Lawyer Trap

50





DAY NINE–SEPTEMBER 13

TUESDAY NOON


The Mountainside trailer park, no doubt once a quiet place nestled in the foothills of unincorporated Jefferson County between Golden and Lakewood, now sat in close proximity to no less than three interstate systems. Aspen eased her Honda through the narrow lanes until she found the trailer she was looking for—Number 65. A vehicle occupied the one and only parking space for the unit, so she parked near the main office and headed back on foot, solidly overdressed in her attorney attire. She had no idea how anyone could actually sleep around here with all the freeway noise. Several large cottonwoods shaded the park, still green but with hints of autumn yellow.

She knocked on the door.

Vibrations came from inside and the curtains moved.

A woman opened the door.

She looked to be about twenty-eight and, without makeup, could hardly be described as stunning. Still, she was pretty, and had high cheekbones and classic lines. She probably scrubbed up pretty good.

“Are you Sarah Maine?” Aspen asked.

The woman nodded, then looked past Aspen to see if anyone else was with her.

“Yeah. Are you a cop?”

Aspen laughed.

“Me?”

The woman was clearly serious.

“Not hardly,” Aspen said. Then she held up a picture of Derek Bennett, a printout from the firm’s website. “Do you know this man?”

She said nothing.

But the expression on her face said it all.

“Why?”

“I need to ask you a few questions about him,” Aspen said. “You’re not in any kind of trouble or anything. I’m just trying to help a friend.”

The woman almost opened the door, but then said, “My place is a mess.”

Aspen shrugged.

“I don’t care about that.”

“Wait here. Let me put my shoes on.”

They ended up walking down a trail that started at the far end of the trailer park and headed into the foothills. Aspen did her best to keep dust from kicking onto her shoes and nylons. On the way, she explained that she suspected Derek Bennett of being involved in a murder.

“Me and a friend followed him last night,” she said, “to Tops & Bottoms. We stayed in the parking lot until he came out, then I went inside to see what the place was about while my friend waited outside in the car. She spotted you coming out about five minutes after Bennett left. She said you looked stressed. We figured that you were the one he had the session with.”

“We can’t talk about our customers,” Sarah said.

Aspen nodded.

“Of course not,” she said, “as a general rule. But this is entirely between you and me.”

Something caught her eye.

A coyote.

About fifty yards off, loping through the field.

Two more followed.

“Coyotes,” she said.

“They’re all over,” Sarah said. “They won’t hurt you.”

“So what kind of sessions do you do with Bennett?”

The woman looked hesitant, deciding whether to talk or not, then said, “I get a thousand an hour. You see the way I live. I can’t afford to lose that money.”

“Honest,” Aspen said, “this doesn’t go anywhere beyond me. Believe me, I’m no stranger to money problems.”

Suddenly the coyotes barked and yelped.

Now they were scrambling, chasing something in the rabbit-brush.

“Found some lunch,” Sarah said. She looked at Aspen. “Derek Bennett’s a mean son-of-a-bitch. I don’t like serving him, even at a thousand an hour, but I have a sister with some medical problems. That’s where all the money goes.”

Then she described Bennett’s routine.

Aspen pictured it, biting her lower lip so hard that she almost drew blood.

The money wasn’t enough.

“Did he ever talk about killing anyone?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m pretty sure,” Sarah said.

“What’s that mean?—you’re pretty sure.”

She shrugged. “He calls me a little bitch-whore and tells me I’m getting what I deserve. I mean he’s intense. In my opinion, he’s the kind of guy who could kill someone in a heartbeat, so long as he could justify it in his own mind. Somehow he justifies what he does to me. He doesn’t even see me as a real human being.”

“You’re just his little bitch-whore.”

“Exactly.”

“What about the name Rachel Ringer? Did he ever mention that name to you?”

Sarah wrinkled her forehead, going deep.

“The name seems familiar for some reason, but I can’t place the context.”

“She was one of the four women found dead at the railroad spur.”

Sarah looked confused.

“I don’t know anything about that.”

“Her name’s been in the news,” Aspen added.

“I don’t watch the news.”

When they got back to the trailer park, they hugged and Aspen thanked the woman for talking. “And like I said, this is just between you and me. I understand money problems.” Sarah looked doubtful, so Aspen added, “See that Honda over there? That’s mine.”

The woman grinned.

“I’m glad you said that. Now I feel better.”

The meeting took longer than Aspen had planned. By the time she arrived back at the law firm, her entire lunch hour was gone and then some.

Christina spotted her almost immediately, slipped into her office, and closed the door.

“Well?” she asked.

“I’ll give you the details later,” Aspen said. “But it’s worse than I thought. We need to get into Bennett’s office and have a look around.”

She sensed that Christina was going to say no, it was too risky. But instead she said, “Okay.”

“Tonight,” Aspen added.

“Fine.”

“Cruella’s too.”

Christina looked confused.

“But if Bennett killed Rachel, how could Jacqueline Moore possibly be involved?”

Aspen shrugged.

“I don’t know. All we know for sure is that she is. Maybe she found out about it and is helping him cover it up. Or maybe she put him up to it in the first place. Remember, she and Rachel had a personality conflict. All I know for sure at this point is that we need to find out.”

“Maybe we should just go to the police and tell them what we have,” Christina said.

“No,” Aspen said. “They don’t have the kind of access we do. For better or worse, this is on our shoulders. Or my shoulders, at least.”

“Our shoulders,” Christina said.

Aspen studied her.

“Maybe it’s time for you to back out,” she said. “You’ve been here a while and actually have something to lose.”

Christina shook her head.

“I need to know where I’m working,” she said. “And whether I want to bother building my career here.”

Aspen nodded.

“Okay. Tonight, then.”