Chapter 114
IT WAS SUNNY in LA when I dropped Justine off at her house and then called DA Bobby Petino from my car. I left him a message saying that I had to speak with him urgently.
Then I drove home, took a shower, and was dressing for work when Bobby returned my call.
I said, “Bob”—and he cut me off.
“Jack, you’re on my call list. I heard about Lester Olsen and what he did to your assistant and the rest of it, but the Love for Life racket is a job for the Vegas DA, not me.”
“I was calling you about something else,” I said. I put Petino on speakerphone, sat on the edge of my bed, and pulled on my shoes.
“As I said,” Petino went on, “you’re on my call list. I need a minute and I’ve only got a second.”
The man is an attack dog, all the way. I know Justine likes him and might even be dating him. I don’t understand how she can stand him.
“Go ahead,” I said. “Talk to me.”
“It’s about Hal Archer.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Your client, right?”
“Yep. He’s mine.”
“Well, FYI, even though he may have been a Love for Life target, it doesn’t matter. Even if Archer was set up, manipulated, whatever, there’s no case for self-defense. Archer outweighed his little wife by a hundred pounds and she was unarmed.”
I went to my closet, picked out a tie, looped it around my neck.
Petino said, “I’ve got enough evidence to indict him a hundred times over. So I’m going forward.”
“I never doubted you were going to prosecute, Bobby,” I said. “Meanwhile, I need a favor. And I need it right away.”
“I’m listening, Jack. What do you need?”