“Good result for Johnny. Ward gets to claim victory, too. Not bad at all. I take it that you found some new evidence?”
“Pete did.”
“I should have known. What was it?”
“Video of Jones running across the plaza with a gun in his hand.” I filled her in on the details. “Murphy planted the gun—maybe with Johnny’s knowledge. Maybe not. Either way, Murphy lied in his police report and probably obstructed justice. Siragusa and Connor lied about seeing a gun in Jones’s hand, or they were mistaken. Either way, they were wrong.”
“They lied.”
“Murphy did for sure. I’m not so sure about Siragusa and Connor.”
“They testified that they saw a gun in Jones’s hand. How is that not lying?”
“They responded to a call saying that Jones was armed and dangerous. It was dark and rainy. Maybe we should give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they were mistaken.”
“You really believe that?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter for Johnny’s case. My dad used to say that you shouldn’t cast aspersions on the cops until you’ve spent some time in the line of fire.”
“You’re sure that Murphy planted the gun?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think Johnny knew?”
“I don’t know, and I didn’t ask him.”
“And you’re okay with cops lying for each other?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“What are you saying?”
“I don’t condone it, but I think I understand why they might have done it.”
“When all is said and done, you’re still the son of a cop.”
“Yup.”
She smiled. “Whatever happened to ‘Mr. Morality’?”
“Now you know why I’m no longer a priest.”
“You have more tolerance for lying than I do.”
“Seems I’ve become more practical in my old age. I just persuaded a client to plead guilty to a crime that—arguably—he didn’t commit—because it was expedient and minimized his risks. You could say that I encouraged him to lie cut a better deal for himself.”
“He’s a grown-up.”
“To me, he’ll always be a kid. Roosevelt was also instrumental in persuading Ward to put together the deal.”
“I’m not surprised.”
I took another sip of bourbon. “I may have found us a promising young attorney: Nady Nikonova.”
“She’s a real estate lawyer.”
“She’s just pretending until she can find something better to do. She’s a fighter. And she’s really smart.”
“Invite her in for an interview.”
“I already did.”
She downed the rest of her drink. “All quiet outside?”
“For now.”
“How do you think this will play down in the Fillmore?”
“Hard to say. Some people are going to say that Johnny got away with murder.”
“Legally, it was self-defense. The new video proves it.”
“People aren’t always impressed by legal arguments.”
“It’s a fact.”
“Nowadays, people aren’t impressed by facts, either.”
Her tone turned thoughtful. “What happened to the wisecracking head of the felony division?”
“I’m tired, Rosie. I’m not as young as I was a week ago.”
“You aren’t as funny as you used to be, either.”
“Did you like me better when I was funnier?”
“I like you just the way you are.” She reached over and squeezed my hand. “Did Gio and Maria thank you?”
“Profusely.”
“What about Luca?”
“He was more subdued. He may be a little ticked off if we swipe his associate.”
“What happens to the civil case?”
“Nothing changes. The City agreed to pay Jones’s mother a million dollars. If she wants to continue her case against Johnny, Luca will have to deal with it.”
“Are you okay with the plea bargain?”
“It isn’t perfect, but it seems like a good result for our client.”
“Let it go, Mike. You can’t control everything.”
“You’ve told me the same thing for the past twenty-five years.”
“Maybe you’ll finally start listening to me.” She flashed her non-politician’s smile. “Don’t beat yourself up this time. You found the truth and got a good result. Justice is never perfect, but it sounds like it was served pretty well today.”
“Maybe so. Nobody on either side is especially happy. It usually means that we came up with a reasonable compromise.”
“You don’t seem satisfied.”
“Jones is still dead. So are the cops who were killed in the Fillmore. And the people who were run down in front of the church. And the kid who tried to run us over on Fillmore.”
“There’s nothing you could have done. Give yourself a break, Mike.”
“I’ll try.” I looked up into her eyes. Beautiful Rosie. “So?”
“So what?”
“Do I still have a job?”
“Of course.”
Excellent. “You weren’t happy when I decided to represent Johnny.”
“I fire people when they screw up, not when they do what they think is right—even if I happen to disagree with them.”
“You sure?”
“I’m not going to change who you are. I don’t want to. Frankly, it would be futile, and I happen to like you this way.”
“So we’ll just go back and pick up where we left off?”
“For the most part.”
Uh-oh.
“In your absence, I appointed Rolanda as the permanent co-head of the Felony Division. She’s more conscientious about administrative matters than you are.”
True.
“It will also give you a chance to spend more time in court and train some of our younger attorneys.”
“I’d like that.”
“It will be good experience for Rolanda.”
“Agreed.”
“I wasn’t asking for your permission.”
You never do. “I know.”
She glanced at her watch. “You got plans tonight?”
“I thought I might go home, have another sip of bourbon, and go to sleep for the first time in a week. You?”
“I’m taking the rest of the night off.”
“You want some company?”
“Absolutely.” She logged off her computer. “Do you know what today is?”
I glanced at my iPhone. Oh, crap. “I didn’t get you anything for Valentine’s Day.”
“Are you trying to tell me something?”
“I’m an idiot.”
“For what it’s worth, so am I. I didn’t have time to get you anything, either.”
“That’s not very romantic—even for two people who’ve been divorced a lot longer than they were married.”
“We have other redeeming qualities. Mind if I ask you something?”
“Ask away.”
“Do you remember the last time we had sex?”
“Does last night count?”
“No.”
“I think it was a couple of weeks ago.”
She picked up her iPhone and looked at the display. “It was two weeks, three days, eighteen hours and forty-four minutes.”
“You keep track?”
She smiled. “I have an App on my iPhone.”
“You’re kidding.”
Her grin broadened. “Yes, I am.”
“I’m exhausted, Rosita.”
“Not too tired for to celebrate Valentine’s Day, I hope.”
“I think I can summon a little extra energy.”
“Then we can go home and I’ll give you your present.” She walked around her desk and took my hand. As we were leaving her office, she turned out the light and leaned over and kissed me. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Mike.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day, R
osie.”
A NOTE TO THE READER
Dear Reader,
Thanks very much for reading this story. I hope you liked it. If you did, I hope you will check out my other books. In addition, I would appreciate it if you would let others know. In particular, I would be very grateful if you would tell your friends and help us spread the word by e-mail, Amazon, Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. In addition, if you are inclined (and I hope you are), I hope you will consider posting an honest review on Amazon.
If you have a chance and would like to chat, please feel free to e-mail me a [email protected]. We lawyers don’t get a lot of fan mail, so it’s always nice to hear from my readers. Please bear with me if I don’t respond immediately. I answer all of my e-mail myself, so sometimes it takes a little extra time.
Regards,
Sheldon
Click here to leave a review of SERVE AND PROTECT on Amazon.
Connect with Sheldon Siegel
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.sheldonsiegel.com
Amazon: amazon.com/author/sheldonsiegel
Facebook: SheldonSiegelAuthor
Twitter: @SheldonSiegel
Goodreads: Author Profile
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing stories is a collaborative process. I would like to thank the many kind people who have been very generous with their time.
Thanks to my beautiful wife, Linda, who still reads my manuscripts and keeps me going when I’m stuck. You are a kind and wonderful soul and I am very grateful.
Thanks to our twin sons, Alan and Stephen, for your support and encouragement for so many years. I am more proud of you than you can imagine.
Thanks to my teachers, Katherine Forrest and Michael Nava, who encouraged me to finish my first book. Thanks to the Every Other Thursday Night Writers Group: Bonnie DeClark, Meg Stiefvater, Anne Maczulak, Liz Hartka, Janet Wallace and Priscilla Royal. Thanks to Bill and Elaine Petrocelli, Kathryn Petrocelli, and Karen West at Book Passage.
Thanks to my friends and colleagues at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton (and your spouses and significant others). I can’t mention everybody, but I’d like to note those of you with whom I’ve worked the longest and those who read drafts of this manuscript: Randy and Mary Short, Cheryl Holmes, Chris and Debbie Niels, Bob Thompson, Joan Story and Robert Kidd, Donna Andrews, Phil and Wendy Atkins-Pattenson, Julie and Jim Ebert, Geri Freeman and David Nickerson, Ed and Valerie Lozowicki, Bill and Barbara Manierre, Betsy McDaniel, Ron and Rita Ryland, Bob Stumpf, Mike Wilmar, Mathilda Kapuano, Guy Halgren, Aline Pearl, Ed Graziani, Julie Penney, Mike Lewis, Christa Carter, Doug Bacon, Lorna Tanner, Larry Braun, Nady Niknonova, Joy Siu, and Yolanda Hogan.
A huge thanks to Jane Gorsi for her incomparable editing skills.
Another huge thanks to Vilsaka Nguyen of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office for your thoughtful comments and terrific support.
A big thanks to Officer David Dito of the San Francisco Police Department for assistance on police procedural matters.
Another big thanks to Bob Puts for his help on the inner workings of SFPD.
Thanks to Jerry and Dena Wald, Gary and Marla Goldstein, Ron and Betsy Rooth, Debbie and Seth Tanenbaum, Joan Lubamersky, Jill Hutchinson and Chuck Odenthal, Tom Bearrows and Holly Hirst, Julie Hart, Burt Rosenberg, Ted George, Phil Dito, Sister Karen Marie Franks, Brother Stan Sobczyk, Jim Schock, Chuck and Nora Koslosky, Jack Goldthorpe, Scott Pratt, Bob Dugoni, and John Lescroart. Thanks to Lauren, Gary and Debbie Fields.
Thanks to Tim and Kandi Durst, Bob and Cheryl Easter, and Larry DeBrock at the University of Illinois. Thanks to Kathleen Vanden Heuvel, Bob and Leslie Berring, and Jesse Choper at Boalt Law School.
Thanks to the incomparable Zvi Danenberg, who motivates me to walk the Larkspur steps and inspires everybody who knows him.
Thanks as always to Ben, Michelle, Margie and Andy Siegel, Joe, Jan, and Julia Garber, Roger and Sharon Fineberg, Jan Harris, Scott, Michelle, Kim and Sophie Harris, Stephanie and Stanley Coventry, Cathy, Richard, and Matthew Falco, and Julie Harris and Matthew, Aiden and Ari Stewart.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sheldon Siegel is the New York Times, Amazon, and USA Today bestselling author of the Mike Daley/Rosie Fernandez series of critically acclaimed courtroom dramas featuring San Francisco criminal defense attorneys Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez. He is also the author of the thriller novel The Terrorist Next Door featuring Chicago homicide detectives David Gold and A.C. Battle. His books have sold millions of copies worldwide and been translated into a dozen languages. A native of Chicago, Sheldon earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois in Champaign in 1980 and his law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law at UC-Berkeley in 1983. He has been an attorney for more than thirty years, and he specializes in corporate and securities law with the San Francisco office of the international law firm of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP.
Sheldon began writing his first novel, SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES, on a laptop computer during his daily commute on the ferry from Marin County to San Francisco. Sheldon is a San Francisco Library Laureate, a former president of the Northern California chapter and a member of the national board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America, and an active member of the International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime. His work has been displayed at the Bancroft Library at UC-Berkeley and he has been recognized as a distinguished alumnus of the University of Illinois and a Northern California Super Lawyer.
Sheldon lives in Marin County with his wife, Linda, and their twin sons, Alan and Stephen. He is currently working on his next novel.
BOOKS BY SHELDON SIEGEL
Mike Daley/Rosie Fernandez Novels
Special Circumstances
Incriminating Evidence
Criminal Intent
Final Verdict
The Confession
Judgment Day
Perfect Alibi
Felony Murder Rule
Serve and Protect
David Gold/A.C. Battle Novel
The Terrorist Next Door
Connect with Sheldon Siegel
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.sheldonsiegel.com
Amazon: amazon.com/author/sheldonsiegel
Facebook: SheldonSiegelAuthor
Twitter: @SheldonSiegel
Goodreads: Author Profile
ACCLAIM FOR SHELDON SIEGEL’S NOVELS
Featuring Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez
SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES
“An A+ first novel.” Philadelphia Inquirer.
“A poignant, feisty tale. Characters so finely drawn you can almost smell their fear and desperation.” USA Today.
“By the time the whole circus ends up in the courtroom, the hurtling plot threatens to rip paper cuts into the readers’ hands.” San Francisco Chronicle.
INCRIMINATING EVIDENCE
“Charm and strength. Mike Daley is an original and very appealing character in the overcrowded legal arena—a gentle soul who can fight hard when he has to, and a moral man who is repelled by the greed of many of his colleagues.” Publishers Weekly.
“The story culminates with an outstanding courtroom sequence. Daley narrates with a kind of genial irony, the pace never slows, and every description of the city is as brightly burnished as the San Francisco sky when the fog lifts.” Newark Star-Ledger.
“For those who love San Francisco, this is a dream of a novel that capitalizes on the city’s festive and festering neighborhoods of old-line money and struggling immigrants. Siegel is an astute observer of the city and takes wry and witty jabs at lawyers and politicians.” USA Today.
CRIMINAL INTENT
“Ingenious. A surprise ending that will keep readers yearning for more.” Booklist.
“Siegel writes with style and humor. The people who populate his books are interesting. He’s a guy who needs to keep that laptop popping.” Houston Chronicle.
“Siegel do
es a nice job of blending humor and human interest. Daley and Fernandez are competent lawyers, not superhuman crime fighters featured in more commonplace legal thrillers. With great characters and realistic dialogue, this book provides enough intrigue and courtroom drama to please any fan of the genre.” Library Journal.
FINAL VERDICT
“Daley’s careful deliberations and ethical considerations are a refreshing contrast to the slapdash morality and breakneck speed of most legal thrillers. The detailed courtroom scenes are instructive and authentic, the resolution fair, dramatic and satisfying. Michael, Rosie, Grace and friends are characters worth rooting for. The verdict is clear: another win for Siegel.” Publishers Weekly.
“An outstanding entry in an always reliable series. An ending that’s full of surprises—both professional and personal—provides the perfect finale to a supremely entertaining legal thriller.” Booklist.
“San Francisco law partners Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez spar like Tracy and Hepburn. Final Verdict maintains a brisk pace, and there’s genuine satisfaction when the bad guy gets his comeuppance.” San Francisco Chronicle.
THE CONFESSION
“As Daley moves from the drug and prostitute-ridden underbelly of San Francisco, where auto parts and offers of legal aid are exchanged for cooperation, to the tension-filled courtroom and the hushed offices of the church, it gradually becomes apparent that Father Ramon isn’t the only character with a lot at stake in this intelligent, timely thriller.” Publishers Weekly.
“This enthralling novel keeps reader attention with one surprise after another. The relationship between Mike and Rosie adds an exotic dimension to this exciting courtroom drama in which the defense and the prosecutor interrogation of witnesses make for an authentic, terrific tale.” The Best Reviews.
“Sheldon Siegel is to legal thrillers as Robin Cook is to medical thrillers.” Midwest Book Review.
JUDGMENT DAY
“Drug dealers, wily lawyers, crooked businessmen, and conflicted cops populate the pages of this latest in a best-selling series from Sheldon Siegel. A compelling cast and plenty of suspense put this one right up there with the best of Lescroart and Turow.” Booklist Starred Review.
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