Hot by Julia Harper

Author:Julia Harper [HARPER, JULIA]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC027020
ISBN: 9780446511148
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2008-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-seven

F ry ’em.” Luther Hindenburg tapped a nail-bitten finger on the Formica table for emphasis. “That’s what I say. Fry ’em on the first offense. Not the second or thirty-third, for fuck’s sake. And none of this waiting around for years on appeal. If a guy gets the death penalty, he oughta be cold meat by the following evening.”

There was a rumble of agreement down the long row of folding tables. Calvin swallowed a bite of gluey pancake and opened his mouth.

But he was beat to the punch by Harvey Johnson, waving a sausage on a fork. “And why’s it so damn hard to convict these guys? Pedophiles that’ve raped dozens of kids, and slimeballs that’ve killed their entire family? I tell you why. Defense lawyers. Where’s it say these guys have a right to one of them slick attorneys?” Harvey shoved the entire sausage in his mouth and chewed aggressively.

Calvin knit his brows. “Well, technically, the Bill of Rights—”

“If they can’t afford to pay one of those bottom-feeding scum-suckers, these criminals ought to get up and defend their own sorry asses in court.” Harv banged his fist on the table, hitting a puddle of pancake syrup and coming away sticky. Not that he noticed. “I’d like to see that.”

A round of nodding heads and mumbled assent.

“Yeah.” Luther laughed. He was completely bald—probably shaved his head—and owned the hardware store in town. Luther could sling a newly repaired lawnmower into the back of a pickup without breaking into a sweat. “Can you see some murderer trying to explain himself? I didn’t mean to do it, really. Her head got in the way of the shotgun.”

Loud masculine laughter reverberated through the hall.

It was Tuesday morning, and they all sat in the former Elks Lodge in Winosha. The Elks Lodge was now used mostly by the Kiwanis Club, since the last two Elks were ninety-two and ninety-four, respectively. It was a dark-timbered building with a concrete floor. At one end was a podium. Over the podium was a dusty mounted elk head, so old the fur was molting onto the floor in tufts.

This was the annual Kiwanis Club pancake breakfast fund-raiser and he, Calvin, was the guest of honor. He was a little vague on what, exactly, the Kiwanis were raising money for, but he was certain of his part here: make a speech that would get out the vote. Fortunately, he would be preaching to the choir. As far as he knew, the Kiwanis in Winosha were one hundred percent Republican, except for Ed Riley, who lived in the woods and never bothered attending meetings.

“That’s exactly why I feel,” Calvin finally got his two cents in, “that when I’m elected, there must be a three-strikes law instituted in this state. And I will do my level best to see such a law enacted. Furthermore—”

“Yeah, Cal, but what about them defense attorneys?” Harvey asked rather pointlessly. Harv was a small man, only about five-four or so, but he enjoyed picking arguments. Fridays he’d get drunk at the bar and try to take out a tourist or two in a fistfight.

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