The Hate Crime

  The Hate Crime

  Rachel Sinclair

  Tobann Publications

  Copyright © 2018 by Rachel Sinclair

  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

  THE HATE CRIME - A DAMIEN HARRINGTON LEGAL THRILLER

  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

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  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

  THE HATE CRIME - A DAMIEN HARRINGTON LEGAL THRILLER

  Chapter 1

  God, it was good to be back. There was a time when I thought that I would never be free again. It wasn’t looking good for my murder case there for awhile. Harper pulled it off at the last moment, however, and I was a free man. I couldn’t thank her enough.

  I got into my office, singing a song and carrying a cup of coffee. I immediately saw that Heather was there, waiting for me. She had been crying.

  “Hey,” I said to her. “Heather, what’s going on?”

  She just shook her head. “It’s my boyfriend, Beck. He’s been accused of something terrible. I don’t know what to think. He says he didn’t do it, and I think I believe him. I don’t know.” She looked up at me. “I want you to represent him.”

  I rubbed my hands together. It was time to get back into the game, and representing Heather’s boyfriend would be a way of getting back into it. “What about Harper? How come you don’t want her to represent him?”

  Heather rolled her eyes. “Beck don’t like women representing him. He thinks that women aren’t aggressive enough. Shhh, don’t tell Harper that, though. She’d be pissed.”

  I had to smile. I guessed that Beck was just a little bit…old-fashioned? Whatever, a lot of men felt that way about women lawyers. For my money, nobody could match Harper in the courtroom, but you can’t change attitudes, no matter how hard you try.

  “Come on in my office,” I said. “Let’s get some facts together, and I can go and visit Beck. I’m assuming he’s in jail?”

  Heather nodded. “He is. God, he couldn’t have done this. I just know that he didn’t do this.”

  I sat down at my desk and got out a yellow pad of paper. “What is he accused of doing?”

  “He’s accused of killing one of my sisters. By sister, I mean not an actual sister, but another transgendered woman. They’re charging it as a hate crime.”

  To me, this seemed almost like an open and shut case. The guy was dating Heather, so that had to mean that he was open to transgendered people, so it followed that Beck probably wasn’t prejudiced against them, nor did he hate them. This couldn’t be a hate crime.

  “I don’t see this being a problem. I can get the prosecutors off the hate crime issue. And if I can get them to drop the hate crime designation, that’s the first step.”

  “That’s not good enough,” Heather said. “I need for you to try to get him off, period. I don’t want him going to prison at all.”

  “Well, of course you don’t want him going to prison. Who wants to see someone they love or like going to prison? It’s not always realistic, however.”

  Heather crossed her arms in front of her. She tapped her foot. “I need for you to approach this case like you can win it. It doesn’t sound like you’re that confident about it.”

  “I’m not confident about it. I never am when I first get a case. Let me get into it. Let me talk to Beck and do my investigation. I’ll find out if he’s good for the crime. Just like any other case.”

  “Go and talk to him. He’s in the Jackson County jail. He can’t make bond. I’m going to have to pay your fee. I was hoping that maybe I could actually do work for you, in lieu of the fee. Would that be possible?”

  “How well do you know this guy?” I had the feeling that Heather didn’t really know this Beck person that well. I got that impression because she had been working for Harper and me for awhile, and I never heard her talk about this guy. Heather was an open book. If she had been dating this guy for a while, I would’ve heard about it.

  “I know him well enough.” Heather was getting defensive.

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning I know him well enough. That’s all you need to know.”

  “No, I need to know more than that. Listen, I consider you to be a friend, as well as being a very good employee. That means that I care about you. I want to make sure that he’s really worth it if you’re going to pay his way. I’m going to have to charge my usual $400 per hour fee for him. If you’re paying for him, and you’re going to be working it off, then you’re going to be working for me for free for quite a while. So I just need to know that he’s worth it.”

  She looked down, and crossed her arms in front of her. “I-”

  “I need to know one thing. Do you have sex with this guy?”

  “What does that have to do with anything?” She was becoming evermore defensive, not that I blamed her.

  “Does he know that you’re a transgendered woman? Or does he think that you’re just a woman? Does he know that you still have your male parts?”

  She looked embarrassed. “No. He thinks that I’m a woman. No, we’ve never had sex. I mean, I’ve blown him, but that’s as far as its gone. He’s asked to have sex with me, but I won’t do it. I haven’t found a way to tell him t
hat I’m still biologically a male.”

  That did it. I didn’t trust this guy. Just from what she told me, I didn’t trust him. “How long have you been seeing him?”

  “For a couple of weeks.”

  “Why does it mean so much that he not know the truth about your biology?”

  “Because I don’t think that he would accept it.”

  “That makes no sense to me. After all, if you guys are going to keep dating, doesn’t that mean that he’s going to have to eventually find out about it? And when he does, he’s going to be really upset, don’t you think? Even if he’s not prejudiced against LGBT, he’ll still be angry with you because you’ve hidden this from him. You’re just digging a hole.”

  “Why is it your business if I’m digging a hole with him or not?”

  “I told you, I’m looking out for you. Listen, I’m sure that there are men out there who are okay with dating a transgendered person.”

  “Oh yeah? How do you know so much about it?”

  “I guess I don’t. At least not first-hand. Obviously. I just think that there is a lid for every pot out there. There’s no need for you to settle for somebody who might not like the real you. That’s all I’m saying.” I also was concerned that my initial hunch might not have been true - that Beck couldn’t possibly be prejudiced against transgendered people if he was dating one. If he didn’t know that Heather was transgendered, then that theory went out the window.

  She looked ashamed. “Well, here’s the thing. It’s not as easy as you might think to find the person who’s going to want to date me, with my male parts still intact. How many men do you know who would date a chick with a dick? They either want a woman, or they want a man. They don’t want people like me.”

  “Well, it’s true enough that it’s hard for anybody to find a lasting relationship. I can see your dilemma. I just think that it’s better for you to keep on looking to try to find somebody who would want to date somebody who’s transgendered.”

  “Okay, I get the lecture. I understand what you’re saying. Are you going to take his case or not?” She obviously wasn’t having any of my advice. Her loss.

  “I don’t know. I still think that you’re going to end up owing me thousands of dollars, I’m going to get him off, and then he’s going to dump you. At that point, you’re going to be left holding the bag. That’s what I’m worried about.”

  She sighed. “I’ll go ahead and risk that. You know that I’m going be good for his lawyer fee. You know that I’m not going to cheat you. So what’s the problem?”

  “Nothing, nothing. I just hope that you know what you’re doing. And, if he really doesn’t know that you’re a transgendered woman, then there’s still a possibility that this might be a hate crime. If I thought that he was dating you, knowing that you’re transgendered, then that would make me feel more comfortable in taking this case, because it would make it less likely that this actually was a hate crime. Not saying that it’s totally impossible that this was a hate crime if he was dating you, knowing that you’re transgendered, but it would make it less likely. However, I’ll be starting from the ground floor, trying to figure out if this was a hate crime or not.”

  “I’m telling you, it wasn’t a hate crime. And he didn’t do it.”

  “Whatever. Okay, let me go down and talk to him. Just talk to him. I’m not going to make any kind of promises to you. I’m just going to go down and talk to him.”

  She nodded her head. “That’s all that I can ask for at this point.”

  “Well, worst case, he gets a Public Defender. There are worse things in the world than that. I know that for fact. I was a PD, and I can tell you that the people in that office are among the most dedicated and intelligent people I know. He could definitely do a lot worse.”

  “I know that. But I don’t want him to have a Public Defender. I want him to have you. I trust you. I mean, what if he gets a Public Defender who’s prejudiced against him? You never know. He looks a little rough. And I just want to be able to work on his case too. I want to get involved.”

  “I understand that. Okay, I’ll go down to see him and I’ll let you know. That’s all I can promise for now.”

  She nodded her head. “That’s all I ask.” Then she smiled. “You’ll take his case. I know it.”

  I certainly wasn’t as sure as she was.

  I hoped that she realized that.

  Chapter 2

  That night, I went to see the guys. They were doing pretty well. Actually, they were doing very well. Connor, in particular, was doing something that was very near and dear to his heart. He knew how lucky he was to be on the outside. He assumed that he would be in prison for the rest of his life, and that there was no hope for him. When he was given a second lease on life, he decided that he was going do something to make himself proud. So, he had already enrolled in the University of Missouri-Kansas City program for social work. As he told me, he wanted to help people who were on his same path, so that they could possibly avoid it.

  On the weekends, he volunteered at a sober living facility. At the moment, he was more or less doing dishes and laundry and things like that. He didn’t know enough to really get into counseling, but he wanted to help out as much as he could.

  Tommy was working construction. Nick, who had been caught up in the whole Josh drama, had been looking for a job, but I managed to talk Tom Garrett into hiring him as an assistant. Tom had already hired Jack O’Brien, who was Connor’s older brother. Then he hired Nick, so the three of them were doing investigations for Harper and me, as well as several of Tom’s other private clients.

  I knew that Nick and Jack, the same as Tom Garrett, would do well with this job. After all, they were from the streets. They spoke the language. They knew the guys that they were dealing with. They also did well with the psychology of it all. The three of them were able to really do a good job of investigating all types of crimes.

  I was proud of my boys. I was proud that they were able to land on their feet so quickly. Granted, I helped them out by buying them all cars. It seemed like that was the least that I could do for them. Other than that, they did everything on their own.

  That night, we all got together at a bar. I tried to see them at least once a week.

  “Hey!” Connor spotted me first. He waved his bottle of beer into the air as I approached the table. They had already ordered nachos. Connor handed me a menu as I sat down. “Look at this and see what else you’d like to have.”

  “I’ll just have nachos with you guys.”

  “Then I guess we’re going to have to order another one.”

  I found the waitress, and I ordered a whiskey and seven and another order of nachos. And then I went to the table and joined the guys.

  We chatted for a while, and then Connor asked me if I could take a case for him.

  “As you know, I’m working at that sober living facility, and there’s a girl there, whose name is Tina. She’s been in and out of jail for drug possession for most of her life. And she got caught again, but this time for distribution. They caught her with 5 kilos of coke and they’re offering her 5 years in prison.”

  “Sucks to be her.” I shook my head. “I suppose you want me to represent her? Is that why you’re telling me about her?”

  “Yeah. That’s what I was hoping. Listen, she told me that the reason why she was distributing drugs this time, was because she had to. She’s scared to death of her boyfriend, who is also her pimp, and he’s been using her as his mule. He’s been sending her over the border to pick up drugs, and basically, he says that if she doesn’t do that for him, he’ll kill her. So that’s the reason why she was caught distributing drugs. I’d like for you to go ahead and fight for her.”

  I shook my head. “Okay, here’s the thing. As long as the boyfriend’s in the picture, she’s just going to keep on doing this. Isn’t that right?”

  Connor shook his head. “Well, no. Actually that’s not the truth.”

  “And why is
that? Why won’t this keep happening again and again, as long as this guy’s in the picture? If something happens, and I’m able to somehow talk to the prosecutor and get some kind of a deal for her, to where she’s on probation or she does Drug Court or something like that, she’ll be right back on the streets again. And she’ll be distributing drugs again. She’ll be dealing again. What am I missing here?”

  “Well, here’s the thing. The guy who was forcing her into this, his name is Larry Rodriguez, he got caught himself. And he’s in jail. Only he got caught with a firearm, and he’s a felon, so he’s being tried in federal court. So he’s out of the picture.”

  I nodded my head. “So basically I have to show that this was an extortion thing. A coercion thing. And what do I tell the prosecutor, when she asks, if this Tina person is going to get involved with somebody else who’s going to be the same kind of person? Who’s going to force her into dealing drugs some more? And how do I find out if it’s true what she’s saying? How can I take her at her word that the only reason why she was dealing was because she was forced into it?”

  Connor was getting annoyed. “Just please, see what you can do about it.”

  I put my hand on his shoulder. “Connor, believe me, I know what you’re doing. You know what prison is like. You’re gonna try to save as many people as you can from making the same mistakes you made. But you can’t get so emotionally involved with the people that you meet, especially your clients. That’s the most important thing. Because when you do, trust me on this, you end up getting involved in bad situations. You have to look out for yourself. That’s really the most important thing. And I know where you’re coming from. I represent criminals, and I’m the same way. I get emotionally involved, too. That’s the worst thing you can do. Just stay detached.”