Wrong Turn (29 page)

‘So you’re not rearresting Martha Sherman?’

‘Of course not.’ Reed said.

‘Because the person who wanted you to arrest her has now been rendered financially impotent?’ Lucinda asked, hoping somehow she was reaching the wrong conclusion.

‘I hate that word.’

‘What?’

‘Impotent. It makes my skin crawl.’

Lucinda dropped her head and shook it. He’s such an ass, she thought.

‘Hey,’ Reed said, ‘give me credit. I’m doing the right thing.’

Lucinda blew a sharp gust of air through her lips. ‘But for all the wrong reasons, Reed. You’re hopeless,’ she said, turning to leave.

‘Oh, wait. One more thing.’

Lucinda hesitated before turning back around. Did she really need or want to hear his political excuses any longer? ‘What, Reed?’

‘Phillips. Chris Phillips. We got a plea bargain worked out.’

Lucinda felt nauseous. What had he done now? She steeled herself for the worst bargain with a killer she could imagine and then realized she probably couldn’t conceive of how bad it could get. ‘OK, tell me, how soon is he going to get out?’

‘Oh, ye of little faith . . .’

‘Oh, please, you’re quoting from scripture now? How bad is it?’

‘You gotta let me start from the beginning,’ Reed said, bouncing on his toes.

Lucinda shrugged and sighed. ‘Go ahead.’

‘At first, I said I was going for the death penalty and the lawyer thought I was bluffing. But then I led him to believe I had enough evidence to charge him with first degree murder in the death of wife number one. And two murders and an attempted murder – with financial motives one and all – add up to the death penalty.’

‘You just led him to believe? So you lied, what else?’

‘As I suspected, Phillips panicked over that possibility. The lawyer came back with a counter-offer. Twenty years minus time served.’

Lucinda ran the math in her head. With good behavior, he’d be out in seven years. ‘Oh, no . . .’

‘No, no, no, no, no! I didn’t agree to that. I came back with life without parole if he pled guilty to the death of wife number three. And, then I added – you’ll like this – I said he had to admit in open court that he was responsible for the death of wife number one and the assault on wife number two.’

‘You know these women have names?’ Lucinda snapped.

‘Of course, of course. Numbers are easier to keep straight. Anyway, the lawyer objected strongly to that. He said that they’d take their chances at trial if I didn’t include the possibility that he’d get out of prison one day.’

‘So of course you went along with that?’ Lucinda said.

‘Yeah, but wait, it gets better. I threw in something else. I said, OK, a life sentence with the possibility of parole and his willing agreement not to fight the permanent termination of his parental rights.’

That’s something, Lucinda thought. ‘And then?’

‘I said I’d leave them alone to talk it over. And reminded them that if they didn’t agree to that offer, then I could put the death penalty back on the table. I said if a jury found him guilty of two murders, even if he didn’t get death, he would surely get two consecutive life sentences. The lawyer accused me of bluffing again but I just shrugged and walked away.’

‘So it’s still up in the air?’

‘No, they called me back in an hour. There must be something out there that can prove Phillips murdered wife number one and whatever that is, Phillips thinks I found it. His attorney said that he decided to accept the offer because – and you’ll just love the piety of this one – he said that Phillips accepted because he didn’t want to put his son through the ordeal of testifying against him on the stand. Can you believe it?’

‘Sure, Reed, a lot of people do the right things for all the wrong reasons.’

‘Oh, you’re back to that now. What’s wrong with you? Everything turned out like you wanted and you’re still giving me a hard time? I just don’t get it.’

‘No, I don’t doubt that, Reed,’ she said, walking away.

‘Wait. I still don’t understand your problem,’ he objected.

‘And you probably never will.’

W
ith Chris Phillips back in prison, Mack Rogers dead, Charley cleared of wrongdoing and Martha Sherman rebuilding her life, the only case hanging over Lucinda’s head was the assault charge filed against her sister-in-law by her sister. There was not a thing she could do to influence the progress of that situation and no telling when it would be resolved. She knew there’d never be a better time for her to take an extended absence from work. Not being able to hang on to the ‘middle-of-the-case’ excuse, she succumbed to the pressure from Charley, Jake and Rambo Burns and scheduled another surgery despite her misgivings.

When the doorbell rang two days later, Chester ducked behind the sofa and peered around the corner, his eyes on the apartment door. Lucinda opened it to Jake and three suitcases.

‘Good grief, Jake, you need all that for one week?’

‘No. You’re on leave for a month. I’m here for a month. I only have ten days of leave and after that I’ll have to go back to work but I’ll still be here evenings and weekends to run errands and keep an eye on your recovery.’

‘Jake, that isn’t necessary.’

‘Maybe not for you. But it is for me. I need to be here, Lucy.’

‘Jake, I don’t want you to feel obligated . . .’

‘I don’t feel obligated, Lucy. I feel committed. How about you?’

Lucinda turned away. ‘One step at a time, Jake.’

As they lugged his suitcases into the apartment, Jake asked, ‘If you moved out of this place what would you miss the most?’

Lucinda set the suitcase she was carrying on the floor at the entrance to the hallway and went into the kitchen and got out a bottle of wine while she considered the question. ‘I’d have to say the view of the river – it soothes me and gives me a sense of grounding to the earth.’

‘I guess finding another place with a river view would have to be a priority for you then.’

Lucinda had a suspicion that this conversation was leading someplace she was not ready to go, but it was best not to acknowledge her awareness and force him to be more direct or drop the subject entirely. Pouring two glasses of wine, she said, ‘That or the pounding surf.’

‘You’re not going to get that here. So if you stayed here in town, what would be your ideal place?’

‘The Spencer condo – or something like it with a balcony jutting out over the river and that is way out of my reach.’

‘If we pooled our resources, we could get something a bit smaller but with the balcony over the river that you like.’

Lucinda swallowed hard and reached for one of his bags. ‘Well, let’s get your stuff put away in the bedroom. I hope we can find a place to put everything. I only cleared out one dresser drawer and the closet isn’t the biggest. As you know, I stretched my budget a bit to afford this place and . . .’ she rambled on.

Jake placed a hand on Lucinda’s forearm. ‘Hey, it’s OK. Relax. One day at a time works fine for now. No pressure. I promise.’

Under Chester’s watchful eyes, they managed to find a place to stow Jake’s clothing and toiletries. To Lucinda’s relief, the empty suitcases slid easily underneath the bed.

‘OK,’ Jake said, ‘how about we go get some dinner, maybe catch a movie. We can’t stay out too late. You need to get a good night’s sleep before your surgery tomorrow.’

Lucinda looked into his eyes, a smile on her face.

‘What?’ Jake asked.

‘First things, first, Mr Special Agent man,’ she said, grabbing his hand and leading him towards the bed.