Lion Plays Rough by Lachlan Smith Page B

bathroom counter. When he came out he was abashed, not sober by any means but with the fight gone out of him. He wasn’t going to be pleading guilty. I would bring the topic up again when he was in better shape, but I saw at once that from now on he’d do what I said.
    â€œYou got somewhere else you can stay?”
    He shrugged, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Another hotel.”
    â€œI don’t think you should stay here, do you? You look like you’ve had a rough couple of nights.”
    â€œYou told me to keep watching the video.”
    â€œYeah, well, maybe you’ve watched enough. Let’s pack. What you need is a change of scene.”
    I helped him check out and took him to the Ramada across the street. New room, clean sheets, band of paper around the toilet seat, everything fresh. It wasn’t the second start he needed; it wasn’t a new life. But for the present it was the closest we could get.
    I went to In-N-Out and brought back burgers. As I walked back to his room from my car I heard the sound of kids splashing and yelling. Before I left again I told him to stay away from the pool.

Chapter 10
    Teddy and I were sitting on the couch waiting for the news to start. We didn’t usually watch it, but tonight I figured I’d better. I reminded him of the potential client I’d mentioned the other night, filled him in on what I’d done up in the hills, and explained what had happened to me at the DA’s office this morning.
    â€œBottom line is my client’s not my client. Someone set me up. Jamil’s real attorney is Nikki Matson. She threatened me, trying to get me to tell her who hired me. I pretended I knew, but I don’t have the foggiest.”
    â€œYou told Jeanie what happened?”
    â€œI’ve been managing to avoid her.”
    â€œNikki,”Teddy said. “I remember Nikki. She’s one of the people I wouldn’t have minded forgetting.”
    â€œWhen she got done threatening me she tried to give me a job.”
    â€œYou’re not gonna quit Jeanie.”
    I shook my head. “Lavinia could have planned it, I suppose. Hitting me with the car. She could have been following me. She saw an opportunity and she took it. But an opportunity for what?”
    â€œTo expose this detective.”
    â€œThere were two of them in on it. Lavinia and the guy who called me pretending to be Jamil. If they knew so much about what Campbell was up to, why couldn’t they blow the whistle themselves?”
    â€œHow much do you remember about the car?”
    â€œI didn’t get the license number. A blue Pontiac, fairly new. She seemed to have money. She said she was from Oakland but seemed freaked out to be standing on the street outside our office. You’re not from Oakland if Grand Avenue makes you nervous.”
    â€œUnless you’re afraid someone’s going to recognize you, ” Teddy said.
    I hadn’t thought of that. For the umpteenth time I caught a fleeting glimpse of my brother’s old intelligence, gone again even as it flashed into the light.
    The pictures I’d taken yesterday appeared on the screen in sequence, telling their silent drama.
    â€œNikki fucking Matson,” I said.
    â€œWhat was she supposed to do with them?”
    â€œYou’re right. No real downside for her in giving the photos to the news, letting the DA sweat it out.”
    â€œMaybe she was the one who set you up. You dig up the dirt, she and what’s-his-name get the benefit.”
    I shook my head. “Nikki has a little conflict of interest. The other guy on the tape, Damon, I’m pretty sure he’s her client, too. In fact, she may have been in on the frame-up. As Jamil’s lawyer she was in a position to make sure he pleaded guilty like a good soldier. That’s one of the reasons I’d hoped we’d have a few more days to figure out what’s going on, not to mention how I can get out