“And he was going to go to the police. Horace told me that Joe did file a complaint after I disappeared. I’d like you to negotiate with him. Get him to agree to drop his criminal complaint so I can put on my act without worrying about getting arrested. Then I can pay him back from the proceeds of my new show.”
Robin thought for a moment. “Fifteen hundred should cover my time. Where can I reach you?”
Chesterfield handed Robin the money and Horace Dobson’s business card. “I’m not at a fixed address right now, but you can contact me through Horace. And thank you. I can understand why you wouldn’t want to have me as a client.”
“I’m a lawyer, Robert. My job is helping people in trouble, not judging them.”
Chesterfield stood up.
“What about these people who are following you?” Robin asked. “Are you in danger?”
“I appreciate the concern, but I can take care of myself.”
There was a back door to the tavern, and Chesterfield disappeared through it. Robin was going to leave by the front door when she hesitated. She was fairly certain that someone had followed her, and she wasn’t certain that she’d lost them.
Robin turned around. When she opened the back door, she saw Chesterfield standing against the alley wall using a knife to hold two men at bay. One of his attackers looked like a nightclub bouncer. The other man was slender.
“Don’t be stupid, Bobby,” the slender man said. “That knife won’t protect you.”
“We’ll soon see, Rafael. I hope you brought a first aid kit with plenty of bandages.”
Robin pulled out her cell phone. “What’s going on here?” she shouted as she dialed 911.
Rafael turned toward Robin, and Chesterfield struck. Rafael looked at his stomach. Blood was streaming from a cut. “What the fuck!” he screamed as he slapped his hand against the wound.
The other man stepped forward, and Chesterfield danced away.
“I’ve just dialed 911!” Robin shouted.
“You should get Rafael to a hospital,” Chesterfield said to Rafael’s partner. “What will Auggie say if he bleeds out?”
Rafael doubled over and groaned, “Marco, let’s get out of here.”
Robin stepped back as Marco helped Rafael out of the alley. She watched them until they rounded a corner. When she turned back to talk to Chesterfield, he’d disappeared again.
“What’s your emergency?” the 911 operator asked.
Robin hesitated. Chesterfield and his assailants were gone. What would be accomplished by telling the police what had happened?
“Sorry. I misdialed,” she said as she ended the call.
Robin knew Rafael was wounded and was probably not following her, but she was spooked and she stayed on high alert during the walk back to Barrister, Berman & Lockwood. The first thing she did was go to Jeff’s office.
“I just saw Robert Chesterfield stab a man in an alley behind the Stumptown Tavern,” Robin told Jeff, who was sitting behind his desk, looking over a file.
“You what!?”
Robin dropped into a seat across from her investigator. “Chesterfield called and asked me to return his retainer. I told him I’d have it here tomorrow, but he said he didn’t want to come to the office, because some people were after him and might be staking it out. He asked me to bring the money to the tavern. Two men were waiting for him when he left.”
“How bad off was the guy Chesterfield stabbed?” Jeff asked when Robin finished telling him what had happened in the alley.
“Chesterfield seemed to know what he was doing, so I’m guessing it looked worse than it was. I think he just wanted to scare off his attackers.”
“Any idea who they were?”
“Chesterfield called one of the men Rafael, and the other man’s name is Marco. He also mentioned Auggie Montenegro, so I’m guessing they work for him collecting debts. Do you remember Montenegro? He was at the premiere at Chesterfield’s mansion. He owns a casino in Vegas. And he’s rumored to have mob connections.”
“They were probably leg breakers if Chesterfield felt he had to use a knife instead of his silver tongue.”