The Innocence Game Read Online Free

like it was moving. The already quiet bar had turned into a morgue.
    “Let him up,” I said. Havens glanced at me, then released his grip. Brennan’s pals rushed in. The football player hung limp in their arms.
    “Sit him up straight,” Havens said. They did. Havens punched Brennan once in the back, between the shoulder blades. He coughed and his eyes flickered open.
    “Get him out of here,” Havens said. No one had to be told twice. Havens slid back into the booth. I looked around for Sarah.
    “She left,” Havens said. “Probably too embarrassed.”
    I took a seat across from him. We were quiet for another minute.
    “Where did you learn all that?” I said.
    “All what?”
    “Putting a guy out like that?”
    Havens shrugged. There was a long scratch and fresh blood on his forearm, but he didn’t seem to notice.
    “You lift weights?” I said.
    “I used to long line tuna out of Chatham and Gloucester.”
    “New England?”
    “I fished full-time for three years. Worked Georges Banks a week, month, at a time. Slept on the boat. Snow, ice. All kinds of seas. Hauling heavy lines and nets.” Havens moved his hands to cup his pint. “Don’t need weights when you’re doing that.”
    “Huh.”
    We fell silent again. I could hear some talk at the bar, but everyone seemed to be giving us a wide berth. Havens began to pull papers out of his backpack. “You want to take a look at what I’ve got on the case?”
    “Why not?”
    He nodded like that was the only sensible answer. “I heard you’re one of the stars up here.”
    “Up where?” I said.
    Havens raised his chin. “Here.”
    “I don’t have time for that stuff.”
    “What stuff?”
    “The Chicago-Northwestern stuff. Our school’s better. More rigorous. Academically pure. All that garbage.”
    “You think that’s what goes on in Hyde Park?”
    “It goes on in Evanston. And it’s what I’m hearing from you. Listen, I know you’re a smart guy. Now, I know you’re a badass, too. Good for you. Great for you. I probably couldn’t beat myself up. But I’m smart. Never been a problem. Sarah’s no dummy either.”
    “You sure about that?”
    “Positive. So why don’t we cut the bullshit and work together. You’re a goddamn lawyer on top of everything else. Let’s just get into the cases. Your case, Z’s case, any case. Pick one out and see what we can dig up.”
    “Is Gold okay with that?” Havens said.
    “I don’t know Sarah that well, but I think she’s a pretty straight shooter.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “Fucked if I know. Just thought it sounded good.”
    Havens cracked a smile that seemed genuine enough and lifted his mostly empty glass. “You got a thing for her.”
    “Hardly.”
    “Been like that since when? Sophomore year?”
    “Fuck you.”
    Havens widened his eyes and opened his mouth to laugh. His teeth, of course, were white and straight. “Jesus Christ, Joyce. Lighten up.”
    Jake Havens could kick the shit out of me in any one of a half-dozen ways, but I didn’t care. I never cared. And that had gotten me a nice ass kicking more times than I cared to count.
    “Can’t blame you,” he continued. “We all got one, right? Maybe more than one. Besides, she’s pretty hot.”
    “Yeah, Sarah’s hot.”
    “But it’s her world and you’re just in it?”
    “Something like that.”
    “ ‘Something like that.’ Exactly like that. Welcome to the club, my friend. I’m gonna get another one. You?”
    “Thanks.”
    Havens headed to the bar.
    “Hey,” I said.
    Havens turned, empty pint glasses in both hands.
    “You really think Harrison’s innocent?”
    Havens slipped back into the booth. “Forget the letter. You saw the shirt. If that’s from the victim, it should be easy to prove. And if it
is
real…”
    “Then it was sent by the killer.”
    “Not necessarily.”
    I tilted my head and frowned. “That’s what you told Z.”
    “But that’s not the only possibility, is it? If that shirt was part of