Page 12 of Matlock
“Yes, well, I was looking for a change of pace, and a spot opened up.” She turned away from Tony, looking briefly at me before focusing on the sheriff. “Sheriff, please put Mr. Nelson under arrest.”
“WHAT?” This couldn’t be happening. It was self-defense. Tony assured me. I was panicking; my hands trembled and my heart raced. Tony stepped in front of me, his hands on my shoulders. “Simon, calm down. Don’t say a fucking word without me there. The judge will set bail. You’ll only be here a few hours.”
“Given the nature of the crime, Anthony, I will be asking for no bail.”
“Judge Markham won’t allow that,” Tony argued.
“No, I won’t. There is no reason not to allow bail,” Uncle Alex confirmed.
“Judge Markham, hello. I’m sure, given your relationship with the perpetrator, you will recuse yourself,” the bitch said. And make no mistake, she was a bitch.
“I will not, Ms. Winthrop. The constitution entitles Mr. Nelson to a speedy trial, and having to wait on another judge to make time in his schedule is not speedy. I have an immaculate record and assure you I will be impartial even with Simon.”
Turning around to face me, Uncle Alex said, “I’m sorry, Simon, but you will need to spend the night here. We will convene and set bail first thing in the morning.”
“But, Uncle Alex...”
“Simon!” Tony’s stern voice pulled me back. “It’s one night.”
“I’m sorry, Simon,” the sheriff said as he read me my rights and led me to the cell in the back of the station.
As I walked down the hall, I heard the bitch purr, “It will be fun to be up against you again, Anthony.” When Tony growled, I heard her add, “In court of course.”
I couldn’t hear his response, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
Chapter Five
Matlock
I stormed into the clubhouse, going directly to Nav’s office. I didn’t knock; what I needed from him was too fucking important to waste even three seconds.
“I need everything you can find on Rosalind Winthrop.”
“Well, hello to you too,” he said without looking up from his computer.
“I don’t have time for your shit attitude, Nav.”
King slipped into the room and studied me. “Gunner told me about Simon. But judging by the look on your face, I guess he left something out.”
I shook my head. As I loosened my tie, I paced Nav’s office. “Gunner didn’t know. He left before we went inside. Everything was fucking fine. He gave Declan his statement, and Dec bought it. Clear-cut self-defense. Then RosalindFuckingWinthrop walked in and had Simon arrested.”
“What for?” Nav asked.
“Evidently, she isn’t buying self-defense,” I snapped. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. It wasn’t unusual for me to get worked up over a case or a client. But Simon was different. My brothers didn’t know that, though.
“Where’s Keys?”
“Looking for Sadie.”
“You think she killed him?”
“I do. I had Nav check his phone records earlier. She called him at three in the morning. My guess is, he attacked her again; she fought back and killed him. If Simon had just fucking called me when he got there, I could have fixed all this shit.”
King shared a look with Nav.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing,” King said. I didn’t believe him. I could see the question in his eyes. A question I wasn’t prepared to answer. “Who is Rosalind Winthrop?”
