The Professor (McMurtrie and Drake Legal Thrillers #1)(80)

Tom shrugged. “It probably could’ve gone better...”

“Aww, don’t play that poor-mouth routine with me, dog. You nailed it, didn’t you?”

“It went pretty good,” Tom said, smiling. “I couldn’t have done it without your help, Bo. The stuff you dug up from the Sundowners Club was golden. I can’t thank you...”

“No need for that now. You coming back is thanks enough for me. Now, when are we going after the school?”

Tom smiled. “First things first, Bo. We got a trial to win.”

“Well, it looks like you’ll have your star witness tomorrow,” Bo said, nodding towards the front door. Tom turned to see Rick, leading Dawn by the arm towards them.

Dawn blinked as her eyes adjusted to the lights. She held tight to Rick, but looked at Bo. “Thank you so much, mister...”

“Haynes,” Bo said. “Bocephus Haynes.”

“Yeah, thanks again, Mr Haynes,” Rick said, extending his hand, which Bo shook.

“No problem,” Bo said, standing from the booth. “Now, I understand that Ms Murphy here is going to play a major role in a trial that starts in about–” Bo looked at his watch “–seven hours, so I’m going to leave y’all to it. Professor, let me know if you need anything else.” Bo started to walk away, and Tom called after him.

“Bo?”

Bo turned at the door, a tired smile on his face.

“You gonna stick around?”

“I’m always around, dog.” Bo winked and bowed slightly. Then he turned and walked out the door.

For a moment, there was silence as all three of them watched through the glass windows as Bo strode to his car. Even Powell, continuing to blare instructions through his cell phone, stopped pacing and watched Bo walk away.

“Thank God for him,” Rick said, turning to face Tom. “You sure picked the right guy to help.”

Tom just nodded. Any debts that Bocephus Haynes had ever owed him had been paid in full. And then some.

“Is somebody gonna tell me what’s going on?” Dawn’s groggy voice startled them, and Tom and Rick both turned to her. Dawn wrinkled her eyebrows, looking back at each of them and then down at the table. Rick’s eyes also went to his coffee cup.

This is awkward, Tom thought. It was the first time the three of them had ever been together.

“Yes, Ms Murphy,” Tom finally said. “But first there’s something I need to say.” Tom paused, searching for the right words. “I owe you both an apology. Ms Murphy, you got caught in the school’s plans to force me out, and they used you as a pawn. Our interactions were entirely innocent, but, because of the way things looked, they were able to spin it into something it wasn’t. I’m sorry for the embarrassment the allegations have caused you. I’m also sorry for instructing you not to tell Rick that I was paying you to be his law clerk. I should’ve known the truth would eventually come out. I was trying to help Ruth Ann and Rick without sticking my own neck out there. For that, I’m sorry.” Tom stopped and turned his eyes to Rick. “And Rick, I...”

“Save it,” Rick interrupted, his voice harsh. Tom’s stomach tightened and, for a second, he feared that he had made a mistake in rehashing the situation.

“You came back today,” Rick continued. “If you hadn’t walked in the courtroom when you did, the case would have been toast.” Rick paused, and looked Tom in the eye. “You put your neck out there today, Professor. Whatever issues there were between us are water under the bridge.” Rick hesitated, and then turned his head to look at Dawn, who met his gaze. For a moment, neither of them spoke and Tom could feel the energy of the feelings between them.

“I’m sorry about the things I said,” Rick started. “I...”

“You’re forgiven,” Dawn broke in. “If you forgive me for not telling you about my arrangement with the Professor.”

Rick smiled. “Done.”

Again, they just looked at each other and Tom looked away, wanting to give them their moment.

“But y’all still didn’t answer my question,” Dawn finally said, turning to face Tom. “What is going on? Why did someone try to kill me tonight?”

Before Tom could answer, Powell Conrad plopped down in the booth, slamming his cell phone down on the table. “Well, folks, after a whole lot of encouragement, the Sheriff’s office and the city police department have every available deputy searching the river right now. If the bastard ain’t dead, we’ll get him. And if there’s a link to Willistone, we’ll find it.”

“Nice work, son.” Tom said, hearing the fatigue in his voice. We have got to get some rest, he realized.

“Will somebody pleas–” Dawn started, but her exasperated voice was drowned out by Tom.

“Wilma Newton changed her story today,” Tom said, slowly rising from his seat. “We called her to the stand, and she said her husband’s schedules were fine and that he was never forced to speed. She said he never doctored his logs to meet the ten-hour rule.”

“But she told us those things,” Dawn said. “I was there.”

“I know,” Tom said, smiling down at her. “And tomorrow the jury is going to know. You are our first witness tomorrow morning. Look, people, tomorrow is going to be a long day.” Tom slapped his hands together and looked at each of them, before zoning in on Rick. “We have to counter Wilma with Dawn and then we have to be ready for Jameson. You can bet his folks will be singing the same song Wilma did today, except with more force behind it. Plus, he’s got an expert and we don’t.” Tom paused. “We’ve got to fix that.”