Killer's Tears (eBook)

John Bae (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2022 | 1. Auflage
326 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-6678-3498-6 (ISBN)

Infos

Tom Rose had waited eight long years to get to this point when he is about to be promoted to become a partner at Stern & Hobbs. At this critical juncture of his career, he is urged to represent Hope Kane, a pro bono client who is awaiting trial for the murder of her husband and daughter. Hope had been the topic of headline news just a year before, not only for her horrific crime, but also because she had refused to utter a single word from the moment of her arrest. Her identity is a complete mystery, as there are no records of her existence. The evidence against Hope is damning, and no defense lawyer is willing to take on a highly publicized case that is sure to end in a conviction. Tom has no intention of accepting this assignment, but everything changes when he meets her. Something about her drives him to want to find the truth about her role in the murders. Tom's investigation opens the door to an unimaginable world of deception and death. He has to risk his own life and the safety of others on his team to continue on his quest. The investigation and the trial where the true Hope Kane story will be told will determine the fate of many lives and define the reasons for his own existence.

Textauszug

4.

Tom sat on the windowsill, staring out at the 59th Street Bridge hovering over the East River. He thought about the night before, when he sat across from Melanie at the kitchen table with the open bottle of Scotch. She didn’t know he had gone to see his doctor, but there was a sadness in her eyes he had not seen before. She smiled often as she talked about her new job, the friends she had made, her cute boss, Lance Ark. Tom nodded along as he stared into those sad, beautiful eyes. He couldn’t hear her words. His mind was too caught up in the meeting with the doctor, the memories of his father. He wanted to see her eyes sparkle, but all he saw was sadness filling them. His heart ached as he sat and stared at her. Tom turned away from the window when he heard her voice.

“Good morning,” she said as she stood in her bathrobe.

Tom stared at his fiancé for a few seconds and then turned back to the window. In the years he had been with her, he never stopped loving her – her warm heart, the smile that lit up the room, her lips and her delicate voice. But this morning, he didn’t want to notice any of it.

“You have a big day today. Are you excited?” she asked.

Tom nodded. “Yea, I guess.”

“You’ve been waiting for this for eight years. You have to be at least a little excited.”

Tom looked down. “I’m not sure why I bothered.”

“What’s wrong?” Melanie asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

Tom put down his cup. “I don’t know what’s wrong,” he muttered under his breath as he briefly looked up at her. “I wish I knew. I don’t know what I want.”

Melanie stood, frozen, seemingly afraid to respond to what Tom said.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said. “I don’t know what I’m saying.”

Melanie put on a smile. “Let’s talk tonight. I have to get ready for work,” she said and kissed his cheek.

Tom watched her as she walked down the hallway. He knew he was unfair to her. All she wanted was to share the excitement of the day ahead, yet he threw all that crap at her about not knowing what he wanted. It wasn’t her fault that she was excited for him to be elected to the partnership at Stern and Hobbs. He’s the one who made her believe that this was his ultimate goal. It meant going from a comfortable life to the life of the privileged. It meant instant repositioning in their stature in society. They’d rub elbows with important people, dine at the best of restaurants, and put away millions of dollars for a rainy day that would never come. Tom didn’t blame her for wanting that life. He’s the one who convinced her that that was the life they deserved.

He thought back to the time when they first met at Harvard University. She was a freshman when he was in his final year. He saw her at Harvard Square and fell for her flawless beauty the moment their eyes met. She was perfect in every way – a smile that’ll make a man weak at the knees, thin and strong five-foot six-inch body of an athlete, yet with curves that exuded femininity. She turned to him and smiled, and he felt his heart melt. He asked her if she’d have dinner with him. She declined, but the way she smiled at him, he knew she’d say yes eventually. They began dating days later, and things got serious fast.

All she wanted was to be with him; to talk about things, to experience things together. But he wanted more than to just go through life with her. He had a goal. He told her he wanted to become a lawyer. He told her he wanted to marry her. He promised her he’d find success and give her a life she deserved. With those promises, he started at Harvard Law School with the goal of becoming a partner at a major New York City law firm. She graduated college the same year he graduated law school, and they moved to Manhattan when he accepted the first year associate position at Stern. They rented a one-bedroom apartment – the same apartment he was standing in. She got a job as an analyst at an investment bank. Their two incomes were more than enough to pay the bills, but not enough for Tom’s liking. Last fall, she joined a hedge fund, Ark Capital, as an analyst. Only after four months, she was about to be promoted to a portfolio manager. He was proud of her and all that she had accomplished. But, that didn’t change the goals he had set for himself. It had been eight years since he graduated from law school, and today, he was going to be told whether or not the firm would put him up for a vote to become a partner. But, this morning, he didn’t much care what they told him – not after his meeting with Dr. Klingman. After making her wait with him for eight long years for this day, he celebrated the moment by drinking too much the night before, and telling her he didn’t know what he wanted.

Tom’s eyes began to well up. For the first time in a very long time, he began rethinking what he wanted to do with his life. Becoming a partner at Stern and making a lot of money were no longer goals that mattered. The conversation with Dr. Klingman had changed everything; made him open his eyes to the life he had led. Memories of his father made him want to do more with whatever was left of his life. What did it really mean to become a partner at Stern? Who really gives a shit? Tom knew being drunk wouldn’t change what the doctor told him, but he wanted to be numb to it. That was about the only thing that made any sense to him.

Tom wiped his eyes and put down his coffee cup on the windowsill. He put on his black overcoat and wrapped the purple scarf around his neck. The briefcase his father gave him when he graduated law school waited for him by the door. The black finish on the leather had worn to show streaks of gray from the years it had been exposed to the elements. Tom picked it up and headed out of the apartment and onto York Avenue. The cold January air helped to clear his head a little. He stepped carefully onto the icy pavement and headed toward Third Avenue. He thought about Melanie. It bothered him that he treated her the way he did. But his love for her told him he had no choice. He had made up his mind. He couldn’t see those sad eyes again.

“Good morning, Tom,” he heard Helena say as he walked past her station.

“Hi,” said Tom and opened his office door.

“Edward just called,” she said. “He said to meet him at Wolfgang’s at 12:30. He said he had a meeting out of the office, so he’ll just meet you at the restaurant.”

Tom nodded and walked into his office. He saw the red message light blinking on his phone. He punched in his PIN and heard the mechanical voice say he had three new messages. The first was from a legal recruiter. He pressed delete and moved to the second. It was Melanie. “Hi, it’s me. I just wanted to say hi and wish you luck today.” Tom closed his eyes. He listened to her voice again, and then pressed delete. The third message was from Scott King, a senior partner at Stern who headed up pro bono projects. “Tom, we have a new pro bono matter that I was hoping you might be able to take on. Can you give me a call this morning?”

Tom dialed King’s number.

“Hey Tom, how’re you doing?”

“I’m OK. I’m returning your call.”

“I’ll walk down to your office. It’s an intriguing situation.”

“Oh, I’m not so sure I’m the right person . . .”

King cut in before Tom could finish. “You’re going to want to hear me out on this, Tom. I’ll be right down,” King said and hung up.

Tom felt slight nausea coming on. He stepped to the office pantry and poured a cup of coffee and returned to his office. He stared at the piles of documents on his desk and floor. He had spent the past year defending a breach of contract lawsuit against an important client of the firm. The case settled days before, and he no longer needed the files that engulfed his office. He knew he’d have to organize the files to have them shipped to the records department, but he had no motivation. Tom heard a knock on his door and looked up to see King.

“I hear you settled the Armor Peak litigation,” said King as he took a seat on the chair facing Tom’s desk. He looked around at the piles of file folders all over the office. “Looks like you need a larger office. This associate office is getting too small for you.”

Tom nodded and took his chair. “Like I tried to tell you. I’m not so sure I’m the right person for this project.”

“Of course you are,” said King. “As I said, it’s an intriguing situation. The matter was sent to us by the Artists Legal Network, which is one of the not-for-profits we work with on a pro bono basis. The defendant is Hope Kane, who’s being prosecuted for the murder of her husband, Mark Kane, and her daughter, Mila. I’m sure you read about the case in the papers.”

Tom nodded. He recalled reading the stories about the “mute murderer” – a woman kills her husband and daughter and then refuses to speak. It had captivated the nation a year ago when she was arrested.

“The neighbors called the Scarsdale police when they heard gunshots. The arresting officers found her standing in their living room, standing over her dead husband. She was holding the murder weapon when the police arrived.”

“Yea, I remember reading about it,” said Tom. “She’ll do her twenty-five to life, and then everyone’ll move on to some other sensational story. Why would we want to take on a sure loser like this one?”

King nodded. “Yes, it’s a sure loser, but as you may recall, what makes this case so intriguing is that she’s not uttered a word since she’s been...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 27.6.2022
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Krimi / Thriller / Horror
• ISBN-10: 1-6678-3498-3 / 1667834983
• ISBN-13: 978-1-6678-3498-6 / 9781667834986