Jerrod walked over to the table and sat in the chair next to where she would be sitting. I was just remembering how often in my wicked youth I heard one of those steel doors slam shut behind me.
Sheriff Kiley was just trying to keep you out of trouble by locking you up, Johnna said.
Jerrod nodded, knowing she was right. Hed never been charged with anything, but occasionally hed get in a foul mood, have a snoutful of beer and try to pick a fight. Kiley would keep him overnight until hed sobered up or calmed down, then release him with a stern lecture.
The air in the tiny room was stuffy and, within seconds, filled with the scent of her. The scent of wildly blooming flowers with a hint of vanilla was the same fragrance shed worn years before. To his surprise, it still had the power to stir him.
He stood and paced the room, amazed by how quickly hed responded to her scent, and tried to dispel the memories that assaulted him. Memories of Johnna, warm and yielding in his arms. Johnna, eyes blazing flames of heat as she clung to him in breathless wonder.
Broder appeared at the door, Erin looking small and defenseless in front of him. He felt Johnnas shock when she saw the black eye and swollen lip Erin sported. Just bang on the door when youre done, the sheriff said, then closed the door and left the three of them alone.
Thank you for coming, Erin said to Johnna with as much dignity as possible in her current situation.
Johnna nodded and gestured the petite blond into a chair across from her at the table. I hope Jerrod explained to you that I havent agreed to represent you yet.
Johnna sat down as Erin did the same. As she began to ask background questions and make notes on the pad before her, Jerrod studied the two women who had played the most important roles in his life.
Erinchildhood friend, confidante and fellow dreamer. They had commiserated together, schemed together and, in one moment of sheer insanity, had effectively destroyed any hope Jerrod had of a future with Johnna.
He frowned and studied Johnna, seeing the changes the years had wrought. She was thinner than he remembered. And in his memories, her eyes had always been the soft gray of a predawn sky. As he had yesterday, he noticed no softness in those eyes now, rather a brittle hardness.
He wondered what life experiences had stolen the softness from her. He certainly wasnt egotistical enough to believe that it had been his long-ago betrayal. In the years since hed been gone, surely shed had other lovers. Funny how that thought bothered him more than just a little bit. He frowned and focused on the conversation.
Erin, I havent read any of the newspaper articles or listened to any news reports concerning your husbands murder. Ill need some background on your marriagebut lets start with what happened the night of the murder. Jerrod noticed that as Johnna spoke to Erin, she kept her gaze focused on the pad before her.
A muscle ticked just below Johnnas right eye, a sign of tension Jerrod recognized from the past.
Erin sat back in her chair, tears welling up in eyes that looked as if they had already shed enough tears for a lifetime.
It was Wednesday night. Richard had a business meeting and afterward he and some clients went out for a couple of drinks. By the time he got home around ten, he was drunk. And whenever he got drunk, he got mean. She swiped at her eyes, as if finding her tears more a nuisance than anything. Hed slapped me around a hundred times before, but this time was worse than ever.
Worse how?
Always before hed been controlled with his beatings. He never hit me in the face and rarely where somebody might see bruises or cuts. But that night he was crazy.
What set him off? Johnna finally looked at Erin, the tic beneath Johnnas eye more pronounced.
His navy-blue dress shirt. Erin stared at the tabletop. I accidentally washed it with a white towel and it got white lint all over it. Id set it on the dryer and was going to wash it again, but he saw it that night and went ballistic.
He beat you often? Johnna asked, and Jerrod realized the tic had vanished.
He beat me whenever he drank. And Richard drank a lot.
Are there police reports, hospital records, anything to chronicle the previous instances of abuse?
There are some hospital records, but we always lied to the doctors. She laughed bitterly. You know, I stumbled down the stairs, I walked into a doorI was just clumsy and accident-prone. I dont know about police reports. Richards best friend iswas Sam Clegg.
Deputy Clegg? Johnnas eyebrows rose.
Erin nodded. When things got bad and I could manage it, Id call Sam and hed come over and calm Richard down, but I dont know if he ever made any reports. A couple of other deputies showed up a few times, but they always just talked to Richard.
Johnnas pencil flew over the page of the legal pad as she scribbled note after note. Jerrod watched her intently, recognizing that, despite whatever reluctance shed felt initially in meeting Erin, she was now completely caught up in the drama. She even seemed to have forgotten his presence.