“That knife was taken from my home! What sort of idiot would plan a murder and then grab a knife from his own kitchen? Of course it’s going to have my fingerprints on it. So, what do I do? I hire the best defense lawyer in town. Three years later, after it became clear that you were going to leave me to rot in that place, it dawned on me that whoever set me up was doing their best to make sure I stayed in prison for a good long time. And to do that, they needed to go through you. So here I am.”
Mike set his glass down with a clank. Instead of pouring another drink, he stepped out from behind the bar with a gun pointed at Jason’s chest. “You should have stayed where you were. Being in prison has to be a lot better than being dead.”
Jason gritted his teeth. “It took me way too long to figure out that you were bad news, Mike, but I never pegged you for a killer.”
Jason walked his way.
“Stay where you are. I don’t want to shoot you, but I will if I have to.”
Jason took another step before he stopped and raised both hands in the air.
When the lawyer glanced at his phone lying on the bar, Jason lunged. He grabbed Mike’s arm, twisted it behind him, and pinned him to the ground. Mike didn’t have the strength to fight him. The gun dropped from his hand.
Jason grabbed the gun and held it to the lawyer’s head. “I’ve already spent eight years in prison and I’m not going back. In other words, I have nothing to lose. Talk or you’re dead.”
When no words were spoken, Jason jabbed his knee into the center of Mike’s back, making him grunt in pain. “You’ve got ten seconds to talk or I’m pulling the trigger. One…”
When he got to eight, Mike said, “I don’t know who wants you dead, I swear.”
“You’ve got five seconds to give me a name.”
“You’re right,” he blurted. “I was paid off, but I swear on my mother’s grave I have no idea who was behind the bribe.”
“Bullshit!” Jason pulled back on the trigger.
“No! I swear! Whoever it was paid me in cash. Left the money in a locker at the airport.”
“How much?”
“A quarter of a million dollars.”
Anger lit up his insides. Who would pay the sleaze ball that much money to see him hung up to dry? He wanted nothing more than to blow the man’s brains out. “So when did this mystery person make contact with you?”
“A few days after I read about the murder in the newspaper. I found a note on my car…pinned under the windshield. I thought it was an advertisement. Almost tossed the note without reading it. But then I saw my name scrawled across the paper.”
“Where’s the note?”
“It’s long gone.”
Jason pushed his knee deeper. “What did it say?”
“I don’t know.” Mike whimpered. “It’s been a long time…short and sweet…something about representing a guy named Jason Caldwell.” He tried to breathe. “Can you let up a little?”
“Just keep talking.”
“If I were asked to take on Caldwell’s case, I was to do it. I was told I’d be paid for my efforts.”
“Why you?”
Mike struggled for a breath.
Jason didn’t care. The man was lucky he was going to get to live. He lifted his knee just enough to allow the lawyer a breath or two.
“Someone had to have known I was in trouble. I was in over my head,” Mike said, his voice strained. “My wife had just left me. My business was failing. Whoever wrote the note must have known I was struggling. That’s all I can figure. The deal was that I take your case and make sure you were convicted.”
“And what about the money? When were you paid?”
“Half upfront,” he said between gasps for breath. “The rest after all appeals failed.”
“You must have talked with this person at some point.”
“They used a throw-away phone and a voice synthesizer. It was robotic…or maybe computerized, I don’t know.”
“Male or female?”
“I have no idea. I couldn’t tell.”
“When was the last time this person made contact?”
“Five years ago…after your final appeal was shot down. Another money drop was made, left in a locker at the San Francisco airport. We never talked again.”
“You’re going to need to testify.”
“No way. You might as well kill me now and be done with it.”
Jason sucked in his frustration and said, “Well, you might just get your wish. Tell anyone I was here, Mike, anyone at all, and I’ll come back and take care of you once and for all.”
***
Jason’s adrenaline was still soaring when he found Angela sitting in the car a few blocks away. He tapped on the window and must have given her a start because she put a hand on her chest and took in a breath before she finally unlocked the door.
He put the gun in the glove compartment.
She looked at the gun. “Where did you find that? What happened in there?”
“Start driving. Let’s get out of here. We’ll take I-80 east toward Sacramento.”
After she cleared the neighborhood, he told her everything that had happened back at the lawyer’s house.
It was quiet for a moment before he said, “Who would go to so much trouble to pin the murder on me?”
“A desperate person, more than likely the killer himself,” Angela said. “So you’re convinced the whole thing was a set-up? Someone was out to get you?”