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  “Ms. Dudley, my name is Brice Pennington and my firm represents Duncan Jones. You’re here today to tell us what you saw the evening on September fourteenth. I’ll also be asking you some questions for further clarification. Do you have any questions?”

  The woman shook her head and focused on the camera located just behind Brice.

  “Do I need to look at the camera when I’m talking with you?”

  “Ma’am, you can do whatever you find most comfortable. Now, if we can begin, please state your name for the record.”

  Brice sounded official on the video and didn’t come across as the arrogant person he sometimes portrayed. Ms. Dudley repeated her name, address and other identifying information, and at Brice’s request began recounting what she had seen during the evening in question.

  “Now, I just want to be clear and honest. That’s exactly what I told the police and I’m telling you the same. I saw him there, that night, arguing with that other boy. There was lots of shouting and then Duncan pushed him. Right after that is when I heard the shots, like a ‘pow, pow-pow.’”

  The woman held up her hand, curled in the shape of a gun, and simulated firing a weapon.

  “So you saw Duncan actually pull out the gun and shoot the victim, three times?”

  Ms. Dudley’s mouth curled up in a slight smile. “I did. Clear as anything. I’m glad I could help the police catch him. And you are trying to set him free. He’s not the kind of boy we need on the streets.”

  Brice’s head could be seen just off camera as he rocked slowly back and forth before interrupting her. “Ma’am we do all appreciate you coming forward and sharing your story, whether our client is innocent or not, our main concern is just having the truth out there.”

  “That’s what I said, I want to be clear and honest.” Ms. Dudley paused and looked at Brice and then directly into the camera. “When I was standing there I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing, I was surprised. It shocked me.” The woman continued to shake her head.

  “And, ma’am, is this the person that you saw that evening?” Brice slid a photo of Duncan Jones across the table. Ms. Jones raised the glasses from her neck and put them on. “It sure is. I’d recognize him no problem. I’ve seen him around Theron’s school. That’s him.” She slid the photo back to Brice.

  “Theron? And who is that?”

  “Theron’s my son, the young man that was just in here.”

  “Ok, thank you for clearing that up. Ms. Dudley, what time would you say all of this happened? What time did you see the incident?”

  “Oh, I’d say it must’ve been nine-thirty or so. That’s when I heard all of the shouting and went outside to see what was going on.” Ms. Dudley clasped her hands in front of her on the table.

  “Brice, you can go ahead and stop it. I’ve seen enough for now.” I spun my chair to face the group at the table. “Can you start that back at the beginning, please? Play just the first thirty seconds or so.” Brice restarted the video and Ms. Dudley’s voice echoed through the speakers of the display. “Ok, let’s just start off with the first things I’m seeing here.” I stood up from the table and walked to the screen. “Go ahead and hit play.”

  “I just want to be clear and honest. That’s—”

  “Ok, stop. Right here. Those aren’t the typical words you’re going to hear from someone that’s telling you the truth. She’s shouldn’t be trying to convince you. She’s just going to tell the truth. But we also have something else going on here. She’s telling you she’s being honest, but her body language is telling us something else.”

  Brice hit play as we watched the next twenty seconds play out on screen. “What am I missing here, Jennifer?”

  “There! See her head? As she says ‘I want to be clear and honest’, her head jerks back slightly, as if her body is retreating. People retreat when they’re threatened, and it’s also something liars do. She’s telling you she’s being honest, but she’s not.”

  The two partners at the table scribbled notes and continued to watch the video, hanging on my every word.

  “Ok, the next thing is a bit further ahead, when you ask if she saw him pull the trigger.” Brice played the segment as we all watched. “There, she how she is smiling, just ever so slightly?”

  “Yes, but I’m assuming that she’s just happy that she helped out the police. I mean, that’s what she said.” Charlie rubbed the back of his neck. “Seems pretty clear to me.”

  “No, that’s actually a faked smile. I call it a cover smile. She’s delivering the news that she saw him, and you’d think she’d be surprised here—surprised that she witnessed all of this. But if you notice—both sides of her mouth go up and her eyebrows are raised, her eyes are really wide. That’s a happy smile, not a surprised one. Almost as if she is happy to be telling you she saw your client.”

  The three attorneys scribbled more notes as Brice chimed in. “Jennifer, that’s all really helpful, but—”

  “I’m not done, Brice. Right before the end, she says she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She seems really convincing. Like she was really there, witnessing everything all over again.” I reached over and grabbed the controller to move the video to the correct position. “Right here.” I hit play and we listened to Ms. Dudley again. “There, she says she couldn’t believe what she was seeing, but her voice changes. Her face is still surprised and then she takes a long pause. That’s something liars will often do. She’s actually believing the story she made up. The more she talks about it, the more she believes it.”

  Jeffrey leaned into the table and looked at me. I had sat down at the table across from him. “Wow, that is interesting. So you believe she made all of this up?”

  “I’d say yes. I think she wants to believe it.”

  “What’s her motivation to lie about this, Jennifer?” Brice seemed a little relieved and a little frustrated. “I mean, if we are going to call bullshit on her, we need something concrete.”

  “Brice, I’ll tell you from my experience she’s lying. Her motivation? I’d say look at her son. He showed up in a school football jersey. What sport does your client play in high school?”

  Brice looked across the table at the two partners and smiled. “Football.”

  “Gentlemen, I’m by no means a football expert, but I’d guess that your client and your witness’s son may be a little closer than she’s letting on. I’m guessing that with your client out of the picture her son may be the star, maybe get himself out of the bad neighborhood. Although, that’s just a hunch you can play.” I smiled and leaned back. A sense of accomplishment settled over me, something I hadn’t felt in a while with the other case I had been working. Brice smiled at me and then looked over at the two partners. “I think we’ll look into that.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “Jennifer, I really appreciate your help this morning on the Jones case. Jeffrey and Charlie both seemed extremely impressed with what you found.” Brice flipped continued to read through the menu without looking up. “The least I could do was take you out to lunch for the additional trouble.”

  “That and pay the bill that I’ll be sending over later today.” I giggled. “But I do appreciate the lunch invitation. It’s good to get out of the office, but I’m going to have to make this a short one. I have a ton to get done this week.”

  I had agreed to meet Brice for a quick lunch so we could get some additional work done on our main case. I didn’t like the idea that he felt he was making something up to me.

  “That kid, Duncan. He really is a good kid. I’m really hoping all of this works out for him. I believe that what you found this morning is going to really help us.”

  “All that’s going to do is discredit the prosecutor’s witness, it doesn’t make him innocent.”

  “It’s a start, and quite honestly, the best shot we have right now. That kid has a future. His parents have always kept him out of trouble. He works twenty-five hours a week, plays sports, studies. He has a chance f
or a full ride to a school to play football. I’d hate to see him lose something like that because of something he didn’t do.” Brice seemed a little softer than normal, almost human.

  The lunch rush hadn’t quite hit Millie’s yet but the restaurant was starting to fill up. The small quaint hole-in-the-wall eating spot was another local favorite of the professionals downtown. We quickly ordered and found ourselves staring at each other without much to say. I decided I needed to break the awkward silence with the elephant I left in the room yesterday. “So, you like Aimee.” I refused to smile at Brice and kept my stern, intimidating interrogation face on.

  “I do. She seems like—”

  “Choose your words carefully, Brice.”

  “She’s sweet. Nothing like the girls I normally date. She’s smart, seems driven. Fun. Jennifer, I get that you don’t really like me, or trust me, but all of that…it’s for show. Nothing more.” A look of sincerity filled his face.

  “Aimee’s my best friend and she’s been through a lot. I don’t want to see her hurt or just be another girl you hook up with. We spend a lot of time together and we’d likely go out with whomever she dates. That means time with me…and Cain. If it turned bad, it could really ruin our working relationship, Brice.”

  “I understand, Jennifer. I just brought you into my firm to meet some senior partners. The last thing I want to do is screw anything up. You have my word. It’s time for me to get serious about things, other than work.”

  The waitress quickly rushed by and dropped our food off without missing a beat. I sat and stared at Brice. It was good hearing that he had an interest in being serious. That was something he had never shown previously. “Why now?”

  “It’s about time. My parents are always on my case about settling down, about being serious. They weren’t thrilled that I didn’t want anything to do with the family business. It just wasn’t interesting to me.”

  “I’m sure the money is.” I immediately felt awful for the backhanded comment.

  “I actually don’t see much—or really any—of that. I mean, if anything were to happen to my parents, sure. But I’ve always worked hard. What I have is because of me. My parents paid for college and law school. They set me up with a house and car, which I pay for, and everything else is me. All me.” Brice shot me a cheesy, but very proud smile. “I work hard and I’ve played hard. Now it’s time to focus and have a real life.” Brice’s outgoing personality was dialed down a few notches, his head titled to the side, and he seemed humbled.

  “Brice, show more of that side and you will attract the right person. That may be Aimee, it may not be, but it’s a start.” I smiled at Brice and glanced down at my watch. “I’ve got to get going in a bit. I have a few meetings this afternoon.”

  “Jennifer?” Brice’s shoulders slumped slightly as he looked directly in my eyes. “Thank you.”

  “For?”

  “Being honest. I told you before that I appreciate that. It’s helpful.” Brice shifted in his seat and then immediately changed the mood of the moment. “Oh, before I forget, two updates to the Doll case: my firm is now representing Macie, John’s girlfriend, and the lab called. We should have some toxicology results early next week. We went ahead and sent Macie’s off to be screened as well.” Brice flagged down the waitress for the check and quickly handed her his credit card without looking at the amount.

  “Good news. Reese and I have a few interviews planned this week, I’ll let you know how those go as well.” I impatiently scooted my chair out as the waitress arrived with the check and handed it to Brice. He quickly pocketed the card, signed the check and we made our way out of the restaurant. “Thanks again for lunch, Brice.”

  “No problem…So…are you going to put in a good word for me with Aimee?”

  I turned and walked toward my car, raising my voice to shout over my shoulder. “We’ll see.” I grabbed my phone from my clutch and dialed the Dunning and Associates switchboard.

  “Dunning and Associates? How can I direct your call?”

  “Aimee! It’s Jen! You aren’t going to believe this…” I felt a slight rush of excitement fill me as I was about to unload the news to Aimee. “I just had lunch with Brice.”

  “Should I be excited or jealous?” Aimee giggled.

  “Excited! He’s not as bad as I thought Aims…he actually said had wanted to settle down with someone, and he meant it…I mean, from what I read of him he meant it.” I was happy for Aimee or at least the potential for her to find a good man, finally.

  “So I have your permission?” Aimee giggled again. “Seriously? I won’t hear you lecturing me about him?”

  I could tell Aimee was joking but serious at the same time. “Take your time and proceed with caution.” I laughed. “Alright, I’m heading into the office but couldn’t wait to tell you. Oh, by the way, can you please clear my schedule on Friday? I’m going to be tied up all day.”

  “Sure, no problem. Another client?”

  “Yes. I have an all day meeting with a Mr. Parker in San Diego that day and through the weekend.” I smiled to myself as I slid into the cold leather seat of my car, started it and pushed the seat warmer button. “I can’t wait.”

  “Sounds fun and sexy. I’ve blocked it off. See you in a few. And Jennifer…thank you.” Aimee hung up the phone.

  I flipped down the mirror of the car and looked myself in the eyes. I took a long, deep stare and felt good about everything I had accomplished.

  Chapter Thirty

  The next morning I would be jetting off to San Diego with Cain, a long overdue and much needed escape, if I could only make it through the day. Reese and I had agreed to pay Jacob Harritan a visit to get some more information, but we needed to be careful how we approached him. Based on what Reese had found out, it could be a very tricky and difficult situation.

  We pulled up to LaBerge and found an empty space in the overly-crowded parking lot. Reese insisted on driving, likely because he didn’t want to be seen in my small, girlish sports car in such a place. A mix of college-age patrons and rough looking biker types made their way into the bar, ready to get an early start on the weekend. We both looked out of place, even though I was dressed down in a pants suit. Reese fitted in a bit more with his bushy white mustache and casual appearance. He could easily pass for a weekend biker type.

  The inside of LaBerge certainly didn’t mirror the outside. The dimly lit restaurant and bar combination had a slightly college-meets-upscale dive bar feel. Large booths lined the walls and there was a scattering of high-top cocktail tables.

  “There he is over there, working the bar.” Reese nodded to where the neon blue lights over the bar cast a morbid glow over everyone sitting nearby.

  “Reese, how about you let me soften him up? He’s more likely to talk to a girl than a grumpy old man like you.” I laughed.

  “Old, huh?”

  “Well at least you aren’t questioning the grumpy.” I smiled and made my way through the college guys standing around the bar. The crowd easily parted as I was one of the few women in the bar.

  “Hey! Can I buy you a drink? Maybe some lunch?” A college aged guy in a black t-shirt and jeans pushed towards me. He had apparently been drinking for some time already.

  “Back off, Jackson!” The tall dark haired bartender shouted over the crowd and caught the kid’s attention. “Leave her alone or I’ll have Tiny toss your ass out of here.” The bartender turned his attention toward me. “Sorry about that, what can I get you?”

  “A diet coke.” I shot him a smile and flipped my hair over my shoulders; subtly showing my neck and revealing what little cleavage I had. “Unfortunately, I have to head back to work, otherwise I’d ask for a splash of something stronger in it.”

  “Hey, I won’t tell. Sure you don’t want something else?” He slid the drink across the bar and lingered for a moment, waiting for my answer.

  I took a slow sip from my drink, casually sucking on the straw and looked up at him. “You’re Jacob, ri
ght?”

  “I am. Have we met? You don’t look familiar, and I doubt a girl like you hangs out in a place like this often.” Jacob stood back and took a wider gaze at me.

  “No, this isn’t my typical hang out. You know, you could actually help me.” I continued to play with my straw as I talked to him. “I’m trying to get a little info on someone that’s been in here. Can we go to one of those tables over there and talk?” I motioned in the direction of the booths in the darker part of the seating area.

  “Are you a cop? What kind of info?” Jacob took a defensive stance and backed away from the bar.

  “Do I look like a could be a cop to you? And no, I’m not. It looks like this kid I’m working with is lying to me and I need to get to the bottom of what happened.” I continued to innocently bat my eyes at Jacob. “Seriously. Five minutes, tops. I promise.” I slowly backed away, keeping my eye on him as I moved toward the booth in the corner.

  Jacob smiled back and exited from behind the bar. “Casey, cover for me for a minute. I’ll be back in ten.”

  I slid into the empty booth and Jacob joined me on the opposite side. “Thank you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. You are really helping me out.” I looked at Reese, sitting a few tables over, who was pretending to mind his own business among the crowd. I turned my attention back to Jacob.

  “Well, I do what I can. What can I help you with?” Jacob leaned back in the booth and took a comfortable position.

  “This kid I’m working with, I believe you know him, John Doll?” Jacob’s eyes grew bigger and his eyebrows arched as he shifted in his seat. “Well, he was here a few weeks ago, apparently got little drunk and ended up getting into a little trouble. Any chance you remember that?”

  Jacob crossed his arms and smiled. “Yeah, I know John. A real jerk-off, can’t hold his liquor.”

  “So you saw him that night? He was drinking? You served him?”

  “Yeah I saw him that night but I didn’t serve him.”