'We have a problem,' Amanda told him as soon as they were connected. 'Mike Greene wants to reopen your bail hearing.'
'How can he do that? The judge already ruled I could stay out.'
'Mike has a witness who can corroborate April Fairweather's testimony.'
'Who?' Daniel asked, alarmed.
'Did you call Renee Gilchrist after you heard Arthur Briggs's message on your answering machine?'
Daniel's face fell. 'Oh, shit.'
'I take it that's a yes?' Amanda said sharply. Daniel could tell that she was upset and disappointed in him. 'It would have been nice if you'd let me know that there was a land mine right in front of us.'
'I knew they'd interviewed Renee once. I didn't figure they would talk to her again.'
'Well, they did. Someone dropped a dime on you.'
'What's that mean?'
'An anonymous caller told Zeke Forbus to ask Gilchrist about a call you made to her on the day Briggs was shot. She told Forbus that you said Briggs wanted to meet that evening at the cottage where he was killed to talk about the Insufort case.'
Daniel felt sick. 'Greene let me go at the cemetery. He saw my head wound. I thought he was convinced that I'm innocent.'
'No. He just had some reservations about last night's shooting, and Forbus is still certain that you killed Arthur Briggs. He's the one who's pushing Mike. Now tell me what happened with Renee Gilchrist.'
'I couldn't figure out why Briggs wanted to see me,' Daniel said, 'so I called to talk to him. Only he'd left. So I asked Renee if she knew about a new development in the Insufort case that involved me. When she asked why I wanted to know, I told her about Briggs's call.'
'You know what you said to her is admissible as an exception to the hearsay rule because you're the defendant,' Amanda said. 'The judge can consider your statements as proof that you intended to meet with Briggs.'
'Do you think that's enough to change Judge Opton's decision on bail?'
'Come on, Daniel, be smart about this. Bail could end up being the least of our problems.'
When Kate walked into her house, Daniel was sitting on the couch in the dark. One look told her that something was wrong.
'What happened?' she asked.
Daniel told her about Amanda Jaffe's call.
'I don't think Renee's testimony will be enough to convince the judge to deny bail,' Kate said. 'They still can't prove that you killed Briggs. The best they can do is place you at the crime scene.'
'Renee can also corroborate Fairweather's testimony about my argument with Briggs after he fired me.'
'How did things go with Cummings?' Kate asked to change the subject.
'I can prove that Flynn got a call from Gene Arnold,' Daniel answered without looking at her. 'Alice Cummings was in Flynn's office when Arnold called. She even remembers Arnold's name.'
'That's great!'
'Yeah.'
Daniel should have been thrilled, but he sounded depressed.
'What's going on, Dan?' Kate asked with concern.
'When we bring down Flynn, we'll also be destroying his suit against Geller.'
'So? The suit shouldn't have been brought in the first place.'
'But Flynn convinced Alice Cummings that it should. She lives in this tiny apartment. She has nothing. Her son, Patrick, desperately needs medical attention, and he's not going to get it because of us.'
Kate sat on the couch next to Daniel.
'Remember, I told you that my sister went through this with her baby? She's a good person and no one knows why her baby was born the way it was. And remember what you told me about life being unfair, about bad things happening to people for no reason? It's true. We have to accept that, even when it's hard, even when we need something to rail against. Insufort is not responsible for Patrick's birth defect, and the courts aren't always the right place to go for help.'
'I still feel like I robbed that poor woman. I used her to get at Flynn. The end result is that I'll be killing her dreams and Patrick's future.'
'You have to bring down Flynn. He's a murderer.'
'That doesn't make me feel any better.'
Kate put her arms around Daniel. 'Don't get down on yourself, Daniel. You're a good man. I can see how hard this is for you, but we're so close. Don't fold when we're almost there.'
Daniel sighed. 'I'm okay. I just wish-'
Kate put a fingertip to his lips. 'Don't,' she said. Then she kissed him-once quickly, her lips lingering the second time. They looked at each other for a moment, then Daniel let himself go, losing himself in the contradictory softness of her breast and hard muscles of her back. After a moment they broke their kiss. Daniel closed his eyes and rested his cheek against her hair. It smelled sweet and felt so soft. Kate was a haven from all the bad things that had happened to him.
Daniel felt Kate move and he opened his eyes. She stood up and took his hand. 'Come on,' she said softly, pulling him slowly to his feet and toward the bedroom.
Chapter Forty-Eight.
The call from Susan Webster had confirmed Aaron Flynn's worst fears. Before he died, Kaidanov had told Daniel Ames that his study was a fraud. But Flynn didn't know if Ames could prove the study was a hoax. Without proof, all Geller would have was the hearsay testimony of a man charged with murder and Flynn was certain he could still force a settlement.
'Alice Cummings is on line two,' Aaron Flynn's receptionist announced.
Flynn debated not taking the call for a moment, but little Patrick was worth a bundle if everything worked out.
'Good afternoon, Alice,' Flynn said in his heartiest voice. 'How's my boy?'
'He had a rough night.'
'I'm so sorry. What can I do for you?'
'I hope I'm not interrupting, but it's been bothering me since your associate left. He never said if you needed me to sign anything about the phone call. I can come down anytime.'
'The phone call?'
'From Mr. Arnold.' Flynn's eyes shut reflexively and a sick feeling spread through his gut. 'Your associate said a lawyer is claiming that you never talked with him, but I remember it very clearly. Did you want me to sign an affidavit?'
'What was this associate's name, Alice?'
'You know, I can't remember. I'm not certain he even told me. But you introduced us. It was several weeks ago. I wheeled Patrick into the lobby in his stroller and you brought him over to meet us.'
Flynn felt a flash of fear.
'Ah, yes,' he said. 'Well, I appreciate your call, but I won't need you to sign anything. The matter has been resolved. Thank you for calling, though. Give Patrick a kiss for me,' Flynn said as he hung up.
'Everything is falling apart,' Aaron Flynn said as soon as he was through the front door. A look of panic was etched on his face. 'Ames found the client who was with me when Gene called.'
'How did he do that?'
'How the fuck should I know? He just did and she remembers Gene's call. She just phoned me. She wanted to know if I needed her to sign an affidavit that could be used as evidence. Jesus Christ!'
'You've got to calm down so we can think this out.'
'There's nothing to think about. If that homicide detective, Brewster, finds out I lied about Gene's call, we're dead.'
'Who is the client?'
'Alice Cummings, the mother of one of the Insufort brats.'
'Where does she live?'
