Page 97 of The Best Lawyer
“Even if it means Katy is that much more likely to be found guilty?”
“She isn’t. I know it.”
“Do you?” I asked. “Because right now there’s nobody else. You weren’t there. Every other lead I’ve tried to track down was a dead end. There was nobody else in that house that morning but Katy, Joe.”
“Which means you still don’t trust me or my judgment. You still think you know better than everyone else. I’m telling you she couldn’t have done this. Now, I think you better leave.”
The air grew thick around us. My heart shattered. Joe and I had our differences. We were brother and sister. We fought. We reconciled. We had each other’s backs. Until today.
As I left Joe’s house, I knew things might never be the same between us again.
Chapter 33
I was numb.Speechless. Ten o’clock at night and I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. I wasn’t hungry now but Eric insisted. We sat at the drive-through window at the closest burger place to my house. I stared at the menu for almost five minutes before Eric finally just doubled his own order. He handed the soggy paper bag to me along with two chocolate milkshakes. I popped a straw into one. It tasted better than it should have.
I didn’t want to go home. I didn’t want to go back to the office. We ended up at the community boat launch, watching the full moon reflected in the black waves of Finn Lake.
Earlier, I’d filled both Eric and Jeanie in on what Emma had told me and my disastrous confrontation with Joe. It turned out after I left the office, Emma had broken down to Jeanie.
Of everything I was angry about, that might have been the worst of it. Emma shouldn’t have had to feel such guilt over what Joe did on her behalf.
“She never asked him,” I said to Eric. I popped a wilted French fry into my mouth. “She never bloody well asked him to do any of this and now she’s gotta carry the guilt of what could happen if he gets burned for it.”
Eric slurped his milkshake. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. Regardless of the lunacy of what he did, I think Joe accomplished what he set out to.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, what’s the point now? Sure, like we said before. When Joe’s lie seemed suspicious, maybe it would have helped Katy to put him on the stand. Now, all it would accomplish is blowing up Emma’s life. Joehasa solid alibi. The idiot had one all along. Nothing he can say will help Katy anymore. Plus, he’s right about something. You forget how well I know Sharon. She’s got blinders on when it comes to that son of hers. He’s a good kid, don’t get me wrong. But Sharon puts the hell in helicopter mom. Had she known about Emma’s pregnancy, she would have tried to interfere. She might not like Emma or anyone named Leary, but if Emma had given birth to her grandchild, Sharon would have come after her. She would have waged a custody battle.”
“She could have tried,” I said. “I’d have slit her throat.”
My heart sank. It was an awful choice of words.
“Anyway,” Eric said. “There’s just nothing that could be accomplished by dragging either Joe or Emma into this now. They truly had nothing to do with Tom’s murder. Plus, Sharon DePaul is the last person who’s going to want this thing coming out in court.”
“Katy,” I sighed. “I don’t know, Eric. I just don’t know what to think anymore. She’s out of time. Tomorrow, Quick’s going toput that jailhouse witness on the stand. Katy’s admissions against her own interests aren’t hearsay. Quick’s got a legitimate legal argument about not having knowledge of these statements beforehand. It’s going to be the last thing the jury hears. There’s no other viable suspect. The way Tom died was as brutal as it gets. They’re going to convict her. And the thing is, maybe she deserves it.”
He raised a brow. “You really believe that?”
I shook my head. “I honestly don’t know anymore. And the things Joe said …”
“He probably didn’t mean half of them. I know how you Learys get when your temper’s up. I think everybody needs to go to their neutral corners. Let the dust settle. You’ve had worse battles than this.”
I wasn’t sure he was right. “He threw the fact that we don’t have kids in my face. The worst part is he’s probably right. My love for Emma can’t be the same as his. I love her with all my heart. I’d kill and die for her. But she’s not my daughter. I’ve never wanted one of my own. Lord, even less now.”
He fished for loose fries in his own crumpled paper bag. I gave him the rest of mine.
“I don’t think I could handle the worry that comes with it,” he said.
I nodded. “Joe, Matty, Vangie. Emma, Jessa, now Sean and Henry and whoever’s about to come along. It keeps me up at night worrying about all of them sometimes.”
He smiled. “Well, it’s not like they haven’t given you cause.”
“But she didn’t trust me enough to come to me,” I said. “Joe said I was making it about me. I guess he’s right about that too. But I could have tried.”
“How? By working things out with Sharon privately? Look, I’m not in any way defending what Joe did. Of all people, I’m never going to condone somebody lying to the cops in the middle of a murder investigation. Misguided as it was, I understand Joe’s logic. That’s all I’m saying.”
It killed me to admit it even to myself. But so did I. That said, I wouldneveradmit it to Joe.
