Stone Cold

Chapter Twenty

Alex left judge West’s chambers, her head still spinning. She’d just entered into a conspiracy with him to deprive Dwayne Reed of his right to due process, a fair trial, and faithful representation by counsel. And that was just for starters. Their conversation, even without more, violated a host of ethical canons and, if discovered, would cost them their careers.

She emerged from the courthouse, stopping at the top of the lengthy flight of stairs leading down to the street. The day had dawned warm and clear, staying that way as the sun climbed higher in the sky. She walked partway down the stairs, pausing to let the sun chase the chill in her bones.

She half expected to see a roiling, rumbling mass of black clouds steaming across the horizon, an ominous portent of things to come, but there was none of that. It was just a day. People going about their business, lawyers she recognized nodding and smiling as they passed her on their way into the courthouse. Their ritual greetings reminded her of the fellowship and sanctity of her profession, triggering a flash of doubt about what she’d agreed to do.

She’d defended many people who’d committed terrible crimes, some of whom had threatened her. There was nothing new in that. This should have been no different, but it was because of Bonnie, though Alex knew that Bonnie would insist she play by the rules rather than risk her career. She had to go back to Judge West’s chambers, tell him that it had all been a terrible mistake, and beg him to forget their conversation had ever happened.

She turned around but couldn’t take the first step. Dwayne Reed stood in her path.

“Oh!” was all she could manage, so startled that she began to fall backward and would have fallen to the ground if Dwayne hadn’t grabbed her by the arms.

“Hold on, now. I ain’t in the market for another lawyer just yet.”

He was wearing baggy jeans and a gray jersey. She pulled away, but he held on to her.

“Let me go, Dwayne.”

He released her, holding his hands up. “All right, then. Jus’ makin’ sure you ain’t gonna fall.”

Deputy Paulson would have taken Dwayne from the courthouse annex back to the jail and processed his release. Yet here he was standing behind her, meaning he had to have come from inside the main courthouse.

“What are you doing here?” Alex asked. “You should be on your way home by now.”

“Thought we needed to talk some more. I heard you tell that deputy that you had to be in court. Figured that’s where I’d find you.”

She panicked for a moment, worried that he’d seen her coming out of Judge West’s chambers, searching her memory, relieved that she didn’t have a mental picture of him in the hall.

“You went looking for me?”

“Best way I know to find somebody.”

He said it with a disarming grin. She knew who he was and what he was. She’d seen what he’d done-or what she suspected he’d done-to the Henderson family and heard how he’d threatened Bonnie. If she had to draw a picture of a nightmare, it would be a portrait of him. Yet there were moments like this when he gave a glimpse of humanity. She couldn’t tell whether it was real or a sociopath’s trick.

“What do you want to talk about? Did you change your mind about the plea bargain?”

His grin vanished. “I ain’t never gonna change my mind ’bout that shit.”

“Then what do you want to talk about?”

“I wanna make sure we unnerstan’ each other, you and me.”

“Understand about what?”

“What you gonna do.”

He’d rattled her, the way he’d appeared out of nowhere igniting a vision of him doing the same to Bonnie, only in the dark and for an unspeakable purpose. The image forced her to regain her composure and squelched any thought she might have had of reneging on her agreement with Judge West.

“I’m your lawyer, Dwayne. That’s what I do.”

“And you ain’t gonna tell nobody what I tell you. Not about Wilfred, not about nuthin’, no matter what I do.”

She looked up into his unforgiving eyes and realized that this moment was the next small step along the path she’d chosen. She could explain that the attorney-client privilege only went so far, that if he told her that he was going to commit a crime the privilege didn’t apply and she’d have to tell the police. Or not.

“That’s right. In fact, the more I know, the better I can do what I have to do. I’m like a priest. You can confess all your sins, even the ones you haven’t committed.”

He drew his head back. “Sins I ain’t committed?”

“Yes. Is there something on your mind, something you did or you’re going to do that I need to know about? Maybe something having to do with that promise you told me you had to keep?”

He came down to her step, clamping his hands on her shoulders, digging his fingers into her flesh, and leaned in, his mouth at her ear, his words clipped.

“That shit don’t concern you. Somethin’ goes down and I need you, I let you know. In the meantime, you keep your fuckin’ mouth shut ’bout my business.” She tried to turn away, but he grabbed her chin and forced her face back to his. “You a good lawyer. Don’t make me your last client. You feel me?”

He didn’t wait for her to answer, sauntering the rest of the way down the stairs without looking back. Tremors raced through her as she watched him go. She pressed her arms against her sides, anchoring her body, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly when she stopped quivering.

She’d had her phone on silent while she was in the courthouse. She opened it, checking to see whether Bonnie had replied to her text. When she saw that Bonnie hadn’t responded, she started to dial her number but stopped when the phone rang. It was Tommy Bradshaw.

“I got your text. Tell your client that the deal is off the table-permanently,” he said. “And tell him that I’m going to make it my personal mission in life to nail his ass and watch him get the needle.”

Any other time on any other case, Bradshaw’s comments would have pissed her off. She’d have fired back, telling him to save his threats for someone who gave a shit. But not this time. Her battle wasn’t with Bradshaw.

“I’ll do that. Did you talk to Mitch Fowler about putting Rossi on Dwayne?”

Bradshaw cleared his throat, and when he answered, the fire had gone out of his voice. “Yeah, about that. Fowler says he needs Rossi on the investigation.”

“Jesus, Tommy! Doesn’t Fowler realize that Dwayne is part of the investigation?”

“Take it easy, Alex. Of course he does, but he wants Rossi tracking down leads and putting the case together, not babysitting Dwayne.”

“I’m not going to take it easy! What’s going to happen to Bonnie?”

“Nothing. When I told Fowler that Dwayne had threatened her, he agreed to have a patrol car go by your house at night. Sorry, but that’s the best I could do.”

She closed her phone without thanking him, convinced that the best he could do was nothing more than another way of saying the system sucked. All she could think of was Bonnie and what Dwayne had promised to do to her.

Her fear for Bonnie’s safety had wedged its way into her heart and mind alongside the still fresh horror from the slaughter of the Henderson family. As sickened and outraged as she was by their murders, there was nothing she could do to salvage their lives.

Not so with Bonnie. Bradshaw’s promise to send Dwayne to death row did little to reassure her when she thought about two things Judge West had told her. Nothing in life is guaranteed, even in his courtroom, and, if he was convicted, it would be ten years before Dwayne was executed. In an uncertain world, she was now certain of one thing. Ten years was too long to wait.