, and my secretary, and my client. And even considering that she was also my friend, why should it matter that some guy was attracted to her? And when the hell had I started thinking of her accent as sounding sweet?
All of this I wondered with a pounding headache, while Maddie sat in her car cranking the damn engine. She finally gave up and came over to my window. It was cold outside and I was freezing my ass off. I got out and handed her my keys.
“Just take mine. I’ll get a ride with Niki and I’ll bring you home this afternoon.”
“Are you sure?” Maddie asked.
“Positive. I’m going back to sleep.”
I left my car in her driveway and tromped across my yard and back inside. Matt was still smiling.
“Cute neighbor,” he said.
“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” I said irritably.
“Is she married?”
“She has two very young children,” I said evasively.
“That’s not what I asked,” he said smiling.
“No. She’s not married,” I admitted. I wanted to slug the smile right off his face. He nodded his head like he was thinking but he didn’t ask any more questions.
Niki came in rubbing his eyes. “What’d Maddie want?” he asked.
“You know her?” Matt asked, sounding surprised.
“Yeah. She’s cute, isn’t she? I keep telling Collins he should date her.”
“Why don’t you?” Matt asked me. As if it was any of his business.
“I have a girlfriend,” I stated.
Advice of Counsel (The Samuel Collins Series Book 1) Page 19
