“Why?”
“Because I don’t think a jury in this county will believe you.” He looked at her. “I’m not sure I believe you.”
“Fuck you.”
“No, thanks,” Jason said. “Look, I’m going to bring some paperwork by so that we can turn the power and water on out at the house at Mill Creek.”
“Why? You can stay at my house at Buck Island.”
“No. I’m staying at Mill Creek, and that’s final. I’m going to ask the girls to stay with me. I’m assuming that’s OK with you.”
She hesitated.
“Jana, we both know that Tyson Cade wasn’t bluffing. He doesn’t look like the kind of dog that just barks. Nola and Niecy will be safer at Mill Creek with me.”
She hung her head but finally nodded. “Please take care of them, Jason.” She sniffled. “I don’t know what I’d do if . . .” She trailed off.
“I will.” Jason leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I promise.” He walked to the door and knocked three times. “I’ll be in—”
“J. J., I gave that money to Tyson Cade. What if he gave it to Pike to kill Braxton? I mean, that’s probably what happened, don’t you think? He set me up to take the fall.” Her voice was high. Desperate.
“Why would he do that?” Jason asked.
When a guard opened the door, Jason said, “False alarm. A few more minutes, OK?”
The officer rolled his eyes, and the door slammed shut.
Jason approached his sister and leaned his hands on the table. “Cade wouldn’t want to hamstring his money sources. With Braxton dead and you in here, where’s he going to get the rest of the money you owe him? Doesn’t make sense.” He stared at Jana, who’d closed her eyes.
“There’s no way we can win, is there?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Jason said, taking a seat. He didn’t want to give her any false hope. “But the state has to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, which is a much higher standard than the personal injury cases I typically handle. That’s one thing we have in our favor.”
She snorted and looked at him. “Presumed innocent, right? We both know that a jury in this county is going to presume I’m guilty.”
It was the most honest thing he’d heard his sister say in a long time, and Jason was taken aback.
“You know I’m right,” she added.
“Yes,” he said.
“So what do we do?”
“We go after Waylon Pike with both barrels. He’s cut a deal to save his ass. I’m getting a copy of his statement, and I’ll sic my investigator on him. If the jury doesn’t believe Pike, then the state’s case turns to shit.”
A tiny smile came to Jana’s face. “Thought you said you didn’t do criminal work.”
“I don’t, but I remember a little from law school, and I’m a fast learner. To win, we’ll have to discredit Pike, but that’s not all.”
“What else?”
Jason raised off the seat and paced back to the door. Again, he knocked three times.
“J. J.?”
“We have to give the jury something else to believe. A plausible alternative to you paying Pike.”
“How are you going to do that without involving Tyson Cade?”
Jason took in a deep breath and exhaled as the guard opened the door. “I have no idea.”
PART FIVE
37
“ALL RISE!” The bailiff bellowed the two words that started any legal proceeding, and Jason shot off his chair and buttoned his coat. Next to him, Jana also stood. Behind them, the courtroom was full to capacity. Though Jason had tried to keep his eyes in front of him when he’d made his entrance, based on the glances he’d allowed himself, most of the spectators were media types.
After a three-second pause, Judge Ambrose Powell Conrad stepped through a side door and strode to the bench. In Marshall County, the two circuit court judges were Virgil Carlton and Terry Barber. When both had recused themselves due to having been treated as patients by Dr. Waters, an out-of-county judge had had to be appointed to handle the case.
Powell Conrad was once a lifetime prosecutor, starting off as an assistant district attorney for Tuscaloosa County and eventually rising to the top post. Two years ago, he’d been elected a circuit court judge. Conrad was a bit of a celebrity in the state of Alabama, as he was heavily involved in the apprehension of noted killer James Robert Wheeler in Hazel Green, Alabama, in 2013. Judge Conrad had lost sight in his left eye during his quest to bring in Wheeler and thus wore a black patch. Because of that, a lot of local Tuscaloosa attorneys referred to him as “the pirate.”