Jarrod Barkley and the Assistant Lawyer

Chapter 1

"You know I hate to ask you to do this," the sheriff said.

Leaning back against the piano, Jarrod looked up at Sheriff Madden with a ton of "I don't want to" in his eyes, but his old friend had a ton of "please" in his eyes.

"No one in town will do the job," the sheriff said. "And no one from any of the other towns around here will either."

Jarrod sighed. He had been a big promoter of the idea of developing a group of attorneys who would defend those who otherwise couldn't get representation, either because they did not have the money or their cause was too reprehensible. But this –

"You know what it did to my family the last time I defended a Kyles," Jarrod said.

"Your family's not involved in this in any way," Fred Madden said. "None of your family is a witness or is affected in any way."

"It doesn't matter. If I defend a Kyles, all those ugly memories will come back on us." And I'll feel like a pariah around my family and the town again, Jarrod thought but did not say.

"That's why it's so tough for me to ask you," Sheriff Madden said. "I remember what defending Korby did to you, but it won't be that way this time. Alan stabbed Jubal Trace in a bar fight. There were witnesses who had nothing to do with your family. At least talk to him, Jarrod."

"What does Alan say happened?"

The sheriff sighed. "He says he's being framed, that somebody else did the killing, but I have two witnesses who say it was him."

"Was it his knife?"

"He says no. The witnesses say yes."

Jarrod heaved a big sigh. He considered talking to Alan Kyles without telling his family about it, but they would probably hear about it and be angry with him for keeping it secret. Maybe the thing to do was to tell them about it before he went to see Kyles. If they had big objections, he could refuse with a clean conscience. "Let me talk to the family about it," he said. "I'll do that this evening, and I'll talk to you tomorrow."

The sheriff nodded his thanks and left. As he went out the front door, Victoria came down from upstairs, a bit concerned because he hadn't said anything to her while he was here, and because Jarrod was in the living room leaning back against the piano and looking unhappy. Victoria went into the living room.

"What was Fred here about?" she asked.

"Problem in town," Jarrod said, his arms folded across his chest now. "I'll talk to everyone about it before dinner."

She eyed him. "You sure it can wait that long?"

Jarrod stood up straight, smiled a bit, put his hands on her arms and drew her in for a kiss on the forehead. "It can wait. I have to chew on it for a while anyway. I'm going to take a ride, air out my brain. I'll be back before dinner."

He headed for the front door, grabbing his hat from the table in the foyer before he went out. Victoria gave a sigh and went off to the kitchen. Jarrod would talk about things when he was ready to and not before. For now, she had other things to attend to.

XXXXXXXX

Riding for a while and ruminating on Fred Madden's request did help Jarrod get his thoughts in order, but he didn't particularly like where they were going. He found himself deciding he'd have to talk to Alan Kyles, and then he'd probably have to defend him. If no one else would take the case, he'd have to do it whether he believed Alan or not. The man was accused of murder, and he was entitled to a defense and to having his story heard, whether his lawyer believed him or not. It was always better if the lawyer believed him, but this wouldn't be the first time Jarrod didn't believe in his client.

What was it he had said to his family when he decided to defend Korby Kyles – what chance does a man have when his own lawyer doesn't believe in him? Well, it sounded noble at the time.

He rode for a long time and came back to the house even after Nick and Heath were in from the range. Everyone had already cleaned and dressed for dinner, and they were gathered in the living room for conversation. Jarrod tossed his hat back on the table in the foyer, saying, "Sorry I'm late. I'll clean up and be right down."

His family members all looked at each other. Victoria had already told them about the sheriff being there earlier in the day. Heath gave words to everyone's thoughts. "Well, whatever it is, he sure isn't happy about it."

"He hasn't looked that unhappy since he was asked to defend Korby Kyles," Audra said.

Which made everyone even more suspicious.

Jarrod was back down, cleaned up and changed, within fifteen minutes. He headed straight for the refreshment table and poured himself some scotch.

"So what was the sheriff here about today?" Nick asked.

Straight to the business at hand – that was Nick. Jarrod turned around and said, "He's arrested Alan Kyles for murder. He asked me to defend him."

"You're kidding!" Nick said.

"Wish I was," Jarrod said, staring at his drink.

"You gonna do it?" Heath asked.

Jarrod looked up at him. "I may have to. Nobody else will. Anybody know why I shouldn't?"

"You gotta ask that?" Nick said. "How many times do we have to tell you the Kyles family is nothing but trouble before you get the message?"

"What I'm asking is if anyone has any interest in the charge against Alan," Jarrod said. "Does anybody know anything or has anybody heard anything about him killing a man in a bar fight Saturday night?"

"This is the first I've heard of it," Heath said, quick and happy to take himself out of the controversy this time.

"Me, too," Nick said. "But that's not the point, is it?"

"What is the point, Nick?" Jarrod asked. "Tell me what it is you see as a problem."

"Come on!" Nick blurted. "You go defending Alan Kyles and you know it's Korby Kyles all over again."

"Not exactly, Nick," Heath said. "I've got nothing to do with it this time. None of us does."

"You gonna tell me you're all right with reliving those memories again?"

"Enough," Victoria said. "Nobody's going to be happy to relive those memories again, but that doesn't help Jarrod resolve his dilemma."

"Just who did he kill?" Nick asked.

"He's accused of killing a man named Jubal Trace," Jarrod said. "Man seems to have come here from San Francisco on several occasions over the past year but has no family here. No one knows why he was here."

"Whatever it was, I'll bet it was no good," Nick said.

"Possibly true," Jarrod said. "That's one thing I'll have to talk to Alan about."

"You've already made up your mind," Victoria said.

"To talk to him, yes," Jarrod said. "Not necessarily to represent him."

"Jarrod," Heath said, "seems to me what you have to think about this time around is the same thing you had to think about with Korby – does the man need representation? We're not involved this time, and that ought to make your decision easier."

"How do you feel about reliving those memories, Heath?" Jarrod asked.

"You got hurt a lot worse than I did in Korby's case," Heath said. "I got no problem remembering that time. Yeah, they beat me up, even Alan made threats against -". He stopped.

"Against me," Audra finished it for him.

Heath nodded. "And you skewered me good on the stand, but when I think back on it, I'm glad you did. I'd never want to send a man to prison if I wasn't a hundred percent sure of what I was saying, and I wasn't. Wish you'd skewered me in private instead of in public, but I understand. No, Jarrod, I got no problem with remembering that time. You defend Alan if you think you have to."

"Thanks, Heath," Jarrod said sincerely, but Nick was turning away. Jarrod looked at him. "I take it you don't necessarily agree, Nick."

Nick turned back around again. "I guess I'm not so easy to forgive, Jarrod."

"Forgive who? Me?"

"Yeah, you, but mainly the Kyleses and what they did to Heath. Alan helped beat him up good, remember?"

"I remember," Heath broke in, "but that doesn't have anything to do with what Jarrod has to consider now. I say we put all that away for good, start fresh, let Jarrod know we have his back no matter what he decides."

What Heath was saying touched Jarrod more deeply than he could ever say.

It was not lost on Victoria, either. "I agree, Jarrod. It's your decision. What happened in the past is past."

"Yes," Audra said. "I don't feel threatened in any way."

Then it was left to Nick. He looked around and realized he was the only one still feeling stuck with those old memories. "All right," he finally said. "You make your decision, Jarrod. I'm with you, too."

"Thank you," Jarrod said to everyone. "I'll talk to Alan tomorrow and let you know what I'm going to do after that."

It was time to head into the dining room for dinner, but as they went in together, Jarrod could still sense iciness coming from Nick. It might take a bit more time for Nick to really agree on this, but on the other hand, Jarrod figured that after he talked with Alan, this all might be a moot point. Just because he was talking to him, didn't mean he would defend him.