Page 58 of Take the Bait

“I have no excuse for his behavior, Your Honor.”

The judge opened Alex’s case file. “This guy went to college at fourteen. He’s a trauma surgeon. Productive member of society until the night of his arrest. No priors. No substance abuse. No history of violent or erratic behavior.”

His piercing gaze lifted from the file to skewer Dani. “Do your job, counselor. Give me a reason not to toss him in jail and throw away the key.”

She opened her mouth to answer but was at a loss as to what to say. Alex’s instructions to mess up the case rang in her head. Desire to save Alex from himself warred with her obligation to serve her client’s best interest.

Cam saved her, though, by piping up with, “Your Honor, if you don’t give this guy what he wants and send him to jail, I’m convinced he’ll continue to lash out and even harm others.”

The judge looked over at her. “Comments?”

She sighed. “It’s my job to defend him to the best of my ability. But from the start, he’s made his desire to go to jail crystal clear. He even went so far as to order me to do a bad job of defending him.”

That made the judge lean back with a harrumph.

Dani continued earnestly, “The question, then, is whether my obligation is do my best to get the case dismissed or to accede to my client’s clearly stated wishes. Furthermore, I struggle with the question of whether the best way to help him is to let him go to jail. I could find no precedent for it in this court.”

The judge pursed his lips and was silent a long time, staring at the wall of leather bound law books lining the wall beside his desk.

At length, he exhaled long and slow. “You pose an interesting question. I, too, can come up with no applicable precedent or case law.”

That was a relief. She would’ve felt really stupid if a similar case existed, where a client was willing to do anything to go to jail, and neither she nor Zoey had found it.

Judge Rasmussen continued, “Right now, he’s charged with DUI, evading arrest, reckless driving, reckless endangerment, and a few lesser charges. Which gives me a wide range of possible sentences, assuming young Mr. Townsend doesn’t mess up prosecuting the case and a jury finds him guilty.”

Dani tensed at the implication that Cam might make a mistake big enough to get the case dismissed. For his part, Cam frowned and opened his mouth to speak, but the judge waved him to silence.

Rasmussen said, “I have no reason to believe you’d screw up, Townsend. You’ve never been remotely less than competent in my courtroom.”

She relaxed as Cam subsided in his seat, too.

Rasmussen pinned her with another sharp stare, asking abruptly, “How long does your client want to go to jail for?”

“I don’t know, Your Honor.” Sheesh. It had never occurred to her to ask Alex that outright.

“Go ask him.”

She blinked, startled. The judge was serious.

Well, okay, then.

She rose to her feet and went back out to the courtroom, where the bailiffs still eyed Alex with deep wariness. She leaned down and whispered to him, “How long do you want to go to jail for?”

“Ten to twelve years is the maximum for the charges I currently face, correct?”

“Yes. With possibility of parole in four.”

Alex nodded slowly, his gaze calculating. Eventually, he said, “If the judge will guarantee me that sentence, I’m willing to forego a trial and plead guilty to whatever he cares to charge me with.”

This was crazy.

“You’re sure? Four years is a long time. Let alone twelve years if you misbehave or attack more inmates and have to serve out your full sentence.”

“Four years should be sufficient.”

“For what?”

“Sorry. If I told you that, I would put you in danger. Best you know nothing.”

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