Dead Reckoning Read Online Free PDF Page B

that if you want to see any of it, you go to Evidence and have a look. Once that chain of custody is broken”—he shrugged—“I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that some yahoo defense attorney will start screaming that the evidence has been contaminated.”
    “When can I get my hands on the tape?”
    “I can have it couriered over tomorrow.”
    “This afternoon would be better.” Kate looked from the detective to Mike. “What kind of time frame are we looking at?”
    “I want this case tied up yesterday, Kate. Arraignment is the day after tomorrow. Preliminary hearing is probably going to be sometime in March. Motions to suppress evidence sometime in April. We expect the trial to be on the docket in early fall.”
    Just in time for the election . . . “That’s a fast timeline for a capital case.”
    “You can handle it.”
    She and her team would have to work quickly. She would have to clear her schedule and start working weekends again. Mentally she reviewed her long-term calendar and realized she would have to cancel the cruise she’d had planned with her parents. She didn’t want to disappoint them, but she knew they would understand. When it came to her job, Peter and Isobel Megason understood all too well.
    “Does Ellis have a defense attorney yet?” Kate asked.
    Alan Rosenberg grinned. “Aaron Napier.”
    “He’s good,” Kate said.
    “You’re better,” Mike put in.
    She shot him her best cocky smile. But she didn’t feel very cocky inside. She felt as if she’d just stepped off a cliff and that someone below had moved the safety net. “Anything else I need to know before I jump into this?”
    “I’m sure you’re well aware that this will more than likely become a high-profile case,” Mike said. “It’s a capital case. Brutal and sensational. Once the media catch wind of it, they’re going to be all over it. And they’re going to be all over you.”
    “I can handle the media.”
    “Another reason I chose you.” Mike Shelley rubbed his hands together, and Kate knew he was ready to adjourn the meeting. That was one of the things she liked about her boss; he didn’t call meetings for the sake of hearing his own voice. He was quick and to the point. Just the way she liked it.
    “All right then.” Rising, Mike rounded his desk and extended his hand as he approached Kate. “Thanks for taking the case. I know you’ll do a good job.”
    She took his meaty hand in hers and met his gaze as she gave it a firm shake. “I’ll do my best.”
     
MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 12:25 P.M.
    Three hours later Kate sat at a bistro table with her paralegal, Liz Gordon. Kate had hired her a year earlier, and after a bumpy start and a little bit of head butting, the two women had become friends.
    “I don’t know what was better,” Liz commented, “the coconut shrimp or that nine percent raise.”
    “You earned it.”
    “The shrimp?”
    Kate smiled, but her mind was no longer on the food. “You can thank Mike Shelley for both.”
    “I’m sure you had absolutely nothing to do with it.”
    Kate rolled her shoulder. “He knows you’re worth it.” She smiled. “So do I.”
    “Maybe I should have held out for fifteen percent. . . .”
    “Don’t push your luck.”
    The waiter delivered two cappuccinos, their frothy tops sprinkled with cocoa powder and cinnamon, then hustled away. Kate picked up her cup and sipped. “Mike offered me the Bruton Ellis case this morning.”
    Liz’s cup froze midway to her mouth. Her gray eyes latched on to Kate’s. “What?”
    “I said—”
    “I heard you the first time. I’m just . . .” She set down the cup. “You didn’t take it, did you?”
    “Why wouldn’t I? This is the case of a lifetime.”
    “This is a case that’s going to have you working eighty hours a week for the next ten months.”
    “What’s wrong with that?”
    Liz rolled her eyes in exasperation. “God! You’re such a workaholic.”
    Raising her cup, Kate sipped, eyeing her friend