Page 90 of The Best Lawyer
She shook her head. “Not happening, Cass. I know you want to talk to me. I want to talk to you. But it’s happening on my terms. We won’t go far, but I’m in control.”
“Or what?” I said, my tone dark.
“Or I drive off and you never see me again.”
“We can do this at my office then,” I said. “Were you following me?” The second I said it, I knew that wasn’t it. There was a reason Josie had waited so long to come to the door. She probably tipped Tallon off as soon as I pulled into her driveway.
Another car had pulled in behind her. The driver laid on his horn. Every pump had a line of cars waiting. Gas had shot down a dollar a gallon since yesterday morning.
I wanted to tell Tallon off. But she was right that I needed to talk to her. Right now, she was the best lead we had as to what might have really happened to Tom Loomis. And she’d made things personal, putting Emma in the middle.
“Fine,” I said. Against my better judgment, I did what she asked. I parked my car in front of the fast food place. I climbed into her passenger seat and she drove away.
Shamrock Park was just two blocks away. Tallon pulled into its gravel lot. There weren’t many people here. Just a few moms with their preschool-age kids at the swing sets and dinosaur slide. There were a handful of others running the trails leading off into the woods. No one paid the slightest attention to us.
“You should have told me who you really are,” I said. “I know about you and Tom Loomis. I know your real name is Theresa Sheffield.”
I’ll admit, I took satisfaction in the shocked look on her face.
“How …”
I turned to her. “You want me to reveal my sources? Then it’s time you revealed yours. And it’s time you told the truth to the police.”
She recovered quickly, her face breaking into a smile. “You think I care about the cops? Not one bit. I haven’t broken any laws.”
“You’ve been lying about who you are and your connection to a murder victim. Were you in love with him? Did you think he wanted you back? Did you pressure him into talking to his divorce lawyer?”
Again, surprise colored her expression. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Do you think I had something to do with what happened to Tom? Wait. You think I killed him?”
I didn’t answer.
“I didn’t come here to confess any sins to you, Cass. That’s not why we need to talk. I think you’re the only one with something to confess.”
Now I was surprised. She waited for me to say something. I didn’t.
“Look,” she continued. “We both want the same thing. The truth about what really happened to Tom. That’s all I’ve ever been after. You’re accusing me of lying. I haven’t. I just didn’t tell anyone I had a connection to Tom. Yet. But that’smytruth to tell. When I’m ready. When it serves my best interests and nobody else’s. I’m done covering for anyone. Including Tom.”
My mind raced. What could she think she was covering up for Tom? What happened between them back in Detroit? And why had she waited until now to talk about it?
“Is this about ratings?” I asked. “Revenge?”
“It’s about the truth,” she barked. “Everyone in this whole case is lying. Including you.”
“I don’t know what you want from me,” I said. “You’re the liar. You’re a material witness in this case. You could be charged with obstruction of justice at the least. If you had something to do with what happened to Tom, then it’s time to come clean. You know I have to tell them what I know.”
She laughed. “Right. Because Katy’s your client. Because it’s your duty to protect her. Are you going to pretend you didn’t just withdraw from the case? Of course you won’t admit why. Pretty convenient of you to hide behind attorney-client privilege. It’s brilliant, actually. How you haven’t been brought up on obstruction charges yourself is the real shocker here.”
“What is it that you think you know?” I asked.
“Come on. The cops and lawyers in this town might actually be too dumb to figure it out, but I’m not. There’s only one reason you would have agreed to represent Katy Loomis. And it’s the same reason you hung her out to dry in the middle of her trial. Because you know who really killed Tom. You’ve been protecting him all along. Your brother Joe killed him and Katy was in on it. You’ve been trying to protect and cover for Joe this whole time. And I know I’m this close to proving it.”
My head spun. “It’s a nice story,” I said, not giving her the satisfaction of sensing any alarm from me. “If it were true. Do you want to know what I think? I think you’ve decided to hide in plain sight. The only thing I can’t quite figure out is whether you really thought Tom loved you, or whether you just wanted him to pay for rejecting you. Were you jealous that he married Katy? Did you go there that morning with the intent to kill her and it didn’t work out?”
She didn’t react how I thought she would. Not with fear or surprise. Instead, she rolled her eyes and reached across me to open her glove box. She pulled out a folded stack of paper and put it in my lap.
“I figured there was an outside chance I’d have to prove it,” she said. “Read it for yourself.”
I picked up the papers. It was a flight itinerary. Flight 1042 out of Tampa, Florida. It left at 6:18 in the morning of March 14th and landed in Detroit at 9:13 a.m.
