Secrets and Lies Read online

  secrets and lies-damien

  Rachel Sinclair

  Tobann Publications

  Copyright © 2018 by Debra Moore

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Also by Rachel Sinclair

  I. Secrets and Lies

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Also by Rachel Sinclair

  Also by Rachel Sinclair

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  Johnson County Legal Thrillers (Kansas City, Missouri)

  Bad Faith - https://tinyurl.com/y3a6vtcm

  Justice Denied - https://tinyurl.com/y6l24d5u

  Hidden Defendant - https://tinyurl.com/y2od8qrd

  Injustice for All - https://tinyurl.com/y2znryaw

  LA Defense - https://tinyurl.com/y6o6j83f

  The Associate - https://tinyurl.com/y5kskl7c

  The Alibi - https://tinyurl.com/yy96k97t

  Reasonable Doubt - https://tinyurl.com/y6nw27kn

  The Accused - https://tinyurl.com/y2d9t3z7

  The Hate Crime - https://tinyurl.com/y5w4e24k

  Secrets and Lies - https://tinyurl.com/y6pwcjjw

  Until Proven Guilty - https://tinyurl.com/yxlllu7d

  Emerson Justice Legal Thrillers (Los Angeles)

  Dark Justice - https://tinyurl.com/y2ezwnny

  Southern California Legal Thrillers (San Diego)

  Presumption of Guilt - https://tinyurl.com/y2oowdwz

  Best Served Cold - https://tinyurl.com/yyzy5pr4

  Part 1

  Secrets and Lies

  Chapter 1

  I got into the office and saw that there was a man sitting on the couch. He was an elegant man - dressed in a high-dollar suit and red silk tie, with wing-tipped leather shoes that were buffed to where they were shiny. He had a head of dark wavy hair and light eyes, like those of Benedict Cumberbatch. He was sitting with his legs crossed, one over the other, and, when I walked in, he glanced at me, but did not smile.

  Nor did he get up.

  I had no idea why he was sitting there.

  I looked over at Pearl quizzically. She knew my expressions and she could read what I wanted without my saying a word. She cleared her throat. “Silas Porter,” she said, motioning to the man on the couch. “He, uh, didn’t have an appointment.”

  I looked over at the man, who was now staring at me. With those penetrating, super-light eyes and an expression that belied exactly nothing, I felt just a little creeped out. I looked down at my arm and saw the hairs standing on end. In prison, I met guys that gave me the creeps like this one did. They were usually the psychos, the guys who had no conscience and could kill you with a smile on their face. I tended to steer clear of guys like the ones I knew in prison, although I sometimes took them on as clients, as I loved a challenge. Still, I was just a little bit pissed, because the guy had just barged on in the office without an appointment. I had things to do that afternoon. Didn’t this guy know how busy attorneys are? Maybe he just didn’t care.

  “Hello, Mr. Harrington,” he said, finally speaking in a booming voice. “I’m very sorry that I came to see you without calling ahead.”

  “Uh, it’s okay,” I lied. “I have a deposition in an hour, and court appearances after that, so I have a few minutes to talk to you.” As I looked at him, I couldn’t help but feel that there was just something so familiar about his face. I couldn’t quite place it. As I stared at him, a vague kernel entered my mind. There was something in the news about Silas Porter. It was something that I had glanced at in the morning before I began my day. I seemed to remember reading something about how he had been arrested for murdering his wife, Ava. The story, however, was hazy, nebulous.

  “Mr. Porter,” I said to him. “I hope you don’t mind, but I need to take a few minutes. I’ll call you in when I’m ready to see you.” I had no idea why I didn’t just throw the guy out of the office, but I had to admit, I knew that he probably had the money to pay a big fee, and I had kids to feed at home.

  I could see in those light eyes a hint of disapproval. It seemed that he wanted to speak with me right at that very second, even though I wasn’t ready for him at all. He stared at me briefly, and put his finger to his cheek. And then he nodded his head ever-so-slightly. “As you wish,” he said curtly.

  What the hell? He’s going to give me attitude, even though he was the one who was inconveniencing me, not the other way around? Also, I couldn’t shake the cold feeling I felt being in this guy’s presence. I shook my head as I walked towards my office. I got in to the door of my suite, sat down and brought out my newspaper. I scanned it, and it wasn’t long before I found the story that I was looking for – apparently that elegant man who just addressed me so formally had, to put it mildly, a freaky side to him. At least, according to this paper, he did. The story in the paper was about how Silas apparently killed his wife, but, according to him, he didn’t mean to do it.

  As I read the article in the newspaper, I decided that I probably didn’t want to have a thing to do with this guy. Not only because the article portrayed him as abusive to his wife, but also because this case was on the front page, and that meant media attention that I just didn’t want. Silas was apparently a billionaire by the age of 32. He had founded a tech firm out in the Silicon Valley five years ago, and it just went public, which made him one of Silicon Valley’s newest billionaires. He and his wife, Ava, who apparently came from old money, and was a multimillionaire in her own right, were in Kansas City for a tech conference at the time of Ava’s death. Ava’s family was from this area, so Silas and Ava apparently maintained a home in the Hallbrook area, a tony area in Leawood, Kansas, where sports stars, CEOs, and other wealthy individuals lived.

  I read on and found out that a guest house behind the couple’s main house apparently burned to the ground, with Ava inside. The conflagration was so sudden and violent that Ava’s body was burned to the point that there was nothing left of her except for her two hands.

  I shuddered as I thought about the possibility that Ava burned to death inside that house. I couldn’t think of anything that would be more agonizing than that. I closed my eyes and pictured the searing pain that she must have felt as the flames hit her and I shuddered. At the same time, I wondered why it was that Silas would’ve been charged with murdering her. It sounded like the fire that trapped Ava was accidental.

  As I read on, I got the answer to that question. Apparently at the time of the fire, Ava was chained to a wall, and the police found accelerant at the scene, so Silas was also being charged with A
rson.

  Ava was apparently helpless, unable to avoid the flames because she had no means of escaping. After reading this, I immediately prejudged the case. I wasn’t going to take this guy. No way, no how. Not for all the money in the world. And, he had all the money in the world, so he really didn’t need me to represent him.

  I summoned him into my office, and he sat down across from me. True to form, he just stared at me. Waiting for me to speak with him. “Mr. Porter,” I began. “I thank you for coming in here, although I’m not quite sure why you came in here without making an appointment first, but that’s neither here nor there. But, I’m afraid this is not a case that I’m going to want. Now, I would refer you to some other criminal defense attorneys in the area, people that I know, but I’m quite sure that you have at your disposal access to the most expensive hired guns in the city. So, I don’t think that you’re going to need my referrals.”

  Silas still sat across from me, still not say anything. Then, after a few minutes, he finally spoke. “Mr. Harrington,” he began. “I understand that you probably have your own views of the case. After all, the media does tend to be very one-sided in these things. And, my wife, Ava, her family is very well-to-do. Very old money in the area. They’ve never liked me. They don’t like anybody who’s new money. And they’re convinced that I murdered her in cold blood. They’re the ones who are controlling the story. Of course, I’m changing that today. My publicist is getting in touch with the newspaper, and my side of the story is going to be the one that is going to dominate the headlines, from now on.”

  “Well then, I guess you’ll be just fine. You’ll get some kind of high-dollar lawyer on the case, your publicist will control the narrative, and everything is gonna turn out great.” I wondered how his stock was doing. After all, when something like this happens to the CEO of a major multinational corporation, the stock prices usually plunge. If that was the case, the guy probably lost millions of dollars overnight. Of course, losing millions of dollars overnight pales in comparison to losing your freedom and your livelihood, which was what this guy was facing.

  “Mr. Harrington,” he said. “I don’t think you understand. I’m determined that I’m going to hire you as my attorney. You are right about one thing – I do have access to any lawyer I want. This is the kind of case that can make a career. That said, I have access to lawyers who already have a stellar career. Attorneys who have tried cases much more high-profile than this one. But I want you. Only you.”

  That was weird. I had no clue as to why he wanted to hire me so desperately. I had some high-profile cases of my own in the past, but they were all local. I’d never been involved with something this high-profile. I certainly was not a hired-gun celebrity attorney in any way, shape or form, which was what this guy probably should’ve hired. I wasn’t a nobody, but I certainly wasn’t somebody, either.

  It was my turn to stare. “I’m not sure I understand. I’m telling you that I don’t want the case. Full stop. I’ve got enough on my plate, and I don’t want to get involved in something that’s going to lead to me being hounded by the pap. I’m not quite sure why that message isn’t getting through.”

  “I think you will want this case, once you hear my side of the story. And please hear me out. That’s all I ask of you. An hour of your time, and I think you’ll want this case.”

  “As I said earlier when you first came into the office, I have a deposition in an hour. So –”

  “Then I shall return this evening. At what time do you have free in the late afternoon or early evening?”

  I sighed. I had to admit to being intrigued on why this guy was so adamant to hire me. And maybe I shouldn’t prejudge it so much. I could listen to his story, and then kick him out the door. I guessed that I owed him that much. “I don’t like taking clients in the evening, because I have two kids at home who need me to feed them and get on them about doing homework and that sort of thing. So…” I sighed. I didn’t want this guy. But at the same time, I had to find out why it was he wanted me so badly, and, I had to admit that the prospect of being able to charge $500 an hour, and get it with no problem, was a bonus for sure. I hated that I had to be a hired gun who took cases that I didn’t really want, but at the same time, the kids’ private school was not cheap, and both of them wanted to go to Harvard. I knew that they both were smart enough to do just that, so I had to put as much money away as possible.

  “So what time can I come back?” he asked me coolly.

  I regarded him, not wanting for him to come back at all, yet also feeling something pulling me into this case against my better judgment. “Come back at 4 o’clock. I can only give you an hour though. After that, I have to head home.” I actually had planned on heading home even earlier than 4 o’clock that day, but I supposed that I could make some time out for this guy. “I have to warn you though, I’m leaning against taking your case. I just don’t want to deal with the publicity, for one thing, but also, I’ve read the newspaper article about you, and I just don’t like to sign up men who are misogynists.” I was raised by a woman who attracted nothing but violent misogynists, so I, as a rule, wanted nothing to do with misogynistic men when they showed up in my office wanting me to represent them.

  “I assure you I am not a misogynist. No matter what the paper says about me, I assure you that I’m not a misogynist. I respect women, very much. I will tell you upfront, however, that I am into the lifestyle. The alternative lifestyle.”

  “By lifestyle, I assume you mean you are into bondage discipline sadism and masochism, right?”

  “Yes, you are correct about that. I wanted to tell you this right up front, because that is a part of my story. I would never intentionally kill my wife. I loved her very much. She and I had a very passionate relationship, but it was also based upon mutual respect.” When he said that, he had a sad look in his eye, and I almost believed him. It was the first time that I had seen some kind of emotion in his eyes, and that encouraged me just a little bit.

  “Okay, I’ll see you in a few hours. In the meantime, I have to get prepared for my deposition, so I’m sorry, but I really gotta get going.”

  “Of course. I understand. You have a life, and it was rude of me to drop in on you like this. So, thank you for at least being willing to hear my story. I’ll see you soon.”

  At that, he left. And I felt like I could breathe. I shook my head, wondering what the hell it was that I was doing. This guy freaked me out, more than anybody had in a long time. And yet, I was considering taking him on as a client. What was my problem?

  I didn’t know what my problem was. I only knew that I was somehow going to get involved with a situation I didn’t want to get involved with. And yet, I had a feeling that when all was said and done, he was going to be my client.

  I just hoped that I didn’t live to regret that. Although I knew that I was going to.

  Chapter 2

  I got back from my deposition, and found that Silas was waiting for me once again. This time, he didn’t stare at me, but, rather, he actually smiled a little bit. I swallowed hard. “Mr. Porter, come into my office, and I need to get your side of the story.”

  “Of course.” He followed me into my office, and he both sat down while I closed the door behind him.

  I got a yellow pad of paper and a pen, and I started to write. “Okay, here’s what I read in the paper. I read that your wife was chained to a wall, and that a fire had swept through your dungeon. As I understand it, from reading the newspaper, your dungeon is a structure that you have behind your swimming pool. It was formerly used as servant’s quarters, from what you told the police, but you currently are using it as your dungeon. Is that correct?”

  He nodded his head. “Yes, that is correct.”

  “I have to admit that the way that she died is part of the reason why I don’t want to take this case. I just can’t imagine being in her position. Being helpless and not able to do anything, and seeing a fire sweep through. I mean, I’m sure she probably die
d in agony.” I had cases where I represented drug dealers who were accused of burning people to death. Those were some of the worst cases I had ever encountered. Of course, those were also cases that I ended up pleading out. I had a feeling that I would have to try this case, assuming I took it. Which meant I was going to get into all the painful details of what happened.

  “I assure you that my wife did not burn to death. She was dead before the fire swept through the dungeon.”

  “What do you mean?” If it was true what he was saying, that she was dead before the fire got to her, then that would be better facts for me. Marginally better, but better nonetheless. “Are you telling me that something else killed her besides the fire?”

  “Yes, that’s what I’m telling you. I can tell you that there was a preliminary autopsy done on the body, however, since my wife’s body was severely burned, in that she was pretty much ashes and bones, there wasn’t much that could be ascertained about how she died. You’ll find out all of this when you get the file. To tell you the truth, I don’t know how my wife died. I have no idea.”

  I sighed. “Okay, please explain what you mean. Are you saying that –”

  “I’m telling you that my wife and I were being intimate, and, I will admit, we typically do things that skirt the line of what is safe and what’s not. I can also tell you that we never crossed that line, and we never came close to it. For instance, we were involved with body bag bondage. Are you aware of that term?”