Jo Leigh - Confessions Bundle

She had a “usual” seat.

Careful, buddy, Blake warned himself. If there was one thing he knew, it was that it would be suicide to get too comfortable with Juliet McNeil. She was his attorney. Nothing more. They’d both decided to leave it that way before he even knew he needed an attorney.

“Fred’s a good guy,” he said now. “He’s been with us for years. My father hired him straight out of law school.”

“I know.” Juliet smiled. “He told me. He thinks the world of you.”

Blake shrugged, glanced around him at the mementos that were helping him more than his staff would ever know.

“Lee Anne does, too,” Juliet added. “I get the feeling pretty much everyone around here does.”

He took the chair adjacent to her, uncomfortable with the turn of the conversation. “They’re a good group.”

“It’s important, Blake.” Her gaze was dead serious as she looked him in the eye. “We’re going to need every single one of them as character witnesses. I don’t care if it takes six months to parade them all through court, we’re going to paint a picture of you the jury will never forget.”

Okay. He’d handle the embarrassment. It was a small price to pay.

“I have a list of all the things I’m going to need,” she continued, pulling a typed document from her satchel. “This and anything else you can think of that might show any connection at all between your father and the other Semaphor board members, James, or any of James’s other investors. The names are all there for you—you can do computer searches. I’m going to need bank accounts, with every single statement from the past six years….”

The list of documents was overwhelming. And he’d have every one of them in her hands before morning. Blake kept immaculate records, as had his father before him.

Unfortunately, there was very little he knew that might help her. To the best of his knowledge, Walter had never had any dealings with Eaton James, other than their time together on the board of Semaphor and the Eaton Estates investment.

“You know, it’s odd that James waited until the end of his trial to expose all of this,” he told her. More than anything, he kept coming back to this fact during the long nighttime hours.

“If what he says can stand up in court, then why didn’t he come clean from the beginning? I know you said he was hoping for complete absolution, but forgery is a far lesser charge.” Something else Blake had learned on the Internet. “From what I read, since he’d never been charged before, he would’ve gotten off with probation.”

“I’m impressed,” Juliet said. “You’ve done your homework.” And then she tilted her head. “Of course, you’re paying me to know that stuff. All you had to do was ask.” Her smile took any sting out of the words.

“I wasn’t sure you’d answer your cell at four in the morning.”

He hadn’t realized quite how telling that statement had been until her eyes softened with a compassion he wasn’t sure he wanted.

Juliet McNeil was his attorney, he reminded himself. He couldn’t afford to need anything from her, other than legal services. Period. Too much was at stake.

“In answer to your question, it’s very possible that there’s something more in what James was saying, and it’s my job to find out what that is.” She paused, and then, her eyes narrowing, said, “It’s also possible that he was just so certain that he could fend off the fraud charges, he wasn’t going to risk muddying his reputation if he didn’t have to.”

So how in the hell did they find whatever James was hiding—especially when it might not even exist?

“I’ve got other questions for you, things to go over,” Juliet said next, “but first, we need to discuss your pretrial hearing.”

The mandatory hearing, thirty days after arraignment, was to discuss any issues that might hamper the trial—challenges of admissible evidence, for instance—to verify the trial start date, and to set probable length of trial. He’d read that the night after his arraignment. After a couple of whiskeys and a middle-of-the-night run with Freedom on the beach.

Juliet glanced up from a legal pad she’d been perusing, and when he nodded, she continued.

“This morning I received disclosure of the state’s evidence, all of which we need to discuss, but at the moment, I’m concentrating on anything we’ll want to bring up at your pretrial.”

A part of Blake sat outside the discussion, watching. It had been weeks, and he still couldn’t believe that this guy listening to the details of a potentially life-ending criminal trial was him. At the same time, his panic had subsided somewhat.

He had an attorney who was in complete control.

“First, there’s mention of the Cayman Islands bank account,” she said almost casually. “Schuster is submitting that document showing the opening of an account with your name attached.”

Blake told himself it didn’t matter. He didn’t open the account.

“We won’t have a problem getting that thrown out,” Juliet said, slowing his heart rate once again. “There has to be real paper evidence—bank statements, letters addressed to you, anything official that proves the account was active in your name—and there is none.”

And because the account was in the Cayman Islands, where an account number could not be traced, there was no way to get that evidence. One hurdle down.

Sunlight from the window caught the golden flecks in her auburn hair. Blake remembered being fascinated by strands of that hair covering silky white breasts…

“Second, Schuster’s planning to use the testimony Eaton James gave at his own trial as evidence against you.”

Blake slammed back down to reality with a painful thud. How could any human being fight a dead man?

“Can he do that?”

Juliet’s eyes were warm, personal, as she glanced over at him. “It’s possible, but that’s where we’re going to put our pretrial energies.”

Watching her, listening, Blake’s nerves calmed a bit. God she was beautiful. And smart. And determined. And on his side.

He’d known, that night nine years before, that he’d met someone special. He’d had no idea how special.

“If he uses the testimony, he’s in violation of the confrontation clause.” She spoke with respect, not down to him, not even like a teacher with a student. But as an equal. “That states all defendants have the right to personally confront anyone making statements against them.”

“Is there a way around it?” he asked.

“Schuster has to prove that there was another opportunity for you to cross-examine or call James on what he said.”

“I wasn’t even in court!”

“I know. But Schuster will say you had opportunity after court that day to make a claim against James.”

“Schuster was the only attorney advising me then.”

“Which is a point I intend to make with the judge,” Juliet assured him.

“I told Schuster the entire story was a lie,” Blake said. “I was his witness. We were on the same side. James was the opponent. I didn’t think for one second anyone would actually believe my father would resort to blackmail. Nor did I see the point in pressing formal charges. James was going to jail, and I just wanted the whole thing over.”

“I know.” Juliet set her pad aside, leaned over, her arms crossed on her thighs. “I think we’ll beat this.” She didn’t smile, but her expression reassured him. “The fact that James…uh…did what he did…so soon after the testimony should be enough to show that you did not have ample opportunity for rebuttal.”

She was still bothered by James’s suicide. Blake wished he could speak with her more about it. And knew that would be crossing a line he couldn’t afford to cross.