Mickey Haller 4 - The Fifth Witness

you’re an outsider. Outsiders always win. So don’t kid yourself, the money will come.”
    I wasn’t sure integrity and me belonged in the same sentence. But I’d take the rest and, besides, it was the happiest I’d heard Maggie McFierce in a long, long time.
    “Well, we’ll see,” I said. “But as long as I have your vote, I don’t care if I get another.”
    “That’s sweet, Haller. What’s next?”
    “Good question. I have to go open a bank account and assemble a—”
    My phone started beeping. I had another call coming in. I checked the screen and saw that it was blocked.
    “Mags, hold on a second, let me just check this call.”
    “Go ahead.”
    I switched over.
    “This is Michael Haller.”
    “You did this.”
    I recognized the angry voice. Lisa Trammel.
    “Did what?”
    “The police are here! They’re digging up the garden looking for him. You sent them!”
    I assumed the “him” she referred to was her missing husband, who never quite made it to Mexico. Her voice had the familiar shrill tone it took on when she was on the edge of losing it.
    “Lisa, I—”
    “I need you here! I need a lawyer. They’re going to arrest me!”
    Meaning that she knew what the police would find in the garden.
    “Lisa, I’m not your lawyer anymore. I can recommend a—”
    “Nooooo! You can’t abandon me! Not now!”
    “Lisa, you just accused me of sending the cops. Now you want me to represent you?”
    “I need you, Mickey. Please.”
    She started crying, that long echoing sob I had heard too many times before.
    “Get somebody else, Lisa. I’m done. With any luck I might even get to prosecute you.”
    “What are you talking about?
    “I just filed. I’m running for district attorney.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “I’m changing my life. I’m tired of being around people like you.”
    There was no response at first but I could hear her breathing. When she finally spoke, her voice had a flat, emotionless tone to it.
    “I should have told Herb to have them maim you. That’s what you deserve.”
    Now I was silent. I knew what she was talking about. The Mack brothers. Dahl had lied to me and said Opparizio had ordered the beating. But that didn’t fit with the rest of the story. This did. It had been Lisa who wanted it done. She was willing to have her own attorney attacked if it would deflect suspicion and help her case. If it would help me believe in other possibilities.
    I managed to find my voice and say my final words to her.
    “Goodbye, Lisa. And good luck.”
    I composed myself and switched back over to my ex-wife.
    “Sorry… it was a client. A former client.”
    “Everything all right?”
    I leaned against the window. Rojas was just turning on Alvarado and heading to the 101.
    “I’m good. So you want to go somewhere tonight and talk about the campaign?”
    “You know, while I was on hold I was thinking, why don’t you come to my place? We can eat with Hayley and then talk while she does her homework.”
    It was a rare invite to her home.
    “So a guy has to run for DA to get invited over to your place?”
    “Don’t press your luck, Haller.”
    “I won’t. What time?”
    “Six.”
    “See you then.”
    I disconnected and stared out the window for a little while.
    “Mr. Haller?” Rojas asked. “You’re running for DA?”
    “Yeah. You have a problem with that, Rojas?”
    “No, Boss. But do you still need a driver?”
    “Sure, Rojas, your job is safe.”
    I called the office and Lorna answered.
    “Where is everybody?”
    “They’re here. Jennifer is using your office for a new client interview. A foreclosure. And Dennis is doing something on the computer. Where have you been?”
    “Downtown. But I’m heading back. Make sure nobody leaves. I want to have a staff meeting.”
    “Okay, I’ll tell them.”
    “Good. See you in about thirty.”
    I closed the phone. We were coming up the ramp onto the 101. All six lanes were clogged with metal, moving at a steady but slow pace. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. This was my city and this was the way it was supposed to run. At Rojas’s command, the black Lincoln cut through the lanes and around the traffic, carrying me toward a new destiny.

Acknowledgments
    The author wishes to thank several people for their help during the writing of this novel. They include Asya Muchnick, Bill Massey, Terrill Lee Lankford, Jane Davis and Heather Rizzo. Special thanks also go to Susanna Brougham, Tracy Roe, Daniel Daly,