By the time Jade parked the car in front of the station, Harry had transferred all the files he had received from Barry to her, so she had remained in her car as she looked them over.
A crooked smile tugged her lips as she watched the very clear video evidence Barry had attached. This was going to be a very interesting case, and Harry was right. It would be very good for her career.
Jade got out of her car, and with confident strides, she walked into the station and approached the first desk she saw.
"Good morning, officer. I'm Jade Hank, and I'm here to see Mr. Bateman," Jade said, and the officer raised a brow.
"What's your relationship?" the officer asked, looking her over.
"I'm going to be representing him in court if he doesn't have a lawyer yet," Jade said briskly, and the officer looked at her as though she had lost her mind.
"Do you know the details of the case? Are you aware that the victim is the only son of the chief justice?" the officer asked, and Jade flashed him a smile.
"Yes, I am well aware. Now if you don't mind, can you take me to him?" Jade asked politely.
Instead of taking Jade to Jack, the officer led her to the detective in charge of the case, and the detective took her to the room where Jack was being kept.
Immediately she walked into the room; Jack raised his head, and looked at her in confusion, since he had no idea who she was, "Do I know you?" Jack asked after the detective excused them.
"I'm not sure you do. I'm Jade Hank. If you don't have a lawyer already, I will take up your case if you don't mind," Jade offered as she sat opposite him.
Jack looked at her in confusion, "Why?"
"Why what?" Jade asked with a friendly smile.
"Why would you take up my case? You don't know me, do you? Did Adam's father send you here?" Jack asked suspiciously.
"Because I like a challenge? If you don't want me to, I could leave. It makes no difference to me, really," Jade said as she rose, but before she could turn around, Jack stopped her.
"Do you believe I'm innocent?" Jack asked, looking at her with hopeful eyes.
"Well, it's your responsibility to convince me of your innocence. It's only after you have convinced me that I can convince the others. You have had a lot of cases against you in the past, but you are lucky those cases were handled by the Washington law firm. Hence they can't dig them up and use them against you now since that would send the wrong message to their clients, and they wouldn't want that," Jade said as she sat down and opened a file.
"Seeing as you stopped me from leaving, I assume you don't have a lawyer, right?" Jade asked, and Jack nodded.
"It's not surprising. No one in their right mind would want to take up a case such as this," Jade said, and when Jack raised a brow, she laughed softly.
"I'm not in my right mind," she said, and Jack smiled hesitantly. For reasons he couldn't explain, he liked her and somehow trusted her.
"Can you really do this?" he asked, and Jade gave him a nod.
"Now, I want you to tell me exactly what happened between the both of you. I'm not talking about just the incident that led to his death. I want to know everything," Jade said, watching him now with a blank expression.
"There is not much to tell. We are married to two sisters. We have been friends for a long time, and as you know, already, his law firm handles all our legal issues. We got into a little fight two days ago...."
"What led to the fight?" Jade asked, even though she already knew all the details. She needed to establish trust between the both of them, me she needed to be sure he was going to be hundred percent honest with her.
Jack looked away. He couldn't bring himself to tell Jade the truth. That wouldn't be good for Bernice's reputation.
"You have to be honest with me, Mr. Bateman. It won't do you any good to hide it from me."
"I can't tell you that. I'm sorry," Jack said quietly.
"Why not? Are you certain that whatever you're hiding from me is a secret?" Jade asked reasonably, and before Jack could respond, the door opened, and Tiffany stormed in angrily.
"What are you doing here?" she asked Jade, eyes blazing with anger.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Jade asked calmly while Jack looked at his wife, wondering why she seemed upset.
"What's the problem, Tiff?"
"Don't talk to her. Don't trust her. She is not on your side," Tiffany warned her husband before facing Jade.
"Get lost. We don't need you," Tiffany said, holding the door open.
"I suppose you've gotten a suitable lawyer to represent your husband, then?" Jade asked Tiffany without rising.
"That is not your business. Our family will handle it. Get lost!" Tiffany snapped at her, and Jade sighed when mock patience.
"What do you say, Mr. Bateman? Should I leave? You're the one who needs to be represented, not your wife. I do not even like her. If she were the one seated there, I wouldn't get involved in this," Jade said, and Jack looked at Tiffany before returning his attention to Jade.
"Can you give us a moment alone?" he asked, and Jade rose.
"Sure. I will be outside," Jade said as she walked out of the room.
Once she shut the door behind her, Jack looked at Tiffany, "Do you know her?"
"Yes. That is Jade Hank. Sister to Thomas Hank," Tiffany explained.
"Why don't you want her to represent me?" Jack asked, at a loss.
Tiffany quickly explained the situation between both families and the confrontation at the spa, "She doesn't have any reason to want to do this. What if she deliberately makes a mess of things just to get back at us?" Tiffany asked reasonably.
"Although I don't understand her motive for taking up my case, I don't think she will do that. No one is willing to take up my case. We have to give her a try," Jack said, and Tiffany frowned.
"I don't think this is a good idea."
"We don't have much of a choice right now," Jack reminded her, and she sighed as she rose.
"Let me talk to her, and then I will send her in," Tiffany said as she rose.
"I'm going to tell her the reason Adam fought with me was that he found out I made sexual advances at his wife...."
"Or you can tell the truth. You beat Adam up for having sex with his mother-in-law," Tiffany said, giving him a pointed look.
"I can't do that to your mother...."
"She isn't my mother anymore. Say it! There is no need to make Adam look like a saint. If you don't tell them about my mother and Adam, I'm going to tell them. So deal with it," Tiffany advised before going out to meet Jade.
"You are not doing this to mess with me, are you?" Tiffany asked the moment she stopped in front of Jade.
"Remind me again, who are you? And why should I waste a second of my time messing with you?" Jade asked, not bothering to hide the irritation on her face.
"If I find out you're messing with me, I'm going to...."
"Shut it! You are in no position to threaten me. I could walk out right now, and that doesn't make a difference to me or change the fact that your husband is screwed if I don't represent him," Jade said with a careless shrug.
Tiffany looked at her for a moment, "I'm going to let you...."
Jade walked past her and back into the room before she could complete her sentence, making it clear she didn't need her permission for anything.
"Since you have decided to let me represent you, I hope you are willing to tell me the truth. Only the truth," Jade said, giving him a pointed look.
Thirty minutes later, Jade stepped out of the station and saw Tiffany standing outside waiting for her. Wasn't she the lesbian fucking all her maids? Why was she so devoted to her husband? Jade mused.
"Do you have a minute?" Tiffany asked, sounding more polite now than she had been earlier.
While Jade had been busy inside with her husband, Tiffany had called her sisters to seek their opinion, since Bernice and Anita were at the hospital with Lisa who had delivered a beautiful baby girl in the early hours of the morning.
After much consideration, they had all reached a consensus that they leave their personal sentiments aside and allow Jade to handle the case especially as this was coming after Anita's public confession and apology.
"Depends on what you want to talk about. If it's unrelated to the case, I don't," Jade said without stopping, and Tiffany nodded as she followed.
"It's about the case," Tiffany assured her.
"I'm sorry for my shitty attitude earlier. I had no right to act that way especially when I was at fault the last time. Thank you for offering to help even though we don't deserve it," Tiffany said quietly, and Jade faltered in her steps as she looked at her.
"Don't worry. I won't mess up the case just because I don't like you. It's my duty to uphold justice, and I won't let my feelings get in the way," Jade said and continued walking, but Tiffany continued to follow her.
"What do you think? Do you believe my husband?" Tiffany asked, and Jade shrugged.
"What I believe doesn't matter. Do you believe him?" Jade asked as she stopped by her car, and Tiffany nodded.
"Jack is a lot of things, but there is no way he could have hurt Adam. Did he tell you about the weird text message he received from Adam?" Tiffany asked, and Jade nodded even though she had seen the text before talking to Jack.
"Yes. What about it?" Jade asked, and Tiffany took a deep breath. She knew she was taking a big risk by trusting Jade Hank, but what harm could come from telling Jade that she believed her mother was behind it?
"I don't think Adam typed that text. It is unlike Adam. Also, shouldn't we find out what happened between the time Adam left my mother's house to the time he got to their meeting center? I mean, it doesn't make sense that Adam would ask Jack to meet him in such a remote place, considering what happened between them the previous day. The whole thing is not adding up," Tiffany said, and Jade narrowed her eyes.
"Are you trying to tell me you think your mother might have a hand in this?" Jade asked, and Tiffany swallowed hard before nodding her head.
"Do you have any tangible reason?" Jade asked and listened as Tiffany explained the entire situation to her, including how Rebekah had sent out the maids and what she had said during her visit to the hospital.
"I see," Jade said with a nod.
"I might be mistaken, but I know for sure that Jack is not responsible for this. Maybe you can investigate the crime scene some more and visit my mother. You could check for fingerprints in Adam's car, right?" Tiffany asked, and Jade eyed Tiffany with interest.
"You must have given this a lot of thought," Jade said, and Tiffany sighed.
"Yes, I have. Did Jack tell you that Adam and my mother were having an affair?" Tiffany asked, and Jade gave her a nod.
"He did."
"He also told me he made a pass at your sister. What did you think about that?" Jade said, watching Tiffany closely.
Tiffany shrugged, "It's complicated. Nothing happened between them, okay? Jack had always been in love with Bernice long before he married me, and when he realized she wasn't happy in her marriage, he tried to hit on her, but she turned him down. Adam found out about it, got mad, and started a fight with Jack. It's nothing more than that," Tiffany said, and Jade nodded thoughtfully.
So they were trying to protect Bernice. That was admirable, "So you're not mad at your husband?"
"We didn't get married because we were madly in love or anything. It was an arranged marriage, and we both pursued our interests," Tiffany said without meeting Jade's eyes.
"I see," Jade murmured.
"You can help him, right?" Tiffany asked hopefully.
"I know we have our differences, and I'm sorry for everything. But this is really important to me, and I need to be sure that you can help my husband," Tiffany said, and before Jade could respond, her phone started ringing.
She raised a brow when she didn't recognize the number, and she received the call, "Hello.... Yes. This is Jade Hank," she said when the person on the other end of the line interrupted her.
"Yes, sir. I will be there in thirty minutes," she said before hanging up.
"I will help your husband. If for nothing, for the fact that you're willing to throw your mother under the bus," Jade said with a wide smile that left Tiffany confused as she got into her car.
As Jade drove away from there, she dialed Harry's line, "I just left the station. I'm on my way to meet with the chief judge right now. Someone informed him I've taken up the case," Jade informed Harry briskly.
"You don't sound like you're talking to your almost-boyfriend," Harry pointed out, and Jade grinned.
"Sorry. My mind is on other things right now," Jade said apologetically.
"I know you can handle it," Harry said confidently.
"Sure, I can. How did the meeting with Crystal go?" Jade asked curiously.
"Everything is in place. All that is left is for Sara to reunite with her daughter," Harry said, and Jade giggled.
"That's good, then. I was just checking in. I will let you know how the meeting goes. Talk to you later," Jade said before hanging up.
She hadn't realized how much she missed working on a case until she caught her reflection in the rearview mirror. She was grinning and humming a happy tune.
She giggled at the thought of bringing down Rebekah Miller. Wasn't it funny that her own daughter was willing to testify against her in order to save a husband she wasn't even in love with? That was what you got for being a shitty person. This was exactly what was going to happen to Sara as well.
Jade paused when something occurred to her, and she burst out in laughter. Sara and Rebekah? Was it a coincidence that both shitty ladies bore the biblical names of a mother and daughter-in-law? There was a connection, after all, Jade thought in amusement.
The 𝘮ost uptodat𝑒 novels are pub𝙡ished on fre(e)webno(v)el.𝒸𝑜𝘮