charged with, but he was a bad guy and you got him released back on the streets.”
“After seventeen years for a crime he didn’t commit.”
“So, he’s still a bad guy.”
“Don’t you have any belief in the power of redemption?”
“None. I guess I’ve been on the streets too long.”
“Well, maybe you just continue to see the failures and not the successes and that frames your judgment. Henry Wilson is one of the finest people I know. He’s my closest friend.”
Danni looked genuinely surprised. “I didn’t mean to offend you, Jack. I just thought he was somebody you represented. I didn’t think you knew him personally.”
“It’s fine. I’m not angry. It’s just that a lot of people think like you. They don’t want to look at the person and ask how they got where they’re at and what should or could be done to prevent it in the future. It’s so much easier to look at them in that one-dimensional frame—as criminals—and snuff them out like cockroaches.”
They were silent for a long minute. “I guess we can agree to disagree on that one, too,” Danni said finally. Jack looked at her and saw a smile on her face. He smiled back.
“That’s a good idea,” he said.
Danni called the waitress over and handed her a ten-dollar bill for the glass of Cabernet. Then she stood up to leave.
“I’ll be in touch,” she said.
Chapter Nineteen
The phone rang at eight the next morning. It was Henry.
“I got a line on the lawyer who called Julian. Are you ready?”
“Sure.”
“Ted Collins.”
“The sports agent?”
“Yup—the guy who wines and dines kids and tries to sign them before anybody else.”
“It doesn’t make sense. Why would a sports agent offer to defend a kid in a rape case? He’s not qualified to do that.”
“Maybe he gets somebody else to actually handle the case.”
“But then he’s coming out of pocket.”
“Yeah, Jack, but remember, if he handles this for the kid, Julian would be indebted to him and would probably make him his agent. That could mean millions and millions of dollars. It would definitely be worth it.”
“Maybe you’re right, Henry, but I don’t see any connection between Collins’s offer and the rape charge itself, do you?”
“Not yet, but I’m not saying there isn’t one.”
“By the way, Detective Jansen wants to come down and interview our witness.”
“Tell her to come soon. This guy is in bad shape. I don’t know how long he’s going to be around. Ask her if she can be here tomorrow. Tell her he’s better earlier in the day than later.”
“Will do.”
Jack called Danni right away.
“I talked to my investigator and he says the witness can be available tomorrow morning.”
“Good. I’ll leave tonight. Tell him to set it up first thing in the morning and get me the details.”
“Listen, since I’m driving down as well, do you want to drive together?”
“Let me make a suggestion to you, Jack. Stay here. If I’m going to go talk to this guy and he is truly an independent witness—and I’m not satisfied that he is—it’s better if you’re not there when I question him.”
Jack rolled Danni’s statement over in his mind for a few moments. What she said made sense, and the fact that she said it told him she was giving Julian a fair shake.
“Okay. My investigator will be there though.”
“That’s fine.”
He called Henry right back. “Set it up. She’s going to drive down tonight so she will be available first thing in the morning.”
“Okay.”
“Henry, I’m going to tell her about the sports agent when I call her back. I just want you to know she’s going to have that information when she’s there.”
“She may want to talk to Sandra again.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“I know she’s an experienced cop and all, but Miami is a different ball game. Liberty City is a dangerous place.”
“She’s doing us a favor, Henry, by doing all this legwork before seeking an indictment.”
“I hear you, Jack. I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Chapter Twenty
Danni drove to Miami that night and on the way thought about the new information Jack had given her about the sports agent, Ted Collins. Being a detective in Oakville, she knew a little about sports agents who tried to prey on some of the more talented athletes at the university. Ted Collins was one of them. His nickname around sports programs was “The Eel” because he was a slippery, slimy son of a bitch. So he was offering to represent Julian. He’s located in Miami. Our victim, Sandra, is located in Miami.