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Dan explained the situation as slowly and carefully as possible, but Judge Durant did not appear sympathetic. He was an older judge, early sixties probably, with a shock of white hair and a craggy face. He stirred his tea in a porcelain cup that appeared to illustrate a scene from Tom Sawyer.
“Don’t like carpetbaggers in my courtroom,” he grumped. They sat in his chambers, which appeared to be decorated primarily with USC memorabilia.
The assistant district attorney assigned to the case, Liz Chee, spoke. “Your honor, this is just a delaying tactic.”
“Excuse me,” Dan said, “but we haven’t asked for a delay. In fact, we don’t want a delay. We want to get this done as soon as possible.”
“There’s a trick in there somewhere, judge. I guarantee it.”
“The only trick,” Dan countered, “is that we think this murder was not committed by David Donovan. And it is somehow connected to other murders elsewhere. Give us a chance to prove it.”
Chee rolled her eyes. “They’re desperate. It’s almost embarrassing. Stand aside and let us put the man away forever.”
“Forever won’t be long,” Ben said. “He has serious medical issues. He was in line for a kidney transplant, but if this conviction stands, his chances of getting it are poor.”
“They can’t take his name off the list,” Judge Durant said. “That would be considered discriminatory.”
“But the people who make the decisions weigh many factors. And a convicted murderer isn’t gonna rise to the top of the list.”
Judge Durant nodded. “You may be right about that. But you’re asking for post-conviction relief. That’s extremely rare, and for good reason. If we start re-trying every verdict someone doesn’t like, every case will go on forever.”
“This is a special circumstance. We want to do right by this client. Because we genuinely believe him to have been wrongfully convicted.”
Judge Durant twisted around in his chair. “Don’t like this. Don’t like it one bit. There’s an established procedure for these things, and anytime we disrupt the natural order, we’re asking for trouble.”
“But what if we’re right?” Ben asked. “What if Donovan is innocent? Yes, we have established procedures, and all those procedures are designed to attain one goal. Fairness. Hard as we try, we do sometimes make mistakes. And that’s why we always leave the door a little bit ajar, always make it possible to correct an injustice.” Ben looked the judge straight in the eye. “Like this one.”
Judge Durant sat silently for several more moments. Dan sensed not so much indecision—he’d already made up his mind—but a reluctance to do what he knew needed to done.
Durant turned to Gary. “You can vouch for these two?”
“I can, your honor. I’ve moved that they be admitted to the local bar pro hac vice so they can work on this case. I’ll happily sponsor them.”
The judge turned to Dan and Ben. “You don’t have much time. We are not delaying the hearing.”
Dan nodded. “Understood, your honor. It’s not so much of a change as it seems. Donovan has always been a client of our firm. We’re just making in-house staffing reassignments. We’re partners in law.”
“More like partners in crime,” Chee murmured.
The judge thought another moment, then shook his head, making his jowls tremble. “All right. I’ll allow it. Just to be sure we haven’t made an unfortunate mistake. But I expect everyone to be ready as soon as I bang the gavel Monday morning.”
“Thank you, your honor. You won’t be sorry.”
“I already am.”
* * *
Dan led the party outside. “Congratulations, team. We’re back in the ballgame.”
Gary followed him through the revolving door. “That went much better than I expected.”
Ben winked. “Dan is an extremely persuasive litigator.”
“It did feel good to be arguing for a client again,” Dan said. “Doing something I’m good at.”
An Asian woman stepped in front of him, blocking his passage. She wore a dark suit, dark straight tie, and sunglasses.
“Excuse me,” he said. “I’m crossing here.”
The woman raised her hand. A second later, two men, similarly dressed, appeared beside and behind her. “You’re not going anywhere, Mr. Pike.”
Ok, not just a mugger. “You think you and your goons can stop me?”
She smiled thinly, then withdrew a small badge from her coat pocket. “I’m certain I can. FBI.”
* * *
Dan peered across the crappy metal table that separated him from his inquisitor, who he now knew was FBI Special Agent Courtney Zhang. She was slight in figure but came on like a powerhouse. Her hair was pulled back in a severe bun.
Even though Dan and Ben were perfectly willing to talk at the courthouse, Agent Zhang insisted on bringing them to the local FBI office. She let Gary go but insisted she wanted to talk to Ben and Dan. Separately.
Dan leaned across the metal table. It rocked. He was not surprised to learn that the legs were uneven. He suspected the feds shaved them. Just one more unsettling detail to throw the perp off-balance.
“Is this because my DA friend called an FBI friend?”
“Jazlyn’s report did move the case onto the front burner. She was trying to help.”
Dan nodded. No good deed goes unpunished...
“Let take this from the top,” Zhang said. She was the only officer in the room, though Dan felt certain others were watching through the obvious two-way mirror on the north wall. “What brings you to LA?”
“I’m a lawyer. I work for a firm. My boss wants me to handle a case here.”
“And when you refer to your boss, you’re talking about Benjamin Jonah Kincaid?”
“Didn’t know his middle name was Jonah. No wonder he has such bad luck.”
“So you have crossed the US to handle this case at the last possible moment?”
“I started crossing the country because my partner disappeared.”
She gave him a look that was...a smirk? A sneer? It was almost as if she was being playful. “You violated a direct law enforcement order to stay in St. Petersburg. Your partner has not been found. But instead of looking for her back home, you’re traveling to California to handle a motion for new trial with a near-zero chance of success?”
Dan shrugged. “I specialize in last chances.”
“Regular Don Quixote.”
“I have tilted at a few windmills in my time. What exactly are you investigating?” He paused. “You know the corpse in Gary’s office is just a dummy, right?”
Zhang gave him a withering look. “Yes, oddly enough, I can tell the difference. I’ve also seen pics of the corpse you left behind in Roswell. And I’ve read reports of your various car chases, barroom brawls, and gas-station assaults. Seems you boys have made quite an impression during your cross-country jaunt.”
Dan felt a thumping in his chest. Agent Zhang knew more than he realized. “The Roswell cops didn’t suspect us. They let us go.”
“Not that you would’ve listened if they’d asked you to stay.” Zhang opened her briefcase, then removed a file and a few color photos. She spread them across the table and pushed them his way.
“Gruesome scene, wasn’t it?”
Roswell. Dan had seen this before and didn’t need to see it again. “They thought it was a cartel rubout.”
“That’s certainly how it looks.” She narrowed her eyes. “A little too perfectly, don’t you think?”
“Possibly a frame.”
“If it was a frame, why did you follow the Ferrari to the biker bar?”
Dan gave her a long look. He could see she was enjoying this, trickling out what she knew bit by bit. “I was thirsty.”
“Before or after you decked a guy?”
“Both.”
Zhang leaned across the table till they were practically forehead-to-forehead. “Look, we know about the murders. All of them. We know someone grabbed your girl and now is out to get you, which is the only reason we don’t think you’re the murderer.”
“Thank you for that.”
“But you could well be associated with this cartel. Gang tries to establish a new location, sends a few boys to set it up, lives get lost. Roswell would be a great location for them. After Breaking Bad, drug dealers are afraid to go to Albuquerque. Too obvious.”
“I don’t know anything about this new Cartel 2.0. I’m just here to represent my client.”
“I’m going to stretch my legs a bit. Get some coffee. Have a smoke. I want you to think hard about this situation you’re currently in. Whether you’d like to make your court date. Whether you’d like to keep your law license. Whether you’d like to trade your hotel room for the jailhouse.”
She pushed out of her chair, which made a nerve-grating screech.
Dan did not budge. “You’re lying.”
She did a double-take. “Excuse me? That’s usually my line.”
“You’re not going for a smoke. You probably don’t smoke, judging by your fingers and teeth. When you leave here you’re going to whatever room you’ve got my pal Ben locked up in. You’ll give him the same routine. Try to wear him down. Then you’ll grab a friend so you can do good-cop-bad-cop and see who breaks first. Which will be neither of us. Because we haven’t done anything wrong.”
Her head bobbed. “Not bad, Mr. Pike. You’re smarter than you look.”
He decided not to return that compliment. “Ben won’t crack. He’s super-honest. Like, Cub-Scout-leader honest. Why do you think he created this huge legal network for clients who need lawyers? Because he’s one of those rare souls who actually cares about others enough to go the extra mile and spend some money to help them.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet.”
“He wants to get to the bottom of this, just like you do.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
Dan drew in his breath. “I suggest you let me outta here so I can figure out what really happened. 'Cause you aren’t even close.”
* * *
Ben was startled by the clanging of the metal door as it slammed against the barren wall.
Courtney Zhang, stood in the passageway, her arms akimbo. After a brief stare-down, she strode to the chair, turned it backward and sat astraddle, leaning toward the table with an imposing glare.
Ben sighed. Bad cop.
Zhang spoke through clenched teeth. “You think you’re pretty smart, don’t you?”
“If I were really smart, I wouldn’t be stuck in your office.”
“Do you have any idea how much trouble you’re in?”
“Since I haven’t committed a crime, I’m going to venture—none.”
“No crime? We know chapter and verse about you, buddy. And the string of injuries and crashed cars you’ve left behind you on this cut-rate Badlands cross-country trek.’
Hmm. She was more aware than he expected.
“You know,” she continued, “we talked to the guy you left behind at that gas station.”
“Cheyenne Pete?” Ben nodded. “He tried to kill Dan and me?”
“Why would he want to kill you?”
“Someone hired him.”
“To take you out?” She stared at him in disbelief. “So you’re Johnny Dangerous? ’Cause you look more like a book nerd.”
“Both could be true.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Was it the other guy? Pike? I don’t see you as mob muscle, but that other clown could do the job. Give me the goods on him. I’ll make it worth your while.”
Ben had to cover his mouth. She probably wouldn’t appreciate it if he laughed in her face. “You want me to rat out Dan? You’re playing one of us against the other? How stupid do you think we are?”
“Your pal gave me some very interesting information. I gotta tell you—it doesn’t look good for you.”
Ben just smiled. “Who’s lying now?”
She pounded her fists on the metallic table. “Stop screwing around. We’ve got you on major charges—assault and battery, road rage, maybe even murder. You’re looking at serious prison time if you don’t cooperate.”
“I am cooperating.”
“You haven’t told me a damn thing!”
“I’ve told you a lot. It just wasn’t what you wanted to hear.”
“If you’re still claiming you traveled all the way here for some case—”
“It’s the truth.”
“Did you consider a Zoom call? Would’ve saved you a lot of time and money.”
“You don’t take shortcuts when people’s lives are on the line.”
“Are you talking about the cartel?”
“You know, I keep hearing about a cartel, but I know next to nothing about it. I wonder if anyone does.”
“And yet, they want to kill you.”
“My friend helped take down a cartel in Florida. This may be retribution. Are you aware that they kidnapped his partner?”
“So he says. But I note that you and your pal are still fine and dandy. It’s just everyone around you who keeps disappearing.”
Ben pushed back from the table. There had to be a better way to do this. “I’ve always cooperated with law enforcement.”
“Is that why you stopped in McAlester to visit a pal in prison?”
“Dan’s pal, not mine. Dan thought he might have some useful information. And he did. He sent us to Roswell.”
“How convenient. Did he say who’s trying to kill you?”
“No.”
“Who do you think it is?”
Ben thought a moment. “I think someone seriously does not want our motion to succeed. Which makes me all the more determined to see that it does. May I make a suggestion or two?”
“I can’t stop you from talking.”
“First of all, cut the bad-cop act. You’re not scaring me.”
“Maybe solitary will change your mind.”
Ben rolled his eyes. “Second, tough though you are, my wife is sixteen times tougher and I’ve been living with her for a good long time. So you aren’t going to scare me. I’m immune.”
“I’d like to meet that woman.”
“You may get the opportunity, if you hold me much longer. And you will not enjoy it. So instead of acting as if we’re antagonists, why don’t we work together?”
“I don’t make deals with suspects.”
Ben waved his hands in the air. “Your funeral.”
“Maybe I should let you stew in jail for three or four days. You might be more talkative afterward.”
“You’re not going to lock me up.”
“You sure about that? You’ve planted a lot of suspicious seeds. Time for the harvest.”
“You don’t have probable cause. If you did, you’d have already read me my rights. Let me give you a tip, based upon my years of experience. Not everyone you encounter is an arch-felon. Sometimes cooperation is better than antagonism. And sometimes listening is more valuable than talking.”
“Gee whiz, I thought I was interrogating a criminal, but turns out I got a private audience with the Dalai Lama.”
Ben tucked in his chin but kept his mouth shut. Wait for it, he told himself. Five, four, three, two...
“Okay, just for laughs, how do you propose that we cooperate?”
“You let Dan and I go. We’ll investigate the Donovan case and find out what’s going on. If we learn anything about the cartel or the murders or anything else of value to you that does not violate attorney-client privilege, we will relay that information immediately. Basically, you’ll be getting two free investigators. It’s a win-win.”
“I’ve dealt with lawyers before. Anytime you want something, they claim it’s protected by privilege.”
“I have an ethical obligation to maintain client confidentiality and if I violate that, even for an FBI agent, I’ll be drummed out of the bar. But I won’t assert privilege unless it’s a valid claim.”
“So you say. I don’t know you from Adam.”
“I don’t know you from Eve. But I think you’re smart. And I think you know Dan and I aren’t murderers. So let us do what we came here to do. If this mysterious murderer is worried we’ll get Donovan off, he might make a mistake.”
“Or kill you,” Zhang suggested, still right up in his face.
“Yes, that would be the other possibility. But I’m not willing to stand by quietly and watch an innocent man die in prison for a crime he did not commit. Are you?”