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“Just until the real killer is caught. As my lawyer you’ll have access to all the evidence, right?”
“Yes, and so will your new lawyer.”
“Savannah will try to catch the murderer on her own, Hez. I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn’t listen. She could be putting herself in a lot of danger. I need a lawyer I can trust to help her.” She grimaced. “I need you.”
Savannah going after a killer on her own? The thought rocked him. She could easily wind up dead. She didn’t know the criminal world like he did. He had allowed Ella to go off alone and find death. Could he live with himself if he let the same thing happen to Savannah? But how could he represent Jess if she kept key information from him?
He leaned forward. “Why didn’t you tell me about that London trip? You humiliated me in court.”
Her face hardened, but she nodded. “I’m sorry that happened.”
“It can’t happen again.”
“It won’t. I was caught by surprise, and I couldn’t make alternate arrangements at the last minute.”
He sat back. “Alternate arrangements for what? You still haven’t told me.”
She stared at him in silence. “I had a good reason for what I did. You’ll have to trust me.”
He arched his eyebrows and said nothing.
She rolled her eyes. “Trust Savannah then. Ask her if I had a good reason.”
“Jess, the police have your phone, your computer, your emails, your texts. They have everything. And you have to assume they know everything. If you keep information from your lawyer, you’re just sabotaging yourself.”
She scowled. “I said it won’t happen again. Besides, if they have everything and they have to give it all to you, that means you’ll have everything too, right? So you don’t have to trust me if you don’t want to.”
He hated to admit it, but she had a point. “Well, your chances of winning are much higher if you don’t keep important information on a need-to-know basis. You’re not a lawyer, so you have no idea what an attorney needs to know. As you saw at the bail hearing.”
“How many times do I have to say it won’t happen again?” A hint of vulnerability softened her mouth and flashed in her eyes. “You either believe me or you don’t. Your choice.” She leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest in a gesture that came across as more resigned than angry.
He watched her closely as she spoke and decided she was being honest—at least to the best of her ability. Jessica Legare had never been an open person, and he doubted that would change. Oh well. She wouldn’t be his first client who had a troubled relationship with the truth.
In any event, he had no choice. Not really. He couldn’t withdraw if that meant Savannah going after a murderer on her own.
He sighed. “Okay, I’ll stay in. But the real choice is actually yours. Either you can be straight with me from now on and have a shot at winning, or you can get ready to spend the rest of your life as a guest of the state. Remember that.”
* * *
And there it was, right where Jess told Savannah to look on the shelf in the walk-in closet. The Chanel leather vanity case was vaguely familiar. Maybe it had been their mother’s, but Savannah couldn’t be sure. She carried it to the bed and unzipped the top. A picture lay on top. Afternoon sunlight streamed through the windows on each side of the king-size poster bed and illuminated the contented grin on the boy’s face.
Simon. His name was Simon. And he wasn’t just any ten-year-old boy—he was Savannah’s flesh and blood. Her own nephew.
She struggled with a sense of rising rage and betrayal. Jess had cheated her of watching Simon grow and change. She’d missed his first word and first steps. She’d missed his first faltering attempts at reading and the enthralling attention a child brought to every new thing. Savannah had included Jess in every aspect of Ella’s life, but her sister hadn’t returned the favor. And the last ten years could never be retrieved.
Moisture blurred her vision. Simon had the same blond hair as Jess and Ella. He fit in their family like a missing glove suddenly found after years of searching. He would have loved Ella. In her mind’s eye Savannah could see him holding out his arms for Ella to run into with her first stumbling steps. She could see him swinging her and pushing her stroller. So much loss stole the strength from Savannah’s knees, and she sank onto the edge of the bed with the picture in her trembling hand.
Why, Jess? How could you?
She finally gathered her composure and went back to the drawer where she found the address of the school in London along with his birth certificate. She gaped at the date on his birth certificate. He was born on their mother’s birthday. A fresh wave of grief closed her eyes.
Did he even know he had an aunt? How would he feel when she showed up to get him when he was expecting his mother?
She would soon find out.
She stuffed the items in her oversize bag and headed for the front door. Through the window she spotted Hez getting out of his vehicle. Had Jess told him the truth? Savannah hated the thought of keeping such a huge secret from him, and he wouldn’t say anything to anyone about this.
She wasn’t sure she could hide her agitation from him, but she opened the door. “Did Jess need something?”
