Page 18 of Conner's Choice
“If you’re right, Conner, all hell is going to break loose. Jesus, Kevin Warner. His father is a military hero.”
“I’m just the messenger, Rawson.” Conner grinned, although it was a grim attempt. “Your niece is brilliant.”
Rawson rose to his feet. “Not when it comes to men. I’ll speak to the medical examiner immediately. As far as I know, the Parkers’ bodies haven’t been released yet to their families. And I’ll start digging into Warner’s history with the Parkers and Farmer.”
“Good. Will you keep me in the loop?”
Rawson studied Conner for a moment. “What’s really going on here, O’Donnell?” When the lawyer remained quiet, he swore under his breath. “You’re in the middle of this mess, aren’t you?”
He shrugged. “Can’t say. I have to protect my client.”
“Jesus,” Rawson muttered. “All right, Conner. I’ll let you know if I find out anything relevant to your client, which I can only assume is Mrs. Warner.”
Conner held out his hand and neither confirmed nor denied it. “Appreciate it, Detective.”
As he left the DPD and drove toward his office, Conner prayed Kevin didn’t catch wind of Detective Stone’s investigation into him. With Hughes surveilling him and Surfer and Stone looking into his past, hopefully the truth would be uncovered before too long.
By mid-morning, Elizabethhad grown impatient with Lexi’s wary and apprehensive attitude toward her. She called her assistant into her office and began without preamble, “I know you spoke to Kevin about my whereabouts Friday night. I’m sorry for putting you in the middle of my marriage by declaring I was ready to divorce him and then changing my mind. From now on, I’m not discussing my private life with you. Agreed?”
“Fine,” Lexi mumbled.
When Elizabeth arrived home at six o’clock, a knot of fear formed in her stomach as she pulled next to Kevin’s Porsche in the garage. She had no idea what to expect and entered the house cautiously.
“Kevin?” she called.
“In here,” he answered.
Elizabeth found him swigging a bottle of beer in the kitchen.
“Beer?” he offered.
Elizabeth nodded. If the lid came off too easily, she would deliberately drop the bottle to avoid drinking it. It didn’t, though, so she took a few tentative sips. “Are you hungry?” she asked.
“Yeah.” He sat on a barstool and watched her while she started to prepare dinner. “The trial begins June twenty-fifth,” he added a moment later.
She turned from the stove to face him. “So soon? That’s only a little more than two months away.”
He took a long draught of his beer. “It’s Harrison’s way of punishing me. I’ve got a tough road ahead of me, Lizzie.”
Chapter Six
Kevin’s tone ofvoice and the expression on his face reminded Elizabeth of her husband when he was an idealistic law graduate determined to save the innocent from an unfair and prejudiced judicial system. He’d often mentioned how much he admired literary hero Atticus Finch for standing up for what he believed to be morally right in the face of public opposition. Kevin had struggled to maintain his idealism until he took the case which finally broke him. A couple’s seven-month-old infant disappeared from her bedroom without a trace. The investigation stalled. No one, from local and state police to the FBI, could figure out what happened to the baby. Of course, the parents had to be guilty, and they were vilified in the media. When they went to trial with little evidence against them, Kevin staunchly defended them, and they were exonerated from any wrongdoing. Shortly afterward, they moved out of the country, but not before sending Kevin their written confession. They’d sold their daughter in an online auction to the highest bidder. He’d broken down in Elizabeth’s arms that night, not because of a lost child but because he’d been played so cleverly by his clients. Kevin was never the same after that case. He had become as twisted as his clients.
Prompted by the memory, Elizabeth touched his arm. “What are you going to do, Kevin?”
“I don’t know yet.” He met her worried gaze. “Until then, if I don’t decide to plead Farmer out, I’m going to be busy.”
She withdrew her hand. “I know. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Stand by me.”
“I always have, Kevin, even when I disagreed with you.”
They shared a pleasant dinner and retreated to their private rooms to work on their separate responsibilities.
Over the next two days, Elizabeth barely saw Kevin. He would come home reeking of booze and sex and Alexa’s perfume, take a shower, and fall into bed, never speaking to her and, thankfully, never touching her. On Thursday, Conner requested a meeting with her. A week had passed since she’d first approached him, and she anxiously awaited good news.
From outside hisoffice, Conner heard Sherri greet Elizabeth with her usual cheerfulness. He closed the file he was working on as his secretary opened the office door.
