Patterson, James - Womans Murder Club 2 - Second Chance

“just like old times?” Claire smiled, scooting her large frame over to make room for me.

“In more ways than you know.” I sighed. Then, pouring myself a frothy drink, “Jesus, do I need one of these.”

Tough day?" Jill inquired.

“No,” I shook my head. “Routine. Piece of cake.”

“That paperwork, it'll drive anyone to drink.” Claire shrugged, taking a sip of her margarita. “Cheers. Great to see you wenches.”

There was an obvious level of anticipation buzzing through the group. As I took a sip myself, I scanned around.

All eyes were focused on me.

“Uh-uh.” I almost spit into my drink. “I can't get into it. Don't even start.” “I told you,” Jill croaked with a confirming smile. “Things have changed. Lindsay's management now.”

“That's not it, Jill. There's a gag order. Mercer's got this thing shut down. Besides, I thought we were here for you.”

Jill's sharp blue eyes twinkled. “The representative from the district attorney's office is willing to cede the floor to her esteemed colleague from the third floor.”

“Jesus, guys, I've been on this case for two days.”

“What the hell else is anybody in the city talking about?” said Claire. “You want to hear about my day? I did a full frontal at ten, then a talk at SFU on the pathology of --”

“We could talk about global warming,” Cindy said, “or this book I'm reading, The Death of Vishnu.”

“It's not that I don't want to talk about it,” I protested. “It's just that it's sealed, confidential.”

“Confidential, like what I turned you on to in Oakland?” Cindy asked.

“We have to talk about that,” I said. “After.” “I'll make you a deal,” Jill said. “You share it with us”

Like always. Then I'll share something. You judge which is juicier. Winner pays the check."

I knew it was only a matter of time before I gave in. How could I keep secrets from my girls? It was all over the news - at least part of it. And there weren't three sharper minds anywhere in the Hall.

I let out an expectant sigh. “This all stays here.”

“Of course,” Jill and Claire said. “Duh.”

I turned to Cindy. “And that means you don't go to press. With any of it. Until I say so.”

“Why do I get the sense I'm always being blackmailed by you?” She shook her head, then acquiesced. “Fine. Deal.”

Jill filled up my glass. “I knew we'd eventually break you down.”

I took a sip. “Nah. I decided to tell you when you said, ”Tough day?"

Piece by piece, I took them through the case so far"

The decal Bernard Smith had seen on the getaway van. The identical drawing I had found in Oakland. The possibility that Estelle Chipman might have been murdered. Claire's thought that Tasha Catchings may not have been an accidental target after all.

“I knew it,” Cindy shouted with a triumphant beam.

“You've got to find out what that lion image represents,” insisted Claire.

I nodded. “I'm on it. Big-time.”

Jill, the A. D.A., inquired, “Anything out there that actually ties these two victims together?” -

“Nothing so far.” “What about motive?” she.

“Everyone's reading them as hate crimes, Jill.”

She nodded cautiously. “And you?”

“I'm starting to read them differently. I think we have to consider the possibility that someone's using the hate crime scenario as a smoke screen.”

There was a long silence at the table.

“A racial serial killer,” Claire said.

Womans Murder Club 2 - Second Chance

Chapter 16

I HAD SHARED MY NEWS, all of it bad. Everyone ran it over glumly.

I nodded to Jill. “Now you.”

Cindy jumped the gun. “Bennett's not going to run again, is he?” In her eight years in the prosecutor's office, Jill had shot up to be his number two in command. If the old man decided to step down, she was the logical choice to be appointed San Francisco's next D.A.

Jill laughed and shook her head. “He'll be propped up at that oak desk the day he dies. That's the truth.”

“Well, you've got something to tell us,” pressed Claire. “You're right,” she admitted. “I do... ”

One by one, Jill met each one of our gazes as if to ratchet up the suspense. Those normally piercing cobalt eyes had never looked so serene. At last, a crooked little smile crept across her face. She let out a sigh, then said, “I'm pregnant.”

We sat there, waiting for her to admit that she was just putting us on. But she didn't. She just kept those sharp eyes blinking right in our faces, until thirty seconds must have gone by.

“Y-you're joking,” I stammered. Jill was the most driven woman I knew. You could catch her at her desk most any night until after eight. Her husband, Steve, ran a venture fund for Bank America. They were fast-track achievers: They mountain-biked in Moab, windsurfed on the Columbia River in Oregon. A baby... “People do it,” she exclaimed at our amazement.

“I knew it,” Claire exclaimed, slapping the table. “I just knew it. I saw the look in your eyes. I saw that sheen on your face. I said, something's toasting in that oven. You're talking to an expert, you know. How long?”

“Eight weeks. I'm due the end of May.” Jill's eyes sparkled like a young girl's. “Other than our families, you're the first people I've told. Of course.”

“Bennett's gonna shit graham crackers.” Cindy cackled.

“He's got three of his own And it's not like I'm trading it in to go off and grow grapes in Petaluma. I'm just having a baby.”

I found myself smiling. Part of me was so pleased for her, I almost wanted to cry. Part of me was even a little jealous.

Most of me still couldn't believe it. “This kid better know what he's in for.” I grinned. “He'll be rocked to sleep by tapes of California case law.”

“No way,” Jill laughed defiantly. “I won't do it. I promise I won't do it. I'm gonna be a really good mom.”

I stood up and leaned across the table to her. “This is so great, Jill.” For a moment, we just stared at each other, our eyes glistening. I was so damned happy for her. I remembered when I was scared shitless because of a blood disease I had, and Jill had bared her arms to us and showed us her terrible scars; she explained how she had cut herself in high school and college, how the challenge to always go to the top had so deeply ruled her life that she could only take it out on herself.

We threw our arms around each other, and I squeezed her.

“Was this something you've been thinking about?” Claire asked.

“We'd been trying for a couple of months,” Jill answered, sitting back down. “I'm not sure it was any conscious decision, other than the timing seemed right.” She looked at Claire. “The first time I met you, when Lindsay asked me into your group and you talked about your kids... it just sort of set off a spark in me. I remember thinking, She runs the M. E.'s office. She's one of the most capable women I know, at the top of her profession, yet this is what she talks about.”

“When you start out working,” Claire explained, “you have all this drive and focus. As a woman, you feel you have to prove everything. But when you have kids, it's different, natural. You realize it's no longer about you at all. You realize... you no longer have to prove anything. You already have.” “So, hey... ” Jill said with glistening eyes, "I want a little of that, too.

“I never told this to you guys,” she went on, “but I was pregnant once before. Five years ago.” She took a sip of water and shook the dark hair off the back of her neck. “My career was in overdrive you remember, there was that La Frade hearing - and Steve had just started running his own fund.”