Page 119 of The Proving Ground

“I’ll never pay her,” he said. “Even if we lose the case, I’ll hang it up in appeals forever. She’ll never get a dime from me and neither will you. I’m going to leave you high and dry, Mr. Haller.”

For some reason I nodded.

“We’ll just have to see about that,” I said.

He walked out, leaving the door open and me embarrassed by such a weak comeback.We’ll just have to see about that. It was a pitiful response. But quickly those thoughts were crowded out by outrage over the move that Wendt had just pulled—that he had come intomy office with his bag of money, thinking he could buy his way out of the case. In that moment I made a vow that it was Wendt who would be left high and dry.

I could tell by the clicking of his heels on the polished concrete floor out in the garage that Wendt was walking fast, his entourage falling in behind him. I heard Mitchell Mason ask how it had gone in the office. He didn’t get a reply.

After they left, Lorna hurried back to see me.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said. “He offered me two million in cash to convince Brenda to settle.”

“And you told him no way?”

“Words to that effect. Will you reboot the cameras?”

“What’s wrong with the cameras?”

“I think he knocked them out before they got here.”

“Holy shit, they can do that?”

“They seem to be able to do anything… anything but stop me and this case.”

42

AT TEN A.M.Friday I was ushered in to see Ali Adebayo at the district attorney’s office. Adebayo’s title was chief of the Conviction Integrity Unit, but in reality he was the only prosecutor assigned to it. DA McPherson learned shortly after taking office that she did not have the personnel to properly set up the unit she had promised to institute. She had a CIU sign made and posted on the door to Adebayo’s office and tasked him with the job until the next budget could be squeezed for more staff.

Adebayo was a seasoned prosecutor whom I was familiar with from my days in criminal defense. When I entered the office I found he was not alone. His boss, my ex-wife and current roommate, was waiting with him.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were bringing this in today?” she asked.

“Uh, because you’re the DA and I thought it was best to go through proper channels,” I said. “I didn’t want any blowback to come to you or the case.”

I reached across the desk to shake hands with Adebayo.

“Ali,” I said. “It’s been a minute.”

“Yeah, I see you’re over in the fed now,” Adebayo said. “Tilting at tech windmills.”

“Something like that. But we’re off till Monday and this other case is time-sensitive.”

“Well, let’s hear it, then.”

I looked at Maggie and she nodded. She was staying.

“Well, I only brought one copy with me,” I began. “But I have a petition here and medical reports and statements from two different physicians who have examined the victim and reviewed her history.”

I handed the file I was carrying across the desk. Adebayo took it and opened it. While he took the petition, Maggie took the backup statements and X-ray copies. My phone buzzed. I pulled it and checked the screen. I recognized the number as belonging to Judge Ruhlin’s clerk. I sent the call to voicemail.

“What is this?” Maggie said. “These doctors made these statements based on these twenty-year-old photocopies?”

“Both doctors said the fractures were clear in the copies,” I said.

“Where are the originals?”