CHAPTER 1

“If you want to get rich from crime, become a defense lawyer.”

Criminal defense attorney Joe Hennessy recognized the voice that called out to him. He hadn’t heard that long Southern drawl for many years, but he didn’t miss it. He stopped outside his office, turning on the sidewalk to face the man waiting for him.

“Bernard Palin,”

Hennessy said as he wiped the sweat from his brow. A storm brewed over Charleston, South Carolina, and the city was drenched in jungle-like humidity. “I don’t have time for you. Take your lies somewhere else.”

“I have a lot of cash, Joe,”

Bernard Palin stated as he stepped away from his black sedan. Palin was a solid man with a round face, pale skin, and a double chin. His hair was gray and wispy, his eyelids drooped, and his nose was too large for his face. He wore a suit without a tie, with brown leather shoes, and a brown leather belt. “And I have enough cash to save your precious vineyard.”

Hennessy didn’t respond. For five years, he’d poured his heart and soul into saving his vineyard from the banks. During the weekdays, he worked as a defense lawyer in Charleston, trying to scrape together enough money to prevent a default on his loans.

“I thought that’d get your attention.”

Palin stepped forward, looking up at Hennessy’s towering figure. “You’re looking good, Joe. Even in your late fifties, you’re still fit and strong. What’s your secret?”

Again, Hennessy didn’t respond. He had no interest in conversation with his old college classmate.

“Sure, I get it.”

Palin waved his non-response away. “It’s been years since you and I sat down to chat. It’d be good to catch up as old friends.”

“We’re not friends. We never were.”

Palin shrugged. “That’s ok. I won’t take any offense to that. We’ll keep our relationship professional. And I like that attitude—don’t get too close to your clients.”

Palin pulled a tissue from his pocket and dabbed the sweat from his brow. “Let’s go somewhere quieter to speak. I have a sensitive matter I need you to work on.”

“I’ve heard about your case, and you already have a lawyer.”

“But he’s not a very good one. He says the only option I have is to take a deal and spend some time in prison. I don’t want to do that.”

Palin shrugged. “His attitude has made me realize I need the best lawyer on this case, and everyone around town is talking about you. And I’m willing to gamble a hundred-thousand-dollar retainer that says you can win my case.”

As a man full of integrity, Hennessy hated that money had such a rule over him.

Without another word, Hennessy turned toward his office, opened the door, and entered. He strode up the steps, two at a time, and marched through the reception area. His assistant Jacinta was already there, working early so she could leave in the afternoon to volunteer at her child’s school. Hennessy greeted Jacinta but didn’t introduce Palin to her. He led Palin into his separate office, placed his briefcase down, and indicated toward the seat in front of his hefty mahogany desk.

“You have five minutes,”

Hennessy said as he sat down. “Start talking.”

“This is a lovely office.”

Palin rolled his tongue around his mouth as he entered, looking over the bookshelf to the left of the room before he sat down. He leaned back in his chair, taking a long moment to get comfortable. “Life has a funny way of doing things, doesn’t it? Here we are again, decades after we last talked. Our lives have taken very different paths, Joe. I remember when we were in our twenties, studying at college, young men with lots of energy and bright hopes for the future. They were good times, weren’t they? The days when we could drink all night and still go to class the next day. Remember those times?”

Hennessy didn’t answer, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

“And I’ve heard about your vineyard Upstate. Outside Greenville, isn’t it?”

Palin continued. “And I’ve heard how a few bad seasons of droughts meant you had to return to Charleston to earn enough money to keep it. That’s tough, but still, it must’ve been nice to raise your daughters around the vineyard. That’s the dream. How’s your family? Wendy was your wife’s name, wasn’t it?”

“My family is none of your business.”

“And what was your boy’s name? The one who was murdered in a botched kidnapping. Luca, wasn’t it?”

Hennessy stood. The chair was pushed back behind him.

Palin flinched and raised his hands in surrender. “I didn’t mean any offense. Please sit down. I don’t want to fight with you.”

Hennessy glared at Palin and then eased himself back into the chair. “Get to the point.”

Palin dabbed his brow with a tissue again. “As you may have heard on the news, I’ve been hit with several felony fraud charges, but I was set up. My current lawyer is certain we won’t win at trial and wants me to take a deal for fifteen years in prison, but I’m too old for that nonsense. If I listened to him, I’d die behind bars. I don’t want that. That’s why I need your skills. I need you to keep me out of prison.”

“Why don’t you run? You’ve got the money.”

“I had the money, but it was frozen by the cops. If I ran, I’d be running with nothing, and after the life I’ve led, that’d be just as bad as prison. And then there’s the ankle monitor. They gave me this thing after I got bail, and it’s been a pain ever since. They put the thing on too tight, and it rubs against my skin all day and all night. Trust me, I’ve looked at ways to get rid of it, but nothing seems like it would work.”

Palin scratched his right ankle and then groaned. “After a tip-off, my accounting firm was the target of a fraud investigation, and they charged me with embezzling a million dollars from a charity foundation, but none of it is true. I was set up. Someone within my firm embezzled the money and made it look like I did it.”

“You’ve been corrupt your entire life, and it’s caught up with you. That’s karma.”

“I’ll admit that parts of my past haven’t been on the straight and narrow, but I didn’t do this crime. Isn’t that what the law is for? Justice shouldn’t apply when it’s convenient, it should apply at all times. I’m innocent of this crime and shouldn’t be convicted.”

Hennessy hated that Palin was right. “I’ve heard you’re involved with a motorcycle gang that runs drugs through the state.”

“My involvement with the Rebel Sons is legitimate. Several years ago, they invested in a construction company, Stanwell Construction, and I do their accounting. I don’t do anything outside the law for them.”

“The construction company is a front for money laundering.”

“You’re getting off-topic, Joe. Whoever set me up has got a vendetta against me. I’m well-connected, but someone went above my connections and set me up. Berkley was helping me, but someone went above him.”

“Clarence Berkley?”

“That’s right.”

A slight grin spread across Palin’s face. “Your old friend and a former judge in this county.”

“And a man who was disgraced from the bench after many allegations of sexual assault.”

“None of which were ever proven. But again, we’re getting off-topic,”

Palin said. “I have a lot of connections, and I’m sure I can get away from this case without prison time if I have the right lawyer. You’re that lawyer, Joe. I’ve heard about your cases. The whole of Charleston has been talking about your clients. We’ve all seen you on the news. I need you in my corner.”

“I don’t trust that you’d pay me. You have a reputation for not paying your debts.”

“That’s why I’ll transfer the hundred-thousand-dollar retainer as soon as you sign on. And it gets better—if you keep me out of prison, I’ll pay you a two hundred-and-fifty-thousand-dollar bonus. That’s enough to ride off into the sunset and retire to your vineyard Upstate.”

“You mentioned your accounts have been frozen. You don’t have the money to pay the retainer.”

“Don’t worry about the cash. I have connections that will help me out. I’ll have the retainer in your bank account by the end of the week.”

When Hennessy didn’t respond, Palin stood and began buttoning his jacket. “Good. I’m glad we’ve got a deal. I’ll transfer half now, and when the money hits your bank account, we can go to the judge and tell them I’ve changed lawyers. Then I’ll transfer you the other half, and you can start working on keeping me out of prison.”

Palin gave Hennessy a sly wink before leaving the office.

Hennessy sat frozen, staring at the open office door. Defending Palin would mean trouble—the kind that had a way of sticking around long after the case was finalized. But then there was the vineyard, the loan, and the memory of his son etched into every vine.

As he leaned back in his chair, the leather creaking under the strain, a single thought troubled him: how much was he willing to risk to save the vineyard?