I made three phone calls before we went to the jail. The first was to the number that Daniel had given me, to let him know we were in town. No one answered. The second call was to Catherine to let her know I'd arrived safely. I got her machine. The third call was to the lawyer that Catherine had recommended, Carl Belisarius. A woman with a very good phone voice answered. When she found out who I was, she was sort of excited, which puzzled me. She forwarded me to Belisarius's cell phone. Something was up, which was probably bad.
A deep, rich, male voice answered, "Belisarius here."
"Anita Blake. I assume that Catherine Maison-Gillette told you who I am."
"Just a moment, Ms. Blake." He pushed a button and there was silence. I was on hold. When he came back on the phone, I could hear wind and traffic. He'd stepped outside.
"I am very glad to hear from you, Ms. Blake. What the f**k is going on?"
"Excuse me?" I said, tone less than friendly.
"He won't see me. Catherine gave me the impression that he needed a lawyer. I traveled to this godless piece of real estate, and he won't see me. He says he didn't hire me."
"Shit," I said softly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Belisarius." I had a thought. "Did you tell him that I hired you on his behalf?"
"Will that make a difference?"
"Truthfully, I don't know. Either it'll help, or he'll tell you to go to hell."
"He's already done that. I am not cheap, Ms. Blake. Even if he refuses my services, someone has to pay for the day."
"Don't worry, Mr. Belisarius. I'll take care of it."
"Do you have that kind of money?"
"How much are we talking about?" I asked.
He mentioned a fee. I did my best not to whistle in his ear. I counted slowly to five and said, calmly, "You'll get your money."
"You have that kind of money? I took Catherine's word for a lot of things on this. Forgive me if I'm starting to be suspicious."
"No, I understand. Richard's giving you a hard time, so you're giving me one."
He gave a rough laugh. "All right, Ms. Blake, all right. I'll try not to pass the buck, but I want some assurances. Can you pay my fee?"
"I raise the dead for a living, Mr. Belisarius. It's a rare talent. I can pay your fee." And I could, but it sort of hurt to do it. I wasn't raised poor, but I was raised to appreciate the value of a buck, and Belisarius was a little outside of outrageous.
"Send word to Richard that I hired you. Call me back if it makes a difference. He may refuse to see either of us."
"You're paying a great deal of money, Ms. Blake, especially if I take the case. I assumed you and Mr. Zeeman were close in some way."
"It's a long story," I said. "We're sort of hating each other right now."
"A lot of money for someone you hate," he said.
"Don't you start, too," I said.
He laughed again. His laugh was more normal than his speech, almost a bray. Maybe he didn't practice his laugh for the courtroom. I knew he practiced that rich, rolling voice.
"I'll send the message, Ms. Blake. Hopefully, I'll be calling you back."
"Call me even if he says no. At least I'll know what to expect when I come down to the jail."
"You'll come down even if he refuses to see you?" Belisarius asked.
"Yeah," I said.
"I look forward to meeting you, Ms. Blake. You intrigue me."