“What makes you think I’m a lawyer,” Saul asked with a smile.
“You look like one, Matlock,” she snorted. “I don’t want a lawyer.”
“Why?”
“They just take your money and you never see them again. Get out!”
“I’m Saul Orbach and I’m here to help you, Miss James,” Saul said coolly. “Pro bono, which means...”
“I know what it means,” Maddie snapped. “I’m not a moron! And I don’t give a shit who you are. So leave before I have the guard remove you. I have a headache,” Maddie growled. “No one can help my ass, so leave me alone!”
“I spoke to the Assistant County Attorney yesterday on your behalf and she will make arrangements for me to examine the evidence the police have collected,” Saul pressed on.
“You can’t trust that bitch,” Maddie growled. “She’ll tell you one thing to make you believe her, then turn around and stab you in the fuckin’ back. Just go away. You’re fired!” she shouted.
DANI BEGAN A new daily routine. She went in to work early every morning, worked through lunch, and left promptly about six each evening. When she arrived home, she changed into comfortable clothes, prepared dinner for herself and her mother, and began working on finding information that would be helpful in Maddie’s case. Some information she forwarded to her investigator, Liam Sullivan. She spoke to her mentor, Saul Orbach, who informed her he hadn’t been able to persuade Maddie to talk to him. In fact, Maddie had fired him. As a result, he planned to send her letters filled with questions, hoping she might write back eventually. It wasn’t ideal, considering someone at the jail opened and read all incoming mail before the inmate saw it, but he needed to establish some kind of contact.
One evening, two weeks after Maddie’s arrest, Dani was putting dishes in the dishwasher when her doorbell rang. She dried her hands quickly and walked to her front door. She swung it open and greeted Oscar Melendez.
“Can I speak to you for a moment, Miss Hunter?” he asked.
“Of course. Please come in. Would you care for a cup of coffee? I just made a fresh pot,” Dani offered.
Oscar rubbed his hands together to warm them. “Thank you, Miss Hunter.”
“Cream and sugar?”
“Black is fine,” he said. He took his cup and sat down at the kitchen table. Dani stirred a little cream and sugar into her cup and joined him.
“How can I help you, Mr. Melendez?” she asked.
“You’re prosecuting Maddie James’ case, aren’t you?”
Dani stared into her cup for a moment. “Yes, I am,” she sighed.
“Maddie worked for me and I was there when she was arrested. You should check into that,” Oscar said.
“Why?” Dani asked.
“I spent my whole career in law enforcement, Miss Hunter, and there was something about her arrest that bothered me, but it took me a while to reconcile it in my mind. I like Maddie. She works hard, don’t cause no trouble, never objects to working overtime, and is a damn fine mechanic.”
“Sounds like a good employee to have,” Dani commented. “What in particular bothered you about the arrest?”
“Bart Nolan is a good cop, but he let his personal feelings get in his way. You see, he was my son’s best friend and took Bryan’s death pretty hard. In fact, he was the motorcycle officer who responded to the accident that killed Bryan,” Oscar explained.
“He arrested her back then?” Dani asked.
“Yes, and now he sees this arrest as his revenge for Bryan’s death. He was one of those who disagreed with Maddie’s sentence back then,” Oscar said shaking his head.
“Did you disagree with her sentence, too?” Dani asked.
“Probably at first, but I’d told Bryan to get his damn seatbelt fixed. It never locked right and could have been replaced for twenty lousy bucks, but he thought he was a safe driver, so what could happen?” Oscar admitted. “He died because he wouldn’t spend twenty fuckin’ bucks,” he muttered. “I’m sorry. Please pardon my language,” he added sheepishly.
“No problem, Mr. Melendez,” Dani said.
“Anyway, I’m convinced Bart stepped over the line and used excessive force when he arrested her. He slammed her head onto the hood of that vehicle hard and I was surprised he didn’t dislocate her shoulder,” he continued. “She was bleedin’ when they took her out.”
“She was diagnosed with a concussion a couple of days later,” Dani said.
“Is she alright?” Oscar asked.
“She will be in time,” Dani answered.
“If you have any questions, you can talk to any of my employees. They were all there,” Oscar volunteered. “Probably will want to talk to Crew anyway. He came to work one morning and found Maddie unconscious the day after we were robbed.”
“What’s his full name? I’ll have it checked out,” Dani nodded as she wrote.
“Crew Faulkner,” Oscar said with a smile. “He looks scarier than he is. Kind of a rough-looking cuddly type, but he likes Maddie. We all do.”
“You do know that I’m not Miss James’ attorney, right?” Dani asked. “It’s not my job to get her off.”
Oscar smiled. “I know, but I asked around and know you worked for the Innocence Project. Just because you’re a prosecutor now doesn’t mean you want to convict the wrong person.”
“No,” Dani said. “I wouldn’t want to do that, but I can’t represent the State and the defendant.”
“I understand,” Oscar said, finishing his coffee and standing up. “Just do the best you can.”
“Oh, before I forget, when did you file your burglary report?” Dani asked. “I didn’t see it in the case file when I looked through it.”
“The day Crew found Maddie. The police stamped it when I turned it in. Should be in the file unless it wound up a burglary file.” Oscar extended his hand and said, “Thanks for your time...and the coffee.”
“No, thank you, Mr. Melendez,” Dani smiled as she took his hand before escorting him to the front door.
Oscar turned as he stepped onto the small porch. “Maddie said something a little strange while Nolan was trying to handcuff her. Maybe she’ll tell someone what that meant.”
“What did you hear, Mr. Melendez?”
“She said she wasn’t going to prison again for something she didn’t do. Odd remark, don’t you think? Well, good night, Miss Hunter,” Oscar shrugged. “Probably nothing.”
Dani closed her door and leaned heavily against it, covering her eyes and allowing her tears to flow freely. She didn’t know how, but was certain Oscar Melendez believed Maddie had not been responsible for his son’s death. Once she gathered herself, she called Liam and gave him Crew Faulkner’s name, as well as Jorge Suarez’s, suggesting he question both men and briefly told him Melendez’s concerns, minus his final comment.
Liam told her he had an appointment to interview the warden at Sand Ridge for more information regarding the disagreement between Maddie and Sabreena Douglas. He’d contact her afterward with his report of anything pertinent.
While Dani tried to gather herself, she dialed the number for Flo and Sal’s home. After two or three rings, an irritated voice answered, “Yeah, what?”
“Sal? It’s Dani. Is Flo there?”
“Yeah. Hang on, Counselor. And by the way, your timing sucks,” Sal said.
“Sorry, Sal. Next time take the phone off the hook,” Dani chuckled.
“Hello, Dani,” Flo’s happier-sounding voice said.
“Guess y’all are home alone this evening. Sorry, Flo,” Dani apologized.
“Don’t worry about it, hun. She’ll recover. We sent all the kiddies to a double feature at the drive-in,” Flo laughed. “I swear Sal’s the horniest woman I ever met.”
“Sorry I disturbed your time alone then,” Dani smiled. “I was just wondering if you’d been to see Maddie yet?”
“Went a couple of days ago, but she wouldn’t see me. Thought I’d give it anoth
er shot tomorrow. She still in the hospital?” Flo asked.
“As far as I know. I asked a friend who’s an attorney to talk to her, but she threw him out yesterday,” Dani told Flo. “Sooner or later she has to talk to someone.”
“I’ll do what I can, but she don’t really trust me yet.”
“Let me know how it goes if she does say something, Flo,” Dani said.
After saying good-bye to Flo, Dani sat on an easy chair and called Directory Assistance to locate a California phone number for Maddie’s former agent. Maddie had a number of unusual peculiarities and Dani decided to contact a few people who might be able to provide some insight into her past to give Dani a feel for who Maddie James was and how to get her to open up.
ANXIOUS TO LEARN more about Maddie, Dani walked into her duplex a little earlier than usual, after dropping off take-out chicken at her mother’s, telling her she had work she’d had to bring home from her office. Dani took her coat off and dropped her briefcase on the couch, stopping only to grab a legal pad and pen and toe-off her shoes before punching a number into her cell phone.
“Yeah,” a gruff voice answered following four or five rings.
“Hello,” Dani responded. “My name is Danielle Hunter and I’m—” she got out before the party on the other end disconnected. Annoyed, Dani punched in the number a second time.
“Yeah,” the same male voice finally growled. “Not takin’ any new clients at the moment, babe.”
“Don’t you dare hang up on me again,” Dani said quickly. “I’m looking for Jackson Carville.”
“For what?” the man asked.
“Are you Jackson Carville?”
“Last time I looked in the mirror. Did someone kick off and leave me a few bucks?” Carville chuckled.
“Afraid not. I’m calling about Maddie James,” Dani said.
“Who?” Carville asked, sounding confused.
“Maddie James and the James Gang,” Dani repeated slowly. “You were their agent eleven or twelve years ago,” she added to shake his memory.
“Maddie’s in jail someplace. Texas, I think. Haven’t spoken to her in at least a decade,” Carville said.
“What can you tell me about her?” Dani asked.
Carville harrumphed and said, “I can tell you that bitch cost me a fortune in attorney and cancellation fees when she got her ass arrested.”
“Go on, please,” Dani encouraged.
“She was a promising singer who could’ve made it big, but snorted too much junk up her nose. Just beginning to get noticed when she fucked up and went to jail. In this business, honey, if you ain’t workin’, you ain’t even the flicker of a memory,” Carville said with a bite in his voice. “She was a smart-ass, especially when she was high, which was most of the time.”
“Did her drug use affect her music?” Dani asked.
After a moment, Carville said, “Funny thing about that. She always performed when she was high, but, if anything, her performances were solid and high-energy. Told me her girlfriend provided her with drugs to overcome her stage fright. Must have worked, because they seemed to ramp up her personality and performance until the show ended,” he reminisced before adding, “but then she had a tendency to crash pretty hard.”
“Did you know who her girlfriend was?”
“Never met her. Some old rocker. Must have been a pedophile though because Maddie was still in her teens when they hooked up, I think. If Maddie hadn’t been such a blatant dyke, I might have given her a whirl myself. She got a kick out of yankin’ my chain when she was flyin’ high. Bitch,” he muttered.
“Do you know what happened to the members of the James Gang?” Dani inquired.
“I know they disbanded after Maddie was arrested and, as far as I know, none of them ever achieved the popular success they had before that. But they’re still hangin’ around the fringes of the music industry.”
“Are you still in contact with any of them?” Dani asked hopefully.
“I ran into Thumper at a talent search a few months back. I have a number for her around here somewhere,” Carville said. In the background it sounded like he was rifling through a bunch of papers and opening and closing drawers. After what seemed like an interminable time, Carville came back on the line. “Yeah, I think this is it. Huh. Margaret Mason, was that really Thumper’s name? I’d rather be called Thumper, too,” he laughed. “So Middle American, y’know.”
“The number?” Dani prodded.
“Yeah, yeah,” he huffed.
Dani wrote down the number and read it back to him to make sure she had it right. “I appreciate your help, Mr. Carville. Thanks for the information,” she said before disconnecting. She glanced at her clock on the wall and smiled. Considering the two-hour time difference between Texas and California, she still had time to contact Thumper, the bass player with the James Gang. Praying she’d be able to reach her, Dani punched in the number and waited. She was wishing she had a cup of coffee when the other end of the line was picked up. A young girl’s voice said, “Dennis residence. Trina speaking.”
“How are you, Trina? My name is Dani. May I speak to your mother, please?” Dani asked pleasantly.
Something muffled the receiver and Dani heard a voice yell, “Mom!”
A moment later, a woman’s mild voice said, “This is Peg Dennis.”
“I hope I’m not disturbing you, Mrs. Dennis. My name is Danielle Hunter and if you have the time, I’m calling because I have a few questions about Maddie James. You were Thumper Mason of the James Gang, weren’t you?”
“Well, that’s certainly a blast from the past and I was Thumper for a couple of years, but there probably isn’t anything I can tell you about Maddie that you don’t already know. It was a relatively short run, unfortunately,” Thumper said. “But not without its memorable moments.”
“Jackson Carville told me you’re still involved with the music industry,” Dani said.
“Really only peripherally,” Thumper said. “I’m living in Monterrey and occasionally book Indy groups trying to break in at small clubs along the West Coast.”
“What can you tell me about Maddie?” Dani asked.
“In the beginning, I liked her. We were about the same age, but were never what I’d call besties. She was just a nice young woman, an above average guitarist, and a killer singer who really knew how to sell a song. An unusual mix of Joplin and Etheridge with a little raspy Chapman thrown in,” Thumper said.
“When did you begin to not like her?” Dani asked.
“It didn’t happen all at once. Probably after her girlfriend, Shay, dumped her for a younger model.”
“But Maddie would have only been...what? Twenty, twenty-one?” Dani gasped.
“Probably closer to twenty, honey. If I remember correctly, I think they broke it off right after Maddie’s twentieth birthday. You had to be around Shay to understand. She was a control freak, among other things, and Maddie would do just about anything for her. She needed the affection, such as it was, for some reason,” Thumper explained.
“Was she the one who introduced Maddie to drugs?” Dani asked.
“Yeah, but we couldn’t complain too much. Back then we were all tweakin’ something off and on to take the edge off,” Thumper said.
“Do you remember Shay’s last name?”
“Didn’t have one as far as I know. I heard she oded a couple of years ago anyway. When
Maddie started picking up a groupie after every concert for sex and staying stoned until we moved on to the next venue, I sort of began keeping my distance from her. She threw it all away for sex and drugs. Pathetic,” she sighed.
“Do you know where the other members of the James Gang are now?” Dani asked.
“I know they’re all here in California. Hang on and I’ll get on my laptop and give you the most recent numbers I have. Can’t promise the numbers are still good though,” Thumper offered.
“Anything will help
,” Dani said.
“Can’t you get this stuff from Maddie?” Thumper asked.
“She refuses to talk to me or anyone else,” Dani answered.
“Always was stubborn,” Thumper chuckled.
Thumper returned in a few minutes and gave Dani the most recent contact number she had for the remaining three band members and wished Dani well before hanging up. Dani set her cell phone down and ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it back. Then she went into the kitchen to prepare a pot of coffee.
While she watched the coffee drip into the carafe, she thought back to the things she’d learned from Carville and Thumper without reaching any conclusions. So far, she only had puzzle pieces that didn’t make a picture. Her quest was personal and maybe Liam and Saul would find something more factual. Liam could coax information out of a sphinx and Saul was phenomenal at finding breadcrumbs that led to a different path.
She carried a large mug of coffee into the living room and sat down again, looking at the three names on his list. She finally punched in the number for Catherine Krupke, the drummer for Maddie’s band, known as “Cat”. The final two band members, Packie and Pidge, would have to wait until the next evening. Dani put her mug down and shoved her fingers into her hair and waited. Tomorrow, she would make a list of specific questions to ask the final two musicians.
Following several rings, she was preparing to hang up and try another name when a breathy, female voice finally answered, “Dr. Krupke.”
“Catherine Krupke?” Dani asked.
“Yes. Sorry, but I dozed off in my hot tub and didn’t hear the phone ring for a while,” the woman said. “How may I help you?”
“Were you once the drummer for the James Gang?” Dani asked to assure herself she had the right person.
“Once upon a time, just like any good fairy tale,” Cat laughed. “Don’t tell anyone though. I don’t want to ruin my reputation.”
“I won’t,” Dani smiled. “I was wondering if you’d be willing to answer a few questions about Maddie James.”
“I’m not really associated with that world any longer. I’ve moved on to a better place. What’s this really about?” Cat asked suspiciously.
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