The Lawyer's Lawyer

CHAPTER Thirty-Seven



Two days after Felton’s release, Jack received a phone call at the condo. It was about ten. He had just come from an early morning bike ride and had to retrieve his phone from the saddlebag under his seat.

“Hello?” he said, resting his empty hand on the bike.

“Jack?”

“Yes. Who’s this?”

“It’s me, Tom Felton.”

Jack was a little embarrassed that he hadn’t recognized his client’s voice. “Hi Tom. How are you? Where are you?”

“Just driving around. I was wondering if you had filed that paperwork yet.”

“Not yet, but I plan on doing it within the next week.”

“Don’t bother, Jack. I’ve changed my mind.”

Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Why would a man turn down the opportunity to receive millions of dollars? It didn’t make sense.

“Are you sure?”

“I am.”

“You wouldn’t want to tell me why, would you?”

“I just couldn’t wait, Jack. I just couldn’t wait.”

“I’ll hold on to them for you in case you change your mind,” Jack said, not really understanding Felton’s answer. Felton did not respond. He’d already hung up.

Jack had barely closed the cell phone when he received another call. It was Henry.

“Hey, what’s up?” Jack asked.

“Are you sitting down?”

“Nope. I’m leaning on my bike as we speak. Had a great ride this morning. Why?”

Henry didn’t answer right away, causing Jack to think he had lost the connection.

“Henry, are you still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here. Listen, Jack, I’ve got some bad news. I was listening to the morning news here in Miami and they were reporting the murder of a young woman. They wouldn’t release the details. All they would say was that it was a brutal murder. Jack, the woman’s name was Kathleen Jeffries.”

“Oh my God. It’s not Sam Jeffries’s daughter, is it?”

“I’m not positive, but I remember reading somewhere—I think it was the newspaper accounts when his wife was murdered—that he had a daughter and her name was Kathleen or Eileen or something like that.”

Jack let his bike fall over and almost fell to the ground himself. The realization of what might have happened was starting to sink in. He remembered as well that Sam Jeffries had a daughter although he couldn’t remember her name.

Please. Please, let it be some other Jeffries, not Sam Jeffries’s daughter.

It was Henry’s turn to wonder about the connection.

“Jack, are you there?”

Silence.

“Jack?”

“I’m here, Henry. Are you checking into the details of the murder?”

“I don’t have time, Jack.”

“You don’t have time?”

“No. The more I thought about this and the possibilities, the more I thought I need to get on a plane. I’m heading to the airport right now. My plane leaves in a little over an hour.”

Jack understood, finally. Henry was putting the pieces together.

“Hannah?” he asked.

“That’s my guess, Jack, although Danni’s a possibility. I figure she’s probably heading to the same place I am if she knows. Will you give her a call just to make sure?”

“I’ll give you her cell phone number, Henry. I don’t think she’ll want to talk to me right about now. And frankly, I don’t think I could handle that conversation.”

“Jack, I know you don’t want to hear this, but don’t blame yourself if this turns out the way it looks. You were just doing your job. I’m as responsible as you. We just made a mistake, that’s all.”

“Is it just a mistake, Henry? Do you think Chief Jeffries will see it that way? Maybe I think I’m too smart sometimes. Maybe I think I know more than the people who put people away for a living. Danni kept telling me to leave this alone, but I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t hear her.”

“Stop it, Jack. We don’t even know for sure that it’s him. We’re just speculating.”

“Oh, it’s him, Henry. I know it. I just talked to him. He told me not to file a claims bill. Said he couldn’t wait. I didn’t know what he was talking about until this moment. He couldn’t wait to kill again.”

“Jack, he’s a psychopath. Nobody can read those guys. You can’t blame yourself.”

“If not me, Henry, who? Here’s Danni’s number. I can’t talk anymore.”

He gave Henry the number and abruptly hung up the phone.