Alex’s stomach clenched. “What do you mean if you do it again? Do what?”
“What needs doin’.”
She never asked her clients if they were guilty, because that question depended as much on the facts as on the law. She did ask them what happened, letting them tell her as much or as little as they chose, knowing that they would lie until there was an advantage to telling the truth.
Dwayne had denied killing Wilfred Donaire from the moment she met him, never wavering even though he didn’t have an alibi. But now she had to break her rule and ask Dwayne the ultimate question.
“Are you telling me that you murdered Wilfred Donaire?”
He grinned. “Jury say I didn’t do it. That good enough for me, and I know all about that double jeopardy and attorney-client privilege shit. No way they can come back on me now, and no way you can tell nobody nuthin’. So here’s what’s what. Nigger disrespected me. Can’t let that shit slide.”
Alex struggled with her clients’ guilt or innocence in every case, compartmentalizing her judgment because it didn’t matter and would only make her job harder if she believed they were guilty. She’d struggled even more with Dwayne’s case, her gut convincing her that he was guilty when the evidence couldn’t. His confession left her holding on to a parking meter, breathless, faint, and speechless.
“Hey,” Dwayne said. “Don’t be like that. You good at your job, damn good. You saved my ass. I owe you for that. So long as you don’t tell nobody nuthin’, we’re cool. You tell anybody what I say, well, then, that be a serious muthafuckin’ problem. You feel me?”
He didn’t wait for a response, knowing that the question was more important than the answer. She watched him walk away, disappearing around the corner. When he was gone, she collapsed to her knees, hands braced on the curb, and threw up in the street.
From behind, she felt a hand on her shoulder steadying her and then helping her up. It was Rossi.
“You all right?” he asked.
Alex wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Yeah. Just a little wobbly. Must have been something I ate.”
“That’s bullshit and we both know it. What happened? Did Dwayne find a conscience and confess, or was he just gloating that you got his guilty ass off?”
She pulled away from his supporting hand, straightening. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Tell you the truth, it would make me sick too. But I’m willing to take that chance. Tell me what he said.”
“Did you forget about attorney-client privilege?”
“Fuck that, Counselor. We’re out here on the street, middle of the night, not another soul in sight. Can’t get much more off the record than that. Besides, we can’t charge him again even if he stood on the courthouse steps and shouted for all the world to hear that he murdered Wilfred Donaire.”
“That’s not what the jury found. Why do you think Kyrie Chapman forced Jameer Henderson to testify against Dwayne?”
“Who knows? And it doesn’t matter because it doesn’t prove Dwayne didn’t do it,” Rossi said.
“I didn’t have to prove Dwayne was innocent. Only that there was reasonable doubt.”
“I was there for your closing argument. You said Kyrie killed Wilfred and used Jameer Henderson to lay it off on Dwayne.”
“And the jury bought it.”
“And it’s a load of crap. It’s more likely that Jameer was telling the truth about Dwayne. Kyrie found out what Jameer knew and made him testify against Dwayne.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Who the fuck knows? Maybe he had a beef with him and maybe it was just his idea of fun.”
“Except Jameer said Kyrie told him what to say, not the other way around.”
Rossi shrugged. “Like I said. It doesn’t change a thing for me. Dwayne was guilty, and if you didn’t know it before the jury verdict, you sure as hell know it now.”
Alex took a deep breath, her stomach still churning. “You’ll never hear that from me.”
Rossi smiled. “I already did. Your statement is lying there in the street. ” He touched his finger to his forehead, giving her a mini-salute. “Have a nice day, Counselor.”
Chapter Nine
A week went by and then another and nothing terrible happened to Jameer Henderson or his family. Alex knew that because she drove by their house each morning on her way to work and again on her way home at the end of the day, finding an excuse to swing by on the weekends. What began as an impulse born in a moment of panic became a ritual that eased her worry.
Though checking the Hendersons’ house was reassuring, she began to fear what might happen if she broke her routine, that her daily drive down their block was all that stood between the Henderson family and catastrophe.
Two weeks into her routine, she saw Detective Rossi parked across the street in his unmarked car. She felt her burden lighten for a moment, glad that she wasn’t alone in her vigil, until she realized that Rossi wasn’t there to protect Jameer Henderson. He was there because he was hoping Dwayne Reed would go after Jameer Henderson, and when he did, Rossi would be there. She slowed as she passed him, exchanging nods, Rossi giving her another salute.
“You’ve got to stop driving by the Hendersons’ house,” Bonnie said after she came home that day.
“Why? I’m not bothering anyone.”
They were doing the dinner dishes. Bonnie cooked, Alex cleaned, and Quincy got to keep anything that fell on the floor or was left too close to the edge of the table.
“You have to stop because you’re getting obsessed. You’re practically stalking them.”
“How can I be stalking them? I haven’t seen a single one of them. At first I thought I was going by too early in the morning. Since it’s still summer and the kids are out of school, I figured they were sleeping in. But I’ve left the office early a few times and I’ve never seen them playing in the yard. And the blinds are always down on all the windows.”
Bonnie looked at her, eyebrows arched. “And that’s not stalking?”
“Okay, maybe a little bit. But it’s not enough for a restraining order. Still, it’s weird that I haven’t seen any of them.”
“So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying they’re afraid to leave the house.”
“Afraid of who? Dwayne Reed or Kyrie Chapman?”
“Either one or both.”
“If Dwayne had nothing to do with Jameer’s testimony, aren’t you worried he’ll go after Chapman? Why aren’t you checking up on him?”
“Oh, spare me, Bonnie. Jameer and his family are the victims here. I’m not going to lose any sleep over Kyrie Chapman.”
“So it’s okay if Dwayne kills Chapman but it’s not okay if he kills Jameer?”
Alex wrung out her sponge and threw it on the counter. “Of course not! That’s not what I meant!”
“But it’s what you implied. Look, in the ER we don’t care who the patient is. We only care about what’s wrong with them and how can we make them better.”
“My world isn’t the ER. Right and wrong, guilt and innocence matter. No matter how you slice it, Kyrie Chapman is one of the bad guys. Jameer Henderson is one of the good guys, and I helped put him in harm’s way.”
Bonnie sighed, unable to dissuade Alex. “Jameer has to work. You said he’s a barber. Have you tried his shop?”
“I drove by a couple of times, but I couldn’t get a clear look inside.”
“Talk to that detective, what’s his name, Rose or something like that. You said he’s still going after Dwayne.
