“I know, but I guess it doesn’t matter all that much. Regardless of what he says, all I’ve got is his past felony and the deal he’s cut with the state to cross him with. I have to discredit him with that and hope the jury doesn’t believe him with respect to Jana paying him the money.”
“That’s right,” Izzy said.
There were several seconds of silence, and then Harry cleared his throat. “J. R., you know you’ve done the best you can do here. Some cases simply can’t be won.”
“Some clients are guilty,” Izzy added.
Jason stood and looked at his team, knowing they were trying to help but feeling angry nonetheless. “I’m not looking for moral victories here, guys. I have to win, do you understand?”
Harry also stood and gave him a hard stare. “Jason, if you want to win, you have to put Jana on the stand and roll the dice.”
“I can’t do that, Harry.”
“If you show the jury that she was screwing a drug dealer as a down payment on the money she owed Tyson, then you could argue Cade as your alternative.”
“I think Cade is flimsy as a suspect,” Jason said. “Why would he want to kill the golden goose? You saw what he did to me. Holding the kids over my head and demanding money. He could’ve done the same thing to Braxton. I bet he was doing the same thing.”
“Maybe so, but if Jana testifies that she gave the money to Tyson Cade’s deputy for cocaine, then that sounds truthful. She’s still implicating herself in a crime where she’ll go to jail.”
“But she’s innocent of murder,” Izzy said, finishing off Harry’s argument. “Jason, I agree that calling a loose cannon like Jana to the stand is risky, but doesn’t she have to tell the jury that she didn’t pay Pike to kill her husband? Our Cowan-Maples alternative is completely circumstantial. We don’t have anyone to connect the dots. Don’t we need Jana’s denial?”
“What do you want me to say?” Jason asked, peering down at his partner, who remained seated at the booth, and then back up at Harry. “You’re both right. In a perfect world, I’d call Jana, and she’d deny everything and tell the jury what she did with the money, but this isn’t a perfect world. Instead, this is a world where, if I do that, my two nieces will probably be killed, as will I. And maybe even you guys. Also, let’s not forget the fact that Jana can’t keep her story straight.”
Izzy stood and put her hands on Jason’s shoulders. “Which brings us back to Harry’s original point.”
“Which is?”
“You’ve done the best you can,” Izzy said.
59
Jason stopped at Jackson Burns’s home on Buck Island on the way home. When he pulled into the driveway, he was surprised to see a FOR SALE sign in the yard. He walked to the front door, and it was unlocked. When he stepped inside, he saw Burns sitting out on his covered deck, cold beer in hand. As he approached the car dealer, he noticed that the walls in the den were still decorated with photographs of his wife and sons. It was as if their family had never been touched by divorce. Jason hesitated at a framed photograph of Burns, Shandra, and the boys out in front of the dealership. There was a banner over a car that read 20th Anniversary Sale. Sad, he thought, thinking about the boxes at his apartment that contained the life he’d once had with Lakin. He’d boxed his memories up, but it appeared that Jackson Burns had yet to let go.
“Hey, Burns,” Jason said, taking a seat in the rocking chair next to the big man, who was sprawled out on a wicker couch. “What’s with the sign in the yard?”
Burns took a sip from his bottle. “Seller’s market, man. With some of the deals my neighbors have gotten, I was thinking, ‘Why not?’ There’s nothing for me here anymore. My best friend is dead. You’ve taken the girls to Mill Creek, which I completely get, but I miss seeing them. I miss my wife and sons. Need a change, you know?”
“I do,” Jason said. “I know very well. Where are you thinking?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Honeycomb. Get a little closer to the kids but still not too far from the dealership. There are some townhomes there by Sunrise Marina.”
Jason couldn’t believe it. “You’re gonna move from this mansion to a townhome?”
“What do I need all this space for? Hell, I hardly ever go anywhere but the kitchen, the bedroom, and the boathouse.”
Jason nodded. It was time to get to it. “The state is going to call you as a witness. And based on what you told me, I bet you’re probably their strongest evidence besides Waylon Pike’s confession.”