“Good to see you again, Jax. I’m sorry it’s not under better circumstances.” Gil Holmann sat his briefcase down on the table.

“You can say that again.”

“Well, after looking over the file I have to admit this doesn’t look good. They have DNA evidence from the crime scene. Can you tell me how that might have happened?”

Jax shrugged helplessly. How could he expect Gil to get him out of this when his only defense was he couldn’t remember? That he’d been having blackouts?

“I wish I knew.”

Gil furrowed his brow as he leaned closer.

“You know anything you tell me is under attorney-client privilege, right?”

“Yes, but what I’m telling you is that I don’t know.”

Gil sighed tapping his pen on the table.

“Jax, I’m considered by many the best defense attorney in the city, hell, maybe even the whole state. It’s a reputation I’m proud of and I must admit well earned; however, even the best attorney can’t defend you if you don’t give me anything to work with.”

Jax spread his hands helplessly.

“Okay, let’s break this down a different way. You’re not being charged with the murders of all the women, but if they can prove you’re guilty of one they may as well convict you of all fourteen. The woman you’re accused of killing, Stephanie Waters-you knew her, correct?”

“Yes.”

“How did you know her?” Gil began taking notes.

“My publicist, Jessica set us up for a date. It was a publicity stunt for my last book, Disturbed.”

“And did you know her or know of her prior to that?”

“No.”

“So, tell me about this date. Where did it take place? What did you do? Did you have any sexual contact at all with her?”

Jax cleared his throat. He thought long and hard. He recalled their date vividly, but after that everything in his mind was drowned in a thick fog.

“We met at The Dark Room downtown. It’s a nightclub.”

“I’m aware of it.”

“We both arrived separately around 9 pm.”

“What was your impression of her?”

“Stephanie was a model. I thought she was very attractive. Most men would.”

“What did you talk about? I need every detail you can think of about this date.”

“That was the thing. I didn’t find her company to be very interesting.”

“So to paraphrase, you thought she was hot, but stupid.”

Jax laughed a bit.

“Yes. Most of the women Jessica set me up with were not the type of women I’d normally pursue spending time with. They were beautiful, but not very interesting. I know it sounds terrible considering what happened to her, but I was only there for work, basically.”

Gil scribbled more notes.

“So, did anything at all happen that struck you as unusual during your time with her? Did she talk about jealous boyfriends or exes?”

Jax paused as he sipped his water.

“No, not that I recall.”

“You need to really think long and hard about this. A key part of my strategy is planting doubt in the jury’s mind. If there’s anyone else who may have wanted to hurt her that will help us tremendously.”

“Gil, during that time Jessica had me go out with a lot of different models. I assume you’re aware of what went on when I was writing Disturbed, right?”

“Of course. Chelsea Goldstein.” He shook his head.

“Chelsea was there as she was supposed to be present during all of my publicity dates. But what wasn’t planned was the way she followed my dates into the bathroom.”

“What did she do?”

“She asked them strange questions. Naturally, the women were shaken by her watching us and her bizarre questions.”

“What did she ask them?”

“She would follow whoever I was with into the bathroom and ask them something about who lies in the shadow of the pyramid or something. It was strange.”

“Did you ever find out what that meant?”

Jax shook his head.

“No, I just blew it off as her being crazy. You know what happened with her.”

Gil nodded having heard the story as it had dominated the media.

“What happened after the date? Did you go back to her place? Did she come to yours?”

“No. We had a few drinks. We danced a bit and we talked for a while. Around 1 AM, we decided to leave.”

“Are you sure you didn’t have any intimate contact with her? She was a beautiful woman.”

“Gil, maybe being faithful to someone isn’t your style, but I had a girlfriend I loved. She’s now my fiancé. I wasn’t about to cheat on her. Stephanie and I said goodbye at the club and that was it.”

“You never spoke to her again?”

“No.”

Gil finished his coffee and tossed his pen down.

“Well, I don’t know what to say. Somehow they have your DNA on a pair of her panties. If you didn’t have sex with her, then I don’t know how it got there.”

Jax slammed his fists down on the table. Gil jumped.

“I don’t know what to tell you. I didn’t fuck her! I’m being set up!”

Gil touched Jax’s arm.

“Calm down. I believe you. You may have been set up, but I have to be able to prove that. Who do you think would set you up?”

“I think it’s that bitch detective, Amira. I don’t know why, but I think she’s got it in for me.”

“Amira Faraday? She is a bitch, I’ll give you that, but I don’t know if she would go as far as to set you up for murder. What would be her possible motivation for that?”

“Like I said, I’m not sure. It’s just a feeling I have.”

“Jax, feelings aren’t facts. I can’t base a good argument on that. This is serious. I don’t know if you grasp how strong their case against you is. The jury loves DNA. They think it means you’re guilty as fuck. For me to overcome this evidence, I need an angle. You have to help me find one.”

“I thought that was what I was paying you for.”

“Of course, but I need your help. You’re in here for the duration. I’ve put a motion in for bail, but given the judge thinks you’re a flight risk I don’t know if we’ll get it.”

Jax drummed his hands on the table. This was fucking unreal.

“I’ll be back tomorrow. Use your time in here wisely. Think as hard as you can about any reason anyone would have to set you up or to hurt any of these women. I need something that I can prove or at least use to introduce doubt in the jury’s mind.” Gil packed up his briefcase and left.

As Jax was led back to his cell, he heard the door slam behind him with such finality he nearly cried.

What was he going to do now?

* * *

As soon as she opened the front door, Brooke collapsed in tears. What was she going to do? Poor Jax. How could anyone believe he’d kill anyone? He was the sweetest, kindest man she’d ever met. She didn’t know what to do. She felt completely powerless to stop what was happening.

Brooke scrambled to her feet and walked into the kitchen. Seeing Jax’s shirt flung over the barstool, she seized it and pressed it to her face. She grabbed a bottle of whiskey and poured herself a shot.

The whiskey burned as she swallowed it. How could this be happening? Jax wouldn’t hurt anyone. She thought of all the nightmares he’d been having.

Did that mean anything?

Jax did walk in his sleep. Maybe something happened he didn’t have any control over. Maybe there was something wrong with him and they didn’t know.

Blotting her eyes with the shirt, she remembered the way Amira looked at Jax. Her eyes reflected nothing but hatred for him.

Why would anyone hate Jax?

Brooke looked at pictures of her wedding dress. Their wedding was only a few months away.

Would Jax be home by then?

* * *

His eyes fluttered open as the bright fluorescent light flooded them. When Jax realized where he was his heart sank. The cell was freezing cold. Jax pulled the flimsy blanket over his body. The man below him continued snoring. Jax curled into a ball and put his arms over his ears.

“Breakfast!” The CO called out banging on the door.

His cellmate jumped up and pulled on his shirt.

“You better get up if you want to eat. They won’t hold it. Otherwise, you don’t get anything else to eat until lunch.”

Jax wasn’t hungry. He crawled off the top bunk and slipped on his shoes.

As they lined up for breakfast, Jax surveyed the other inmates. Many of them were intimidating heavily muscled and tattooed men. He took a tray and sat down at a table by himself. He barely looked up as three other men sat down beside him.

“What’s your story, man?” An older white man with a greying beard asked.

Jax opened his tray and grimaced as he glimpsed the runny substance which he guessed were supposed to be eggs.

“What do you mean?” Jax asked.

The man gulped his orange juice.

“What are you in for?” A younger man with a short crew cut filled in.

“Murder.” He answered. He figured by mentioning how severe his charges were that might offer him some protection.

“Wow. Who’d you kill?” A black man with heavily muscled arms covered in gang tattoos looked impressed.

“Some girl.” He mumbled. Jax tried swallowing the rubbery eggs. They tasted just like they looked.

“I get you. Your old lady?”

“No.”

“Murder, huh? Who did a pretty boy like you kill?” The guy with the crew cut sized him up.

Jax didn’t reply. He kept eating his rubbery eggs and sausage. The CO’s stood over the men eating with a watchful eye. His attention was drawn to another table where two black men were beginning to get into a heated argument. Their voices got louder and louder.

“Shit,” the crew cut guy next to Jax mumbled.

“What?” Jax asked sensing danger.

“Get ready to get up.” The older man said pushing his tray back.

Silently, Jax did as they advised. Something was about to go down.

Suddenly, the two men at the other jumped up and began striking each other. Shouts went up from the men as the two swung at each other. Jax gasped as he saw a flash of a metal blade as one drew a shank slicing the other’s throat.

Blood spurted everywhere as the guards rushed in.

“Break it up!” They screamed pushing inmates aside.

Immediately, they hit an alarm and all the inmates rushed back to their cells.

“Lockdown!”

Jax watched from the window in his cell door as medics came and rushed the injured man out of the pod.

“Oh man, oh man. This is gonna be bad.” His cellmate paced back and forth anxiously. Jax simply remained quiet. All he could think of was how out of place he was here.

How did this happen to him?