Mickey Haller 4 - The Fifth Witness

a moment and looked out to see where we were. The 101 through the Cahuenga Pass. I was still another twenty minutes out.
    Jeff Trammel hadn’t said no to the money the last time I mentioned it.
    My next call was to my client. When she answered I heard TV noise in the background.
    “Lisa, it’s Mickey. We need to talk.”
    “Okay.”
    “Can you turn that TV off?”
    “Oh, sure. Sorry.”
    I waited and soon her end was silent.
    “Okay.”
    “First of all, your husband just called me. You gave him my number?”
    “Yes, you told me to, remember?”
    “Yes, that’s fine. I was just checking. It didn’t go well. It sounds like he wants to stay away.”
    “That’s what he told me.”
    “Did he tell you where he is? If I knew that I could send Cisco to convince him to help us.”
    “He wouldn’t tell me.”
    “I think he might still be in Mexico. He said he had no money.”
    “He said the same to me. He wants me to send him some of the movie money.”
    “You told him about that?”
    “There’s going to be a movie, Mickey. He should know.”
    Or maybe she meant that he should have his nose rubbed in it.
    “Where were you going to send the money?”
    “He said I could just deposit it in Western Union and he could access it from any of their offices.”
    I knew there were Western Union offices all over Tijuana and points south. I’d sent money to clients before. We could send the money and then narrow things down by seeing which office Jeff Trammel went into to get the cash. But if he was smart he wouldn’t go to the office closest to where he was living and we’d be back to square one.
    “Okay,” I said. “We’ll think about Jeff later. I also wanted to tell you that the deal Herb Dahl made with Archway has changed.”
    “How so?”
    “It’s with me now. I just left Archway. Herb can still produce if they ever make a movie. And he gets to stay out of jail. So he comes out ahead. You come out ahead because your defense team will now be paid for their work and you’ll get the rest, which by the way will be much more than you were ever going to see from Herb.”
    “Mickey, you can’t do that! He made that deal!”
    “I just unmade it, Lisa. Clegg McReynolds wasn’t interested in being entangled in the legal net I was about to throw over Herb’s head. You can tell Herb or you can have him call me if he wants.”
    She was silent.
    “There’s one more thing and this is important. You listening?”
    “Yes, I’m here.”
    “I’m going to the office where I’m going to meet with the prosecutor. She called the meeting. I think something’s up. Something’s gone wrong for their side. She wants to talk about a deal and she would have never agreed to come to my office if she didn’t have to. I just wanted you to know. I’ll call you after the meeting.”
    “No deals, Mickey, unless she’s offering to stand on the steps of the courthouse and announce to CNN and Fox and all the others that I’m innocent.”
    I felt the car swerve from course and looked out the window. Rojas was bailing off the freeway early because of traffic.
    “Well, I don’t think that’s what she’s coming over to offer, but it is my duty to keep you informed of your choices. I don’t want you to become some sort of martyr for this… this cause of yours. You should listen to all offers, Lisa.”
    “I’m not pleading guilty. Period. Is there anything else you want to talk about?”
    “I’m good for now. I will call you later.”
    I put the phone down on the armrest. Enough talk for now. I closed my eyes to rest for a few minutes. I tried to wiggle my fingers in the plaster and the effort hurt but was successful. The doctor who studied the X-rays said he believed the damage had occurred when someone stomped on my hand after I was on the ground and already unconscious. Lucky for me, I guess. He predicted full recovery for the fingers.
    In the dark world behind my eyelids I saw the men in black gloves moving toward me. It played in a repetitive loop. I saw the dispassionate look in their eyes as they approached me. It was just a piece of business for them. Nothing else on the line. For me it was four decades of confidence and self-esteem shattered like small bones on the pavement.
    After a while I heard Rojas from the front seat.
    “Hey, Boss, we’re here.”

Fifteen
    As I entered the reception area Lorna waved a hand in warning from behind the desk. She then pointed toward the door to my office. She was