I looked over at Heather and I squeezed her hand.
“What does it mean?” she asked. “That they came back so quickly?”
“It could be good news. Could be bad. I never know.”
“All rise,” the bailiff said as the jury came back in, one by one. I glanced over at the 12 men and women who were filing into their seats. What, indeed, did it mean that they were coming back so quickly? The case was a slam-dunk for Vince, especially since the judge told me that Louisa couldn’t testify about finding the butcher knife. But, then again, maybe the jury found Louisa’s testimony compelling, and it did explain what happened, in a way. Vince assisted me there at the end, too. I still had no idea why he did that.
“Has the jury reached a verdict?” Judge Reiner asked.
“We have your honor.”
“May the defendant please rise,” Judge Reiner said as Heather and I stood up. I could feel Heather’s pulse beating fast on her wrist as I held her hand tightly. “On the first count of assault with a deadly weapon, how does the jury find?”
“Not guilty your honor.”
I started to breathe easier, but not really. It could be that they found her not guilty of the assault and guilty of the murder. I had seen it before.
“On the second count of murder in the first degree, how does the jury find?”
“Not guilty your honor.”
I closed my eyes, trying to feel this moment. Heather was crying next to me and I nodded my head.
“Is this the unanimous verdict of the jury?”
“It is, your honor.”
I looked over at Vince, who was smiling. I still didn’t know what he was up to, or maybe I did. Maybe he, too, was swayed by Louisa’s testimony. Maybe he finally became convinced of Heather’s innocence. As I was all along.
“The defendant is free to go,” Judge Reiner said. “I would like to thank the members of the jury for your time, patience and hard work. It’s not easy to be away from your family, away from your jobs, to do your civic duty. Your work in this case, and in all cases, does not go unnoticed and is very much appreciated. You are excused.”
I hugged Heather tightly, as she was crying hard. “Oh, my,” she said, looking at me. “I better quit the waterworks, or my mascara’s gonna run everywhere.” Then she smiled. “Just kidding. I always use waterproof mascara.” At that, she buried her head on my shoulder and cried some more.
The case was over. We won. Heather was free.
Now, there was just one more thing that I had to do.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
I drove Heather over to my house. Axel was coming over as soon as he got through processing in the crazy-ass Reverend. Axel took Father Scott into custody as he sat in the jury room, reading his Bible.
“Where are we going?” Heather asked as we pulled around to my house.
“My home. I would like you to meet my girls. And I need to talk to you about something.” My heart was racing, but I knew that I was doing the right thing. Heather had nobody. But maybe that would change when she met Louisa. Her birth mother.
We pulled up to my home, and I took Heather’s hand. “It was a privilege to represent you,” I said. “And I mean that.”
She looked at me and then looked away. “Me too.” She sighed. “I guess you and I aren’t gonna talk much after this, huh?”
“Don’t say that. You’re like one of my kids now. I won’t lose touch with you.”
“I guess. You got your life, though. I doubt I fit into it much.”
I put my arm around her. “Yes, you will. I promise you that.” I gestured to her. “Come on, let’s meet Rina and Abby.”
We went inside, where Rina and Abby were hanging out in the television room, playing a video game. “Aunt Harper,” Rina said excitedly, running over to me and looking at Heather. “Is this Heather?”
Abby got up off the floor, too, and walked over to us.
“Yes, Rina, this is Heather,” I said, and Rina gave her a big hug.
“We heard a lot about you,” Rina said. Abby, for her part, shyly stuck out her hand and Heather shook it.
“Very nice to meet you, Heather,” Abby said.
“You too,” Heather said with a smile.
“Is Axel coming over tonight?” Rina asked.
“He is. He’s processing in a case, but he’ll be over later.”
THAT NIGHT, after all of us had dinner – me, Rina, Abby, Heather and Axel – I put the girls to bed, over their strenuous protests.
“Aunt Harper, it’s only 9,” Rina grumbled.
“I know, but we got things to discuss,” I said. “Now go on up. You can read a book before you go to bed, but I’ll be up at 10:30, and it better be light’s out.”
The girls went upstairs and I came into the sunroom, where Heather and Axel were waiting for me to come in. The door was open, and the soft, early-autumn breeze was coming through. The crickets were chirping outside, and dogs were barking in the distance.
I sat down. “Heather,” I said. “There’s something that I need to tell you.”
“What?”
I took a deep breath. “You were adopted. I know where your birth mother is. I need to talk to her individually, but only after I talk to you about it. I would like to know if you want to meet her.”
Heather looked shocked. Her eyes opened wide and her hand flew to her mouth. “Adopted? Connie wasn’t my mother, my real mother?”
“No. I found all this out a few days ago. Before I speak to your birth mother, I need to know how you feel about meeting her.”
Heather shook her head. “I got nobody, Harper. I mean, I got Charlie, I guess. He wants me to come home. But I got nobody else.”
“You have me,” I said. “And I mean that.”
“I know. Yes, sure. I’d like to meet her.”
“Good. I’ll talk to her, and if she wants to meet you, then I’ll arrange it.”
Axel got up to get everyone some hot tea, which I was brewing. When he came back, I wanted to ask him about the Reverend. “How did it go?” I asked. “Taking that crazy loon into custody?”
“It wasn’t so bad,” he said. “He came with me willingly, and he said that he was relieved that I was taking him in. Relieved. That was the word.” Axel shook his head. “I guess he knew that what he was doing was wrong, but he couldn’t stop himself from doing it. I’ve seen that before.”
“Are the charges going to stick?”
“They should. Now that he’s in custody, I have a feeling that the church-goers, the ones who were too scared to talk, will now speak freely. And don’t forget, I have those parents in custody – the ones who I suspect actually killed their children. I can cut some deals with them in exchange for their testimony against the Reverend. I have a feeling that the Reverend won’t be terrorizing congregants for a long time.”
“Good.” I sipped my tea and smelled the air. “All is right in the world again.”
“Well, can I meet her?” Heather said. “Call her, get her here.”
“Okay.” I called Louisa. “Louisa, this is Harper…can you come over right now?...see you soon.”
“She’s coming,” I said.
LOUISA ARRIVED at my house in a half hour.
“Louisa,” I said. “I would like to speak with you alone.”
I took her into the television room, which also served as our den.
“What did you need to ask me?” she asked, as we sat down.
“Heather. My client. She’s your birth daughter.”
At that, Louisa hung her head. “Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh.my.god.” She shook her head, and the tears started to flow. “How did you find out about that?”
I cleared my throat. What Anna did was illegal, so I wasn’t going to implicate her. “I found out through the course of my investigation.”
“I never thought I would see my son again,” she said, and then she smiled. “I mean, daughter, I guess, huh?”
“Yes, daughter. She wants to meet you. Will you m
eet her?”
She nodded. “I have nobody right now. I have my parents, but…” She shook her head. “I’m not close with them. I was staying with them, but that was only because I needed to get out of this town. I was afraid that the Reverend was going to kill me. I didn’t want to stay with them. I…my past with them isn’t good.”
I took Louisa’s hand. “Let’s go and see her,” I said.
Louisa followed me into the sun room, where Heather was waiting for her.
“Hi,” Louisa said tentatively. “I guess I’m your-“
“Mom,” Heather said, coming over to her and hugging her. “My mom.”
Louisa laughed as she hugged Heather back. “My daughter.”
Axel and I stood back and watched the two women.
“I guess my work here is done,” I said.
OF COURSE, my work wasn’t done. A criminal defense attorney’s work is never done.
But I could never be prepared for who called me to defend him.
“Harper,” a familiar voice was on the other end of the line. Pearl had put him through to me, telling me that I apparently had a new client to speak with.
“Who is this?”
“Michael. Michael Reynolds.”
My heart started to race. Michael Reynolds…my mind went back to him. The fraternity party, he and I bumping and grinding on the dance floor. Me going back to his fraternity room, where he forced himself on me. He raped me while I screamed for help, and then had his fraternity brother do the same.
“What do you want?”
“I need your help. I’ve been accused of murder, and I didn’t do it.”
My first instinct was to slam down the phone. Tell him to go to Hell. Tell him that he was the main reason why I had to spend thousands of dollars on therapists. The reason why I had recurring bouts of crippling depression, anxiety and panic attacks. Tell him to never, ever, call me again.
Then I thought about it.
I could use him. I could finally get my revenge. I could take his case and flush it down the toilet. He would never know the difference if I did that.
“Come on in,” I said. “I have an opening today at 3.”
FOR INFORMATION about upcoming titles in the Harper Ross Legal Thriller series, sign up for my mailing list! You’ll be the first to know about new releases and you’ll be the first to know about any promotions!!!! http://eepurl.com/cTUHFP
BOOK TWO, Justice Denied, is available now! http://amzn.to/2m0kKGZ
17 years ago, she was his prey. Now the tables are turned...
Harper must deal with a dark part of her past when she defends her rapist, Michael Reynolds, who is charged with murdering a judge. Harper wants revenge, so she takes the case with the explicit desire to throw it. Struggling with her conscience, which is fighting for her desire for vengeance, Harper must access some of the darkest recesses of her brain.
As she digs in deeper into the case, she finds a conspiracy that goes to the highest level. She's not clear, however, if Michael Reynolds is also involved.
Harper wants to see Michael convicted, even though he's her client. If he's not involved in the murder, can she try to throw his case anyhow? Doing so would go against her conscience and ethics.
But it would also set her free...
WITH HAIRPIN TWISTS AND TURNS, Justice Denied is a book that makes you wonder whodunit until the very end!
READ ON FOR A SNEAK PEEK OF JUSTICE DENIED!!!!
ALSO BY RACHEL SINCLAIR
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JUSTICE DENIED
A Harper Ross Legal Thriller VOL. 2
Copyright © 2017 by Rachel Sinclair
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
ALSO BY RACHEL SINCLAIR
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CHAPTER ONE
Taking Michael Reynolds on as a client made me sick. Made me want to vomit. I didn’t want this creep anywhere near me.
Yet, the calculating part of me also saw how I could use him. I brought out my slinky and expanded and contracted it like an accordion while I stared at my ceiling. My mind started to race. Go to places that were dark. Corners of my brain that were better left unexplored. Deep down, I knew that I needed to face what happened at the Sigma Chi house that night. What happened between Michael, his roommate Jim, and me. If I closed my eyes, I still saw him – tall and handsome, with huge dimples, big blue eyes and wavy black hair cut short on the sides and longer on top. He caught my eye from across the room, and I went over to him – a lamb being docilely led to slaughter.
Of course, my brain was swimming in alcohol by then. It usually was, just about every night, when I was in college. Bars ran drink specials every night of the week – quarter draws at this bar one night, dollar pitchers at this other bar the next. The best special of the week was the “all you can drink” for two hours on a Friday night at still another bar. I would go there with my friends at 8 PM, drink all I wanted for one low price until 10 PM, and spend the rest of the night blasted and way, way, too friendly.
I went over to him, swaying to the music and barely able to stand. I said something to him. I don’t know what. The details were hazy, and they were hazy even then. Even at that moment, I was saying things to him that I forgot just two seconds later.
Before I knew it, we were grinding our bodies together on the dance floor. My hands were going through his thick dark hair, my teeth were caressing his earlobe, and my breasts were pressed against his pecs in the dark. His lips were soon on mine and his hands were grabbing my ass. Let’s go upstairs, he said, and I nodded.
Tammy interrupted my reverie. “I heard about Heather,” she said. “Congrats.”
I nodded my head. Heather’s case was already in the rear-view mirror. Funny how that worked – for three months, her case was all that I thought about. I had a full roster of other cases, most of them minor criminal cases that I ended up pleading out. But Heather’s case was the only trial that I was preparing for during that period, and it was the one that I was focused on. It was central to my professional life, and, if it crashed and burned, I would have been devastated beyond measure. Not just because I felt that I had to win it, but also because I felt that Heather’s life was hanging in a delicate balance.
“Thanks,” I said. I swiveled in my chair, and looked out the window.
“Anything wrong?” she asked, looking concerned.
“Yeah. I mean, no. I mean…” I shook my head. What was I doing, taking Michael Reynolds on? Was my psyche that damaged that I felt a ne
ed to sink him? How was I going to sink him, anyhow? There were any number of ways, but I wasn’t going to get away with any of them if he had a brain in his head. I could suppress evidence, invent damning testimony from witnesses and I could send him up the river with his prosecutor by getting him a terrible deal. But if he was smart, he would know what I was up to and he would turn me over the Bar and appeal his case on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel. I could certainly lose my license if I did everything to him that I wanted to.
No, if I was going to sabotage him, it would have to be subtle. It would have to be so subtle that there wouldn’t be any way that he could possibly know what I was doing. That was going to be difficult, but not impossible.
“Harper?” Tammy said. “What’s going on?”
I sighed. “You remember me telling you about a Michael Reynolds?” I shuddered just saying his name out loud.
Tammy sat down. “I think so. You mentioned something about him one time, although I forget the context.”
“Yes. I’m sure I probably told you something about him. I don’t think that I gave you the entire story, though. I haven’t told anybody the whole story.”
Tammy looked worried. “What is the whole story? And why are you talking about him now? What is bringing him up for you?”
“He’s coming in today. I don’t know, he’s been accused of a crime. Pearl said that he called about a murder charge and he wants me to represent him. I’m not at all sure what the facts are about this, though.”
“I can tell you,” she said, picking up a newspaper. “I knew that his name sounded familiar when you first said it to me. Here.” She handed me the newspaper. “Front page.”
I groaned. Another high-profile case. I was lucky with Heather, in that the media seemed to lose interest in her case, after initially being all over it. As I read the article in the paper, however, it seemed that I wasn’t going to be so lucky this time. Michael Reynolds was the son-in-law of a Federal District Court judge. Said judge, whose name was Robert Sanders, was shot dead in his home. The article indicated that a random intruder was initially suspected to be the murderer, but that Michael Reynolds, Sanders’ own son-in-law, was arrested for the crime.
Harper Ross Legal Thrillers vol. 1-3 Page 33
