Page 75 of The Best Lawyer
“Who did?” Tallon asked. “Can you please repeat what you just told me off the record?”
“Sure,” the voice said. “Katy was upset. I tried to be a friend. But one night she just started talking and wouldn’t stop. She told me she was still in love with her ex-husband, Joe. She saidshe wished she would have just followed her heart and stayed with him.”
“Joe Leary,” Tallon interjected. “You’re sure she was speaking about Joe Leary?”
“Yeah. That’s what she said. She said that she knew she had made a mistake. That she was originally gonna stick it out with Tom because he was the rich one. Well, she didn’t say rich. She said he was the one who was financially secure and could take care of her. She said she’s been poor before and just couldn’t go back to it. And she knew her ex … um … Joe … she knew he barely had two dimes to scrape together. But she definitely said Tom’s money was the reason she was still with him. But she was really wailing. Pining for this Joe. She said when she got through all this … you know, the trial. She said that she and Joe could finally be together.”
Eric stopped the playback. “She couldn’t possibly be this dumb,” Eric said. “Tallon has to be making this up.”
I clenched my jaw. “This is exactly the narrative Addison Quick wants the jury to believe.”
“Now what?” Eric said.
“First, I do what I said. I need to prepare Jeanie. Then, first thing in the morning, Katy and I need to have a talk. Tallon could be making this whole thing up. For all I know, that distorted voice was Tallon. Katy can’t seriously be this foolish, can she?”
Eric didn’t need to say it. We both thought about it. Katy had made very few decisions over the last two years that weren’t undeniably dumb.
Chapter 26
“Are you sure, kid?”That was all she asked me. I stood on Jeanie’s porch a few hours later. She invited me in but somehow I couldn’t take her up on it. The longer I had with her one-on-one, the harder it would be for me to keep a poker face and not tell her what was on my mind.
Jeanie was the person I would have normally used as a main sounding board for a problem like this. How could I protect both my brother and my client when doing so would damage both of them?
If this were anyone else, she would have said I told you so. This is exactly why lawyers shouldn’t represent family members. Why certain ethical rules exist in the first place. I walked right into this with my whole chest.
Hubris would be my downfall. It was me believing everything Katy and Joe said about me. She wanted the best lawyer in town. I had been the exact worst choice for everyone.
“I’m sure,” I said.
She didn’t ask any questions. Jeanie seemed to know instinctually not to. Because she knew me about as well as anyone did. I was just fifteen the first time she came into my life. She hadsavedmy life by saving my family. By keeping us together when the state was determined to pull Matty and Vangie into foster care and an uncertain future. Eric was right. Jeanie loved Joe as if he were her own son. She would fight to the death for him. For all of us. If she knew what I knew, she couldn’t serve Katy as we both vowed to do.
“Okay,” she said. “Does Katy know?”
“I thought I’d head to the jail next,” I said.
Jeanie nodded. “Miranda called me too. It’s bad, Cass. If Katy really said those things to someone, Quick’s got his motive. If he finds this source of Tallon Shipley’s, he’ll want to put them on the stand.”
“He’ll want worse than that,” I said. “He’ll use it as a way to cross-examine Katy withoutmeputting her on the stand.”
“Maybe I should go with you,” she said. “In fact, you don’t have a choice. I’m coming. We’ll go first thing tomorrow morning. I need some time to get my head straight. If I’m taking the lead on this case, maybe you shouldn’t be talking to her anymore at all.”
“I have to at least tell her I’m withdrawing face to face. But you’re right. We’ll go together.”
“Good,” Jeanie said, all business. “Pick me up at eight. And bring me two cups of coffee. Black.”
I saluted her. I was about to thank her again. To hug her. But Jeanie knew her assignment. There would be time for personal feelings later and forever. She was firmly Katy’s lawyer now. The more we talked about it, the less effectiveshe might be.
She gently closed her front door. I pulled my jacket around me. Early July, and we’d had an odd cold snap. It would only get up to sixty-five tomorrow, then be in the mid-nineties by the end of the week.
Katy hadn’t expectedto see us both. When I told her Jeanie would helm her defense, she didn’t seem surprised. That alone raised a red flag for me. Had Joe already gotten to her? Had they been in communication all along? He swore to me he’d stay away from her. But I felt I couldn’t trust anything he told me anymore when it came to this woman.
Jeanie played the snippet from Tallon Shipley’s podcast with the anonymous witness. Katy’s face changed color at least four times. First white, then red, then purple. Now, she settled into a mottled pink. She pulled at her hair, then her sleeve. A tear fell from her left eye. She had a myriad of physical reactions, but never once did she deny the story this witness had to tell.
“Who did you tell this to?” I asked.
Katy shook her head.
“You know what?” Jeanie said. “Maybe I don’t want to know. Did you say it? Did you say those things? Is that all true?”
