The Verdict, page 9
I nodded, uncomfortable now that the conversation had veered back into personal territory.
“I understand,” I said slowly, trying to decide if she was looking for an apology.
Britney snorted. “No, you don’t. Maybe one day you will.”
That’s when our orders came. I dug into my chicken pad thai with gusto, glad for a break in the conversation.
18
I leaned back at my desk in the hotel room, having just filed my Notice of Appearance for Vince Cruz’s arraignment in the morning. I didn’t yet have signed paperwork from Vince. I’d get it at the arraignment. I wasn’t following my usual process, but it had been a very strange day.
Dinner with Britney had gone longer than I’d anticipated, and even though I’d been able to probe her with additional questions about Athena Hutton, Britney kept returning to our prior relationship.
A part of me wondered if she wasn’t over me, or at the very least, hadn’t yet fully processed the end of our relationship; even though it had been several years, she’d dumped me, and we’d both had serious relationships since.
I tried to tell myself I was being arrogant, but I’d had enough experience to know she was still dealing with some deeply embedded issues from our time together.
It made me feel bad, but she’d broken up with me instead of giving me a chance to fix things, leaving me to forget her, something I’d done as soon as Barbara had come along.
I hoped our meeting had given her a sense of closure, enabling her to move on with her new relationship.
She’d certainly given me something to think about, primarily because she’d sounded like Barbara’s echo chamber.
I’d lost count of the times she’d returned to why she’d dumped me and how she’d thought I was married to the law.
I’d frankly admitted I was devoted to my job.
I spent more time working than many others, but it was a stretch to say I was married to the law or that it was my mistress. I had hobbies. I did things outside of work that had nothing to do with my job.
I’d had several steady girlfriends within the last half decade.
But isn’t there also some truth to her words?
The question came from the back of my mind and refused to be ignored, flashing like a brilliant neon light that wouldn’t turn off.
I acknowledged there might be, but I didn’t want to focus on it more than I already had.
My phone rang.
“Barbara,” I said, answering it on the second ring and wondering how quickly I could get to Chicago if she was getting arrested. “How’s everything?”
“I’m okay,” Barbara said. “I haven’t heard anything from the cops.”
My anxiety deflated like a balloon. I’d been prepared to jump into my car and rush back. I leaned back in my chair and let out a quiet sigh.
“Have you heard anything?” Barbara asked.
“No, nothing.”
“Nothing from Detective Gray? Did you call her?”
I hesitated. “I haven’t tried to contact her. I didn’t know you wanted me to.”
“Oh, you don’t have to. I’m just sitting here stewing, wondering whether I’m gonna be arrested. It makes it impossible to sleep.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “Your parents make it in?”
“They took the room next to mine.”
“I’m glad you’re not alone.”
“Me too.”
She said this in such a way as to make me think she felt very alone.
I hesitated, wondering if now might be a good time to ask a few questions about Thomas Guyton. She couldn’t sleep, and it wasn’t like I’d called her.
It might even help her to talk about it.
“Can we talk about Guyton?”
“I suppose.” Barbara paused. “You might as well. I keep trying not to think about him, but I can’t stop, so it’s not like there’s gonna be a better time. Things are still fresh on my mind. Perhaps if we talk now, I’ll remember things I’ll forget later.”
“What did you know about his business before three days ago?”
While Barbara had claimed it was just recently that she’d learned the truth about Thomas Guyton, I was certain there had been warning signs before that, setting aside her fears from early in the relationship. She was a smart woman, and I had to believe that the truth, while it had taken her off guard, hadn’t come as a complete surprise.
“At first, he was vague. He just told me he was a businessman and left it at that. I wasn’t asking a lot of questions in the beginning. I was just happy to have a new start.”
“And the stalker, Clyde Montague, changed that, right?”
“Yes, I still don’t recognize that name.” A long pause. “That’s when I started asking Thomas tougher questions.”
“Was there anything in particular that made you think he was involved in crime? Or was it just the stalker spooking you?”
“I think it was the stalker, but Thomas was always vague about work, even worse than you, but I didn’t really have much to say about mine. I guess we just talked about other things.”
I thought about the ex-girlfriend Winston had tracked down. Caitlin Dakos. “Did he mention anybody he dated before you?”
“He talked about some of them. He’d mention something like my ex-girlfriend thought this or did that, but that was it.”
“You ever meet his family?”
“No, that was another strange thing. I never met his parents. He met my—” She stopped, and I could already tell what would come next. “Of course, you never met my parents, so I don’t know that we should read too much into that.”
I coughed uncomfortably. “I can meet them if you’d like.”
Barbara chuckled softly as if glad she’d gotten to me. “I’m not sure they want to meet you now.”
“You vented to them after we broke up?”
“Yeah, a little.”
The conversation fell into an awkward silence for several seconds.
“Did you ever meet anybody from his family?” I asked, wondering if we were done with the personal side of the discussion.
Britney’s right, I thought. I am all business, aren’t I?
“No,” Barbara said. “I never did.”
“No cousins or anything?”
“No.” She hesitated. “I read in the news about Marc Guyton. You’re sure he’s related to Thomas?”
“Winston has now confirmed they’re cousins.”
Barbara immediately perked up. “So it’s possible Thomas was killed because of something related to his business?”
“That’s the most likely explanation.”
“Perhaps the police are going to—”
There was a knock at the door.
My heart thudded.
I didn’t like the sound of it. It was rough and hard, as if the person knocking expected resistance.
The cops followed us to the hotel, I thought.
I gripped the phone.
“Just a second, Mitch. Somebody’s at the door. I ordered ice cream. It’s finally come.”
I doubted it was ice cream.
The door creaked as it swung open. What I heard next made me grind my teeth.
“Barbara Sampson?”
I immediately recognized the voice. It was Detective Stephanie Gray.
I didn’t need to hear what came next.
19
It took every ounce of self-control not to speed on I-57. I regretted my decision to come out to Kankakee to take on this new case when I knew there was a chance things could happen with Barbara while I was gone. I’d told myself I could make it back to Chicago in plenty of time should something happen, and now that it had, I wished I’d never left. Deep down, a more rational part was thinking it was good I’d come; otherwise, I’d have driven myself crazy pacing around my office.
The diversion had been helpful. I’d been feeling more levelheaded before my call with Barbara.
Now all that was out the window.
Barbara needed me right now, and I wasn’t there. It was challenging to think straight as I drove.
Or to keep my foot from flooring the gas.
I should be there, I thought. I shouldn’t be over an hour away while all this is happening. I never should’ve gone back to my office.
I should’ve waited in her hotel room.
I tried to keep my foot steady on the pedal but eventually had to switch over to cruise control to ensure I didn’t start to subconsciously push it down to increase my speed, risking the chance I’d be pulled over and further delayed.
The last thing I wanted right now was a confrontation with the cops. There was no telling what I might say or do because I was so worked up.
The drive took forever.
By the time I finally arrived at the imposing Cook County Department of Corrections building, it felt like I’d been traveling for three days.
My emotions had left me haggard.
I was in no position to do this yet that’s what I was about to do.
I parked my car and rushed toward the door, heading up the sidewalk at a fast pace, even though I wanted to run.
I was near the doors when somebody called out my name.
“Mitch Turner?”
I was tempted to ignore them, but something made me stop. Perhaps it was the tone of authority in the man’s voice, or maybe it was something about his emphasis on my name.
I couldn’t say which.
I turned and found myself face-to-face with Barbara’s parents.
20
“I thought that was you,” Russell Sampson said. The hostile tone of his voice was unmistakable. Even though I’d never met them, I’d seen pictures, so I recognized both on sight. I looked for Barbara’s brother Steven, but didn’t see him.
Russell and Deborah Sampson were having a difficult time, and based on Russell’s expression, it looked like I was heading into a confrontation.
They blame me, I thought.
It took me a moment to figure out why.
They thought I’d pushed Barbara into Thomas Guyton’s arms, given how things had ended between us.
The unfairness of it all made me furious. I struggled to tamp down my emotions.
“How’s Barbara?” I asked quietly, hoping I was hiding my fury.
“Horrible, thanks to you,” Russell snarled. His face was red. He gripped his hands in front of him as if he wished they were around my neck. “What have you done to our daughter?”
“Excuse me?” I snapped back.
“This would’ve never happened if you’d have—”
“Russell, this isn’t his fault,” Deborah said, cutting him off.
Perhaps she was pulling him off because she knew he wanted to get into it and could tell I was in no mood to back down.
I was taken off guard, and so was Russell. He turned. She stood resolutely, reminding me of how I’d seen Barbara stand her ground.
Barbara had not spoken much about her parents, but I knew Deborah was equally matched with Russell. Barbara had told me stories about how her mother had fought with her teachers while she was in high school. Deborah had always seemed to come out the other side smelling like a rose with precisely what she wanted.
“That’s not true,” Russell started a little uncertainly. He became more confident again as he went on while his eyes bored into me. “If he hadn’t jerked Barbara around, she wouldn’t have been driven into the hands of this… criminal!”
I opened my mouth to respond but never got the chance.
Deborah beat me to the punch.
“Barbara is a grown woman,” she said through clenched teeth. She looked angry too, and I wasn’t sure that most of it wasn’t directed at me, but she at least had the presence of mind to recognize that, on some level, I wasn’t at fault for what had happened. “She made her own choices. She didn’t know Thomas was a criminal. The situation was beyond her control. I urge you to remember that, Russell.”
Something in the way Deborah regarded me made me wonder if Barbara had confided in her. I got the impression Deborah was trying to preserve an option of a renewed relationship between Barbara and myself should the occasion arise.
I could tell from her narrow eyes that she had no great love for me either. She was doing this purely for the sake of her daughter.
I was impressed the woman could think long-term while in the middle of a situation like this when so many others would be unable to process their anger. I doubted few could respond in such a collected way to their daughter’s arrest.
“I need to get in there,” I said, stepping backward, hoping to defuse the situation by making it clear I was going to help Barbara. It didn’t hurt that I also put space between Russell and myself. “I don’t have time for this. We can talk later. I need to get to Barbara. I’ll also need a copy of the charges against her.”
“You don’t need nothing,” Russell said, stepping forward, heedless of his wife’s cautioning hand on his elbow. “Keith Williams is with her right now.” He said this last bit with a smug look that made me want to reach out and strike the man.
I kept my arms firmly at my side. My hands were flat on my thighs to keep them from forming into fists, something that was becoming more likely as the seconds ticked by.
They called Keith Williams? I thought.
“Williams is in there now?”
Unfortunately, I was unable to keep the venom out of my tone.
There was a triumphant look on Russell’s face as if glad he’d said something to get to me.
“That’s right,” he sneered. “You’re not needed here.”
“Yes,” Deborah said, stepping in front of her husband while keeping a firm grip on his arm. “We both felt it best if she were represented by somebody who wasn’t so personally involved. I hope you don’t mind.” I could tell it was difficult for her to be polite. She was speaking through clenched teeth. “I also want to express my gratitude that you were there for her earlier. I don’t think many men would’ve handled the situation as well as you.”
It strained her to say this last bit.
The woman had excellent control of her emotions. I’d give her that.
I opened my mouth, intending to explain I hadn’t intended to represent Barbara during an actual trial. I might sometimes be thickheaded, but I was no fool.
The words died on my lips.
Barbara had mentioned Keith Williams before.
I hadn’t thought she was serious when she’d talked about calling him. I’d just figured he was the only other defense attorney she knew because he was so prominent. His ads were all over the place. I’d recently heard he’d hired three additional associates to handle his increased workload. He employed a team of over ten associates, which didn’t count his investigators or paralegals.
The man was running a criminal defense mill.
He’d never provide the level of attention to Barbara’s case she needed.
He probably wouldn’t even handle much of the work himself, farming it off to a junior associate fresh out of law school.
I could easily see that happening.
That’s not what Barbara needed.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of anything I could do about it right now.
“We appreciate what you’ve done for our daughter today,” Deborah said again. There was something on her face that I couldn’t readily identify in the dark. “She told us about how you helped her navigate that situation.” The way she said this implied she somehow feared I’d made things worse. “We appreciate it. We’ll make sure you’re properly compensated for your time.”
Deborah’s manner made me wonder if perhaps she would’ve wanted me to help Barbara dispose of the body or at least have gotten her out of there, hoping the police would never connect her to it.
These people weren’t thinking straight if that’s what they’d wanted me to do.
That wouldn’t have done anybody any favors.
Russell came forward until he was right in my face. His hands were clenched into fists. “You’re off the case.” He glanced down at his watch. “It took you forever to get here. We don’t need some two-bit attorney who’s probably never represented a murderer in his life messing things up for Barbara. After everything you’ve put her through, it’s a small wonder she was driven into the arms of a criminal like Thomas Guyton. She’d never have been—”
Deborah must have been squeezing Russell’s arm because he shook it off.
“If you wouldn’t have been toying with her—”
“Relationships aren’t always easy to navigate,” I said coolly, butting in. I couldn’t resist the urge to fight anymore. “Just to set the record straight, I wasn’t planning to represent Barbara at trial, even though I represent those charged with murder all the time. I was just making sure—”
Russell took another step, shaking his fist at me. “You don’t need to make sure of anything from now on! It’s been handled. Got it? Just get out of here!”
“Russell. Honey. I think you’re on the verge of saying and doing things you’re going to regret.” She turned to face me. “We get that you have a connection with our daughter, and while we might have some criticism toward you and your interactions with Barbara, we also recognize you’ve helped her out in several instances. We’d appreciate it if you’d keep your distance from Barbara while she’s going through this crisis. You’ll just make things more difficult. Obviously, you have an emotional effect on her.”
Deborah’s true emotions were now showing.
I could tell she found me distasteful.
I suspected now that she was doing this, so she could tell Barbara she’d done everything she could to repair the damage Russell was causing. She’d be quite happy if Barbara and I never said another word to each other again.
