Anyplace But Here (Oklahoma Lovers Series Book 5) (20 page)

Chapter 20

The District Attorney’s office was dark and dingy, making Jesse wonder how someone could work there when Galveston had such an enormous amount of fine weather right outside the door. That situation might have accounted for the DA’s foul mood.

“So you’re the lawyer for Henderson?” The DA glared at him, almost as if he resented Hunter exercising his right to an attorney. Since he hadn’t troubled to introduce himself, Jesse took note of his name—Emmett Spencer—from the law school degree hanging on the wall behind him.

“Yes, I am.”

“I don’t know why the man needs a lawyer. He should just confess and save the taxpayers the cost of a trial.”

Jesse swallowed his sharp retort. No point in antagonizing the man. “Well, perhaps he didn’t confess—to save the taxpayers’ money, of course—because he’s innocent.”

Spencer waved his hand in dismissal. “They all say that. But we have your man dead to rights.”

“That is the reason for my visit, Mr. Spencer. I’ve gotten some information from the police chief, but I want to know exactly what your case is.”

The DA shook his head as if Jesse were a young boy out of his realm, trying to play with the adults. “I know the police chief already compromised my case by blabbing to Henderson what he had, so you know what we’re looking at here. First,” he counted off on his fingers. “He threatened Mr. Smith in front of a police officer. Two, he was secretly seeing the victim’s wife, Mrs. Emily Smith, and in fact tried to escape Galveston with her only a few nights before Mr. Smith was murdered. And three, Mr. Smith was killed with a forty-four caliber gun. It is well known the Texas Rangers—the organization your client was a part of for ten years—uses a Walker Colt forty-four.”

“That’s it?”

The DA scowled. “Don’t try that with me, Mr. Big Shot Out-of-Town Attorney. You know that’s plenty to see your client swinging from a rope.”

“I don’t know that at all. Furthermore while you have the wrong person behind bars, the true murderer is walking the streets of Galveston, and might even have reason to kill Mrs. Smith. Have you thought of that?”

“Garbage. We have the right man. You know it and I know it.” He leaned closer over the desk. “We’re willing to offer your client a deal.”

“Really?”

“Yes. To save the taxpayers money, if he pleads guilty, we’ll take the death penalty off the table and let him do life.”

“So generous of you. My client spends the rest of his life behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit?”

“That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”

Jesse stood and extended his hand to the man. “I will talk it over with my client and let you know.” The men shook hands. “Just keep in mind what I said. If anything happens to Mrs. Smith because of the police department’s short-sightedness, you will hear from me loud and clear.”

“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Cochran,” the DA growled as he shuffled the papers on his desk.

Emily alighted from the automobile in front of Millie’s shop and turned to Martin. “You don’t have to come in with me. Just wait out here, or return home if you like. I’ll need about three hours.”

“Yes, Mrs. Smith. I will return in three hours.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. Although why she should need to worry about Martin was ridiculous. There was no longer a reason to spy on her. And since the reading of the will where the servants had all been taken care of—unlike her—she was lucky Martin even deigned to drive her around.

The note she’d received from a young boy this morning, telling her to go to Millie’s shop at one o’clock, could only have come from Hunter. It had been unsigned, but no one else would summon her here. She hurried up the steps of the shop and burst through the door to the startled expressions of Mrs. Davis and her two daughters, Amy and Amelia.

“Oh, I am so sorry.” She smoothed the sides of her hair and gave them a bright smile. “Mrs. Davis, Amy, Amelia, so nice to see you.”

“Mrs. Smith,” Mrs. Davis said. “I am so sorry about your husband.” She clucked her tongue and shook her head. “Nasty business for sure. I’m just glad they locked up that horrid man who did it.”

Emily felt the blood rush to her face, and attempted to calm herself. She wanted so badly to blurt out how wrong they were, that the man they’d arrested had not killed her husband. But common sense prevailed, and she only dipped her chin slightly in acknowledgement of her statement, then turned to Millie. “I received a note. I assume my dress is ready?” She hoped the piercing glance she gave the dressmaker conveyed the proper message.

Millie stumbled for a moment, and then said, “Oh, yes. Of course. I have it in the back, Mrs. Smith. If you will follow me, I will get it for you.” She smiled at Mrs. Davis, “I will be right back, this will only take a moment.”

The woman waved the dressmaker off and continued to look through the many pattern books strewn around the table where she and her daughters sat.

“What is going on?” Millie asked as the curtain swung closed.

“I received a note. It had to be from Mr. Henderson. I’ll just peek out the back.” Sure enough when she opened the door, Hunter stood there, leaning against the fence. When he saw her, he straightened and gave her the lopsided smile she loved so much.

“Yes,” she said to Millie. “I was right. I will be gone for a while. Can you handle Mrs. Davis?”

“No worries, Mrs. Smith. I will tell her you have an entire wardrobe to try on.” She winked and then giggled like a youthful girl. “You go enjoy the time with your young man.”

Hunter opened his arms and Emily ran to him, feeling happy and carefree. “I’m so glad you came for me.”

“Come. I have a carriage. We need to get away from the center of town as quickly as possible.” He took her hand and led her to a horse and carriage in a stable two blocks from Millie’s shop.

Once they settled in Hunter snapped the reins, and the horse plodded along. “I’m afraid we don’t have the fastest animal in the stable.”

“That’s all right. I’m enjoying the pace.”

She pushed her problems to the back of her mind, allowing a sense of contentment to settle over her as they rode farther from town. Being with Hunter made her feel safer; why, she didn’t know. He could conceivably spend the rest of his life in prison, if he wasn’t hung instead. Her problem of no money seemed minor compared to what he faced.

It didn’t take her long to realize they were headed to the spot at the beach she considered ‘their place.’ She moved closer to him, and he wrapped his arm around her waist, bringing her up against his body.

They followed the same routine from before, with Hunter helping her over the boulders to the wet sand of the beach. It was a cooler day, the sky filled with clouds, a reminder that autumn had arrived. Hunter spread out a blanket he’d carried with him, and they settled in front of the waves washing onto the shore.

“Emily, I need your help.”

“Of course. Anything.” Her heart skipped a beat at the serious look on his face. He’d been unusually quiet on the ride, but now she worried that something worse had happened. Here she was trying to forget her problems, and he was dealing with his very life. “What is it?”

“The police know about our relationship.”

She sighed. “I know. They came to visit me the day before the funeral. They’d already discovered I had been in Guthrie, and that Louis had come after me.”

“With that information, it only strengthens their case against me. Their initial reasoning for my arrest was the fact that I tried to get them to charge Louis with my father’s murder. They apparently assumed I’d taken the law into my own hands and shot him. Now that they know about us, they seem to think I killed Louis to free you from him.”

Her hands turned to ice and her mouth dried up. “What can we do?”

“I have a friend, Jeremy Steele, who worked as an investigator for the Rangers. We’ve worked together before. He’s been here in Galveston gathering information for my uncle to use for my defense.

“Although it hasn’t occurred to the police, the person who killed Louis is still out there. That is, if he hasn’t already left town. I need to know how deeply Louis was involved in his financial scams and who was ready to notify the police. That’s where you can help.”

She squeezed his hands. “Go ahead.”

“I want you to search Louis’s desk, his room, the library, anywhere he would keep notes, ledgers, or information on his business.”

“I can do that. However, there is something I just learned that may affect any search I can conduct at the mansion.” She took a deep breath, still disbelieving what she’d heard at the reading. “I will have no home in ten days. Actually, more like six days as the reading of the will was last Friday.”

His jaw dropped. “Surely Louis didn’t leave you without the house?”

Despite her determination to not turn into a watering pot, she felt the tears build in her eyes. She fought to keep them there. “He left everything—everything I own—to someone I don’t even know.”

“There has to be a mistake.”

“No. I’m afraid not. Mr. DeMarco—his attorney—told me at the reading of the will how he advised against Louis doing that, but he assured his attorney I was well off from my parents’ inheritance.”

“And you are not?”

She gave a bitter laugh. “Louis took control of all my money when we married. He also sold the house I was raised in. Whether there is any money left from the inheritance or not doesn’t matter because he left everything to someone else.”

“There has to be a way to break that will. Certainly the courts will at least award you what was yours to begin with.”

“Perhaps. Wives don’t have much power, but in any event, I honestly can’t consider any legal recourse right now with these charges against you. I still have a roof over my head for another week.”

He pulled her to his chest. “You
will
have a home. I promise. We will get these charges dropped and leave Galveston. Trust me.”

There was that word again.
Trust
. She studied Hunter and saw a sincere, honest man. One who would fight for her and take care of her. Except she didn’t want to be taken care of any more. It wasn’t something she could count on. But rather than argue that point, it was better to focus on what he’d asked her to do.

“I will search the entire house from top to bottom. However, most likely his records would be in his office.”

Hunter shook his head. “I don’t want you nosing around the office. Who did Louis leave his half of the business to?”

“His partner, Mr. Sanders.” She tapped her chin. “He was very nervous before the reading of the will. But once he learned he still had the business, he perked right up. He was almost giddy when he left.”

“Naturally. If Louis was crazy enough to leave you with nothing, he could have done something equally stupid with his half of the business. How friendly are you with this Mr. Sanders?”

“Not very. Louis and I never socialized with him. He was always sort of a shadow in my life. I knew of his partnership with Louis, but I never spent any time with him.”

“So, no help there. Plus if Louis was scamming clients, Sanders is either the dumbest partner in the world, or he was in on it, too. Whoever killed Louis could be planning to murder Sanders as well.”

They quietly sat side-by-side, both consumed with their own thoughts. After a few minutes, Hunter pulled her into his arms. “I feel so useless. You need someone to take care of you. And here I am with my hands tied.”

Just what she didn’t want to hear. She was practically out on the street because she was foolish enough to trust Louis to take care of her.

You know that’s a stupid comparison.

She hated when her conscience made sense. She’d been so overcome with grief when Louis swooped into her life, that she’d never gotten a chance to know him. But she knew Hunter. He was an honorable man, and would probably do the right thing by her. Nevertheless, she needed to feel as though she could take care of herself.

She shuddered. Depending on a man with a hangman’s noose being readied was not a smart move.

“Of course I’m not going to take a plea deal,” Hunter shouted at Jesse.

“Settle down, son. I know you’re not going to take it, but by law I have to advise you what the District Attorney offered.”

“Well, I’ll advise you, in return, what the District Attorney can do with his offer.”

“You don’t have to. I already know and agree. He just wanted me to tell you this is his last offer.”

Hunter snorted. It was the night before the start of the trial. Because of the prominence of the man murdered, the entire process had been shoved through the judicial system in record time.

Emily had been removed from her home, and was staying in the same boardinghouse where Jeremy now had a room. According to the Ranger, who they were waiting on, he had gathered a lot of information on Smith and Sanders that Jesse could use for the trial. Emily hadn’t uncovered anything worthwhile in the mansion before she’d been escorted from her home.

It turned out Louis’s favorite whore had been the recipient of his largess. Yet the town, and the law enforcement organization, still treated the man’s memory as if he had been a fine, upstanding citizen.

Once they got ahold of Jeremy’s notes they would outline their strategy. Since the prosecution presented their case first, they had some time. The Ranger was supposed to have met them several days ago, but had sent one excuse after another why he couldn’t meet them. He’d at least provided, by courier, the list of witnesses he interviewed who would be able to testify. But nothing on what they’d said.