Chasing Suspect Three Read Online Free Page A

course, she had no business driving a
late model sporty convertible, but logic was beside the point.
    In the process of pursuing that one big
lawsuit, they had become friends, and the office arrangement was
good for them both. She stayed on renting a small office from him,
even if she could have afforded something else, because she liked
it there. And good for him, because he’d be pleased to be around
her 24/7.
    “Don’t often get phone messages. Someday,
I’ll waltz in here and there will be a pile of lucrative messages
waiting for me.” She took the pink slip from him. “Anyone wanting
my money is out of luck.”
    “It’s a call from the Inmate Advocate at the
county jail. A prisoner specifically asked for you. Shall I have it
bronzed?”
    “Not yet, it’s probably another DUI.”
    “No, they said the prisoner was being held
for murder.”
    “Frame it!” she yelled. She stared at the
number for a moment before reaching for the phone. “This might be
it, Martin. Finally, the serious case I’ve waited so long for.”
    Just a few months had passed since she
received her law license, yet Martin knew that becoming a
successful criminal defense lawyer was her lifelong dream. “I‘ll
cross my fingers for you,” he said.
    She rushed out of the office eager to meet
with the prospective client and stopped only to grab a takeout
coffee on the drive to the county jail. In the jail parking lot,
she sat in her Miata convertible and considered the building. She
had been there many times, most recently to talk with one client
arrested for DUI, and another who wiped out a phone pole while
driving with a suspended license.
    Today, she’d walk in, show her ID, get a
visitor’s badge, and all would be the same except this time eyes
would be watching her. This time everyone knew she was the defense
counsel for a murder suspect. This time it was a big deal. She was
ready. She loved it. She sipped the last of the coffee and got out.
She’d leave the top down—it hadn’t rained in weeks. If her car was
safe anywhere, it would be there with a dozen deputies milling
about.
    Once checked in and given a visitor badge,
she followed a deputy out of the booking area. There were no
permanent cells in this section of the facility; however, inmates
checked her out as she passed the row of glassed-in rooms holding
those in the process of admittance or release.
    The deputy led her into one of the conference
rooms. The room was ringed with windows and the deputy stood
outside by the door. She entered and found herself standing across
from a reasonably-attractive, fortyish, dark-haired woman running
her palms up and down the legs of her orange jumpsuit eager for
anyone to listen to her complaints. Sandy knew trouble when she saw
it.
    “Margo...Larena, is that right?” She said
after checking her yellow legal-size pad. “I’m Sandy.” She held out
her hand.
    “I’m screwed.”
    Sandy slowly pulled her hand back. “Okay, why
don’t we skip the formalities?” She understood a night locked up
behind bars could ruin your day. “Hey, you want me to get you one
of those vending machine coffees?” She was still hoping to start
the relationship. “No? Okay. I read about the case in the
newspaper.”
    The woman didn’t waste any time coming out
with the attitude. “So you’re Sandra Reid, huh.” The woman stared
at the visitor’s badge. “And you are what I’ve got on my side?”
    “Hey, you called me.” Sandy had done enough
smiling. “How’d you get my name?”
    “I don’t remember. Everything happened so
fast.”
    “Did you choose me because I’m involved with
Detective Goddard?”
    “No, I remember now. One of the cops who
arrested me whispered that I should call you.”
    “So, tell me what happened.”
    “I got arrested, what do you think? Next
thing I know I’m out here in jail, and some uniformed bitch is
feeling me up and peeking in my bra. Someone’s going to pay for
this.”
    “I mean before