The Advocate - 02 - The Advocate's Betrayal (31 page)

The DA raised his voice a little in frustration. “Was there any period of time— say more than an hour—that you weren’t with the defendant?”

“Yes.”

“When was that?”

“After dinner, Betty and Sabre went to play bingo while I was playing blackjack.”

“How much time lapsed before you saw the defendant again?”

Luke paused for a second, slowing down the DA’s questioning. Sabre wondered if he did it on purpose. “About an hour and a half.” Then he added before the DA spoke, “We were still at the casino.”

“After you left the casino, when did you see the defendant next?”

“Around four-thirty the next morning, at her home.”

“Where was the defendant?”

“She greeted us at the door.”

“Who is ‘us’?”

“Sabre and me.”

“What did she look like?”

“Objection, vague.” Sabre wasn’t giving the DA an inch. Besides, she wanted this to go on as long as she could to give Bob and JP time to get there.

“Sustained,” the judge responded in a monotone voice.

“Was there anything unusual about the defendant’s appearance?” Lewis continued.

“She had blood on her pajamas.”

“A little blood or a lot?”

“Objection, vague.”

“Overruled,” the judge turned to Luke, “you may answer the question.”

Luke looked at Sabre. She gave him no response, no nod, no change of expression. She was well trained in not giving signals to witnesses. Nothing frustrated her more than to see an attorney encourage a witness by their body language.

“A lot,” Luke answered.

“What did you do next?”

“I went into the bedroom.”

“And what did you see?” the DA asked.

Luke hesitated. “I saw John lying on the bed covered in blood.”

“What did you do?”

“I checked to see if he was alive.”

“And was he?”

“No.”

“How did you know that?”

“He wasn’t breathing. He had no heartbeat.”

“Anything else?”

“He felt cold and a little stiff.” Betty shifted in her chair. She took a tissue from a box in front of her and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Sabre patted her hand.

“Did it appear there had been any kind of struggle?”

“No. Nothing was really out of place.”

“Did you see a knife?”

“No.” Luke shook his head. “No knife.”

“Was there any indication the victim had a weapon of any sort?”

Luke thought for a second. “No, there was nothing around. He just had a rosary in his left hand.”

Sabre’s head shot up.
Oh my God.
Sabre swallowed. She looked at Luke to see if there was any change in his expression. She saw none. She reached over and squeezed Betty’s hand.

The DA continued. “What did you do then?”

“We called the police.”

“No further questions,” the DA stated.

Sabre stood up. Her voice shaky, she said, “Your Honor, I’d like to continue this case until tomorrow morning. I’m very concerned about my colleague, Mr. Clark, as well as my detective. It’s extremely unusual for either of them to not be here.”

“Very well. The witness is ordered to return. We’ll see you all tomorrow morning at nine o’clock. And, Ms. Brown, please tell Mr. Clark he’d better have a good reason for not appearing in my court.”

“Thank you. I will, Your Honor.”

Luke walked out of the arena, past the railing, into the gallery, and out of the courtroom. The bailiff came to take Betty. Sabre touched her on the shoulder. “Betty, don’t worry. It’s going to be okay. It’s all going to be okay.” Sabre tried to speak without her voice trembling, but she wasn’t very effective.

“What’s wrong?” Betty asked.

“Nothing. Go. I’ll see you real soon and I’ll explain everything.”

Sabre took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and her voice. She had to sound normal for Luke. She gathered up her things, slowly breathing in and out, calming herself. She walked out. Luke was waiting for her just outside the courtroom.

“Want to get some breakfast or an early lunch?” Luke brushed Sabre’s cheek with the palm of his hand.

Sabre stepped back. “No, I need to get back to the office. I have too much to do.”

Luke looked at her and frowned. “You okay? You look a little pale.”

“I’m just tired. The hike out of the canyon was quite an ordeal on top of the bruised ribs from the courtroom. My body’s still recovering.”

“Baby,” Luke said, taking his hand in hers. “Maybe you should go home and get some rest.”

She raised her briefcase. “I will, after I get a few things done at the office.”

Luke leaned in to kiss Sabre. She flinched. The word “rosary” echoed in her brain like the steady beeping of an annoying car alarm. If Luke noticed her reaction, he passed it off perhaps as a result of her injured ribs. “Will I see you tonight?”

“I’ll call you. Let me see how I’m feeling.”

“I’ll walk you to your car.”

“Actually, I need to go talk to the DA for a minute. You go ahead. I’ll call you this afternoon.”

Sabre was relieved when Luke finally left. She had to figure out what was going on and she needed to find Bob and JP. She called Bob’s office. They hadn’t seen him. She tried both Bob’s and JP’s cell phones. The calls went straight to voice mail. Sabre walked into the clerk’s office and asked to see Betty. They led her to the back, where Betty sat in a small cell with another inmate. Betty came forward and they spoke through the bars.

“Betty, I need to ask you a few questions, and I want you to think very carefully.”

“Go ahead.”

“The night of the murder I saw you holding a rosary. Where did you get it?”

“John had it in his hand. It was dangling there just like Luke said.” Betty looked up, eyes wide. “But how would he know?”

“Did you tell anyone John was holding the rosary when you found him?”

Betty shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Think.” Sabre said, holding on to a bar with her right hand. “It’s real important. Did you tell the police? Anyone?”

“No. I’m pretty sure I didn’t. I’d forgotten about it until it came up today.” Betty’s brow wrinkled quizzically. “So, how did Luke know?”

“I don’t know. I know I didn’t tell him. I need to know if anyone else told him.”

“Who do you think told him?” Betty looked confused as she took hold of the bars with both hands and leaned her face into them.

“No one else knew as far as I can tell.” Sabre spoke softly. “I didn’t tell anyone, so if you didn’t tell—.”

“Oh my God.” Betty’s eyes widened. “You think Luke killed John? That’s not possible. Sabre, what are you thinking? That’s crazy.”

“I know,” Sabre said, shaking her head. “There must be some other explanation, but how else would he know?” Sabre’s mouth was dry. She swallowed.

“Well, someone must’ve told him. Maybe Bob?”

Sabre shook her head aggressively. “Bob didn’t know either. I never told him.” Sabre willed herself to breathe. She held Betty’s gaze. “Now is the time for the truth, the whole truth. Let’s start with how you met Luke.”

Betty didn’t seem to have the strength to look away. “John met him first.” The words came unwillingly as she continued. “Luke had a flat tire, and John helped him fix it.”

Sabre gazed at her old friend. Betty looked every moment of her age. “Where were they?”

“Just outside the trailer park where we live, er, lived. Luke walked into the park and talked to John, who was outside piddling around.”

“And you had never seen him before?”

“No.”

“When did you see him next?”

“He came back the next day and brought John a six-pack of beer for helping him with the tire. They drank the beer and visited. After that he started coming around occasionally. He didn’t know anyone else in San Diego, so John kind of took him in.”

“And you’re sure John didn’t know him before? In his past?”

“No.” Betty shuddered. “Sabre, you’re talking lunacy. This is Luke you’re talking about. You know him. In fact, you know him better than anyone. Do you really think he could kill John?”

Sabre shook her head. “No, but not only did he know about the rosary, he said he saw it dangling from his hand. Why would he say he had seen it if he hadn’t? It’s not like he saw it in a photo or something and it stuck in his mind.” Sabre breathed in deeply and blew it out in an exaggerated breath. “And now Bob and JP are missing.”

37

Sabre drove back to the office and enlisted the help of Elaine, her receptionist, and Jack, the other attorney in the office. She had spoken to Bob’s wife on the way, and Marilee had no idea where he was. All Sabre had managed to do was worry her.

“I’ll call the hospitals,” Elaine volunteered.

Jack said, “I’ll call the sheriff and highway patrol. You call the city police departments.

Sabre called San Diego Police Department and spoke with a very nice young lady, who checked the records and informed her there was no accident that involved anyone meeting the description of Bob or JP. There had been no fatal accidents for six days and no recent accidents wherein anyone was transported to the hospital. She was also informed that they couldn’t really do anything until a person had been missing twenty-four hours.

Sabre hung up the phone and dialed the El Cajon police department. She was starting to panic. Sabre knew there had to be something terribly wrong or she would’ve heard from one or both of them by now.

The day was nearly gone, the sun starting to set, and still no word from either of them. According to Jack’s friends in the sheriff’s department, no accidents of any consequence had been reported.

Sabre walked into the lobby, heard the tail end of Elaine’s conversation, and asked, “Did you find something?”

“No, sorry. The hospitals have had no one admitted matching their descriptions, either together or separately. One man who was taken to Kaiser had gray hair, was wearing a suit, and was about Bob’s height. But his age was off by a good ten years, and the man knew full well who he was and had ID to prove it.”

Sabre had just about reached her limit. She was tired and sore and more worried and confused than she could ever remember being. Her two best friends were missing and she couldn’t turn to the one person she wanted to turn to—Luke.

Sabre’s stomach ached from the anxiety she felt. Her hands trembled as she drove her car towards Luke’s apartment. She kept telling herself to breathe, but it wasn’t helping. Her left foot twitched and her throat constricted. She had to know. The last thing she wanted to believe was that Luke was involved, but after his testimony she had to know for sure. She drove past Luke’s apartment and saw his car parked on the street in front of his door. Her heart pounded faster. Her throat felt dry. She wanted to go inside and confront him, have him explain how he knew about the rosary. There had to be a good explanation. She would feel better once she was convinced he wasn’t involved. She slowed down, looking for a parking spot. She didn’t see one and circled the block. This time she saw an empty spot a few car lengths from Luke’s apartment. She started to pull in and then changed her mind.
What if he’s the killer?
She drove around the block again.

The third time she returned, Luke’s car was gone. She saw it ahead of her at the stop sign. She slowed down to get more distance between his car and hers. Then she followed him out of the complex and to the street. She breathed in and out slowly, her hands trembling. She stayed back far enough where he wouldn’t see her. Luke entered I-8 heading east. Sabre kept a few cars between them, but Luke was picking up speed and it was getting too dark to distinguish one car from another. She thought she saw him take the Waring Street off ramp.

He must be going to his storage unit.

Sabre’s phone rang in her ear, startling her. The Caller ID read “Luke.” She hesitated, not sure if she wanted to answer it. She inhaled, composed herself, and said, “Hello, this is Sabre.”

“Hi, baby.”

“Oh, hi,” she said, in a “glad it’s you” voice as if she didn’t know at first who was calling. “Where are you? I hear street noise.” Sabre took the Waring Street exit. She could see some taillights ahead but couldn’t make out if it was Luke’s car.

“I just went to the ATM and now I’m going to the market to pick up a few things for dinner. Why don’t you come over. I know you’ve had a rough day. Let me make you a nice meal, and we can just relax and watch a movie or something.”

Sabre felt her whole body tremble. Her chest ached where her bruise was; her wounds throbbed as he lied to her. She knew then she had to find out. She had to know for sure. But why would he kill John, and why would he lie about his storage unit? Sabre had a hunch.

She breathed deeply to make her voice sound normal. She couldn’t let him think she was upset. She heard a siren in the distance, afraid he would hear it too and know she was nearby. She muted the phone until the siren died away, and then said, “I’m not sure I can. I had a minor client institutionalized tonight at Alvarado. I only have four hours to get in to see him. That’s where I’m going right now.” The act of lying to someone she loved made her dizzy. She grasped the steering wheel tighter to finish the lie. “If it’s not too late I’ll call you when I leave Alvarado.” The gate on the storage place closed just as Sabre arrived. Someone had just gone in and she was pretty certain it was Luke. Sabre drove down the street, turned around, and parked where she could see the entrance.

“You have to eat. Why don’t you just come by afterwards. I’ll make you a plate. I don’t care how late it is.”

“We’ll see.” Sabre, again overcome by how well he took care of her, told herself there had to be an explanation. “Sometimes these visits take hours, depending on the client. I’ll call you.”

“Ok. I love you, babe.”

Sabre heard herself whisper, however unwillingly. “Love you, too.”

Ten minutes passed before Sabre saw Luke’s car pull out of the driveway from the storage place.
What was he doing in there? And why would he lie about it?
Sabre didn’t have the answers but she was going to find out. There was no use in trying to get into his storage unit without a key, so she pulled out behind him, keeping her distance. She followed him on to I-8 west, then the fifteen north, and the Friar’s Road off ramp. She dropped back. He was going home.
How could she not know this man who had seen her naked and professed his love to her? And whose love she had returned. This man who treated her like a princess and made her feel so safe? There was no way he could be a cold, calculating killer. She would prove it to herself.