These Mortal Remains by Milton T. Burton

Author:Milton T. Burton [Burton, Milton T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B00BCG0URE
Published: 2013-07-15T11:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

The next morning Carla was gone when I woke up. I rose late and had a leisurely breakfast at the Caravan. The day before I’d noticed that the court docket was empty for the day, and I had every reason to expect Ms. Snow to be in her office. When I arrived at the courthouse I first read over the evening reports, had another cup of coffee, then called her secretary and told her I would expect her boss in my office in five minutes, no excuses accepted. Then I hung up before I got a response I might not like.

* * *

In her midthirties, Liddy was tall, slim, blond, and stylish. Unlike most attorneys who adopt more aggressive persona inside the courtroom than out, she was at her most abrasive in her day-to-day business. Once before the bar, she became the Girl Scout with the most merit badges, the hospital candy-striper who delighted in helping the old ladies with their breakfasts—calm, feminine, and sweetly brilliant—just what East Texas juries liked in a female lawyer. She was also possessed of boundless ambition, and I knew for a fact that she had her eye on a congressional run in a few years when our aging congressman finally retired. Now it was time for her to acquire a little prudence and restraint to complement her other virtues.

“I’m not used to being summoned like some servant,” she said, her voice cold.

“Calm down and sit down. When I have something unpleasant to communicate, I prefer to do it on my own turf.”

She took the chair across from my desk and perched uneasily on its edge. “And this is going to be unpleasant?” she asked.

“For me it is. Do you remember a thug named Farley Mott that you prosecuted two years ago?”

“Sure. Felony larceny. I lost the case, but I shouldn’t have.”

“Well, Mr. Mott felt that you went after him a little too aggressively. Afterward he was so hell-bent on revenge that he hired a Mexican PI to do a considerable amount of clandestine photography of you when you were on vacation down at Cancún. Even to the extent of putting a fiber optics camera in your room.”

She turned pale. “Oh my God!”

I nodded. “Right you are.”

She buried her face in her hands and shook her head. “I’m not … I mean, I’m dating a man now. That trip was right after my divorce, and I was hurt and confused. I thought that woman was my friend, but she took advantage of me.”

“We all do foolish things at times. But I didn’t have you come down here today to lecture you on morality.”

“Then what is your purpose? Blackmail?”

I shook my head. “Absolutely not. No one will ever hear it from me. Or from Toby. But I did want to impress on you the fact that you just flat owe the both of us.”

“Toby? Why?”

“Mott knew that you and Toby had clashed a couple of times, which made him think that Toby would like to preside over your undoing.

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