Page 40 of Save Me
“Judge?” Crissy asked. “This is Crissy. I wonder if I could ask you a question?”
There was another pause for a moment. “Shoot,” the judge finally said.
“Did you ever prosecute a Simon Jones?” Crissy asked, holding her breath. Over the years, her father had adopted the names of lawyers or judges that had processed him. She’d grown up having dogs named after female officers that had arrested him. He used to call them all bitches regularly, as if it was a joke. They had even had a rooster named after his parole officer once. Her dad enjoyed eating that bird for dinner, even burned it extra crisp as he’d laughed over the fire.
“Simon Jones?” The judge sighed. “I never prosecuted him, but I was his court-appointed lawyer several times back some thirty years ago.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Crissy looked over at Brock with a strange look in her eyes.
“What’s Simon Jones got to do with…” Then she was quiet. “Did you say Crissy Talbot? As in, the survivor of those cop serial killers?”
“Yes, Judge,” Brock answered.
“Oh, and you think Simon Jones has something to do with that case?” the judge asked.
“No, ma’am,” Brock answered.
“He’s my father,” Crissy added.
There was a moment of silence before the woman burst out laughing. “I’m sorry, say that again?”
Crissy frowned over at Brock.
“Crissy Talbot is Simon Jones’s daughter,” Brock answered.
“And… on the birth certificate, it shows me as the mother?” she asked.
“Spelled differently on two different documents. It even shows two different birthdays,” Brock answered.
“Shoot me a copy of both documents. Here’s my email address…” The woman gave him her email, and he sent digital copies of both birth certificates over to her. They waited as the judge received and opened the email. “That son of a…” she finally said with a sigh. “Both of those dates coincide with the cases I handled for him.”
“What?” Crissy sat forward.
“You’re sure?” Brock asked.
“Case number 9887450102, January second, and case number 9887450818, August eighteenth. Both of them were DUIs. Which is why they fell in my lap. He lost his license the first go-round. The second he was jailed for two years,” the judge answered. “I can send the case numbers back to this email address.”
“Thank you,” Brock answered. “I’m sorry we took up your evening.”
“It’s no problem. I’m really sorry for what you went through Miss Talbot. I would have liked to have both of those scumbags that did that to you stand in front of me so I could have served you some justice.”
“Thank you,” Crissy said softly. “Judge?” Crissy asked. “Is there any way you can look at another case for me? My ex-husband is trying to get custody of my daughter. I thought the case was closed last year, but…”
“Shoot me the file number, I’ll see what I can do and get back to you when I can.” the judge said. “It’s the least I can do for my daughter.” She laughed as she hung up.
“That went better than expected,” Brock said after he sent the new case number Crissy gave him.
“How?” Crissy frowned. “I just found out I have no mother.”
He put his arms around her and held on. “On the bright side, there’s a good possibility that Simon isn’t your father.”
She sighed. “I think I need to make a trip up north.”
“Can’t you call him?” Brock asked.
Crissy leaned back and looked at him with a shocked look on her face. “My father doesn’t have one of those tracking devices you put in your pocket. After all, the government listens to everything you say and do,” she said in a deep voice, no doubt mimicking her father’s tone.
