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“Yes, Mr. Ludlow?”
“Lisa, I just got a call from Chandler Witherington.”
“I figured you had. I just got a call from a source in the police station. I’m on my way down to the women’s correctional facility now.”
“Good, good.”
There was a brief and somewhat awkward silence, and Lisa was about to say that she needed to run when Ludlow finally spoke again.
“Lisa, I know the Witheringtons can be a little odd at times, but that was one of the reasons I chose you for this case. I felt you could handle them.”
Lisa wanted to question Ludlow further on that. Handle them? What was that supposed to mean? And if she did a great job would that guarantee a promotion? She was earning it.
“Thank you, Mr. Ludlow. I appreciate your confidence in me.”
“All right then. Call me later and let me know what’s going on. I want to be kept informed on this one.”
“Will do, sir.”
Lisa didn’t have time for the train or a bus, so she hailed a cab as soon as she exited the building. The distance to the women’s correctional facility was only a few miles, but with daytime traffic it would take at least twenty minutes. She pulled out her cell phone and began to dial. The first call she made was to the district attorney’s office to find out if Glory’s arraignment had been scheduled yet. Of course, she didn’t get an answer. No one seemed to know anything about it, and she was told someone would call her back with the information. The second call she made was to Chandler’s cell phone.
“Chandler, it’s Lisa Jensen,” she began once he’d picked up.
“Lisa, I thought I told you this was the very thing we wanted to avoid!”
“Chandler, I—”
“We pay your firm a lot of money annually, not to mention a large retainer for your services. The least you could have done was warn us that this was coming.”
“Chandler, I—”
“And another thing, where the hell are you?”
Lisa couldn’t take any more of this man’s verbal assault. “If you’ll shut up for thirty seconds, I’ll tell you!”
Chandler began to sputter so Lisa took that opportunity to let him know she was on her way to the women’s facility and that she had only been informed after the arrest was made. She also told him that she didn’t appreciate being the second person in the office to know what was going on, not if they wanted adequate representation from her.
She also told him to be at the arraignment, which she would do her best to get scheduled for that afternoon, and to be prepared to put up a large bail bond. She also asked him to bring Glory’s passport in case the judge wanted it.
“I’ve just arrived at the women’s correction facility, Chandler, so I’ll speak to you later.”
“Very well, but please keep me informed.”
“And I would appreciate it if you would do the same.”
Lisa had been to this building several times over the past few years, but it never ceased to give her chills every time she walked through the front doors. The simple truth was that she could have very easily ended up on the wrong side of these bars had it not been for her mother.
Lisa had been only twelve when her father had been gunned down, shot in an alley, murdered for no apparent reason. The toll on both her and her mother had been monstrous. Her mother had fallen into a deep depression that had lasted for months. At the time, Lisa had felt as though she’d lost both parents that fateful night, and in a way she had. With no one left to turn to, she had turned, as so often happened with children growing up in Wellston, to the streets. Her friends became the kids who lived and worked in the neighborhood as lookouts and runners for drug dealers and usually ended up in the life themselves.
What had finally snapped her mother out of her depression was the night Lisa came home with a pocketful of money. She had worked as a lookout all night and was given a small percentage of the take. It was a fortune to Lisa and she thought she’d found her calling. Claudia thought otherwise. And after making Lisa return the money, she began taking a strong and parental interest in whatever her daughter was doing.
At first, Lisa hated it and hated her mother for watching every move she made. Later, she loved her mother more than she could say and thanked her with her nightly phone calls.
“There but by the grace of God and Mom go I,” Lisa whispered as she passed a group of young women, obviously prostitutes, waiting to be booked.
Lisa showed her identification and bar association card to the guard at the front desk. “I’m here to see Glory Witherington,” she explained. “I’m her legal counsel.”
The guard directed Lisa down a long corridor. There were several small rooms on either side for attorneys and clients to use for consultations. She had been told that Mrs. Witherington was in the third room on the left.
A guard was posted at each end of the hall behind a wall of bars. A third guard followed the attorneys to their rooms to unlock the doors from the corridor side. Apparently this was a vulnerable spot in the correction center, being the last chance for anyone wishing to make a break for it, so every precaution was taken to ensure that didn’t happen. All the guards were armed, and none of them looked the least bit interested in playing games. Lisa could only imagine what these men and women, after working here for several years, had seen, and she could honestly say she didn’t envy them their jobs. However, she did respect them immeasurably.
Glory was seated at an old wooden table wiping her hands with a tissue. Lisa guessed she was still trying to remove the ink from the fingerprinting that had occurred earlier. Either that or she was just trying to wipe away the day.
“It’s about time!” Glory snapped as soon as she saw Lisa. “Can I go home now?”
Lisa bit her tongue. How was she ever going to get through an entire murder trial with this self-centered woman and her condescending husband?
“You won’t be able to leave until after the arraignment, and only then if the judge agrees to bail.”
“The what?”
“It’s called an arraignment and it’s where we tell a judge what our intentions are.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s where we plead you guilty or not guilty, Glory. If it’s not guilty—”
“Of course it’s not guilty!” Glory shouted.
“Glory, please, I’m simply trying explain the procedure to you. We’re not holding the trial yet.”
“All right then, explain it to me.”
“When we tell the judge that you are not guilty, the district attorney will make a motion requesting your incarceration until trial and—”
“What! Are they insane?”
“Glory, it’s part of the procedure. It doesn’t mean they actually expect you to go to jail. They know Chandler will put up a bond and since you don’t have a…” Lisa paused for a moment. She had wanted to say that since Glory didn’t have a record, there would be no reason for the judge to even consider putting her behind bars. However, Glory did have a record and even though it was for drunk and disorderly conduct, it would be considered and brought up. But did she really want to tell Glory about that now and have her fly off the handle again? “Since you have never been arrested for anything serious before, there shouldn’t be a problem with your going home as soon as Chandler writes a check. It’s possible that you will be home by this evening.”
“I can’t believe this is happening at all,” Glory said under her breath, almost to herself. “Chandler said he could fix anything.”
“What did you say?” Had she heard Glory correctly? And if she had, what had Glory meant by it?
A funny look crossed Glory’s face briefly before she spoke. Lisa likened it to a child being caught telling a lie or swiping a piece of candy he had been told he couldn’t have.
“You know men,” Glory finally said with a laugh. “They think they can fix anything.” She then went back to wiping her hands. “But even the great Chandler Witherington can’t make the world stop turning.”
Lisa studied her client for a few moments. The woman’s hands were perfectly clean; the tissue she was using was nothing more then a small wad of cotton, crumpled and torn and barely recognizable. What had just happened here? Had Glory just admitted something?
For the first time since their initial meeting, Lisa detected a touch of vulnerability in her client. Lisa’s heart softened. She certainly didn’t know Glory well enough yet to judge her harshly or otherwise, but it was strangely satisfying to realize that even though Glory Witherington brimmed with better-than-thou eccentricities, she also had a human side.
Still, she was a strange one, Lisa had to add to her adjusted understanding of Glory. Most people—men and women alike—just arrested for murder were emotional, showing it in varying ways, of course—some weeping, some angry and cursing. The only evidence she could see of what Glory might truly be feeling was that ragged piece of tissue in her hands.
She got to her feet. “Glory, you will be informed of the time for the arraignment and delivered to the scheduled courtroom. I will be there, as will Chandler.”
And then Glory destroyed all of the softness Lisa had just felt toward her by speaking like a queen to a lowly subject. “Be sure and get me out of here,” she spat. “This place is a sty!”
The arraignment was held late in the day. The courtroom was packed and they had to sit through a dozen other criminal indictments before Glory Witherington’s name was called. Lisa took over and handled the proceeding like the pro she was. Although the prosecutor argued against bail on the basis of the defendant’s past record, and her wealth, which would permit her to easily leave the country, Lisa beat him at every turn. Glory’s arrest records were ancient history and should not be permitted to taint this case. The judge ruled in her favor after asking for Glory’s passport to be surrendered. Just as Lisa had expected.
As for bail, the evidence provided by the prosecution was circumstantial at best, and Lisa put it before the court that Glory could easily be an innocent woman. The state’s case was not strong enough to deny bail, and again the judge agreed. Bail was set at a million dollars, and Chandler wrote a check for that amount. His expediency at this juncture made a good impression on Lisa; he must truly believe in his wife’s innocence. The final task was to set a date for the preliminary hearing, which the judge did without preamble. It was over. Chandler escorted his wife out and Lisa followed them into the corridor.
Not that Lisa expected any great gestures, but neither Glory nor Chandler thanked her, so she spoke coolly and professionally to them. “We have about six weeks until the prelim, and I will be investigating every nook and cranny of your lives during that time. Expect to see a lot of me and possibly Hal Hannigan, an investigator who works for the firm. I intend to interview everyone who works in your home, your friends, along with close friends of the victim’s.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Chandler said sharply.
“No. If you want your wife free instead of growing old in jail…or worse—Illinois has a death penalty, you know—then nothing or no one is off limits to me. If there’s anything at all about that night that you haven’t told me, please give some serious thought to doing so right away. I’m prepared to listen at any time, and you have my phone numbers. We’ll talk again soon. Goodbye.”
She walked away with her back straight and her head high. She was outside when someone called her name. Turning, she saw Kurt Sandoval heading toward her. Her mood changed drastically, although deep down she wondered if she would ever be the same after being forced to huddle for several hours in a crowded courtroom with two snobs like Glory and Chandler.
“Hi,” she called before he reached her. “I saw you in the hallway, but everyone was so lost in the crowd there wasn’t an opportunity to say hello.”
“Yeah, I’m here on the Garrow case. You know, the one where the guy killed the three hookers?”
Lisa nodded. “How’s it going?”
“We’ve got him. By the way what’d you think of the ME’s report on the Witherington case?”
She had received a copy of the autopsy report from the prosecutor’s office. “It seems pretty straightforward to me. The vic was shot once and killed.”
“Shot in the back, Lisa.”
She frowned. “Yes, in the back. That could mean he never saw or even knew his killer, Kurt.”
“It could also mean that he trusted whoever pulled the trigger.”
“I’ll tell you what it does mean to me at this juncture…that both the prosecution and defense teams have a lot of work to do before trial.”
“She did it, Lisa.”
“You have absolutely no proof of that, and you definitely shouldn’t be talking that way to me. It’s not even your case.”
Kurt grinned, and he looked so damned cute that Lisa felt sexual tingles moving around in her body. “I shouldn’t be talking to you at all,” Kurt said. “This is war. You know it, I know it, and we’re on opposite sides. But how can I resist your many charms?”
She felt her face color and become warm. “You’re really full of it today, Sandoval. Maybe you should figure out why a courtroom full of alleged criminals and legal types turn you on.”
He laughed. “Long legs and blond hair turn me on, sweetheart.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Really. Now that you mention it, I did see a lawyer that fits that description very well. I believe his name is Aaron Richardson.” She tossed her head at him and walked away, listening to him chuckle all the way to the curb, where she hailed a taxi.
What a cad he was! Married and coming on to her. Well, she’d handled him well enough, hadn’t she? But damn him, anyhow. How dare he be the only man who could thrill her with a look when he had absolutely no right to even cast his eyes in her direction?
She leaned forward, gave the driver her home address and fell back against the seat. God, she was tired, she thought, and by the time she got home, she faced total exhaustion. A leisurely hot bath helped and so did some hot food, although it was a chore to even enter the kitchen knowing she had to cook something.
Still, she was thinking more clearly and feeling much better when she finally climbed the stairs to her home office. First, she retrieved voice mail messages from her phone at the firm. There were three: one each from Grant Gowan, Pamela and Larry. She listened to each and made notes. Grant’s words were flirtatious and suggesting another date, Pamela had merely wondered what was going on with her, but Larry’s message got her blood pumping.
“Lisa, I know you’re in court so I’ll skip a call to your cell. I just wanted to bring you up to speed on what we discussed this morning…you know…Witherington history? Well, it’s like this. I believe I found proof of a connection between the Witherington name and some of Chicago’s underworld figures. Chandler Sr., especially. I know the old guy is dead, but I can’t help wondering if his son has carried on a family tradition. I’ll let you know what I turn up.”
With her heart beating a mile a minute, Lisa dialed her mother’s number. “This is just a quick call tonight, Mom. I’m truly done in, but I never could have gone to sleep without hearing your voice first.”
Claudia understood and they only said a few words before signing off. Lisa doused the lights and crawled into bed. Her pulse was still racing from Larry’s message. My Lord, she thought, was Chandler Witherington connected to the Chicago mob? And if so, had Mateo’s death been set up by Chandler, even though he had the perfect alibi of having been hundreds of miles away? Maybe he hadn’t liked a gardener sleeping with his wife?
It was a theory with teeth, she realized, one that could not be discarded without further investigation.
“Thank God for Larry,” she murmured, her last words before sleep took her.
Chapter 4
Lisa was usually awake in the morning before her alarm went off. In fact, her alarm clock was merely a precautionary measure. So when it started buzzing somewhere in the background of a vague and shadowy dream, it took her a while to figure out what exactly was happening.
“Good Lord,” she said aloud, fumbling around on the night table until she found and stopped the noise of the alarm. What time was it, anyway, and how had she managed to sleep so late?
“First, some coffee,” she said as she padded down the stairs and into the kitchen.
Once she got the coffee brewing, she went to the front door. Finding the newspaper every morning was usually a new and interesting challenge. For whatever reason, the person who delivered her paper couldn’t quite seem to locate the front porch of her house. He could, however, find the bushes that ran under her living room window or the flower bed at the front corner of her property. As she opened the door, she wondered where the paper would be today.
It took only a moment to spot it. It was laid out neatly on the porch, her face peering up at her from the front page.
“What the hell…?”
Her picture was not the only one. Next to it was one of Glory and next to her was a picture of Chandler. The headline read Chicago Heiress Arrested For Murder.
“Oh, no!” Lisa practically shouted. This was not the kind of publicity she wanted or needed right now. She quickly retreated inside and went back to the kitchen where she could sit down and read the rest of the story.
Lisa laid the newspaper out on the table and poured a cup of freshly brewed coffee. She usually put a little cream in her coffee just to take the bite out of it first thing in the morning. This morning, however, she needed all the bite she could get. After a sip of the hot brew, she began to read.
The story started with Glory and Mateo and their “special” relationship. It stated that Mateo Ruiz had been the Witheringtons’ gardener and then intimated that pulling weeds and mowing lawns was not all he’d been paid to do.
“How clever,” Lisa said sarcastically. “And who in God’s name told the reporter that?”
It went on to describe the murder, and how and where Mateo’s body had been found; it even mentioned the fact that Mateo had been shot in the back. Next, there was a paragraph about the Witherington family’s wealth, reportedly derived from its import-export business. The final paragraph was about Lisa and her law firm.
“This is just great,” Lisa mumbled as she got up for another cup of coffee. How on earth did the press get wind of all of this so soon? Obviously Glory and Chandler were big news in the Chicago area—and a front yard homicide was probably the most sensational thing with which either of them had been involved. All Lisa could really be thankful for right now was that the story hadn’t mentioned Glory’s other run-ins with the law. Everything would eventually come out, but Lisa hoped that by then she would have been able to run a little interference. So far, all she was doing was running blind, and that was something she was going to have to change.
Lisa decided she’d better get into the office early on this sunny Saturday morning. She could imagine the kind of hoopla this front-page story could mean for the firm and she wanted to be prepared for the repercussions. However, she only made it to the top of the stairs before her telephone started ringing.
“Hello?” she said, grabbing the phone in her bedroom on the second ring.
“Hi, sugar plum.” It was her mother.
