“Oh, that’s a bunch of horseshit!” Rowena snarled angrily. “Come on!”
“Can’t help it, Rowena,” Pym said, waving at Jimmy to get dressed. “I would make it quick. Trust me, you don’t wanna keep Face Fucker waiting.”
Jimmy hurried back into his dressing room to get changed, hanging up the garment bag and unzipping it. His head was absolutely spinning and worry was chewing away at his guts.
Cold could easily be sentenced to life in prison for this.
Jimmy couldn’t imagine living without Cold for a second, and the thought was making his chest ache. He took a deep breath, throwing on the sharp black suit he found in the garment bag.
Meeting Cold’s lawyer would be good. He could finally find out what the hell was going on with the case and how much trouble Cold was actually in.
Once Jimmy was dressed and ready, Jules snuck him out the back entrance of the club where Jerry had pulled the limo around. There were only a handful of reporters waiting there, and they managed to leave without much trouble.
Pym stayed back at the club to keep Rowena there. She was still furious and made sure to tell Jimmy to pass along all of her threats of bodily harm to her brother.
The drive to Westchester Prison gave Jimmy the strangest sensation of déjàvu. The last time he’d been there was when he and Cold had come to pick up his father. Now Jimmy was back to see Cold.
He hated it.
Jimmy knew exactly where to go, Jules and Jerry following him into the lobby. There was a petite blonde in a blue pantsuit waiting for him, toting a familiar-looking briefcase and a razor-sharp smile.
“I’m Christine Beccali,” she said, briskly shaking Jimmy’s hand, “Roderick’s personal attorney.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Jimmy said with a weak smile. “Thank you for the, uh, job?”
Christine smirked. “Of course. Congratulations on making the dean’s list. A bright law student like you has quite the future ahead of him.” She motioned for Jimmy to follow her, flashing an identification badge to the prison guard at the security desk. “He’s with me. James Poe. He’s my new intern.”
“All right, Miss Beccali. You know the drill. Any weapons? Drugs?” the guard asked, lazily patting her down.
“No, sir,” Christine replied sweetly. “Did you get my flowers? How’s your wife doing?”
“Yes, thank you!” The guard grinned and gave Jimmy an equally slothful search. “Her and the baby are doing great!”
“You need anything, call my office!” Christine said, batting her eyes and whisking Jimmy to the counsel rooms. Her sweet facade fell away the moment the door closed, replaced by an icy mask that eerily reminded him of Cold’s.
Jimmy sat down at the table with her, asking carefully, “So. How bad is it?”
“First-degree murder,” she replied calmly. “Prosecution is pushing for life. They’d go for the death penalty if it was allowed in this state.”
“Evidence?”
“DNA on the murder weapon that the medical examiner pulled out of the victim’s skull is a match to Roderick’s. It’s already on file from his previous incarceration. They also have an eyewitness statement that places Roderick leaving with the victim hours before he was reported missing by his wife.”
Jimmy thought he was going to be sick. He sank back in the chair, whispering quietly, “Motive?”
“At least three more witnesses that will claim Roderick had a romantic relationship with the victim prior to his death.”
“Romantic?” Jimmy spat in disgust.
“They’re going to paint a very nasty picture of Roderick,” Christine said, holding up her finger for silence. “They’re going to say he’s a heartless criminal deviant who was preying on a very sexually confused young man who was already happily married to a woman.”
Jimmy bit the blood out of his lip to keep himself from cursing.
“The evidence is not good, but there’s hope.”
“How?”
“The eyewitness statement in particular,” Christine said, opening up the briefcase and fishing out a folder.
