The Lawyer's Lawyer (18 page)

J
ack didn’t know where he was when he woke up the next morning. The bedroom walls were the same dull off-white color as Ron’s
condo and they were bare of pictures like Ron’s place, but the room was smaller, the sheets and the comforter were a different
color, and the bed felt strange. Then he heard movement in another room.

Oh my God
, he thought.
What the hell did I do last night?

He didn’t move, though. He stayed in bed and thought it through as he did with everything. It all came back slowly—the police;
the decision to move to a new place; the drive over with Ron.
But who the hell was in the other room?

He saw the knob on the door turn. He started to tense up. Then Ron walked into the room carrying a cup.

“I made you some coffee,” he said. “Cream, no sugar, right?”

“That’s it.”

“How are you feeling?”

“How do I look?”

“Like shit.”

“Well, I feel ten times worse.”

“Maybe you ought to think about laying off of the hard stuff.”

“Give me a chance to wake up and have my coffee before you start with the lecture, okay?”

“Sure. Anything you want, Jack. I’ll be in the other room. I don’t have much time, so if you want me to take you to your car,
you need to get ready now.”

Fifteen minutes later they were making the short drive to the old condo in Ron’s white Lexus SUV in silence.

“Sorry I snapped at you, Ronnie,” Jack finally said. “You’ve been a great friend to me.”

“No need to apologize,” Ron said, although it was exactly what he’d been waiting for.

“You’re right, too. I need to stop wallowing in self-pity and do something.”

“I think you should get out of Oakville, Jack. What that cop said last night is true—there are a lot of people in this town
who are not thinking favorably of you right now.”

“I probably should but I’m not leaving town. You said something last night that I’ve been thinking about. I need to get a
sense of purpose again—focus on something else—and I know just what that something else is.”

“What’s that, Jack?”

“Finding Thomas Felton.”

“Jesus, Jack, every cop in the state is looking for him. You’re a great lawyer, but what makes you think you can add anything
to this manhunt?”

“I know Felton better than any of them. I’ve spent some quality time with him in the last few weeks. I think I know what he’s
going to do.”

“Do you want to share that information with your old buddy?”

“Only if you swear you won’t tell a soul, except for Danni. I want you to tell Danni part of it.”

“And what’s ‘it’?”

“He’s going to try and kill Danni.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Look, he told me that he couldn’t wait. He meant he couldn’t wait to kill again. The guy gave up millions of dollars. Yes,
he’s a serial killer, and he wants, probably needs, to kill again, but that doesn’t explain it all. He was in prison for ten
years. He has a good idea of the people who could have set him up, and Danni is right behind Sam Jeffries on that list. That’s
why he killed Sam’s daughter.

“Danni’s daughter, Hannah, could have been his next target, but Hannah presents logistical problems for him. And even if he
drove out to Boulder, he’d know that by now Hannah’s gone. That brings him right back to Danni.”

“That would be suicide.”

“He doesn’t care at this point. He wants to kill. He wants revenge. He needs it like a junkie needs his fix.”

“Do you think Danni’s figured this out?”

“I don’t know, but she needs to know and I want you to tell her.”

“And what about Sam Jeffries?”

“He may have figured it out, too.”

“That means the whole damn police department knows.”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe? He’s the police chief, for Christ’s sake.”

“I wish you wouldn’t say that,” Jack said.

“Say what?”

“For Christ’s sake.”

“Okay. He’s the friggin’ police chief, dammit!”

Jack looked at Ron and burst out laughing. It was classic Ron.

Ron started laughing, too. “Where was I?” Ron finally said. “Oh yeah, and what about the FBI? They’re probably already in
on this, too.”

“I don’t think so. I’ll bet they’re still in Miami investigating that murder to establish some kind of a link. Then they’ll
be here.”

“Still, there are a lot more people with a lot more expertise than you who can handle this problem. What are you going to
add to this?”

“I don’t know, Ron. I don’t know. But I’ve got to try.”

D
anni had her plan in place. She was certain Felton was going to come at night so she planned on catnapping during the day
and staying up all night. It wasn’t much more elaborate than that. She was going to make a dummy body in the bed and stick
a comfortable chair in the walk-in closet where she was going to sit and wait, a flashlight in her left hand, her gun in her
right. Lights were out at ten o’clock. Before that she would parade about the house with the curtains open, letting the world
know she was there. She knew Felton wouldn’t shoot her through the window. He would want to be up close with a knife so he
could watch
and feel
the life ooze out of her. That was going to be his downfall.

She’d finally convinced Sam to patrol the area rather than hang out in the woods. He wouldn’t have made it in the woods for
any period of time in his physical condition, and he most certainly would have telegraphed his whereabouts. Now, at least,
he was watching somewhere from a car. Danni figured he’d be out there all day as well as during the night. It wasn’t just
conjecture. A friend at the department told her he had taken a leave of absence for an indefinite duration.

She was still worried about his emotional stability. And something else,
someone
else, added to that concern—Jack. Ron had called her and told her that Jack believed that Felton was going to come after her.
It wasn’t news to her but she appreciated the fact that Jack was concerned. Her animosity toward him had dissipated somewhat.
Henry’s actions had certainly contributed to her change of heart, but she also realized that when Jack had read Felton’s criminal
file, he had been presented with a set of facts that had led him to only one conclusion—that his client had been set up. He
didn’t listen to her when she told him to stay out of it, but it was his job to investigate the facts and test the validity
of the police and the prosecution’s case. He wasn’t supposed to listen to her. She was never going to tell him, but she finally
understood things from his perspective.

Now Jack was out there somewhere, according to Ron. If Jack ever crossed paths with Sam Jeffries, she didn’t know what would
happen. Sam might snap and shoot Jack on the spot. Considering Sam’s state of mind, it was not a far-fetched possibility.

Jack had his own plans that he did not share with anybody, including Ron. He knew Danni’s house and the surrounding neighborhood
from the brief period of time when they had been together. After circling the neighborhood a few times to re-familiarize himself
with everything, he too became convinced that Felton would attack from the woods. It was the only undetected avenue for entry
and escape. So Jack decided he was going to stay in the woods.

He bought himself a pup tent and a sleeping bag. He didn’t know what the police presence was going to be like, but he figured
they would probably be checking any parked cars in that area and that they would also set up surveillance at the entry to
the woods behind Danni’s backyard, so, before daybreak, he rode his bike from the new condo and entered the woods a half a
mile farther down from the area directly behind Danni’s house. It was a longer walk and the woods were thick, but if he could
do this, Felton could as well. He found a place to hide the bike not far from his entry point, under some fallen tree trunks
that he covered with dead leaves. Then he walked to the area directly behind Danni’s house, a walk of about twenty minutes,
and started searching for a spot for his tent. It took him a while but eventually he found a hollow, maybe about three feet
deep, that abutted a tree. He set the tent up and covered it with leaves and put a log in front of the entrance. Even in the
daytime, he was sure it was undetectable.

Like Danni, Jack figured Felton would make his move at night, so he, too, planned on catnapping during the day and staying
up all night. Unfortunately, at night he would have to stand up to look out over the log to be able to see all of Danni’s
backyard. Since he would be exposed then, he knew he had to be extremely careful. As an amateur, he also knew he would have
to plan for any and every contingency. For example, on a moonless night it would be impossible to detect someone crossing
the yard, so the next day Jack went to a gun store and purchased some night vision goggles. Every morning well before sunrise,
he took his bike and bought his supplies for the day, mostly water and sandwiches, and sneaked back before the sun came up.

Contrary to his drunken statement to the police, Jack planned on catching Felton and turning him in. In the event that that
plan didn’t work, he hoped he could shoot the Sig Sauer straight.

Sam Jeffries didn’t tell anybody at the police department that he thought Tom Felton was going to try and kill Danni Jansen.
He didn’t get a SWAT team member to hide out in the woods either as Danni had suggested. He wanted Felton all to himself.

In Sam’s mind, he was going to park the car somewhere by the entrance to the woods behind Danni’s house during the day and
just sit and watch. In the evening he was going to drive around. He’d put the arm on a few friends who had second cars and
had access to four different cars to drive.

Things didn’t work out the way Sam envisioned, however. He’d always been a large man with huge arms and a powerful build,
but in recent years he had been inactive and had gained too much weight. Consequently, his knees and his back ached with a
minimum amount of stress. He could make the tour of Danni’s neighborhood every half hour at night, but sitting in the car
all day lasted less than a day. The pain was just too much. His backup plan consisted of driving up to the woods every hour
or so and taking a very slow walk through the brush and the bramble up to Danni’s backyard.

Jack heard Sam coming on his very first trip long before he saw him. Sam was huffing and puffing and making a racket trying
to wade through the thicket. Felton would have been long gone at the first sound. Still, Sam was not going to give up.

With all of the activity going on around here
, Jack thought,
Felton’s going to have to be awfully committed.
Three people were absolutely counting on that commitment.

B
y the third day, Jack had settled into his routine somewhat. It was difficult to catnap during the day and even harder to
stay awake all night, although the crickets chirping incessantly with the occasional accompaniment of a hoot owl did their
part to keep him awake. The creatures of the night helped as well. He saw a slew of raccoons and possums, even a few armadillos.
The animal that caused him the most concern, however, was a coyote. Jack saw him the first night, silently slinking by, his
body close to the ground. Jack put his right hand on the Sig Sauer, hoping again that he would shoot it straight if the necessity
should arise, but the coyote just kept going. He actually turned and looked right into Jack’s eyes as he passed—a kind of
“welcome to the neighborhood” look. By the third night, Jack’s nerves had calmed. He was getting used to the place and, as
a result, he constantly found himself waking up.

I’ve got to do better than this
, he told himself each time.

There were other problems as well. The sandwiches were making him sick and constipated, and his body ached constantly. He
was in excellent shape, but he wasn’t a young man anymore. Lying on the cold hard ground combined with inactivity was taking
its toll. On the fourth day, he took some time before he went shopping and went for a short run and stretched for about a
half hour. It made him feel so much better. Then he bought a big bunch of fruit along with his sandwiches. He just hoped the
fruit didn’t give him the runs. Having the runs in the woods did not fall under the category of a good thing. In an abundance
of caution, he put toilet paper on his list of things to buy the next morning.

The fourth night brought even a bigger problem. Jack was standing up just outside his pup tent looking at Danni’s backyard
over the tree trunk that covered the entrance, wearing his night vision goggles. He didn’t remember falling asleep. All he
knew was that at some point late in the evening he woke up to the feeling of cold hard steel pressed against his left temple.

“Bang!” a voice said.

Jack recognized it right away.

“Danni?”

“Jack, what the hell are you doing out here?” she asked, withdrawing the gun from his temple.

“I’m trying to catch my client.”

It was true but it sounded funny. Danni
almost
laughed.

“You could get yourself killed. If I hadn’t recognized you, I might have shot you.”

“Yeah well, I’m still learning how to be an Indian.”

Danni didn’t say anything. She seemed to be debating something in her own mind.

“Why don’t you come into the house and have some coffee,” she said, not waiting for an answer as she headed for the house.

Jack didn’t hesitate. It took him a few minutes to stumble out of the hollow, but he followed her inside.

Danni was already loading the coffeemaker when he arrived. It felt weird being back in this house under the circumstances.
The last time he had been there, he and Danni were having a torrid love affair. Now a killer might be stalking her.

“Have a seat,” she said, motioning to the little table where she and Sam Jeffries had had coffee just a few days before.

Jack sat down. He didn’t know what to say to her so he didn’t say anything. He just watched her as she made the coffee. She’d
been at the condo to dress him down for taking Felton’s case but under those circumstances, he hadn’t taken the time to look
at her as he did now. She looked great—hadn’t changed a bit in two years. It was funny but he still felt connected to her.
He’d known many women who were probably considered more beautiful than Danni but he hadn’t been attracted to them.
What does that?
he asked himself.
How can I instantly feel connected to this woman all over again?
Maybe it was her personality. Maybe it was her strength of character. She was so straightforward and direct. Those things
were certainly part of it but Jack was sure there was something else, something in the universe that was unrecognizable to
humans, that attracted certain people to each other. Of course, Danni was no longer attracted to him, he was sure. She probably
wanted to shoot him. Maybe that’s why she invited him in.

“Do you want something to eat?” she asked. “I’ve got some apple pie.”

“That would be great.” Four days in the woods was enough to make him salivate over the thought of apple pie.

Danni set the pie and two mugs of coffee on the table and sat down across from him. Jack was still speechless so he filled
his mouth with pie. Now he had an excuse not to talk and something to say when he was done.

“This pie is delicious.”

“Thank you.”

Another bite, a few chews, and he was cornered. Danni wasn’t making it easy for him. She could have made some small talk but
she didn’t. He decided to wade right in.

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

“You mean besides the fact that you’re putting your life in danger to protect me from a serial killer?”

“A serial killer I freed from death row.”

“Don’t give yourself too much credit, Jack. I think the supreme court and Apache County had something to do with your client
going free.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I do. You set the process in motion because you found some irregularities in the way he was arrested and prosecuted.”

“You told me to let it go and I didn’t listen to you.”

“You weren’t supposed to listen to me. I wasn’t answering your questions; I was just telling you to leave it alone.”

She was right but he couldn’t believe her attitude.

“I put your daughter in danger.”

“There you go again thinking you control the universe. You represented a client to the best of your ability. And my daughter
is safe, by the way, because a man you freed from death row is protecting her.”

Jack was dumbfounded. He stuffed another hunk of apple pie into his mouth. They sat there in silence for a few minutes, Danni
sipping her coffee and Jack steadily making the apple pie disappear.

“Do you want some more?” she asked.

“Sure.” The woods were looming in the background. He wasn’t going to pass up a second piece of the best pie he’d ever eaten,
or so it seemed at the moment.

“I see Sam Jeffries in the woods every day at least two or three times,” he said.

Danni was cutting the pie. “Don’t ever let him see you, Jack. He doesn’t feel the same way about things as I do.”

“Nor should he.”

“Let’s not go back there again. Just stay away from him. He’s not himself these days. I shudder to think what would happen
if he came upon you like I did. Speaking of which, I can’t talk you out of going back out there again, can I?”

Jack finished chewing his newest piece of pie.

“Nope. This is something I’ve got to do.”

Danni certainly understood that sentiment. She reached down into a cabinet below the sink off to the right and pulled out
a thermos. She poured the rest of the coffee into it.

“Try and stay awake out there. Remember who you’re dealing with.”

“I can’t forget,” he said, taking the thermos from her and heading for the door.

“Thanks for the coffee. I’ll bring this back in the morning.”

“Just leave it by the back door. I’ll refill it for you,” she said.

Jack looked at her. “Really?”

“Don’t read anything into it. If you’re going to be out there, I want you to be alert.”