been Jack’s right if he was running from the woods toward my house. She remembered him saying he was looking for the gun and she remembered asking him why he was all the way over toward the left, nowhere near the body. What was it he said? He was there because Sam told him the police were going to stop looking for the gun at dark. What else did he say? “I had to circle around because Sam sent a SWAT team out to the scene.”
“Sam, did you send a SWAT team out to the scene last night?”
“No.”
“Did you tell Tobin you were quitting the search at dark?”
“Hell, no. He’s a suspect. I wouldn’t tell him anything. Now, did you see him last night or not?”
Danni had to answer the question. Thomas Felton’s case had caused her to do things she never would have done before, and she regretted them. Now Sam Jeffries had asked her a question. She could lie and say she hadn’t seen Jack last night or she could tell the truth. Lying meant making her own decision about Jack’s guilt or innocence. Telling the truth meant letting the police, the state attorney, and possibly the judicial system make that decision.
She thought Jack was innocent, but she wasn’t absolutely sure.
“Did you see him last night or not, Danni?” Sam asked for the third time.
“I did.”
“Where was he?”
Danni got up from the table and walked to the back door that led out to the patio. Sam followed her. She pointed to her left.
“I saw him coming out of the woods over there. He told me he was looking for Felton’s gun. He said there was a SWAT team up by the scene.”
“One last question. I can check this out on my own but your answering the question will make my job easier. Did Tobin call you anytime in the last two days?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I’d like to see the number in your phone.”
“Sure.” Danni opened her cell phone and pointed to Jack’s number.
“Did he leave a message?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t erase it. I’m going to need that phone eventually.”
“Then you’d better get a warrant.”
As she heard the words leave her mouth, Danni realized that giving Sam Jeffries any information had been the wrong decision.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Sam Jeffries had one major obstacle left in his quest to try and make Jack Tobin pay for the murder of his daughter, Kathleen. He had to convince the new state attorney, Robert Merton, to prosecute Tobin for the murder of Thomas Felton.
Merton had made his reputation as an aggressive prosecutor but as the state attorney, he’d been rather conservative. He had made the decision not to prosecute Thomas Felton for the attempted murder of Stacey Kincaid, a decision that ultimately resulted in the murder of Kathleen Jeffries. Consequently, there was no love lost between him and Sam. Still, Sam needed Merton’s help to prosecute Jack, and that was the most important thing right now. In his crazy mind, he needed the attorney who had made the decision to set Felton free, to prosecute the attorney who had started the process to set Felton free. It was nuts, and it made for strange bedfellows but Sam didn’t care. He just wanted his revenge.
The two men met in Merton’s corner office, the one he’d been occupying for just a short period of time. Sam quickly went over the evidence he had concocted against Jack. Merton had many of the same questions Danni did. Sam answered them all. His conversation with Danni had prepared him well.
“This is insanity, Sam,” Merton said finally. “You want me to prosecute one of the most famous lawyers in Florida, maybe the whole United States.”
“That’s right.”
“This guy probably doesn’t have a speeding ticket on his record.”
“So?”
“So I’m not going to commit political suicide here. If you recall, I’m the guy who wouldn’t prosecute Felton on that attempted murder charge.”
“Yeah. How did that work for you? You think you’ve got a shot at dogcatcher next election?”
“At least I can explain that decision and leave myself a chance. I prosecute Tobin and lose, I may as well leave the state.”
“Let me give you a different perspective,” Sam said. “Let’s say the people in this county want Tobin prosecuted. Let’s say they’re angry at him for getting Felton off and for giving Felton the opportunity to kill my daughter. And let’s say, as Kathleen’s father, I’m grateful to you for at least taking the shot. Don’t you think with my support, win or lose, you have a better chance