Chapter 30
THIRTY
Amanda and Trent left the conference room and headed toward Dominique Sharp’s office with all the folders and the portfolio in hand.
She was in the room, door shut, talking at Casey with a raised voice.
Through the window they could see that Casey was sitting across from Dominique, shoulders slumped.
Trent knocked. The berating stopped, and Dominique waved for them to enter. Casey stood and left. Amanda wanted to pass her a reassuring glance on her way out, but Casey’s gaze was on the floor.
“Yes, Detectives. What is it now?”
Amanda didn’t think she’d ever figure this woman out. Someone wanted to kill her, and she seemed more concerned about the inconvenience it caused to carrying on business as normal. “Were you going to tell us about Lucas Hernandez?”
“Tell you what?”
Amanda took a steadying breath and pointed at the vacated chair. “Would you mind?”
“By all means.”
Amanda sat and broached Hernandez a little less directly. “We heard that with the move to DC you are cutting some of your Woodbridge clients.”
“What of it?”
This woman gave new meaning to the expression cool as a cucumber. Though if she didn’t adjust her attitude, she might become cold as a corpse. The thought fired through and had Amanda chastising herself. “Not everyone was pleased with that decision.”
Dominique leaned back in her chair as if she were involved in a casual conversation. “People resist change at first, but it all works out.”
“We heard that Lucas Hernandez threatened your life.” Amanda clipped right to the point now, tired of playing games with this woman. The longer they dragged this out and catered to Dominique’s whims, the longer Christine Lane’s killer was free.
“Again, what of it?”
No denial or question about where they’d heard the news.
She either knew or didn’t care. “Why didn’t you mention this to us when we asked if you knew of anyone who might want you dead?
” Amanda emphasized the last word and thought it might jolt some reaction from the woman.
Nothing. Dominique was just as O’Neil described. Impervious.
“I can’t remember everyone who has threatened me.”
“This just happened last Monday. And within a week, there was a murder in your home, in your bedroom,” Amanda stressed.
“And while that’s tragic, why would I think to mention Lucas?”
Given the referral to him by first name, Dominique didn’t seem intimidated by the man. “He said he could kill you in your bed.” Do I really need to remind her?
Dominique smiled, causing Amanda to tense. The fact she dismissed a man like Hernandez was unsettling.
“He’d never follow through,” Dominique said. “I know where the bodies are buried. That wasn’t the first time he’s threatened me, and it won’t be the last.”
Amanda couldn’t get over the woman’s lack of concern for her own life.
Was she really that cocky, or was it as Amanda wondered before?
Was there a reason they had yet to uncover?
“Except that drug kingpins don’t always subscribe to reason, and they aren’t in the business of trusting people.
You can’t be certain he’ll never come after you, knowledge of where the bodies are buried or not.
But when you say bodies, are we talking about literal bodies?
” The cop in her couldn’t just let her earlier comment slip by.
And really, wouldn’t Dominique’s knowledge make her a potential liability for Hernandez? One that he’d want to eliminate?
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Amanda imagined the words attorney-client privilege rolling through the lawyer’s mind.
“All this talk about Lucas reminds me I need to cut him another check.” She pressed a button on her phone, and Casey’s voice came over the speaker.
“Yes, Ms. Sharp?”
“Make sure that accounting cuts another check for Lucas Hernandez reimbursing his retainer. He mislaid his other one.”
Mislaid… All those years working in defense, Dominique had wordplay down pat.
“I’ll do—”
Dominique pressed another button, cutting Casey off.
Amanda saw little point in continuing to talk about Hernandez. Not when it felt one-sided. “Are there any other clients who threatened you when you told them you were referring them to another lawyer?” Just for the sake of transparency…
“No. Now, if that’s all, you can see yourselves out. I have work to do.” Dominique opened a folder on her desk and flipped her laptop open.
Unbelievable…
Amanda and Trent left the firm. The temperature had racked up several degrees, aligning more with the heat of her temper. “Does that woman have a death wish?”
“Not sure about that. I think she believes she is impervious to death.”
“Impervious to everything, more like. But if she keeps up the attitude and independent streak, it might be too late when she finds out she’s not.”
They both loaded into the car. Opening the doors let some stifling air escape, but not a lot. Still, if Amanda had a choice between sweating in the car and going back inside with Dominique, the choice was an easy one. Both were uncomfortable, but being away from the lawyer let her temper cool off.
“So Lucas Hernandez is a drug kingpin?” Trent switched the A/C on. The warm air spilling from the vents only made the car feel like a convection oven.
“Yep, and to date untouchable. He always slips away scot-free. Before you transferred to the PWCPD, a sting operation was conducted on one of his warehouses, resulting in the deaths of three SWAT officers.”
“And he still walked?”
“He did. Some of his guys were sent to prison, but they’ll never roll on him.”
“From the sound of this character, that would be a death wish.”
“Most definitely. So trust me when I say I don’t look forward to speaking with the man, let alone accusing him of anything. We’ll have to watch how we word things. But before we do any of that, we need to clear this past Malone. I’m sure he’ll want us to bring backup.”
“I want backup.”
Cool air wafted from the vents, and Trent got them on the road to Central.