“No,” he said. “We will not waive any of your rights in the interest of time. I want to hear all of the evidence. My plan today is to meet with the chief and prosecutor personally. I know the chief is an old friend of yours, but he also has a job to do, and we don’t have all of the facts. The prosecuting attorney sounds like an ambitious bastard looking for headlines. We’ll hear his evidence during the grand jury proceedings.”
“Oh man.” She dropped her fork. “Okay, then what?”
“If they return an indictment, you’ll be arraigned and we can enter a plea, and then the trial process starts. We’re not going to get that far, Millie.”
She looked at her food as if she’d lost her appetite. “You think hypnotism would work to help me remember that night?”
“No,” he said flatly. “If you were drugged, and we both agree that you were, then you won’t be able to access your memories. I wouldn’t put yourself through that.”
“Fair enough.” She looked small and defenseless.
“Trust me, Millie. I know what I’m doing.” Even if they had to go to trial, he’d win the case for her. He believed whole-heartedly in her innocence.
Her phone buzzed again and she looked at it, frowning before lifting it to her ear. “Agent Frost.” She sounded businesslike in an intrigingly sexy way. She slowly paled. “I understand. Yes, I’ll be there.” She ended the call and stared at the phone.
Irritation clawed up Scott’s back, but he ignored it. “Who was that, Agent Frost?”
She placed the phone next to her orange juice. “It was HDD headquarters. Agent Rutherford called me in—I guess it’s time to get back to work. I didn’t think I’d be brought back in on the Dearth case, but it hasn’t been closed, so maybe that’s it?”
“Speaking of Dearth, what did you actually get on him?”
She looked away as if deciding what she could tell him. “We think he’s been skimming profits from clients, but his paper trail has been expertly masked. It’s a federal investigation and we received a valid warrant to basically bug his offices.”
Scott sighed. “Unfortunately, since you got caught up in my divorce case, Dearth knows not to say anything in his office.”
“Yeah. We’re still tracing his financials,” she said quietly. “It’s just going to take longer than if we had gotten him on a recording and dragged his butt into headquarters.” She sighed. “He’s a real ass, isn’t he?”
“Oh, absolutely. I can’t tell you about the divorce because of client privilege, but if I think you need to know something, I’ll speak with my client. Okay?”
“That’s fair,” Millie said, shrugging. “To be honest, Dearth is the least of my problems right now.”
“Agreed,” Scott said. The woman had more problems than she did curls. With the green fading from her hair, he wondered what color she’d go for next. He’d seen her with a multitude of different shades and once as a natural blonde. She sparkled sweet beauty in every circumstance.
His phone buzzed. He tugged it out of his back pocket. “Terentson.” He barely kept the bite out of his tone.
“Hey, Scott,” Tate Bianchi said. “It’s Tate.”
“Hey, Tate.” Scott sat up straighter in his chair, wondering what the DC homicide detective wanted with him. “What’s up?”
“We have a missing person case, and you’re on record as representing her.”
Scott stilled. “Who is missing?”
“Julie Dearth.”
Scott rocked back in his chair. “Who reported her missing?”
“Her housekeeper, and there’s blood at the scene,” Tate said. “I conducted a quick search and found that you’re her attorney of record in a divorce proceeding.”
“I am,” Scott said. He glanced at Millie. “I’m coming into the city today. I’ll drop by and give you everything I have.”
“Great,” Tate said. “Thanks, I’ll see you then.”
Scott clicked off, his mind reeling.
“What is it?” Millie asked.
What had he overlooked? “Julie Dearth is missing.” Scott couldn’t believe it. He stood and carried his plate over to the sink. Werner Dearth was unquestionably a jackass and a criminal, but just what level of danger did he pose? “We have to get into the city.”
