Murder Deja Vu

water?”
    Tobey did, and Reece took as much as he could before the nurse charged through the door and yanked it from Tobey’s hand.
    “What did I tell you about drinking too much,” she said, checking Reece’s vitals while he talked.
    “Nurse Ratched,” Reece said to Tobey.
    She sneered. “I’m a lot nicer than that movie witch, but my boss isn’t. She wouldn’t like it if my patient got nauseous from the anesthesia. Not with sutures in his chest.”
    “Point taken,” Reece said. “Now, enough small talk, Dennis. Get to it. I’m”—he jiggled his wrist—“cuffed to the bed. Obviously you didn’t listen to the recorder I had in my pocket. It’s all there. My brother confessed he murdered two women—the murders attributed to me.” A frown covered Tobey’s face, and an ominous feeling descended on Reece like a black storm cloud. He bet he wouldn’t like what he heard next.
    “Sorry, Reece. The recorder saved your life. Took the impact of the bullet, which damaged it beyond repair. No one’s going to hear anything on it.”
    Reece’s stomach sank. He’d been right. Now he understood deflected . He buried his head deeper into the pillow. “I want to see my lawyer. Is she here?”
    “Figured you’d say that.”
    “You going to let me see her or not?”
    “Hey, I’m trying to help.”
    “Lawyer,” Reece said with as much force as he could manage. Then he stared at Tobey, his lips shut tight.
    “She’s not here right now, but she should be soon. There’s a white guy here, though.”
    Where was Jeri? “I want to see him too.”
    “I shouldn’t, but since I know you’re not going anywhere, and I want to give you your best shot, I’ll let him in.”
    “Best shot? You’re one of the few in over twenty years who has.”
    “I followed your case. Thought the result sucked.”
    Reece was sick and tired of people saying that. Where were they all when he was railroaded into prison? Why didn’t they come to his defense then? “What about Dana Minette?”
    “She’s not here. Fed by the name of Larkins is questioning her. That’s where your lawyer is.”
    A flash of anger rippled through Reece. Why did Jeri bring her? Why didn’t she leave her with Frank? She had to know what would happen. He rolled his head to the side. Bad enough he screwed up, but he couldn’t bear the thought of Dana taken into custody.
    “Are they charging her?”
    “They’re asking her a few questions, from what I understand.”
    They can’t railroad Dana with Jeri there. “She didn’t do anything, Dennis. Can’t you do something?”
    “Not my call. The truth will come out.”
    Not without the recorder and Carl’s confession. “Why do you want to give me my best shot? You must be a friend of Carl’s.”
    Tobey fastened a blank stare on Reece, but he say didn’t anything. He went to the door and opened it. Before he left the room, he turned back. “I’ll make sure you see your attorney as soon as she gets here.”
    Raising his voice hurt his chest, but Reece persisted. “You didn’t answer my question.”
    Tobey turned, hesitated. “I know Carl.”
    He left with those three words hanging in the air. What did he mean? I know Carl. Reece knew Carl too, and he knew with the destruction of the recorder he’d lost any chance to show the world the real Carl Daughtry .
    Although Reece grew up in Portland, this was Carl’s town. He lived here, married twice, joined all the city groups men in business belonged to, like their father. Like Reece probably would have had life not taken a detour. Why would anyone here want to help him?
    He dozed and woke to Jeraldine’s voice and knew he was in big trouble. She spoke softly and respectfully, without cussing. That clarified how much trouble.

Chapter Fifty-One
A Double Life

    Harold County, North Carolina

    J im Payton wanted to get all his ducks in a row before he went after Robert Minette. First on his agenda: look into what Harris told him about a dark night almost twenty years ago. He actually felt sorry for the newspaperman. He’d been living with the guilt of something Payton wasn’t sure happened the way Harris believed. And he’d been living in a bottle to erase the memories.
    Harris told him exactly where and when he supposedly hit the man on the bike. Payton obtained a warrant to requisition the hospital records for the date and for the few weeks after. If nothing panned out, he’d check the black funeral parlors in the area.
    The person in