Page 109 of Heist

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Austin closed her eyes and sank further into the comfortable leather seat in David Eastman’s private jet. She had been in the air for nearly three hours and they would soon be landing in Colorado. She felt wrong for leaving New York after everything that had happened, but knew she needed to get away and spend some time with Patrick.

The fact that he didn’t call her right away when he got that text message hurt. She understood being scared, but they were supposed to be partners. It felt like he didn’t trust her to take care of him. Hopefully, this weekend she could prove to him once and for all that she would always take care of him.

Her cell phone rang. It was James Saunders. He wasn’t supposed to start until Monday, but Austin had asked him to start early because of the search warrants being served on Patrick’s lab. When she left town, they still weren’t done searching the place. That told her they hadn’t found the diamond yet. On the one hand, that was good for Patrick’s defense. On the other hand, Patrick was in possession of a photograph that clearly looked like the diamond was in his lab which was terrible for his defense.

“James, hello,” she said, sitting up straighter in her seat.

“Sorry to bother you, Austin but I have the prosecutor in Mr. Sutton’s case on the phone and they want to talk to you.”

Austin felt a knot form in her stomach. What did they want on a Friday afternoon?

“Put them through please.”

When Greg came on the line, Austin did her best to steady her pulse and keep her tone calm and professional.

“What can I do for you?” she asked after the obligatory hellos were out of the way.

“I’m calling to let you know we have a new deal for your client. We’ll still reduce the charges, but not quite as much as the original offer. He’ll spend four years in prison and four years’ probation. But this offer is only good for twenty-four hours.”

Austin felt her heart begin to pound as if it were trying to escape. Either the search warrant turned something up or they had a witness willing to testify against Patrick. This was not good. The discovery period wasn’t over, and the prosecution still had a lot to turn over to Austin and her team.

“You haven’t finished turning over all your evidence, why would we accept a plea deal like that without knowing what you have?”

Greg chuckled. “Because you’re a smart girl, Austin, and it’s the kind of deal you would be offering if you were still on our side.”

“My client maintains his innocence, Greg. I’ll take him the deal but until you turn over your witness list and the evidence you plan to present at trial, I can guarantee he won’t be accepting it.”

“Then I guess we get to face each other at trial. Won’t that be fun?”

Austin wanted to growl. There was nothing fun about this. Patrick’s freedom rested on her shoulders, and it was an incredible burden to bear.

“When are you sending me your evidence?” she asked, ignoring his question.

“We’ll send it when we’re damn good and ready.”

Austin sighed. “I guess I’ll have to file a motion to compel you to give us what you have. You’re hindering my ability to properly represent my client and judge Raynor tends to err on the side of defense when it comes to discovery motions.”

Greg have a short laugh. “Bring your best, Austin. I have no problem making sure Patrick Sutton rots in jail just like his father.”

Austin wrinkled her nose. Unfortunately, it looked like Nicholas Sutton wouldn’t be rotting in jail and if she lost this case, Patrick would be in jail longer than his father. That was unacceptable.

“My flight is landing, Greg, I have to put my phone away now. You can expect me to be filing a motion first thing Monday morning.”

“My offer expires on Sunday,” Greg said snidely.

When she ended the call, she immediately dialed Victoria Marche, her new associate.

“Victoria, looks like you get to put your law degree to work today,” she said when the woman answered. “I need you to get to the courthouse before closing and file a motion to force the state to turn over their witness list and any evidence they currently plan to present at trial. They’re offering a plea deal with a limited window of opportunity and are insisting that their evidence isn’t ready for discovery yet. I’m calling bullshit and I want to know what they have.”

“You got it, boss,” Victoria said when Austin finished.

By the time she finished her phone calls, the plane was touching down on the runway. Patrick was already on the ground and waiting for her. They were going to have to have a serious conversation about his trial before the weekend was up.

He was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs when she disembarked the plane. When he saw her, he pulled his sunglasses off and tucked them into his shirt pocket. As she reached the bottom step, he took her suitcase from her hand and passed it to the driver she’d failed to notice at first.

“Hi,” she said as he wrapped his arms around her.

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