“Khole defended a killer in Sacramento. As I told you, he’s one of the best criminal attorneys in the country. Justin believed the accused killer was being framed. This Carter Mulligan guy moved down from Oregon. He worked construction in and around Sacramento. A woman was raped and murdered who had been seen with Mulligan at a bar the night she was murdered – no DNA, or anything tying Mulligan to the murder. The cops knew they had the right guy, but couldn’t prove it. Mulligan fooled Justin right out of the gate. He told me he’d handled a lot of liars, but none as accomplished as Mulligan. Khole convinced him to take a lie detector test which he passed with flying colors. The DA had no choice with what they had for evidence but to let him go. If it had ended there, we wouldn’t be talking about my friend Khole.”
A car came up one of the streets running perpendicular to their route, and both men turned, putting hands on weapons because of the engine roar. When it passed, Nick went on. “Part of the problem was the cops didn’t have a DNA sample for Mulligan. They couldn’t trick or obtain it from Mulligan without evidence, and he refused any cooperation, playing the outrage card. Khole got him released before the cops were able to get a court order. Then, one of Justin’s law clerks stumbled on the fact Mulligan never existed until five years prior to the Sacramento murder. My buddy didn’t want to drop an actual killer on the street, because he got stupid. Justin invited Mulligan in to sign papers, treated him like a king, and then sent the DNA sample from his coffee cup to be tested by a private firm.”
“Be careful about curiosity, huh?”
“And then some, Gus. Justin turned the report over to a friend in the DA’s office. The very next morning, he had Sacramento police swarming his office there. Mulligan was in the wind, but not before linking him to four kidnapping, rape, and murder cases in Maine. Mulligan’s real name was Seth Darboe. Then the FBI was called in because of the serial kidnapping, and across state lines business. I have to hand it to Justin. He was no dummy. He knew the police and FBI would swarm around like a hive of African bees, but do nothing other than launch into a massive circle jerk. Justin put his wife and two daughters in hiding. Then he went looking for someone to handle Darboe. It turned out Justin defended an old service buddy of mine, Jake Watterston. Jake knows a lot about me, and Justin had defended him successfully on a counterfeit ID charge. Jake has my personal mail drop. I was between jobs, writing the third Diego novel. Since there was a lawyer playing a large role in my novel, I thought it would be a kick to get involved with Justin.”
“I stopped thinking about it as a humorous endeavor when I found out the facts. I know we joke about me being a serial killer, which is true, but I don’t kidnap, rape, mutilate, and murder innocent young women.”
“True, although you kidnap, mutilate, and murder many other not so innocent people, hence my point about you being a serial killer, Muerto.”
“Oh good, thank you for clearing that up, Payaso.”
“Go on with your story.”
“No. You’ve hurt my feelings, Payaso.”
“You don’t have feelings, Muerto.”
“True. Where was I when you insulted me? Oh yes… I looked into this Darboe guy. I didn’t like what I found. After meeting with Justin, I sent him into hiding with his family, but showed him in detail how to not be found. He thought I was sending him into hiding for years. I found Darboe in three days. He crossed the country to Maine again, where he had old connections. Seth had a drink at an old hangout in Bangor one night, left at closing, and disappeared. I told Justin that although there would be a nationwide manhunt ongoing for Seth, it was a formality, but to accept any police protection offered to keep our forces of justice busy. He reads all my novels, and we get together a few times a year when he’s in his Salinas office.”
“That story doesn’t sound like the pre-Rachel, Jean, and Deke Nick.”
“I’ve told you before I take risks occasionally when I meet someone real. If not for Paul, I would have never taken on his Marine buddy who was avenging his niece’s death. I knew if he was let in on the details he’d screw me. That is not the case with my lawyer buddy. He never calls me. He never writes me. He posts a short blurb on my mail drop that he’ll be in Salinas, and what time. That’s the other plus sign about a guy like him. He knows I hunted down, murdered, and made disappear a serial killer no one else could handle. Yet he still likes having lunch with me, never mentions what I do, and always wants to talk about the novels.”
“So what are you going to ask him to do for you?”
“Poke a stick into our DA’s office, and find out the details behind the scenes as to how a set of brothers capable of blowing people to hell and gone get to walk out of lockup without a single word to the civilian they have a grudge against. Justin annoys the hell out of people when he wants to, but he does so with a professional flair. I want a face and identity without my having to get it personally. Justin will get it.”
Gus pointed ahead as Deke stiffened. “It looks like you have federal company already. Heh… heh… they actually think Rachel will open the door to chat with them.”
“Rach hasn’t called, so she’s seen them on the security monitor and decided to ignore them. She’s seen enough frauds to know taking a chance on opening the door to strangers is a bad idea in my household.”
“So, you think they’re frauds?”