Leading the Witness Read online

  “Have you considered that they assigned her to work this case for that very reason? It’s possible that finding this child as quickly as possible is more important than bringing her abductor to justice. There are different kinds of incompetence.”

  “I know that.” Catherine bristled even though she recognized the truth in Dr. M’s words.

  “Of course you do, but this is personal. Is it possible you wish you’d had someone like Starr working on your case? Someone who was more concerned about finding you than building an airtight case?”

  Catherine’s head started to swim and her eyes were filled with spots of light. This hadn’t happened in so long, it took her a moment to recognize the signs, but once she did she fought the mist falling down around her. She couldn’t afford to relinquish control, not when she’d fought so hard to regain it. She gripped the arms of the chair.

  “Are you with me?”

  The firm, quiet voice penetrated the veil, and Catherine struggled to form words. “Need a minute.”

  She felt a hard object being pressed into her hand, and she knew without looking it was one of the quarter-sized, royal blue hunks of sodalite Dr. M kept in a wooden bowl on the table next to her chair. Catherine squeezed tightly and ran her thumb along the smooth surface of the rock until the mist started to fade. It had been so very long since she’d needed this particular ritual, she’d thought she was past it. She wanted to let the stone drop to the ground and tumble far away, but she couldn’t bear to let it go. Not when her feelings were still so raw. She gripped it hard. “I’m okay now.”

  “Did you go all the way back?”

  “No,” Catherine said, pleased with the realization she hadn’t totally backslid. “Just got foggy. I managed to kick my way out of it.”

  “That’s a big deal.” She waited a beat. “Why don’t you tell me more about this prosecutor?”

  Catherine started to say she didn’t know much, but the truth was she’d spent last night on the internet filling in all the pieces she could find. She didn’t want to talk about Starr, but she figured it couldn’t hurt to have a safe place to disclose all her concerns, for all the good it would do Hannah Turner. “You’ve probably heard of her. She’s planning to run for district attorney.”

  “Pretend I don’t follow the news and fill me in.”

  Catherine hated pretending, but she knew from experience protesting wasn’t going to get her anywhere. “Starr Rio. The heir apparent to the district attorney, Patrick Murphy. Everyone at the DA’s office thinks she’s wonderful, but she cuts corners to win, and sometimes those corners are the defendant’s civil rights.”

  “You’ve had a few run-ins with her?”

  “Just one, but it was enough. The rest I’ve learned from research. Starr is the absolute worst person to be working this case.” She could hear the desperation in her own voice, bordering on craziness. She wished she knew a way to convey to everyone that she knew what she was talking about without having to rehash painful details.

  As if she could read her mind, Dr. M said, “I trust that you know that, but tell me, is it because of what you do now or because of your past experience?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Maybe.”

  Catherine considered the question, but it was hard to balance the scared girl she’d been with the fierce attorney she’d become. As a child, she’d spent weeks in captivity because the task force assigned to find her had taken shortcuts and focused on the wrong suspect. As an adult, she fought to make sure law enforcement paid for sloppy mistakes. When they’d first started these sessions, Dr. M had questioned her many times about why she hadn’t used her power to advocate to help victims instead of those accused of a crime, and it had taken her years to verbalize her reasoning. It boiled down to the fact she couldn’t handle the grief that came with working with victims, but she relished holding cops accountable. Simply put, if they did their job, they would win, but if they didn’t, they would remember how she’d torn them apart, and hopefully, it would make them do better in the future.

  But that didn’t really answer Dr. M’s question. Would she have wanted someone like Starr Rio on her case? Someone whose overzealous advocacy meant she’d place a priority on finding the missing girl over convicting the person who’d taken her? A ruthless prosecutor who cared more about winning than the rights of the accused.

  Probably. No, make that yes, absolutely. But she wasn’t Hannah Turner with a rich, well-known mother equipped with bottomless resources to put to work to find her daughter. She’d never have the opportunity to know how it felt to choose between her own freedom and the revenge of justice since her kidnapper had never been caught, a fact that still stung. Maybe Starr was the perfect match for this case and Catherine knew in her core, the best thing she could do was let it go. Her past had nothing to do with this case, and the sooner she stopped trying to make this personal, the sooner her nightmares would stop.

  Chapter Five

  Starr studied Professor Keith Turner carefully. Nothing about his visage signaled her question about his brother provoked nerves on his part, but she was certain she detected a wall falling into place, shuddering his demeanor into neutral.

  “What would you like to know?” he asked. He motioned to a chair next to the mayor. “Do you mind if I sit down? It’s been a particularly trying couple of days.”

  His reference to their daughter’s disappearance was designed to evoke sympathy, but Starr sensed he was only saying what he thought they wanted to hear and it reeked of insincerity. “Of course, please do,” she said. “We were just talking to your wife and your family lawyer about various aspects of the investigation. Both of them mentioned your brother, so I’d like to follow up on that. How long has he lived in Austin?”

  “He doesn’t,” Professor Turner said. “I mean, he’s only here temporarily, while he’s waiting on a job to open in California.”

  “The mayor mentioned he has a record. Is he currently on probation or parole?”

  For the first time, Professor Turner showed some sign of discomfort and shifted in his seat. “Not that I’m aware of. We’re not particularly close. You know how it is. Siblings living in different parts of the country. You fall out of touch.”

  Starr couldn’t relate. Her oldest brother lived in New York, but they still managed to see each other several times a year, and the rest of her siblings and their kids gathered at her parents’ house in nearby Georgetown at least once a month to catch up with one another and share a meal. She plastered on a fake smile and lied. “Sure, I get it. When’s the last time you talked to him?”

  Professor Turner looked at the mayor who returned his glance with a frozen stare. He shrugged. “Not long ago. Probably this past weekend.”

  “Where was that?” Pearson asked.

  “We had an early birthday party for Hannah at the zoo. Nothing fancy. Just some friends and their parents. I invited Ricky to come.” Again, the flicker of a glance at his wife, like he was looking for her approval. “I didn’t think he’d actually show up, but he dropped by for a little while. He even brought Hannah a gift.”

  “What did he give her?” Pearson’s tone was casual, but Starr felt him tense and she did too.

  Keith scrunched his face like he was trying to remember. “It was a necklace. A heart with a little diamond. Probably a little extravagant for a twelve-year-old, but it was nice, and she liked it a lot.”

  Pearson shot Starr a look and tried not to show his reaction. Pretty memorable gift, and definitely not appropriate. The scenario started to play out: convicted felon uncle who barely knows the kid comes to her birthday party, gives her an extravagant present, and a few days later she goes missing. There was more here. A lot more, but Starr didn’t want to spook either Keith or his brother with an over-the-top reaction. “He must really care about her.”

  “Likely making up for lost time.”

  Pearson pulled out his flip book. “We’ll want to talk to anyone who has seen Hannah in the la
st week, so I’ll add your brother to the list. Can you give me his contact info?”

  Starr stood. “While he’s doing that, do you mind if I use the restroom? Mayor Turner, do you mind showing me the way?”

  Turner looked at William, but Starr couldn’t read the signals they exchanged. After a few seconds, Turner smiled her public smile. “Certainly. Come with me.”

  Starr waited until they were down the hall from the study to speak. “Mayor, may I be frank with you?”

  “Yes, I expect you to be straightforward with me.”

  “I know you have the family attorney in there with you, and as an attorney myself, I’m all for protecting your rights and having legal counsel to help you do so, but I’m sensing some serious tension between you and your husband, and if it has anything at all to do with this case, I need to know. Right now, access to information outweighs anyone’s rights. The clock is ticking, and if we don’t have some serious leads in the next twenty-four hours, we may never see your daughter again.”

  The mayor sighed. “I’d like to tell you that my differences with Keith are because of Hannah’s disappearance, but the truth is, we’ve been having trouble for a while and the acrimony escalated since last weekend.” She pointed to a door on the right. “Let’s go in here. We won’t be disturbed.”

  Starr followed her through the door into another study, but this one had lighter colors and more modern furniture. Turner didn’t invite her to sit.

  “Ricky asked us for money when he got to town to tide him over until his ‘job’ comes through.” The mayor added air quotes around the word job. “I don’t know if Keith gave him money, but I made it clear I didn’t want to extend a loan. Next thing I know, Ricky shows up at Hannah’s birthday party with a gift that had to have cost at least a few hundred dollars. I pointed out the irony to Keith, and he shrugged it off, but it’s definitely caused a rift in what was an already rocky road between us.” She folded her arms. “I’m telling you this because I want my daughter back. If I see anything about my marital issues in the press, I’ll know it came from you and I will ruin you. Do you understand me?”

  Starr stepped into the mayor’s personal space. “You don’t know me very well, but I’m going to be the next district attorney of this county. As DA I won’t take kindly to threats, and I’m starting now. We will do everything in our power to find your daughter, and if foul play was involved, we will bring the perpetrator to justice. Despite the fact that you just threatened me. Do you understand?” Starr stayed in the mayor’s personal space until she nodded, and then she slowly stepped back, pulled out her card, and handed it over. “Send me everything you can about Ricky or have William do it.” She turned to walk away. “And, Mayor?”

  “Yes?”

  “Tell William not to stand so close when you’re in public. People will start to think something’s going on between you.” Starr turned before she could respond and went back to collect Pearson. On their way back to the station, she told him about her conversation with the mayor.

  Pearson grunted. “Why did you have to go and piss her off?”

  “I didn’t mean to, but I needed to rock her back a bit. She’s going to micromanage this entire investigation if we don’t watch out, and she needs to know right off the bat that she’s not in charge.”

  “I agree, but there are more subtle ways to get that point across without threatening to tell the press she’s having an affair with her lawyer, even if it is true.”

  Starr knew he was right, but she didn’t regret the maneuver. It was a pissing match that she hadn’t started, but one she needed to win. Round one—law enforcement. But they hadn’t really won anything since Hannah was still missing. “Let’s go pay a visit to Ricky Turner. And I promise I’ll let you take the lead on this one.”

  “Okay, but when we’re done, you’re buying me lunch to make up for the croissant.”

  Starr’s phone buzzed and she reached for it and read the display. “Uh-oh. Change of plans.”

  “What’s up?”

  “Murphy just summoned me and Nelson to the office.”

  “If he assigns Nelson to this case, I’m quitting.”

  “Not going to happen.” Starr spoke with confidence, but the truth was she had no idea what this meeting could be about. Had the mayor called her boss immediately after they left? Would Murphy really yank the case and give it to Nelson? Her stomach lurched at the idea. “Come with me, and I promise I’ll buy you lunch after.”

  * * *

  Catherine strode through the courthouse with purpose, repeating the words of her therapist in her head. She was a citizen of Travis County, and she had just as much right to inquire about the status of the Turner case as anyone else. She was going to march right into Starr’s office and ask her how things were going. She didn’t have any scheduled court appearances today, so she weaved her way swiftly through the crowd of people without having to worry about connecting with waiting clients. She didn’t get far.

  “Hey, Catherine, do you have a sec to talk about the trial setting next month?”

  She turned toward the sound of the voice to see Fred Nelson, Murphy’s first assistant, and Starr’s nemesis. She hadn’t seen him since the day they pled the Knoll case, and it was unusual for him to be taking point in a trial, but she had only one trial on the docket next month, so he must be talking about it. “What about it? Are you trying the Paulson case with Jane?”

  “Matter of fact I am,” Nelson said. “She’s pretty swamped so I’m helping out. I miss the courtroom. It’ll be good to flex my muscles again.”

  Catherine nodded, but she was certain his reasons ran deeper than that. The Paulson case had garnered a lot of press attention, and it was more likely he was trying to hog the spotlight from Starr, but that wasn’t any of her business. “What do you want to talk about?”

  He motioned to a workroom off to the right and they ducked in. There were a couple of other attorneys meeting with ADAs inside, but he led them to Jane Wagner’s desk and perched on the edge of it. “You filed a motion to continue,” he said.

  “I did,” she replied, hiding her annoyance that he appeared to be cutting Jane out of the loop. “I still don’t have all the discovery I was promised, and after last week’s trial, I would think this office would want to be especially careful about making sure I get the information I’m entitled to receive in order to properly represent my client. Besides, Mr. Paulson’s out on bail.” She cocked her head. “The continuance was filed as an agreed motion. Jane didn’t have any objection. Are you telling me you have a problem with putting off the case?”

  “Jane might not have any objections at first, but word is your client might be planning a new scheme. The fact that he’s out on bond means he’s a potential risk to the citizens of Travis County. We’d really like to resolve this case as soon as possible to minimize that risk.”

  Catherine recognized the posturing for what it was and called him on it. “Are you filing a motion to revoke bail?”

  “I don’t have any plans to do so at this time, but my concerns might solidify the longer we have to wait to try this case.”

  “Here’s what I’m hearing. You want to go to trial next month despite the fact your lead attorney has agreed to a motion to continue. If I don’t rescind the motion, you plan to file a motion to have my client’s bail revoked despite the fact he has done nothing to violate the terms of his release. Do I have that right?”

  Nelson held up his hands. “Look, I’m just doing my job. Your client was spotted near his wife’s office last week. He didn’t directly contact her, but he’s obviously thinking about it. Makes me wonder if this was the first time he’s gotten close in the lead-up to the trial. Makes me think he’s trying to collude with her. You know how strict Judge Mallory is when it comes to witness tampering. If we’re forced to wait to have this trial, then I’ll be forced to go to the judge and do whatever is necessary to make sure my star witness isn’t intimidated in advance of her testimony.”


  “Bullshit.” Catherine sputtered the word. Paulson and his wife had been accused of an extensive scheme to defraud investors in their home-based business enterprise, and the wife had agreed to cooperate with the DA’s office in exchange for probation, while her client was facing a lengthy prison term if he was convicted. If it was true that Paulson had been near his wife’s office in contravention of the court’s order, she would deal with him, but what pissed her off more was being threatened.

  “If you have evidence my client is interfering with a witness,” she said, “take it to the judge, but remember that Mallory doesn’t like when people waste her time.” She shook her head and turned to go but stopped before she reached the door. “And don’t forget to get me the discovery. Mallory will ask about the status of it when she hears this motion, which I’m going to ask her to fast-track. Good luck with the campaign,” she added as she left the office, infusing her voice with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

  As she strode through the halls, she reflected on how fast things could change. Last week, anyone would have pegged Nelson as her ally after the way he pushed Starr to offer a deal on the Knoll case, but today he was a contentious adversary, if not a worthy one. Nelson might be good at administration, but he was no star litigator. Not like Starr.

  Speaking of Starr, it was time to accomplish what she’d come to do. Catherine rode the elevator to the fifth floor. As she approached the reception desk, she ran into Matt, the prosecutor who’d tried the Knoll case with Starr.

  “Hi, Catherine,” he said with a curious expression. “Do we have something going on together?”

  “No, but I’m looking for Starr. Have you seen her?”

  “Actually, she was here a few minutes ago. You might still be able to catch her.” He motioned to the receptionist to buzz the door open and led Catherine back into the suite of offices. “You have good timing. She hasn’t been working out of her office much since the Turner girl went missing. She teamed up with Detective Pearson and the task force on the case, and they’ve set up shop at police headquarters. She asked me to cover a hearing this afternoon, and I don’t expect to see her in the office on a regular basis until they find Hannah.”