Chapter 3

"First I tell you everything I can remember, every minute," Jarrod said. "There should be paper and pencil over there on the desk, maybe in the lap drawer if not on top of the desk."

Bromley got up and went to the desk. There was nothing on top, but there were a pad of paper and a pencil in the lap drawer. Bromley fetched them and brought them back to the sofa. "I've got them," he said.

"All right," Jarrod said. He actually closed his eyes as he tried to make sure he remembered everything, and he told the story to Bromley from the beginning. From when the man came to tell Victoria that Heath had been injured. "Which he wasn't," Jarrod said. "It was a lie. This guy was one of Cunningham's men. My mother and sister and Silas can tell you what he looked like and where he went after he left here, but I'm sure he didn't stay with them."

Jarrod kept talking. Bromley kept writing. At one point, Silas knocked on the door and came in. "You been working here quite a while, Mr. Jarrod. Can I get you and Mr. Bromley anything, something to eat or something to drink?"

"No liquor," Bromley said quickly.

"No, we need to think straight," Jarrod said. "Some coffee and maybe a couple sandwiches, Silas. Thank you."

Silas went back out again, and Bromley noticed Jarrod was smiling. "What is it?" he asked.

"It's good to be working with you, Mark," Jarrod said. "This is really the first chance we've had to do it."

Bromley felt about ten inches tall again. "I've got a lot to prove to you, Jarrod."

"More to yourself, maybe," Jarrod said, "just as I've had a lot to prove to myself."

Jarrod finished up his story just as Silas appeared with coffee and sandwiches. He set the tray down on the coffee table and poured coffee for both Bromley and Jarrod. He put Jarrod's cup in front of him. "Your coffee is right here before you, Mr. Jarrod. The cup is half full. I'll put the sandwich at your nine o'clock."

"Thank you, Silas," Jarrod said, picked up the coffee cup and saucer, and carefully lifted it to sip from.

"Is there anything I else I can do for you gentlemen?" Silas asked.

"I think maybe we ought to talk to my mother and sister next, Mark," Jarrod said. "Do you agree?"

"Yes," Bromley said.

Jarrod said, "Give us about ten minutes, Silas, and have them come in then. And you come too. Try to remember what that fellow who came to the door last night looked like."

"Yes, sir," Silas said, and went back out.

"It won't be a long witness list," Jarrod said. "I'd rather just my mother testify to this character who came to the door, if that's possible. The whole case could just be her and me, and maybe the sheriff about what he found when he got here."

"From the sounds of it," Bromley said. "But do you want me to talk to Sanders? See if he knows anything about this?"

"Sheriff Madden will be doing that today," Jarrod said. "Talk to him before you talk to anyone else." Then he thought of something. "Judge Farnum should know about what's happened. He probably already does – Fred Madden would have told him if nobody else did. But we'll need to appear in court Monday morning to dismiss the case on the record. Corell and Mason weren't defendants so we don't need to deal with them on that."

"We?" Bromley asked. "You want me to appear with you?"

"Yes," Jarrod said. "I'll need an assistant. Nick and Heath aren't available. They're getting horses ready for a sale to the army." Then he smiled again. "Funny. One thing I really wish I could have seen is those two working in courtroom."

Then they grew quiet, relaxing, eating, drinking coffee. Bromley felt more and more like this was all unreal. He really had thought his life as an attorney was over, but here, just like that, in the course of one day, it had all turned around. He looked at Jarrod, at those deep blue eyes that couldn't see anything now, but Bromley could still see something in them. Something of that energy, that fire that Jarrod could get when he was onto something in court. Bromley felt like he was part of something very important again. He felt like a lawyer preparing a case again. He felt like he was being redeemed.

Jarrod said, "You're thinking about something. Has something given you an idea?"

Bromley said, "No. I just – well, I just never expected to be here with you working on a case today. I thought – " He hesitated.

"You thought you'd messed everything up so badly you'd never go into a courtroom again," Jarrod said.

"Something like that."

"That's the way I felt the day before yesterday," Jarrod said, "when I messed that first day up so badly. But my brothers stuck with me, schooled me in that courtroom and turned into a fine couple of law clerks." Jarrod laughed a little at that, but then said, "I knew my life had turned around then. I know you feel like your life is turning around now too. And it is."

"Thank you for the chance, Jarrod," Bromley said. "The chance to turn it around – that's come from you. From you still believing in me. I won't let you down this time."

"You won't get the chance, because this time I'm right on top of you," Jarrod said with a smile. "This time we're in it together."

XXXXX

Jarrod and Bromley met with Victoria, Audra and Silas after they finished eating. It didn't take long for them to describe the man who had come and told them Heath had been hurt. They had never seen him before, and Victoria was sure he did not work for the Barkleys. The man did not travel to town with them and they were far too worried about Heath to keep track of when and where he disappeared, but when they got to town, Dr. Merar's office was quiet. The doctor and his wife were finishing dinner, and they knew nothing about Heath being hurt.

"That was when we knew it was a ruse and something was happening back here," Victoria said. "We got the sheriff and he rode ahead and got here before we did."

"I was waiting right here in the library, in case Corell and Mason came back, but they didn't," Jarrod said. "As soon as Mother, Audra and Silas got back, Fred went to get Nick and Heath. He brought them back and they took Cunningham's body to town. I assume he dove right into looking for Corell and Mason after that. I haven't talked to him since."

"I'll talk to him as soon as I get back to town," Bromley said.

Victoria, Audra and Silas left them alone again. It wasn't long after that Jarrod got up slowly, his back clearly hurting, and said, "I guess we're finished for now, Mark. Would you come back here tomorrow afternoon and bring me up to date on what Fred Madden knows? And drop by Judge Farnum's house, let him know what will happen on Monday in court."

Bromley saw Jarrod was going to go to the front door with him and for a moment wondered if he should lead him by the arm, but Jarrod moved ahead, running his hand along the pool table and then reaching the door with no trouble at all. Bromley pocketed his notes and left the pad and pencil on the desk, and followed Jarrod out. Jarrod seemed to do just fine, running his hand along the wall until they reached the door to the foyer, hesitating only slightly as he made sure where the raised landing before the front door was. Jarrod even made it to the door easily and opened it, extending his hand.

"I'll see you tomorrow afternoon, Mark, unless something comes up," Jarrod said.

Bromley shook his hand. "Thank you, Jarrod. I'll go see the sheriff and the judge right away. If I don't come right back, you can assume nothing has changed."

With that, Bromley left, and headed straight for the stable yard. The stable man fetched his horse for him, and soon Bromley was headed back to Stockton, and planning what he was going to say to Judge Farnum and the sheriff.

He couldn't believe how good it felt to be useful again, to be doing something to help – to be in Jarrod Barkley's good favor again. He wasn't going to blow it this time.