Forgotten by Mariah Stewart Page B

rolled her eyes. “I think we’ve already had this discussion.”
    “Then there’s not much point in having it again.” He smiled. “My opinion hasn’t changed. I suspect yours hasn’t either.”
    “True enough.”
    They finished their salads in silence, and watched the waiter remove the plates and serve their entrées with more interest than either of them felt.
    “Well, you were right about the chicken,” she said, after a few awkward moments. “It is exceptional.”
    “At least there’s one thing we can agree on.”
    “I suspect there may be more than one.”
    “Based on…?”
    “The fact that you did show up at the prison to accompany Woods to the farm.” She cut another small piece of meat. “And the fact that you did make the deal for the thirteen bodies to be re turned.”
    She glanced up at him and caught him watching her.
    “Let me ask you this, Mr. Cannon…”
    “Oh, I think we’re past the ‘Mr.’ and ‘Agent’ stage,” he said. “Let’s go with Jim and Portia from here.”
    “All right, Jim. You said that Woods didn’t want to give up names and locations of his victims. But he did. Thirteen times. So how did he go from ‘no,’ to ‘here’s thirteen’?” She put down her fork and touched the corner of her mouth with her napkin. “It obviously wasn’t his idea. I’m going to guess it was yours.”
    “I suppose it was.”
    “Was that your way of providing the best possible defense for your client? A means of saving him from the death penalty?”
    “Well, it worked, didn’t it?” He was trying hard to be cavalier. Portia saw through his act.
    “You know what I think?” She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “I think you’re a sham. I don’t think you took the case to make sure he got a fair trial. I don’t think you gave a shit whether he got life or not.” She lowered her voice even more. “I think you took the case so you could talk him into giving up his victims.”
    “And that would be a bad thing because…?”
    “Well, he hasn’t had to answer for any of those murders. He wasn’t even charged with any of them. Do you really think justice has been served?”
    “Do you really think that makes a difference to the families whose sons and brothers were returned to them?”
    “But given time, they might have been able to build strong enough cases against him to have charged him.”
    “And who do you think was going to do that?” He pushed his plate aside. “John Mancini? He was off somewhere repairing his damaged psyche after going toe-to-toe with Woods for all those months.” Cannon shook his head. “Everyone knew there were more victims, everyone wanted those bodies recovered. You referred earlier to those kids as ‘lost boys.’ That’s exactly what they were. They were lost, and without Woods, none of them would ever have been found. He buried them in out-of-the-way, ingenious places…”
    She thought of the grave where they’d found Christopher Williams and the still-unidentified boy.
    “…and there are more bodies out there, as you well know. If Woods had been executed, it’s unlikely any of them will ever be found. As long as he’s alive, there’s always the chance he’ll want something badly enough to give up another one now and then. Just like he did this week. Do you think the family of the Williams boy cares if Woods is ever charged with his murder, as long as they get his remains back?” He’d picked up the teaspoon that sat next to his plate and began to tap it on the table. “You asked me if I thought justice was served. Hell yes, but unfortunately, not for everyone whose child was taken by this monster. If I thought for one minute he’d given up all his victims, I’d have injected him myself. As it stands, as long as there are other names on that list of yours, there’s a chance they’ll be found, as long as Woods is alive. So yes, justice was served. It was damn well served.”
    Portia sat quietly, feeling chastised,