Redress of Grievances (3 page)

"Do
you have some reason to believe she's mentally ill?"

"If
she did, in fact, kill those people, it's the only possible explanation. She's
such a gentle, quiet woman that the thought of her toting a rifle around and
blasting innocent people seems totally incomprehensible to me."

Harriett
took a drink of her coffee and glanced at Alex. Setting her cup down, she turned
to Alex and asked quietly, "Could I speak to you for a minute?"

"Of
course," Alex said as she rose from her chair.

Harriett
left the table first and opened the door leading into a service hallway. Alex
came through the door a moment later.

"I
can't believe you thought for even one moment I would consider taking this
case," she seethed as she spun around to face Alex.

"I
don't know another attorney who could handle it better," Alex said calmly,
folding her arms across her chest.

"You
know as well as I do, Alex, that this case is extremely similar to the Wilkes
case."

"No,
it isn't. Sharon Taggart isn't anything like Jared Wilkes. He was a sexual
predator, and Sharon certainly doesn't fall into that category."

"They're
both serial killers for Christ's sake! I don't handle cases like that anymore,
and you damn well knew that before you contacted me." Harriett began to
pace back and forth in the narrow hallway, fighting to bring her emotions under
control.

"The
Wilkes case was a long time ago, Harriett."

Snapping
her head around to look at her, Harriett said, "And I still think about it
every goddamn day. I can't go through that again. I won't. And it's not fair
for you to ask me to."

"Look,
Harriett, in all likelihood Sharon Taggart is going to be found guilty. What
Parker and his family want is to avoid the death penalty. That's what you'd be
working for, not an acquittal."

"If
she killed those people then maybe she should receive the death penalty,"
Harriett argued.

"She
deserves the best defense she and her family can afford. I believe that and so
do you. I've heard you say it a thousand times. Even the most perverted
criminal deserves the best effort an attorney can put forth."

"I
do believe that, but if I took this case I might not be able to put forth my best."

Alexis
took Harriett by the arms and waited until their eyes met. Alex's cool gray
eyes hadn't lost their ability to demand Harriett's attention.

"You
have to put the Wilkes case behind you, Harriett. You did your job, and the
consequences turned out to be tragic, but the prosecution didn't do its job. If
they had played by the rules, Jared Wilkes would never have gotten out of jail.
You were not responsible for what happened."

"I'm
turning this case down, Alex. One serial killer is enough for a lifetime."

"At
least talk to Sharon before you decline the case. Then if you still want to
turn it down, I won't try to convince you otherwise."

Harriett
shook her head. "The best I can do tonight is tell Collins that I'll think
about it and give him my decision in a few days. I'd like to talk to my law
partner first."

"Fair
enough," Alex said as she lightly squeezed Harriett's arms before
releasing them.

Harriett
loved prime rib, but that evening she could have been eating cardboard and
wouldn't have known the difference. Dinner seemed to last forever, and she was
eager to get away from Alex, Collins, and Paige. Memories suddenly dredged up
about the Wilkes case, coupled with others associated with Alexis Dunne,
overwhelmed her. She thought she had gotten over the past and successfully
walked away from it. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

At
the end of the longest evening of her life, Harriett waited for the parking
valet to retrieve her vehicle.

"I
wouldn't drag you into this case if I didn't think you could handle it,"
Alex said as she came up behind Harriett.

"I
still believe you must have an associate who can handle this one."

"We've
never had an associate as good as you, Harriett," Alex said warmly.

"How
is Doug?"

"Doug's
Doug," Alex shrugged with a smile. "You know how he is."

The
thought of Douglas Winston made Harriett smile slightly. He was a bear of a man
and as gentle as a puppy. Although Doug and Alexis were equal partners in their
law firm, there weren't two people on the planet more different. Doug hated the
social niceties required by their clients and turned anything even remotely
social over to Alex. Doug preferred hunting and fishing to cocktail parties
and, as far as Harriett knew, had only attended parties given for Winston and
Dunne employees.

Looking
down at the pavement, Harriett wasn't sure whether she wanted to ask the next
question or not.

"And
how is Gwen?" she finally managed to ask.

"We're
not together anymore," Alex said matter-of-factly.

"I'm
sorry to hear that, Alex."

Alex
looked at her and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, "No, you're
not."

Harriett
was grateful when she saw her truck coming toward them. The valet jumped out
and held the door for Harriett as she walked around the front of her vehicle.

"This
yours?" Alex laughed.

"Yes."

"What
did you do with your Beemer?"

"Traded
it in. It wasn't really me. I grew up in dusty, small town West Texas,
remember?"

Alex
opened the passenger door and looked around the inside of the truck.

"Pretty
fancy," she nodded. Her eye caught Harriett's for a moment. "Maybe
you've changed more than I realized," she grinned.

"And
maybe you didn't know me as well as you thought you did. Do you need a
ride?"

"I
can take a cab."

"Get
in, Alex. You might as well see how it feels to ride around in a cowboy
Cadillac."

Twenty
minutes later, Harriett wheeled her truck into the drive near the front
entrance of the Omni Hotel in downtown Austin.

"They
have a fair bar here," Alex said. "Can I buy you a drink before you
go home?"

"I
can't. I promised Lacey that I'd make the last half of her basketball
game."

"How
is Lacey?"

"Graduating
from high school this year."

"She
must be tall like you if she's playing basketball," Alex said. After a pause,
she continued, "I'm going to be in Austin a couple of days. I'd like to
see you again."

"That's
probably not a good idea, Alex, but I appreciate the offer."

Alex
hesitated a minute before getting out of the truck and entering the hotel. Harriett
had to stop herself from following her with her eyes. It would have been a good
evening for several drinks. Pulling the truck into unusually light traffic
along Congress Avenue, she headed toward Interstate 35 and St. John's Prep.

Chapter
Three

TRYING
TO SETTLE her mind, Harriett leaned back against a pillow on her bed and rested
a legal pad against her drawn up knees. She had ten days to prepare a motion
for an appeal on a pro bono case involving a homeless man who had been arrested
and convicted in the death of another homeless man during a fight over
squatter's rights for a piece of worthless dirt and weeds under a train trestle
in southern Travis County. But no matter how hard she tried, every time she
tried to concentrate on her motion, Jared Wilkes's face flashed through her
mind. She was furious at Alex for helping him escape from the mental prison in
which she had had him safely locked away.

Jared
Wilkes had been a young man who had everything: wealthy, doting parents who had
conceived him late in their lives; and the finest life had to offer someone of
his social standing. And yet he had chosen to become a serial rapist and a
murderer.

NEARLY
TWELVE YEARS earlier, she had been preparing for a well-deserved long weekend
and clearing the last of her paperwork from her desk when Alex tapped on the
door and peeked into her office.

"Do
you have a minute, Harriett?" she asked.

Harriett
smiled when she saw her. Even if she had been busy, she would have made time
for Alexis Dunne.

"Of
course. I'm just finishing up some paperwork. Nothing is going to distract me
from this weekend," she smiled.

Alex
wasn't smiling, and Harriett became immediately apprehensive. They had planned
this weekend together for so long, but the look on Alex's face told her all of
their precautions and well-laid plans were circling the drain.

"No
one deserves the time off more than you, Harriett."

"But,"
Harriett frowned.

"One
of our clients has a problem, and Doug and I both think you're the right
associate to handle it."

"And
I don't suppose this client can wait until Monday."

"You
could refuse the case. We'd certainly honor your wishes," Alex continued.

Sensing
Alex's managerial mood, Harriett leaned back in her chair and exhaled,
"What's the client's problem?"

Alex
returned to Harriett's office door and opened it.

"Eleanor,
please hold Ms. Markham's calls for about thirty minutes," Alex said to
Harriett's secretary.

Alex
depressed the lock on the office door and closed it behind her. Harriett
wondered how much Eleanor knew or thought she knew about her relationship with
the firm's senior partner. Alex unbuttoned the coat to her suit and sat down on
the couch as Harriett rose from her chair and poured two cups of coffee from
the coffeemaker on the credenza behind her desk. Handing one to Alex as she
joined her on the couch, Harriett kicked her heels off, leaned back slightly
and looked at Alex.

"So
tell me about this case only I am qualified to handle," she said with a
smile.

Alex
sipped at her coffee, looking as though she was organizing thoughts in her
head.

"The
client is Jared Wilkes. His father is Clarence Wilkes, CEO of Wilkes Transport,
one of our corporate clients. Jared was arrested this morning by Dallas
PD," Alex explained.

"What's
the charge?" Harriett asked.

"Rape
and murder times four," Alex answered quietly.

"He's
accused of raping and murdering four women?"

"Four
teenage girls between the ages of sixteen and nineteen," Alex nodded.

"I
see," Harriett said.

"The
deaths have occurred over about a ten month period."

"Do
you know what the police have in the way of evidence?"

"Nothing
specific. Of course, old man Wilkes is absolutely positive his son is innocent
and wants the best Winston and Dunne has to offer." Turning to look at
Harriett, she said, "And that's you."

"Why
aren't you handling the case, Alex? After all, you are Winston and Dunne."

"Wilkes,
the son, wants a younger woman for his counsel. Thinks the jury will believe he
didn't commit the rapes if a woman is presenting his case."

"He's
probably right."

"He's
a nothing," Alex said with a touch of anger in her voice as she leaned her
head back on the couch. "Been kicked out of every prep school and college
in north Texas. As far as I know, he's never done a worthwhile thing in his
entire privileged life. But he's never been in any serious trouble before,
either. Just the usual juvenile problems with speeding and drinking."

"Where
is he now?" Harriett asked, softly brushing her fingertips lightly along
Alex's temple.

"Waiting
for you at police headquarters."

"I
haven't agreed to take the case yet."

"Fact
is, Harriett, Junior knows we handle his father's legal matters and said he'd
read about one of the cases you defended last year. Clarence Wilkes didn't
exactly ask us to recommend someone. He demanded we assign his son's case to
you."

"So
you're not really giving me the option of rejecting the case?"

"Of
course we are. If you're uncomfortable with the case, or if you agree to meet
with Jared and then want to turn it down, you're free to do that."

"Why
do I have that uncomfortable feeling that unless I take the case, Winston and
Dunne might lose Wilkes Transport as a client?"

"People
like Wilkes always make threats like that. They're used to having people jump
through their asses when they speak, but Winston and Dunne will never allow
itself to get tangled up in being intimidated by its clients."

"I
guess it can't hurt to talk to Wilkes. Who knows? Maybe he is innocent,"
Harriett said taking a drink from her coffee cup. "The worst that can
happen is that I'll delay my weekend by a few hours. Not much anyone can do
before Monday morning anyway and it isn't likely any judge is going to grant
bail on a multiple homicide."