Reminded Cillian of a guy he’d met in Dallas who’d tried to separate Cillian from his bike with a knife. Why that particular association jumped to mind, Cillian couldn’t say. But his instincts were never wrong.
The lawyer rested his fingers on some papers in an open file on the desk in front of him. “I’ve looked over your case, and I think we can get a very good plea deal.”
“A plea deal?” Victoria’s tone lifted with surprise. Apparently, she hadn’t picked up on the vibes this guy was giving off. “Wouldn’t that involve pleading guilty to the crime?”
Lymp raised his gaze from the papers to her. “Well, yes.”
“But I didn’t murder Thomas Briscoe.”
The attorney pushed out his thick lips as he stared at her. “I see.” He brought his hands up in front of himself and slowly rubbed his palms together. “The evidence that you did is very convincing.”
“Now hold on.” Cillian leaned forward. “Weren’t you hired to be her defense attorney? Not the prosecutor?”
“Yes, of course.” That weak smile curved Lymp’s mouth again. “And as such, I must give her the best counsel possible.”
“Gentlemen, I am right here.” Victoria sent a glare in Cillian’s direction before returning her attention to the lawyer. “I’ll thank you not to discuss me as if I’m not here. But Mr. Doherty’s question is valid. You do sound like you believe the prosecutor’s manufactured case against me rather than the truth I’m telling you.”
“Evidence is how we know the truth, Ms. Weston.”
“Not in this case, apparently.” She delivered the comeback without hesitation, though she kept her tone free of irritation or fight. “I did not kill my friend, Thomas Briscoe. And we’ve found evidence to suggest who did actually murder him. We’ve been targeted by that person because we know what he did.”
“Really?” Lymp tented his fingers near his double chin. “Have you shared this evidence with the police?”
“Yes.” She looked at Cillian.
He took the signal and faced Lymp. “I delivered the evidence to Lieutenant Willis this morning myself. He’s going to follow up on the information.” Hopefully. At least that was what Willis had said.
“Good. But if your ‘evidence,’” Lymp curved his fingers for air quotes, “doesn’t hold up, then we need to deal with the situation at hand, whether or not it aligns with what we’d prefer it to be.”
“Meaning?”
Victoria threw Cillian an annoyed glance, but he couldn’t help it. This attorney was getting very irritating, very fast.
“Meaning,” Lymp shifted his gaze from Cillian to Victoria, “the case the DA has built against you is so strong, we couldn’t prove otherwise, and if we went with a plea of ‘innocent,’ we would lose.”
“That’s crazy.” Cillian pushed to his feet, glaring down at the sorry excuse for a defense attorney. “Your job is to defend her and defend the truth. Not to roll over and play dead so you can keep your winning record in court.”
“Cillian.” Victoria’s eyes flashed. “Sit down.” Apparently, she didn’t mind losing her temper with him. But she was all sweet and patient with every bully in her life.
“We need to leave.” He held his ground. “This guy is not going to defend you.”
She swung her head toward Lymp. “I don’t believe my father would have hired you if you weren’t good at your job, Mr. Lymp.”
The simpering compliment in that gentle tone crawled under Cillian’s skin. How could she placate someone who’d just called her a liar and murderer to her face?
“Perhaps this is simply a misunderstanding.” She moved her hands to grip the top of her purse on her lap, the only sign Cillian could detect that she might be having to restrain some frustration. “I assure you, I’m innocent of all the charges against me. Since that is the case, why would you suggest I plead guilty?”
“Because we can’t win otherwise.” Lymp held up a thick hand to stop a response from Cillian, though he hadn’t launched one yet. “And that has nothing to do with maintaining my record, though it is perfect.” He threw Cillian a taunting glance.
Anger spiked through Cillian, and he clenched his fist at his side. Maybe if he let Lymp keep talking, Victoria would see what Cillian did.
“It has everything to do with getting you the best deal. If we try to say you’re innocent, and we lose, you could get up to life in prison.” He paused, probably hoping to scare Victoria by letting it sink in.
Cillian switched his gaze to her.
She still sat tall and straight, no paling or signs of fright. Hopefully, that meant the attorney’s tactics weren’t working.
“But if we go for a plea bargain, I’m confident I could get you a very good deal.” Lymp smiled as if he’d just won the argument.
