A Prosecutor for the Defense: David Brunelle Legal Thriller #4 (David Brunelle Legal Thriller Series) by Stephen Penner

Author:Stephen Penner
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2013-11-13T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

“Remind me again,“ Brunelle said as they stepped into the elevator, “why we’re bothering Laura Mayer instead of Gary Overstreet?”

“Because,” Sophia replied, pressing the button, “we need to reorient her incentives.”

Brunelle raised an eye to Kat, who had insisted on coming along—to give a human face to their business proposal—but she just shrugged. He looked back to his investigator. “How’s that again?”

Sophia smiled. “She already has skin in the game,” Sophia explained enigmatically. “We need to make sure she wins no matter who loses.”

With that, the elevator doors opened again and they stepped into the hallway. “Besides,” Sophia continued as they walked the short distance to Laura Mayer’s condo, “Overstreet would say no, and then tell everyone. We need someone who will say yes, and be discrete about it.”

They’d reached Laura’s condo. Sophia raised a ringed and bangled hand.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

“Maybe we should have called first,” Brunelle suggested.

“No,” Sophia assured. “That would’ve given her a chance to figure out how to say no.”

The door opened and a clearly surprised Laura Mayer greeted them.

“Well, hello, Mr. Brunelle, Ms. Farinelli,” she managed to say upon seeing him. Then she quickly nodded to the other woman in the hallway. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Kat extended her hand. “Dr. Kat Anderson. I’m Jeremy’s ex-wife.”

Laura smiled tightly. “Very nice to finally meet you, Kat. I’ve heard a lot about you. Good things, all of them, I assure you. Please come in.”

Kat didn’t look particularly assured, but they stepped inside and again sat around the coffee table. This time, Laura hadn’t been expecting them, so there wasn’t any tea ready. She slipped into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee and returned to her guests.

“So tell me,” she asked as she sat down on an upholstered loveseat, “to what do I owe this unexpected visit?”

Brunelle opened his mouth to start the pitch, but Kat jumped in first.

“We need your help,” she said. Then, she admitted the truth. “Jeremy needs your help.”

Laura nodded. But she also pursed her lips, crossed her arms, and sat back in her seat—none of which were under ‘eager to help’ in the body language dictionary.

“Not to be rude, darling,” she finally said, the word ‘darling’ simply underscoring somehow that she was a bit older and a bit better off than any of them, “but why should I help the man who murdered my business partner?”

“Allegedly murdered,” Brunelle corrected. He thought it the lawyerly thing to do. He forgot he wasn’t supposed to be a lawyer just then.

“He didn’t murder anyone,” Kat spat at him. “He’s innocent. Jesus, David, try to remember that.”

Brunelle offered a contrite smile. “Right. Sorry.”

“I’m afraid, dear,” Laura interjected, “that none of us really know what happened that night. But the authorities seem convinced of his guilt, and I dare say none of us are unbiased.”

Brunelle thought for a moment. “Sophia is.”

That seemed to surprise even Sophia. “I’m part of the defense team,” she said. “So I’m biased too.”

But Brunelle shook his head. “No, that’s not biased. That’s just doing your job.

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