“How are you holding up, kid?”
Kid? He’d just spent his thirtieth birthday in a cold cell. “I’m fine,” he lied. “Listen, Mike, be straight with me and tell me what’s going on. What’s next? You’re still working on getting me out on appeal like you said, right?”
His lawyer shook his head, slowly, with about as much regret as if he’d just been told his neighbor’s dog had been run over by a car. “I’ve done everything I could to get the conviction overturned,” he said glumly. “Felony appeals in California are limited to legal issues. The only question the Court of Appeal asks is ‘did the case proceed in accordance with the law?’” Mike paused for effect, just as he had done throughout Jason’s trial.
He’d been told that Mike was one of the best defense lawyers in California. What a crock of shit.
“The answer to the question,” Mike went on, “was yes, the case proceeded in accordance with the law, and therefore your original sentence was affirmed.”
“What are you trying to tell me, Mike? That I’m sentenced to life in prison for a crime I didn’t commit?”
“We’ve been over this before. The aggravating factors involved in your case are to blame for your plight. Not me. But I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”
“You’re sorry you couldn’t do more?” Jason’s voice rose, his tone biting. “What have you done for me besides ensure me a life sentence? You’re telling me there’s absolutely nothing I can do to get out of here?” He raised his hands just enough to make the chains rattle.
Mike flinched, as if he thought Jason might actually take a swing at him.
Nothing made sense any longer. Why was he still in this place? He was innocent.
Mike lifted himself from his chair and calmly went about gathering his files. He opened his briefcase and carefully slid his belongings inside. Everything about the man was nice and neat, his suit, his tie, his hair. Every action said ‘nothing more to do here, see you on the outside.’
Jason stared at the man, and suddenly noticed something he hadn’t seen before. And that’s when it clicked. He smacked his fisted hands on top of the table so his chains rattled. “You son-of-a-bitch. You don’t care what happens to me. You took this case because of the media attention, isn’t that right?”
“You need to calm down, Jason.”
“You never thought you could get me off, did you?” It was true. Not only did Jason see it in his eyes, he read the answer in every line in his face. His lawyer was a big part of why he was here. Why hadn’t he understood that before now? “What did you do, Mike? Did you take a bribe?”
Mike leaned low, his cleanly shaved face inches from Jason’s, his gray-blue eyes narrowed and condemning. “I don’t appreciate being accused by a felon.” Straightening, he smoothed a hand over the creases in his tailored suit, moved toward the door, and knocked three times. . The guard’s key rattled on the other side. Mike turned back to Jason and said, “The only way you’ll get out of here, son, is in a box.”
Chapter Two
Five Years Later
Montpelier, Vermont
Angela Chack sped down River Street in her ancient Toyota Corolla. Minutes later, the tires spit up gravel as she pulled into the parking lot in front of the morgue where she worked.
She was late.
Her hands shook as she worked on inserting the key into the main door. The alarm beeped, but she had thirty seconds to punch in the code. Done with that, she smoothed her hair out of her face and took a moment to breathe. Thanks to the entire bottle of 2012 Sparrow Hawk Reserve she’d drank last night, her stomach turned.
After setting her purse on the counter, she walked around, turning on lights and opening blinds. Usually her boss was already here, but he and his wife had decided to take their first vacation ever after ten years of marriage.
She turned on the radio, then quickly turned it off again when she heard “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” by the Righteous Brothers.
The last thing she wanted to think about was love. She was done with men.
Today, she decided, she would lose herself in her work and forget all about Rob.
As Mr. Keener’s assistant, she was responsible for collecting bodies, helping with autopsies, writing reports, and keeping the place running smoothly. The problem was, there weren’t too many people in Montpelier, which meant that ninety percent of her time was actually spent tidying the place up, paying invoices, and filing.
She settled into the chair in front of her desk, turned on her computer, and checked the clipboard.
Interesting.
A body had been brought in yesterday before Mr. Keener left for Hawaii. There were also two other corpses in the cold room, embalmed and ready to go. It wasn’t too often she spent the day alone with three dead people, but with the week she was having, spending her birthday with a bunch of stiffs sort of made sense.