Worth Saving(84)

“Okay, why are you calling at this hour, Sheriff?” I reply. My headache has arrived and joined forces with my sleepiness, forming a formidable duo that is making me confused and unfocused.

“I’m calling at the request of your client. Your services are requested, Counselor. We need you to come down to King County Correctional Facility right now.”

“My client?” I reply as I slowly sit up. I rub my hand over my face, trying to figure out what the hell Mrs. Davis could’ve done to get herself arrested, and why she’d have the sheriff call me instead of Danny. As much as I’d like to take this and rub it in Danny’s face, I know I can’t do it. “Look, I’ve got to be honest with you, Sheriff, I’m no longer assigned to Mrs. Davis’ case. I’m not sure what the hell she could’ve done to get arrested, but she’s going to have to call her actual attorney, Danny Greene, of Adrien & Brody. Hold on a second, I’ll get you his number.”

The sheriff goes silent for a second, and then continues.

“I’m sorry, I think there might be a misunderstanding,” he says. “We have Mrs. Roberts in custody, Counselor. When we started questioning her, she refused to answer without the presence of her lawyer. When we asked who her lawyer was, she told us it was you. So, as I stated earlier, we need you to come to the jail so that you can begin to represent your client.”

“I’m sorry, Sheriff, but I don’t have any clients by the name of Roberts,” I say as I begin to lay back down, assuming this conversation is surely about to end. “In fact, I don’t have any clients at all, so there’s obviously some confusion between you and whoever you’ve arrested.”

The sheriff goes silent once again. I hear him take a deep breath, then he begins again.

“So, you’re saying you don’t know Mrs. Valerie Roberts?” he snips.

“I’m sorry, Sheriff, but no I . . .” I suddenly snap back up. “Wait, what? What’s the name?”

“Valerie Roberts. She’s insisting your presence. She’s in a lot of trouble, Counselor. You should get down here, quick.”

I start to rub my head again as my mind fills up with floating question marks. Valerie Roberts? I know the first name, but not the last. What the hell is going on? There’s only one Valerie that I’ve ever known in my entire life. The chances of this being some random Valerie who just happens to know I’m a lawyer are pretty much zero. Valerie and I have kept a lot of our personal lives separate from our relationship, so there’s a chance she may have lied to me about her last name being Benedict. The question, though, is why? It looks like I’m definitely going to get my chance to find out. Assuming, of course, this is the right Valerie.

“Okay, I hate to ask so many questions, Sheriff, but I’m just trying to make sure I have the right information. You’ve arrested Valerie Roberts, and she’s now asking that I represent her? What did Valerie do?”

“I don’t want to discuss this too much over the phone, Counselor. We can get into the details when you get here.”

“Please, Sheriff Bryant. I need to know what I’m getting into, here. What was she arrested for.”

Sheriff Bryant exhales loudly into the phone. “We had to apprehend Mrs. Roberts at her house this morning. She’s being charged with murder.”

I feel my heart drop into my feet, and the room suddenly feels as hot as a sauna.

“Oh my god!” I exclaim. “What the f*ck?”

“Yeah, that’s why you need to get down here. This is serious, and it’s going to be very high profile. So, be prepared, Counselor.”

“What? I’m so confused. High profile? Why?” I ramble. The floating question marks in my mind are now swirling and bouncing off the walls of my brain like bumper cars. I take a deep breath and do my best to compose myself. “I’m sorry. I need to slow down. Okay, let me just take this one thing at a time. Okay, Sheriff, who is Valerie accused of murdering?”

This time, the sheriff doesn’t waste a second. He answers aggressively and as a statement of absolute fact.

“She’s under arrest for the murder of councilman Sam Roberts. Her husband.”