Angel of the Dark
Matt looked amazed. “Before the verdict is announced?”
“I have to. The jury’ll be out for days and I have a business to run.”
“You really think they’ll be out for days?” asked Matt hopefully. “You think they’re that uncertain?”
“I think they’re totally certain,” said David. “They have to go through the motions of weighing up all the evidence, that’s all. Boyce’s footnotes alone would take a week to read.” He shook Danny McGuire’s hand, fighting hard to control his emotions. “Thank you. What Muñoz said was true. I’d be dead if it weren’t for you.”
“You’re welcome. You’re sure you won’t stay, at least for lunch?”
“Quite sure. Good-bye, Matt. Good luck.” And with that, David Ishag strode out of the courtroom and into the blacked-out limousine that was waiting for him, swatting aside reporters’ shouted questions like a giant dismissing a swarm of gnats.
Matt Daley watched him go, a stupefied look on his face. Danny McGuire knew the look well from all his years on the force dealing with victims of violent crime. Matt was in shock. The trial, always a strain, had finally become too much for him.
Danny pushed Matt’s wheelchair toward the private, police-only exit. “Come on, man. Let’s get you out of here.”
THEY HAD LUNCH AT A TINY Jewish deli in Silverlake, only six miles from the courthouse but a world away from the Azrael soap opera. Danny ordered a brisket sandwich and insisted on some chicken noodle soup for Matt as well as a mug of hot, sweet coffee.
“They’re gonna execute her, aren’t they?”
Danny put down his sandwich. “Probably. Yeah. I’m sorry, Matt.”
“It’s my fault.” Tears began coursing down Matt Daley’s cheeks, splashing into his soup. “If I hadn’t started with this stupid documentary, if I hadn’t gotten you involved, they’d never have found her.”
Danny was shocked. “You can’t possibly mean that. If you hadn’t done what you did, people would have died, Matt. Innocent people. That woman had to be stopped.”
“I could have stopped her. You heard the psychiatrist. If Lisa and I had gotten away like we planned to. If we’d made it to Morocco and disappeared. Frankie couldn’t have kept killing without her…and she’d never have hurt a fly if it hadn’t been for him.”
“Maybe so,” said Danny. “Or maybe not. Remember, you had no idea back then that Lisa was involved in any of the murders. How do you think you’d have reacted if you’d known?”
Matt was unhesitating. “I’d have forgiven her. I’d have understood.”
“She killed your father, Matt. That’s why you got involved with this in the first place. Because Andrew Jakes didn’t deserve to die like that. Remember? Nobody deserves to die like that.”
“No,” Matt said stubbornly. “Mancini killed my father. Lisa was confused. She thought she was protecting her sister. She never wanted any of this to happen.”
There was obviously no point in talking to him. He wasn’t going to change Matt’s mind, and the subject made his friend intensely agitated, which was exactly what Danny had hoped to avoid by taking him out to lunch. He changed the subject.
“How’s Claire?”
“She’s good. Tired of having me living with her, I guess. It’s not easy having a crippled brother around with two kids and a husband to take care of.”
“She’d do anything for you,” said Danny. “Even I could see that. You’re lucky.”
Yeah, thought Matt. Lucky. That’s me.
“She thinks I should see a shrink.”
“What do you think?”
Matt shrugged. “It won’t make any difference. If Lisa…If they…” He choked up, unable to go on, but Danny could guess the rest. If they execute Sofia, he thinks he’ll have nothing to live for. The jury might not know it, but they were deliberating the fate of three lives, not two.
“Maybe you should go back to work, Matt. Make this damn documentary of yours. God knows you have enough material and no one’s closer to this case than you are. People can’t get enough of this story right now. You could make a fortune.”
“I don’t want a fortune,” said Matt truthfully. “Not if it can’t buy Lisa her freedom.”
“You want to tell the truth, though, don’t you?”
“What do you mean?”