“I’m sure their signatures had to be notarized.”
“So I notarized them. Remember Freda, my old secretary?”
“Of course.”
“Well, I had fired her, and I forged her name and seal on the documents. For the two clients I couldn’t find, I forged their signatures as well. No one knew it. The lawyers in New York didn’t care. They were just happy to get the paperwork and close the cases.”
“You’re not worried about the forgeries?”
“Jake, I’ve worried about everything. When you’ve done something wrong and you’re on the run, you’re always looking over your shoulder, wondering who’s back there.”
“I’m sure. The haul was around four hundred thousand.”
“Yep.”
“That’s impressive.”
“What’s the biggest fee you’ve ever earned, Jake?”
“Well, I got a thousand bucks for Carl Lee Hailey.”
“Your finest moment.”
“Did you ever know a man named Seth Hubbard?”
“I knew of him. Big timber operator.”
“That’s him. He died and there was a massive will contest. I represented his estate, billed about a hundred grand over two years.”
“In seventeen years on the treadmill my biggest fee was twenty thousand from a nice car wreck. Suddenly, I had twenty times that just lying there before me, like a pot of gold. I couldn’t resist the temptation.”
“Any regrets?”
“Plenty. Only cowards run away, Jake. It was wrong, all of it. I should’ve stayed in Clanton, worked through the divorce, and kept some level of presence in the lives of my daughters. And I left my mother, too. I haven’t seen her in three years.”
“So, what are your plans?”
“Well, I would like to see Lisa and apologize. Probably won’t happen, but I’ll try. I’d like to at least attempt to reconnect with Margot and Helen. They’re seventeen and sixteen now, probably about to be orphaned. My plans include you and Harry Rex. I’m not asking you to get involved, just keep your ears and eyes open. If there’s no indictment on the books and none pending, and if there are no warrants for my arrest, then I’ll ease back into the country. I’m not going to stay in Clanton, that’s an ugly thought. I’ll probably hide in Memphis, across the state line. If there’s a hint of trouble, I’ll vanish again. I’m not going to prison, Jake, I can promise you that.”
“You can’t keep it quiet, Mack. If you show up anywhere in Ford County, everyone will know it overnight.”
“True, but they won’t see me. I’ll come and go in the night. The two clients who got the twenty-five thousand in cash were Odell Grove and Jerrol Baker. Ask Harry Rex to check on them. Baker was stoned on meth when he signed the settlement agreement, so he could be dead, or in prison again. I don’t expect any trouble out of them.”
“And the other two?”
“Doug Jumper is in fact dead. Travis Johnson left the area years ago.”
Jake finished his beer and sat back in his seat. “What’s your schedule?”
“I don’t have one. You and Harry Rex poke around for a few weeks. If all is clear, I’ll show up eventually. I’ll call your office one day.”
“And if we get wind of trouble?”
“Send an overnight letter here to the lodge, addressed to Marco Larman.”
“That’s getting close to aiding and abetting.”
“But not close enough. Look, Jake, don’t do anything that you’re not sure of. I promise you’ll never be compromised.”
“I believe you.”
“How many people know about this little vacation of yours?”
“Harry Rex and my parents. They’re keeping Hanna and Luke. We told no one else, said we were just getting out of town for a few days.”
“Great. Stick with that story. I really appreciate this, Jake.”
“Thanks for the trip. We’ll never forget it.”
“Anytime, and it’s always on me.”
（10）
After a day of being massaged and pampered, Carla was ready for the trails. They left the lodge early, on bikes and without a guide, and wound their way through the jungle on well-trodden paths. They stopped for photos at scenic overlooks, usually with the ocean shimmering on the horizon, and they sipped mango juice while sitting in the mouth of a cave. After two hours, they were winded and looking for a place to rest when they happened upon the Swedes. Olga and Luther were staying at the lodge but were rarely around, primarily because they were either hiking or biking up another mountain or off kayaking a raging river. They were at least thirty years older than Jake and Carla, lean and wiry and in superb physical condition. They ate only fruits and vegetables, drank no alcohol, and had slept two nights in a hut at the top of a very tall tree that one had to shinny up with backpacks filled with bedding, food, and water. They claimed to be world-class eco-tourists and had been everywhere. Jake and Carla were quietly envious of people who had seen the world, not to mention the fact that, at the age of seventy, they were fit enough to live thirty more years.