Hidden Summit (Virgin River #17)(82)

“I have a lot of faith in the system,” Max said. “What we’re going to do now is deliver the evidence we’ve prepared, solid evidence, irrefutable evidence, and win the day. That’s what we’re going to do.”

“And you’re counting on me?”

“You’re the only eyewitness to the crime, but you’re not the only thing we’ve got. We have a motive.”

“Care to share?” he asked with a tinge of sarcasm.

“Your wife wasn’t the only person hanging around that drug-infested shit hole. There was another person of interest there. A person Dickie Randolph took great joy in messing up and filling with drugs and alcohol and probably dirty sex. Mathis’s twenty-one-year-old daughter. The light of his life.”

Conner’s eyes grew large. “Are you going to be able to present that?”

Max lifted his chin. “If it’s not suppressed. It is his daughter....”

Conner looked at him for a long, still moment. He finally understood why a man like Mathis would take it upon himself to deal out revenge rather than outsource the job. But could it be proven? And would the jury ever hear it? If they heard it, would they believe it of this good, classy, God-fearing man?

He gave a nod—what were his choices? And then he said, “We’re f**ked.”

Conner and his cop left the courthouse from the side door and walked around the block to the parking lot because Regis Mathis was playing to the press. Conner didn’t have that kind of savvy, and, while he couldn’t avoid the questions forever, he was bound to come off sounding unsure and vulnerable. Or angry, because as time went by, this whole thing just made him angrier. As they were entering the parking lot, he heard his name, the name that still made him turn.

“Danny?”

Samantha!

Well, she could find a way to get a letter to him, why wouldn’t she be able to find him leaving the courthouse? “What are you doing here?” he asked her.

“I had hoped to talk to you,” Samantha said.

He just shook his head and laughed. “I’ve tried to be very clear and very kind at the same time—we don’t have anything to talk about.”

“But, Danny, we do,” she said, taking another step toward him. “I was contacted by some lawyers and they’re thinking of calling me as a witness for the defense. I wanted you to know.”

RoboCop stepped up. “Ma’am, that’s a discussion we can’t be having with you. You’ll have to move along now.”

Conner put his hand on his cop’s arm. “What can you possibly have to say to defend that man?”

“Don’t!” his escort said. “Don’t discuss it!”

Samantha put her hands up, palms toward Conner and his escort. “All right, all right, we won’t discuss it. But can’t we have a short conversation? About what’s happened in the past two years?”

Conner looked at her. In fact, he looked her up and down and shook his head. She was beautiful with her small, buxom but trim frame, dark hair, pale skin and red lips. That was the first thing that had attracted him. The second thing was that she was so focused on him, flirting and entertaining. Sexy, she was very sexy, and she had liked him. Why wouldn’t a man go for that? And she was smart. Manipulative, but very clever—any man would be willing to be manipulated by a dish like Sam. Until they knew, of course.

“Why me?” he finally said.

“Why you?” she repeated. “Because we were married!”

“No, no. Samantha…Sam. I mean, why do you keep bothering me? Look at you. You don’t need me for anything. We were married for a very short time, then divorced. You can have any man you want. In fact, you probably have. All I want now is for you to leave me alone.”

“What if I say you were with me at that club? The one the dead man owned?”

His lips curved in a slight smile. “What? You think that threat will make me want to take you out? Buy you a drink?”

“Ma’am,” the cop said.

“Hey, knock yourself out,” Conner said. “I’m sure my protective friend here will be in touch with the D.A. who will be in touch with the judge who will be sure you get a day off from court. Enjoy. Get your hair done or something.”

And he turned and walked with his escort into the parking lot.

“Danny!”

Please, God, please make her go away! He got in the car and his escort started the engine.

“We’re going to have to report that.”

“Come on,” Conner said. “She just wants to…” What? Get laid? Get back with him? Get what? Control? “Yeah,” he finally said. “You want to call Max or should I?”

“I’ll call him,” the cop said. “When I get you back to the hotel, you can also call him. We’ll get you some room service tonight, and I’m handing you off to another officer. I’m going home to dinner.”

“Wish I was going home to dinner,” Conner mumbled.

“You will be in a couple of days, pal. Um, that lady—I assume by what she said she was your ex-wife? She might have a little jail time and a big fine. What she was doing, for whatever reason, that’s against the law. It’s called witness tampering.”

“Well, if it makes any difference, I’m not looking to punish her for anything. I just want to get on with my life, that’s all.”