Presumption of Guilt by Marti Green Page A

it in stride today. “I can actually breathe today without wanting to claw someone’s eyes out,” she said. “You finished your interview of Michaels?”
    “Yep. I’m still in front of his house.”
    “Anything interesting?”
    “To start with, his house is more like a mansion. Big bucks there.”
    “Couldn’t he have earned it?”
    “I suppose”
    “Anything else?”
    “Yeah. As soon as I started to talk about the jail, he clammed up.”
    “Seems like everyone clams up about that topic,” Dani said. “What did he say about the argument with Joe Singer?”
    “Said it was routine.”
    “What’s your assessment of him?”
    “Oh, he’s hiding something. And I’m gonna find out what.”
    Bryson picked up the phone in his home office on the first ring. “Why are you calling me here?” he said.
    “I just had a visitor.”
    “How nice for you.”
    “An investigator, working on Molly’s case. She has new lawyers. You know about them?”
    “Of course I do.”
    “It’s not going to stay buried. What are we going to do about that?”
    “Stop worrying. I’ll handle it. Just like I always do.”

C HAPTER
    18
    “I ’m going in to work tomorrow.” It was “honeymoon hour,” and Dani lay entwined in Doug’s arms on the living room couch.
    “Are you sure? You’re still pretty sore.”
    “It’s time.”
    Doug stroked Dani’s hair. The windows were open, and a soft breeze carried into the room the sweet smell of the chrysanthemums and sunflowers blooming in their front garden. “Maybe it’s time to think about changing jobs.”
    Dani sat upright and looked at Doug. “Why would I do that?”
    “Because this job is too dangerous. You could go back to the US Attorney’s Office. They would take you in a heartbeat.”
    “It’s just as dangerous there, probably more so. With every case, I’d be trying to convict criminals.”
    “But at least they have the resources to protect you. Or maybe you could work at a Wall Street firm. They pay a fortune there. The only criminals you’d be defending would be accused of white-collar crimes. Not so likely to run you off a road.”
    Dani lay back down again. “No, I like it at HIPP.”
    “Then what about going back to writing appeals?”
    For many years, Dani had only worked on appeals at HIPP. Last year she had conducted her first investigation into a client’s claim of innocence and had continued leading investigations ever since.
    “I could be walking down the street tomorrow and have a crane fall down on me,” she said. Just that had once happened on a Manhattan street. “I could be driving home from work and skid off the road on my own in the ice. I could fly to another state to argue an appeal and the plane could crash.” Dani took Doug’s hand in hers and squeezed it tight. “There are no guarantees of safety no matter what I do. But what I’m doing is important. The US Attorney’s Office has no shortage of highly qualified attorneys eager to work there. And that’s true at the Wall Street firms, too. It’s different at innocence projects. There aren’t enough attorneys throughout the country to represent all the people incarcerated who insist they’re innocent.”
    “Most of the requests you get are from people who were rightly convicted.”
    “Sure, but for someone who’s truly innocent, we’re their last hope.” Dani knew nothing she said would ease Doug’s worries. If he’d been the target of an attack, she’d be making the same arguments. She couldn’t live her life running from potential danger, though. It just wasn’t in her DNA. She’d be more alert from here on out, but she wouldn’t stop.
    Once again, Dani waited in an attorney interview room for Molly. She hadn’t seen her since their interview had been cut short almost two weeks earlier. After ten minutes, the door opened and Molly stepped inside. A guard, heavyset and with a sour expression, unlocked the shackles binding her wrists and ankles, then stepped