“Make sure that accounting cuts another check for Lucas Hernandez reimbursing his retainer. He mislaid his other one.”
Mislaid… All those years working in defense, Dominique had wordplay down pat.
“I’ll do?—”
Dominique pressed another button, cutting Casey off.
Amanda saw little point in continuing to talk about Hernandez. Not when it felt one-sided. “Are there any other clients who threatened you when you told them you were referring them to another lawyer?”Just for the sake of transparency…
“No. Now, if that’s all, you can see yourselves out. I have work to do.” Dominique opened a folder on her desk and flipped her laptopopen.
Unbelievable…
Amanda and Trent left the firm. The temperature had racked up several degrees, aligning more with the heat of her temper. “Does that woman have a death wish?”
“Not sure about that. I think she believes she is impervious to death.”
“Impervious to everything, more like. But if she keeps up the attitude and independent streak, it might be too late when she finds out she’s not.”
They both loaded into the car. Opening the doors let some stifling air escape, but not a lot. Still, if Amanda had a choice between sweating in the car and going back inside with Dominique, the choice was an easy one. Both were uncomfortable, but being away from the lawyer let her temper cool off.
“So Lucas Hernandez is a drug kingpin?” Trent switched the A/C on. The warm air spilling from the vents only made the car feel like a convection oven.
“Yep, and to date untouchable. He always slips away scot-free. Before you transferred to the PWCPD, a sting operation was conducted on one of his warehouses, resulting in the deaths of three SWAT officers.”
“And he still walked?”
“He did. Some of his guys were sent to prison, but they’ll never roll on him.”
“From the sound of this character, that would be a death wish.”
“Most definitely. So trust me when I say I don’t look forward to speaking with the man, let alone accusing him of anything. We’ll have to watch how we word things. But before we do any of that, we need to clear this past Malone. I’m sure he’ll want us to bring backup.”
“I want backup.”
Cool air wafted from the vents, and Trent got them on the road to Central.
THIRTY-ONE
“Lucas Hernandez? Are you mad? Have you lost your mind?” Malone was staring at Amanda and Trent from the other side of his desk. They had just run through everything that had transpired at Sharp & Associates, ending with the verbal threat against Dominique Sharp.
She understood his concern, though it changed nothing. “What choice do we have, Sarge? He threatened her life just days before Christine Lane was killed in Sharp’s bedroom.”
“Do you think someone like Hernandez would get this wrong?”
“We know he’s not the one pulling the trigger,” Amanda said.
“And onegoonthe receptionist saw was a woman,” Trent put in.
Malone waved a hand. “Even if Hernandez sent one of his people, you can’t go in there accusing the man. He’ll lawyer up or worse…” He drilled Amanda with his gaze.
“I know the guy’s dangerous. That’s why we were just going to have a little chat.”
Malone shook his head. “That might be your intention, but I doubt that’s how Hernandez is going to see it.”
Amanda flumped back in her chair. “Then what are we supposed to do? Ignore the fact he uttered a death threat? His people could have killed an innocent woman. A woman who helped people in the community in her downtime, found people homes, and was a mother. I couldn’t live with myself if I just turned my back on this lead.” She refused to let fear dictate her next moves, finding new appreciation for Dominique’s viewpoint.
Malone’s cheeks became bright red, and he clenched his left hand into a fist. “Fine. I get it.Butyou will approach this as achatas you put it, and you will have backup. Am I understood?”
