Heart Lies & Alibis (23 page)

I nodded and went downstairs to greet my very angry attorney at the door and face whatever the consequences my lies had in store for me. I took a deep breath and opened the door. Jackson stormed past me into the foyer without a hello or how are you greeting tonight. He stopped and spun around his blue eyes glaring. I almost expected to see fire flare out of his nose. He was angry and I knew I deserved it. "Alright young lady, I have had enough. This is the final lie I catch you in, do you understand? You will tell me everything about this Bobbi Jo Callahan and all the other skeletons in your past or I am done with you and this case. Do I make myself clear?" His Texas twang increased with his anger and today it was exceptionally strong. I had really screwed up and my life depended on him forgiving me right now.

"Crystal clear. I've got fresh coffee on so we can talk. How do you take it?" I said as I gestured for him to follow me into the house.

His southern upbringing wouldn't allow him to be completely rude even if he wanted to. "Black, please. Thank you." He stalked to my dining table and sat down, spreading papers and a notebook on the table while I retrieved the coffee. At least he hadn't stormed out. I still had a chance.

After I got us each a cup of coffee, I sat across from him and felt like a wayward student in the principal's office except instead of getting detention, I was looking at death row. I had one chance to convince Jackson I was still worth fighting for, in spite of all I had done. He held his pen above the paper, ready to record my past and I knew it was now or never.

He narrowed his eyes at me, gone was all the compassion and understanding I had found just days before after my arrest. He barked, "Speak. Now. And I want all of it."

I nodded and began, relating the same story I had been telling Declan just moments before upstairs.

He interrupted me when I was half through. "So you get arrested. What happened next?" He asked his pen poised to record my answers. His face looked a little less cold than when he had arrived and I felt a small ray of hope that I still had a chance to keep him as my lawyer.

"We were booked into the city jail. I was sixteen so they kept me in my own cell as the juvenile facility was about fifty miles away. They called my mom but she was out, as usual. She probably wouldn't have come to get me if she had been home. I knew I was alone in this and I had to do anything I could to save my ass. I didn't know if they could question me without my mom, but they did anyway and I tried to handle it like an adult. For three hours they asked me questions about the Dixon brothers and the burglary and anything they could think of and I answered as best as I could. By this point I had no more loyalty to Linc and I certainly didn't give a shit about Rose so I told them everything I knew." I still didn't feel guilty about turning against the Dixon brothers. They had used me, like so many before them, and when the time came I had save my own ass.

Jackson paused for a moment and looked at me before nodding for me to continue. I let out a deep sigh and pushed on.

"The detectives told me the old man the brothers had tried to rob had fought back and Rose shot him in the stomach. The man was alive but in critical condition and they weren't sure if he would make it through the night. At this point, the Dixon's were being charged with assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, etc. But it could jump to murder if the man died. I was being held as an accessory and I was terrified. The detectives kept questioning me because they wanted to know if I had also been part of their other crimes. I couldn't help them because I didn't know anything. I knew Rose was a bad guy but I had no idea of all the bad shit he and Linc had done over the months since Rose was released from prison. The details the detectives gave me made me sick and I felt so stupid for having let them in my life in the first place. For some reason, the detective and his partner took pity on me because they believed my story and decided I deserved a second chance. I found out one of them was a former classmate of my moms and her reputation was no secret in our small town so he knew I had had a pretty shitty upbringing and seemed to want to help as best he could."

I stopped to take a drink of coffee while Jackson scratched notes down furiously. He was trying to remain professional but I could see my story was getting to him. His voice cracked with emotion when he spoke. "And then?"

I was so exhausted from the emotional tornado created from telling this story but I pushed on. If I didn't finish now, I would never finish. "We were arraigned the next day. I was charged as a juvenile, luckily, so I faced a different judge than the brothers which allowed me to tell my side of the story without them being around. That judge I stood before saved my life in more ways than I could ever know at the time. I owe him my life." I felt a tear slide down my cheek. I hadn't thought of the judge in a long time.

Jackson stopped writing and looked at me, his hard eyes softening for just a minute, before the hard ass lawyer returned. "What do you mean by that? How did he save your life?"

I wiped the tear away and continued. "Judge Winston Stone took one look at that scared shitless little girl standing in front of his bench and decided she had a chance at a real future and he was going to give it to her. He helped get my charges reduced to a misdemeanor and got my record sealed. He also spoke with the school and learned I was actually in the top of my class, even with all my bad life choices, and decided he needed to help me even more. After I was released from custody a few days later he arranged for me to stay at a foster home run by two retired schoolteachers. I was there a couple weeks when my life took another blow. My mom was found dead at the home of her dealer. An overdose, of course. She never could kick her meth habit. As hard as losing her was, her death provided me with the chance at a new start. And I took it." I swallowed back some long buried tears and drank some more coffee. Jackson squeezed my hand for a brief moment. I looked back at him and took a deep breath. I only had a bit more to tell him and I needed to get it out.

"After we buried my mom, Judge Stone helped me become an emancipated minor so I could freely leave the state of Kentucky and not have to stay in the foster care system. By this time, the Dixon brothers had been released from jail while they waited for their own trial. Rose made it known he was looking for me and I knew it wasn't for anything good. He was convinced I was to blame for our arrests because of the crash. He was making threats against me I heard through some shared acquaintances and I knew he wouldn't hesitate to follow through on them. At this point he knew he was going back to prison and I guess he figured he had nothing left to lose. I also knew, even with Judge Stone's protection, I would never be safe in Winchester again."

Jackson nodded in understanding. I stared into my empty coffee cup as more memories swirled through my mind.

"The judge came to me with a plan. He always believed I could be more than being some hillbilly's girlfriend and so he told me what he wanted to do. He had a sister in California who was a widowed college professor who lived alone. He arranged for me to move out west with her and pose as her dead husband's "niece". I would finish high school at a private preparatory academy paid for by the judge. Then apply to college when I graduated and move on with my life, leaving Winchester and the Dixon Brothers far behind. We agreed, however, if the plan was to be successful I needed to let Bobbi Jo be buried forever. Before I boarded the bus, the judge handed me a package. In it were the papers for my new life. Birth certificate, driver's license, social security card. I was now Reagan Fairfield from Davenport, Iowa."

Jackson continued to take notes as I spoke but his face became softer and the concern filling his eyes was as genuine as any I had seen. A feeling of relief was slowly spreading through my body the more I spoke and it felt good.

Shaking my head while a wry smile filled my face, I continued. "It was funny that the first thing the judge's sister noticed about me when we met was my accent. I had lived in Kentucky my whole life so my twang was very pronounced. The first thing she did was to arrange for some voice lessons when I arrived. She lived in Los Angeles so it was easy to find someone used to helping someone learn or lose an accent as needed for acting roles. It took twice weekly lessons over the next few months to lose all of my Kentucky twang. I started my senior year of high school in the fall as a new person and I never looked back. And the rest of my life story, you already know." I watched him while he silently recorded some more notes. My shoulders slumped in exhaustion and relief. For the first time in over twenty years I had been able to tell someone the truth about my past and it felt surprisingly good to let my secrets go.

Jackson finished making some notes but didn't speak. I was afraid he was still going to walk out on my case and I knew he would be entirely justified in doing so. Finally, he looked up and removed his glasses. He looked at me and for a brief moment his eyes held some of the kindness I had found in Judge Stone's eyes twenty-three years before. "That is one hell of a story, young lady. And you have become one hell of a woman Reagan. I applaud you for making something of your life, considering everything, and I think the judge was right in giving you a chance at a new life. I do wish you had trusted me enough to tell me all this from the start but I won't quit your case. Although my staying entirely depends on one thing." He paused, making sure the gravity of his words really sank in. "From now on, all the questions I ask you must be answered with only the truth or I'm gone. Do I make myself clear?"

I exhaled a breath of relief. "Yes sir." I gave him a mock salute and a grateful smile.

For the first time in the meeting, he smiled back. "Alright then. The first question I have – did Thad know anything about your past?"

I shook my head emphatically. "No. None of it. I never told anyone. I made up some stories for him, telling him my parents had died, no family to speak of that sort of thing. He never really pushed too hard to find out more or show much interest really. Maybe that should have been a sign of things to come, huh?" I rolled my eyes at him. "Anyway, I only communicated with the judge and his sister once a year until they died. The judge and his sister passed within a few months of each other right after Thad and I married. Once they were gone I no longer had any ties to my past which is why I have no idea how any of this information came to light now. I have not spoken to anyone about anything to do with Bobbi Jo until today."

Jackson nodded, his face twisted in concern. "Well how the information came out is something we'll deal with if and when we can. The damage from it is already done. What we need to do now is figure out our next step. We will have to confirm your previous identity to the press but try and spin it to look like it had nothing to do with your current situation. More pressing right now is this business with those emails and your alleged connection to the Lazcanos. Can you think of anyone who wants to hurt you bad enough to do this?"

It was a question ricocheting around my brain for the past few days and I did not have an answer for it. "Until a few days ago, I would have said only Thad would want to do this but now I'm not sure." I hated feeling this vulnerable and scared.

Jackson and I talked for the next three hours, trying to draw possible connections between Thad and the Lazcanos while also determining how to deal with the impact the information about my past would have on my case. Jackson was going to use the services of a private investigator he had on staff to do some digging and see what he could find out. The cost of my case was spinning out of control quickly. I had a good nest egg set aside and could liquidate my portfolio of stocks and other investments if I needed to but I knew these type of trials could bankrupt people quickly. I hoped we cleared my name before I lost everything.

I walked Jackson to the door and we agreed to speak again in the morning. After he was gone, I drug myself back up the stairs to my bedroom. I still needed to finish Bobbi Jo's story for Declan before I passed out from emotional exhaustion. I owed him that much.

Declan was sitting in the dark of my room when I walked in. The curtains were pulled hard against the world and only a bedside lamp offered the room a soft glow of light. I walked across the room and took the chair opposite him, dropping into it with a sigh. He smiled, and for the first time all day, I knew he was back on my side.

"Hey there lovely lady. You've had a long day." He gave me a crooked smile and I melted inside.

"Yeah. One of many long days to come, I fear. I'm exhausted but Declan, I still need to finish telling you about my life as Bobbi Jo."

He was shaking his head, his face drawn in concern as he leaned forward taking my hands. "Reagan, no. We can finish talking tomorrow. You look so tired and you shared enough with me already. I'm starting to understand exactly why you kept your past a secret. It's okay. Really."

I shook my head and stood up pulling my hands from his. I needed to pace again, both to stay awake and to get the story out. "No Declan. No more lies or half-truths. I need you to hear it all so I know if you choose to stay with me, you really mean it."

Before he could argue further, I picked up where I had left off hours before. My voice was quiet and monotone as I spoke. I paced back and forth across the room to keep myself awake. I made it through the rest of the story nearly tear free and when I finally finished, I dropped like a rock onto the bed.

I looked across at Declan for a moment. I shrugged my shoulders and let them drop in exhaustion. "So there it is. The sad tale of Bobbi Jo Callahan. Could have made a good Lifetime movie of the week I think." If it wasn't my own story, I wouldn't have believed it.