Smoke and Mirrors

“Bullshit,” Brad declared. “I didn’t really believe it, but you were right about that bastard,” Brad said, meaning Styer. “Daddy never had a chance.”

“I was lucky,” Winter said. “And I had Alexa.”

“It’s over now,” Leigh said, frowning. “We bury our dead, help the wounded as best we can, and life goes on.”

“That’s that farmer realism talking,” Brad said. “Leigh’s a rock.”

“Yeah,” Winter agreed. “That she is.”

The door opened and Cynthia came bouncing in with a soft drink in her hand. She patted Winter’s shoulder playfully as she passed him, went to the bed, and kissed Brad’s cheek. “How you feeling, Pops?” She looked at Winter and her face lit up. “God, is that ever weird or what? I grew up in the same town with Brad and never knew he was my daddy.”

“Where’s Hampton?” Winter asked.

“Gone to spend the night with an old friend of Mama’s,” Cynthia said. “She works as a volunteer at the zoo. He’s helping her feed animals or some happy shit.”

“Cyn!” Leigh snapped. “Language.”

“Sorry,” Cyn said, shrugging.

“I brought you something,” he said, handing Leigh the envelope. “These are Jacob’s personal effects from the accident.”

“Thanks,” she said, dropping the envelope unceremoniously into a shopping bag beside her chair.

Winter’s cell phone rang. He opened it and put it to his ear. “Yeah, Billy. Leigh’s right here,” Winter said, handing Leigh his phone. “He needs to talk to you.”

“Yes? I can be at your office in an hour. Address?” she asked. “Yes, Winter can show me. Cynthia too? Sure, I guess so.”

Winter put the cell phone into his pocket and spent the next fifteen minutes making idle conversation with Leigh and Cynthia. He had thought it would be more difficult.

131

Winter directed leigh to a large three-story building in downtown Memphis that housed Lyons, Battle, Cole amp; Vance, where a dozen attorneys were growing steadily richer.

Winter, Leigh, and Cynthia stepped out of the elevator. Through the glass-enclosed elevator bank, Winter spotted Billy Lyons standing in the reception area talking to a young man dressed for golf. When Billy saw them, he ended the conversation, strode across the space, and opened the door for the trio.

“How’s the leg?”

“Stiff and sore.”

“The ribs?”

“They’re fine as long as I don’t inhale.”

“I hate to rush things, but can we sign the papers? We need to get back to Brad,” Leigh said pleasantly.

“Of course. My office awaits,” Billy said, leading the way.

After Billy closed the door to his office, he indicated the conference table and they all sat down.

“What exactly are these papers about?” Leigh asked, looking from Billy to Winter. “I thought everything was done. And why did you ask that Cyn come?”

Winter leaned forward. “Billy is here as your attorney to advise you. After I tell you a few things, you can ask his advice,” he said.

“Or you can hire another lawyer if you choose,” Billy added.

“That’s going to be up to you,” Winter said.

“What exactly do I need an attorney for?” Leigh asked. Her face had been captured by a steely frown.

“We’ll talk about that,” Winter said. “First you need to hear this.” Winter took out the recorder and placed it on the table in front of him.

“What’s that?” Cyn asked, looking confused.

“This was in Jacob’s coat pocket when he was murdered.”

Leigh didn’t say anything, but the color drained from her cheeks.

Winter snapped on the machine and sat back.

“This is Jacob Gardner,” the murdered man’s voice said, authoritatively. “I am making this recording because I think it is prudent for me to have an ace in the hole. It has occurred to me that after this business venture is done, and Leigh does not need me, I will be out in the cold, or worse. I have good reason to believe she’s covered her ass nicely and that I will be fed to the wolves. A year ago, I discovered that a foreign corporation was buying land adjacent to a section I was foolish enough to have signed over to my ex-wife as collateral for a loan to repay people I had fleeced. There is no way to sugarcoat that, as it is a fact. Leigh has the evidence to prove that as well as other things that would discredit me. When I approached her and attempted to get the land back so I could sell it and regain my financial independence and dignity, she refused. When I discovered that the corporation buying the land owned the Roundtable, I did some research and found out that they owned only high-end resorts, with one exception-the Roundtable. I was convinced they were planning to build another large resort and that my land would be worth a fortune due to its proximity to the resort. This was before I learned from Albert White that my parcel was the sole remaining property in the middle of the whole shebang. I decided there was enough money to go around. Since Leigh was suspicious because I wanted the land back, I knew I had no choice but to bring her in. Leigh’s father knew-”

Leigh reached out and turned off the machine. “This is crap,” she said angrily. “Jacob was insane.” She stood up. “He never once told the truth in his life. He is trying to make me look guilty of something. This is some sort of revenge in case he got caught!”

“We should listen to the rest of it,” Billy said.

“Come on, Cyn. We’re leaving,” Leigh said. “Nothing Jacob Gardner said is worth anything. He never told the truth in his miserable life.”

Cynthia stood.

“You’d be right,” Winter said. “Except for the fact that he recorded a certain conversation. You can walk out if you like, but if you do, you’ll force me to turn this over to Brad.”

Leigh and Cynthia sat.

Winter turned the machine on again, rewinded a little, and Jacob continued. “Leigh’s father knew Albert White from his younger days when he needed a favor done in West Memphis that involved getting his brother out of a possible assault on a whore. He almost beat her to death. For a fee, White framed someone else and Leigh’s uncle walked. After that, her uncle sold Leigh’s father his interest in the plantation for a pittance because Leigh’s father had the goods on him.

I finally leveled with Leigh because she wasn’t going to sell back the land to me. I had quit gambling, but Leigh and White suggested that I lose a lot of money to the casino and other casinos. Albert got ten grand up front, which Leigh paid him, against a percentage of the sale price for his help in getting RRI to pay top dollar. He got me a large line of credit at the Roundtable and two other casinos, and we made Pierce Mulvane think I owned the land they needed. Albert correctly figured they would buy up my other debt from the competition, and pressure me to swap the land for them. When they did that, I admitted that I didn’t actually own the land, and that I would have to convince Leigh to sell it. Then Leigh would play the heavy-which is no big stretch-and they would have to pony up really big bucks for it. White and Jack Beals kept us informed as to what was happening inside the casino since those people aren’t above using unpleasant means to get what they want, and did we ever have what they wanted. With White on the inside, we thought we could stay ahead of them and be safe.”

Winter was watching Leigh’s and Cyn’s face as they listened, but neither gave anything away.

“Everything was going along fine until the casino manager and people above him felt the pressure. Albert said they were bringing in a professional to help out and he didn’t know who that was. Some mystery man from Europe. They already had a cold-blooded killer-this Tug guy-so we figured this other guy was gathering information. They asked White to supply someone to help the new guy, so White sent Beals in. I believed