The Southern Trial: An Epic Legal Thriller (Joe Hennessy Legal Thriller Series Book 4) by Peter O'Mahoney

Author:Peter O'Mahoney [O'Mahoney, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Roam Free Publishing
Published: 2023-07-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 30

Frank Diaz sipped his drink.

He cast a lonely figure at the far end of the 555 Bar and Steakhouse. In North Charleston, the bar contrasted the classy establishments on the Peninsula. Neon lights hung on the walls, glowing purple and red, contrasting against the lack of lighting in the rest of the room. The carpet was stained, worn, and, in some places, sticky. The tables were dirty. One television had a crack in it. A hip-hop song played through old speakers, muffled and loud. The smells of beer and bourbon covered every inch of the bar.

Diaz tipped his Jack Daniels and Coke to the left, and the ice cubes clinked against the side of the glass. His parole officer said he wasn’t allowed to drink, but he didn’t care anymore. He’d had enough of adhering to their rules. Diaz had enjoyed crime like some people enjoyed amateur sports. He’d been charged with assaults, robberies, and carjackings. Arson, sexual assault, and theft. The last time he was arrested, he joked with the officers that he was going for the complete list. They didn’t find it funny.

Daylight flooded into the bar as the entrance door swung open. Diaz looked up and squinted.

Dirk Taylor entered the bar first, followed by a second man. Taylor sat down next to Diaz without a word and looked around. Once he was sure nobody was watching, he nodded to the back corner. Diaz picked up his drink and followed Taylor to a booth at the far end of the room, near the emergency exit. Taylor nodded to the other man, who had waited at the bar. The man at the bar wore a black facemask, a black cap, a grey sweatshirt, and black pants.

The man with a facemask walked over and sat down, his back to the rest of the bar.

“I can’t meet with you anymore,” Richard Longhouse grunted as he lowered his facemask. “I have an election coming up, and I can’t be seen with convicted felons. One photo with you and it could derail the entire campaign, which is worth millions of dollars. I can’t risk years of hard work going down the drain.”

“Now, come on,” Diaz smiled. He was missing two of his lower front teeth. “Nobody here has even heard of you.”

“Next time, we do it through an intermediatory.” Longhouse nodded to Taylor. “He’ll talk to you.”

“No,” Diaz scowled. His face squeezed together as he clenched his jaw. He pointed his fist at Longhouse. “We do it however I say we do it.”

The meeting was a power trip for Diaz, a way to exercise a sliver of authority over Longhouse. Longhouse didn’t react to the statement, staring at Diaz with cold eyes.

“We have a job for you,” Taylor interrupted and took the lead in the conversation. “We need you to put pressure on someone.”

“We’ve done a lot of bad things, you and I.” Diaz kept his eyes on the Senator as he took another sip from his Jack Daniels and Coke. “We’ve done things that nobody should ever know about.

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