The Whole Truth (40 page)

“That's a little harsh.”

“Is it? I saw her at Starbucks one day, hanging out with a bunch of lowlifes.”

“How did you know they were lowlifes?”

“Come on.”

“What happened to the presumption of innocence?”

He ignored the dig. “Where do they go, these two? They go to concerts — who knows what kind of music these bands are playing. The lyrics. Have you heard some of the lyrics out there?”

“Is this from the man who used to be a poet?”

“Hey, we didn't write anything like they're doing today.”

“You know who you sound like?”

“Who?”

“Our parents.”

“That's depressing.” Sam went to the living room and plopped on the sofa.

“Don't pick up the remote,” Linda said.

He picked up the remote. “I'm just going to check the news.”

Linda snatched the remote from his hand, sat next to him. “I'm just as concerned about our daughter as you are. So we need to talk about how to handle this. We need to be together when Heather gets home.”

“We have to rehearse? Is this a play or something?”

“It's called parenting.”

Sam shook his head. “I think I've got it figured out.”

“What?”

“Parenting.”

“Oh, do you? Pray tell, what's the secret?”

“Lowering your standards,” he said.

Linda hit him with a pillow.

Sam put his head back on the sofa. “You're right.”

“Hm?”

“It is complicated, isn't it? I mean, I'm in the delivery room one day and out comes this innocent little package.”

“Yes, I was there too.”

“Innocent and pure and it's the greatest experience of my life. And I say to myself, I'm going to protect her and love her and be there for her, and when she's little she can't get enough of me. Then one day she turns thirteen and it's like some mad scientist flips a switch in her brain.”

Linda stroked his arm. “It's called growing up.”

“It's called the pits on a platter, is what it's called. I feel like an innocent bystander. I was standing there, trying to love her like always, and now I'm being shut out of her life.”

“As my mom used to say, this too shall pass.”

Sam felt the mild pressure of tears behind his eyes. “I just want her to be happy. I want her to make the right choices. I want — ”

“Sam?”

“What?”

“What you want is to make it all happen yourself.”

“No — ”

Linda sat up. “I know you. It's good what you want for her, but you can't make it happen. You have to let God in on this.”

“Like I don't know that?”

“But do you?”

“Sure I do.”

She gave him the
come on now
look, but not the remote.

4.

In the study, Sam tried to get thoughts of Heather out of his head by preparing for tomorrow's deposition. It would be the crucial moment in the Harper case. His questioning of the expert who would testify that the emergency-room doctor had not made a terribly wrong diagnosis would set the stage for everything to come.

In a medical malpractice case, the testimony of experts was the key to the trial, because juries looked upon them as the high priests. Most jurors, in a medical emergency, would be willing to entrust their lives even to an unknown doctor. They entertained a willing suspension of belief that a doctor might be subject to the imperfections of mere mortals.

Lawyers who sued doctors, on the other hand, were often seen as bottom-feeders, responsible for everything from higher insurance premiums to acute acne.

Sam knew he would have a double burden if the case went to trial. In his opening statement, he planned to face the issue head-on. He would be up front with the jurors about tort reform and frivolous lawsuits.

Last trial he had, in fact, he'd asked the jurors on
voir dire
if any of them disagreed with the proposition that most lawyers are greedy ambulance chasers
.
Only a seventy-year-old grandmother, whose son was the DA of Kern County, raised her hand. But Sam walked through that door to elicit pledges that the jurors would treat the case before them with an open mind.

And although he'd won that case, for a fifteen-year-old boy who broke his neck diving into a river at an unsafe resort, the experts from the other side almost swayed the jury the other way.

Which was why the deposition of the experts was so important. If they came off as credible and competent, the basis of liability could disappear like a dandelion in the wind.

So Sam went over his questions carefully, designing them to build in a solid, inexorable fashion. He'd have to be on every one of his toes, because Larry Cohen, the insurance company's lawyer, would protect the doctor with every bit of legal firepower at his disposal.

Cohen was a near legend in the litigation community. At sixty-one, with a full head of silver hair and the frame of a football player — he'd been a standout linebacker at Colorado State —Cohen had not lost a case in twenty years.

It was Sam's hope that by undermining Cohen's expert in the depo, the Harper case could be settled for a fair amount. Then everyone would be happy — Lew, the Harpers, even Cohen himself, for it would be another file off his desk and wouldn't count as a loss in court.

Two hours flew by like two minutes. The only interruption was Max, his twelve-year-old. Max still liked to give his old man hugs before going to bed, and Sam took every one. Who knew how long that would last? In a few months Max would turn thirteen, and then what? Would the same mad professor that got to Heather flip a switch in his son's brain too?

How he prayed not.

Sam took a break at ten thirty and jumped online. He scanned the headlines at Google News, then made a quick stop at his email.

In the middle of the list he saw another message from Nicky Oberlin.

Hey man, just following up. Hope you got my email! We have
GOT TO get together, my friend! Don't let me down! Call me
now!

A faint queasiness rolled through his stomach. A feeling, ever so slight, that he was being pushed. Sam never like being pushed.

He deleted the message, hoping this would be the last time he would hear from Nicky Oberlin.

Still, his eyes lingered on the screen for a long moment after the message vanished into the ether, as if another of its kind would suddenly appear, only this one not so friendly.

Presumed Guilty

James Scott Bell,
Bestselling Author of
Breach of Promise

Murder, betrayal, and a trial that feeds a media frenzy.

Can one woman stand against the forces that threaten to tear her family apart?

Pastor Ron Hamilton's star is rising.

His 8,000-strong church is thriving. His good looks and charisma make him an exceptional speaker on family values. And his book on pornography in the church has become an unexpected bestseller. Everything is perfect.

Until a young woman's body is discovered in a seedy motel room. The woman is a porn star. And all the evidence in the murder points to one man: Ron.

With the noose tightening around her husband's neck, Dallas Hamilton faces a choice: believe the seemingly irrefutable facts—or the voice of her heart. The press has already reached its verdict, and the public echoes it. But Dallas is determined to do whatever it takes to find the truth.

And then a dark secret from Dallas's past threatens to take them all down.

As the clock ticks toward Ron's conviction and imprisonment, and an underworld of evil encircles her, Dallas must gather all her trust in God to discover what really happened in that motel room … even if it means losing faith in her husband forever.

Softcover: 0-310-25331-4

Audio Download, Unabridged: 0-310-27819-8

Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!

No Legal Grounds

James Scott Bell,
Bestselling Author of
Presumed Guilty

How far will a man go to protect his family?

Attorney Sam Trask will go farther than he ever dreamed, even in his worst nightmare. Because his worst nightmare is about to come true .…

At age forty-seven, attorney Sam Trask finally seems to have his life in order. The dark years of too much drinking and all-consuming ambition have given way to Christian faith. His marriage is strong again. Everything seems finally on the right track.

Then a voice from the past comes back to say hello.

Suddenly Sam faces a danger more real than he ever imagined—danger from someone who will not rest until Sam's life comes crashing down around him. Desperate, Sam seeks protection from the law he's served all his life. But when the threats are turned on his family, and the law seems powerless to protect them, Sam must consider a choice that strikes at the heart of his life and faith—whether to take the law into his own hands.

Softcover: 0-310-26902-4

Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!

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