“According to my client, the paperwork has been finalized, and the only holdup is this charge. Hoshima, General. I know they aren’t Toyota or Honda, but they are an up-and-comer in the automobile industry, and their plant will bring almost a thousand jobs to Giles County. Think about that for a second, would you? A thousand jobs.”

“There isn’t a power and influence exception to rape, Lou, and this isn’t just a statutory charge. Your client used force and intimidation to have sex with the victim against her will.”

“Her word against his.”

“I’ll take hers, and I believe a jury will too.”

Lou held his mouth open, but no words came out.

“Are we done, Lou? There are a few others here who want to talk with me.”

Lou Horn finally closed his mouth and licked his lips. “You’re making a huge mistake.”

Helen squinted at him. “I’m doing my job.”

“If you convict Michael Zannick of rape, you won’t have your job come November.” He stepped closer to her. “The people of this town are tired of you and your strong-arm tactics, General. Pulaski is dying on the vine and needs the energy that an automobile plant would bring. Sack Glover understands that. Why can’t you?”

Helen bristled at the mention of her opponent’s name in the upcoming election. “All that man understands is taking care of those who are financing his campaign.” She paused. “Like your client.”

Lou smirked. “The parole board last Friday found him pretty persuasive.” He leaned forward and spoke in a lower voice. “You put Ennis Petrie in prison for being part of a race crime that garnered national headlines. And yet, at the hearing, despite how hard you argued that Ennis didn’t deserve parole and how you shamed the board at even considering the suggestion, they gave it to him anyway.”

Helen set her jaw and steeled herself. She would remain calm. “You and I both know that if Bo Haynes had been there, the outcome would’ve been different.”

“Woulda, shoulda, coulda,” Lou snapped. “Let’s suppose Bocephus Haynes had shown his face. I doubt the board would have thought much of what a twice-suspended lawyer with a criminal record felt about anything. All I know is that Ennis Petrie, former sheriff of this county, charter member of the Tennessee Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and one of the ten men in 1966 who lynched Bo’s father, or, to be technically correct, stepfather . . . is walking the streets of Pulaski again. And you want to know why? Because the board followed the hearing officer’s recommendation and not your own.” Now it was Lou who paused. “Remind me who the hearing officer was again, General?”