Save Your Breath (Morgan Dane #6) - Melinda Leigh Page 0,53

twenty-five-year sentence. He could have been paroled in seventeen years.”

“But he refused.” Morgan brushed the hair out of her face.

“Yes. He insisted he was innocent, so we went to trial.” He shrugged. “I discredited witnesses and argued that everything discovered in the property search should have been disallowed, but the judge did not agree.”

Morgan’s mouth pursed, as if she was considering how to phrase her next question. “What about the chain of evidence issues with the hair samples?”

His eyes widened, but he recovered his poker face in a heartbeat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

But did he?

Morgan kept her tone neutral. “The hair samples taken from Franklin’s trunk were not properly logged when they were taken into evidence. Chain of custody was not maintained. These were the very samples that matched the victim’s DNA.”

She let the implication hang.

This was the evidence that convicted Cliff Franklin.

Mark said nothing for a full minute. Lance was impressed with his smooth expression, but behind his flat eyes, he could see Mark’s thoughts churning.

Finally, he stopped walking and met her gaze directly. “I would have to review the case before I could comment on your assertion.”

Annnnd now he sounded like a lawyer on the defensive.

“This never came up in your conversation with Olivia Cruz?” Lance didn’t bother trying to sound neutral. His voice dripped with disbelief.

“I don’t recall my entire conversation with Ms. Cruz.” Hansen’s words were clipped and precise.

“Are you sure?” Morgan asked. “It seems a piece of information that stunning would stand out.”

“I’ve already commented on that.” Hansen turned back toward the house. “Is there any way I can help you locate Ms. Cruz?”

“You tell us,” Lance challenged. Instead of leaving Morgan between him and Hansen, Lance smoothly moved into position on his opposite side, so that they were flanking him. He wanted Hansen to feel pressured. “Where were you at two o’clock in the morning on Friday?”

Hansen pulled out his phone. “I was in Rochester overnight on business. I didn’t get home until noon on Friday.”

“Can you prove that?” Lance asked.

“Yes, but I don’t have to.” Hansen quickened his pace and walked them directly to the Jeep. “If you want to talk to me again, please call my office. I wish you luck finding Ms. Cruz.” And with that, he left them at their vehicle and went into the house.

They didn’t speak as they slid into the Jeep. Halfway down the driveway, Lance glanced in the rearview mirror. “I can’t tell if he was lying, but I hate that I don’t recall bullshit. It was a big case. He wouldn’t have forgotten so many details.”

“But I can’t decide if he blew the case on purpose or through neglect. Either way, this discovery could open a path to appeal through incompetent counsel.”

“Then our options are incompetent or corrupt?”

“Seems like it,” Morgan agreed. “But the real question is, did he kidnap Olivia to keep her from exposing his failure?”

“Or did the real killer take her to keep his guilt a secret?”

“Ugh.” Morgan gathered her hair at her nape and bound it into a quick ponytail. “Someone took her.”

“Hansen is a creep. We should stake out his house for a while.” After leaving the lawyer’s driveway, Lance uncurled his fingers from their too-tight grip on his steering wheel. Hansen’s evasion had left him with a bad taste in his mouth. The attorney knew more than he was saying, and not even the possibility that Olivia’s life could be at stake got him talking.

Morgan glanced up and down the road. “This is a very rural road. There’s no way we can sit here and not have him notice us.”

She was right. The terrain around the house was wide open.

“He does not want his screwup revealed.” Lance was sure of it. “Even if it means his client stays in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. I’ll bet he resented having to work for less than his usual hourly fee. He didn’t put the time in on the case, and he missed the chain of evidence error.”

“So why did Olivia sit on this revelation?” A line formed between Morgan’s brows.

“Maybe she was saving it for her book.”

Morgan frowned. “Do you think she would do that?”

“She is a reporter.” But Lance didn’t like his answer. “But she also seems to have a strong sense of ethics. And she did make an appointment to talk to the three of us, maybe about this. The sheriff’s department tied Franklin to five additional missing women, but the bodies were never