Free The Attorney by Steve Martini

voices. "We'll have to continue this later." But now she's not talking to me. "Catch the door on the way out. Thanks." Then she's back, mouth to the receiver. "Read me the press release."
    "I'm not going to get in an accident. I'm two blocks from the freeway at a light."
    "Where do you want to meet?" No whys, whats, or wherefores.
    Suddenly, I have her undivided attention. Threats to Susan's realm have a way of focusing her in ways that no argument can.
    "My office. In an hour. I've got to try to find Jonah. Can you get ahold of Harry? I'm not sure he's still in the office. You might try his apartment. Do you have the number?" She doesn't, so I give it to her over the phone.
    "You may want to consider bringing one of your investigators," I tell her.
    "Why?"
    "Because we may need help. We don't have much time." What I always wanted, a woman with her own private police force.
    "Let me think about that one," she says.
    "Your call," I tell her. "As I say, we don't have much time. See you in an ho." I don't wait for an answer but press the
    "End" button. Seconds later, I'm up to speed heading north on 1-5, trying to get above the traffic to a place where I can pull off.
    At this hour I'm guessing that Jonah is in one of two places-- what a man does with nothing but time on his hands and eighty mil in the bank: at his house up in Del Mar a good twenty minutes north, or at the docks with his boat. I'm hoping he hasn't disappeared out onto the bounding main chasing bonita or yellowtail.
    I take one of the off-ramps downtown, find a quiet street, and pull over to the curb. I check Jonah's home number in my Palm Pilot, dial and on the second ring it's answered.
    "Hello."
    "Mary?"
    "Yes"
    "This is Paul Madriani."
    "Have you found Amanda?"
    "Not yet. Is Jonah there?"
    "No, I haven't seen him this morning. When I got up he was gone."
    "Do you know where?"
    "Has something happened?"
    "I just need to talk to him. Do you know where he is?"
    "If I had to guess, I'd say he's probably at the boat." She gives me directions.
    "Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" she asks.
    "Nothing to worry about," I lie.
    "Is there a way to reach him there?"
    "Cell phone," she says. "But I think he left it on the nightstand this morning. Just a second." She checks and is back to the phone a couple of seconds later. "Yes. He must have forgotten it."
    "Listen, Mary, if Jonah comes back, if I don't catch him at the docks, tell him I need to meet with him. Tell him to call my office.
    I'll be there in an hour, and I'd like to see him then. It's important."
    "What's it about?"
    "I can't talk right now."
    "He has your number?"
    "Yes." Just in case, I give it to her again, along with the cell number in the car.
    "In one hour?" she says.
    "Yes. One more question. If he's out on the boat, is there any way to reach him?"
    "There's a radio. UHF or VHF. Something like that. But I don't know how to reach him or. it. Coast Guard probably could in an emergency." She waits for me to reply. When I don't: "Is it an emergency?"
    "No. Don't worry about it. Just give him the message if you see him." I say good-bye and press the "End" button again.
    Instead of heading back to the freeway I cut through town, down Market Street, then jog my way through the Gaslight District.
    On Broadway I hang a left and head toward the water, across the Santa Fe tracks and onto North Harbor Drive. I move at speed catching most of the lights along the waterfront, past the piers and the Navy Supply Center, and work my way toward the north end of the bay.
    Spanish Landing is situated on a long spit, part of the fill used to construct Harbor Island back in the sixties. It is separated from the harbor's main channel by a peninsula that is now crowded with hotels and restaurants. The taller of these loom into sight as I pass the Coast Guard Air Station. Less than a mile west I take the traffic circle and come out on Harbor Island Drive.
    To the landward side is a park popular with the jogging set. This