Read Merciless for Free Online Page A

great promise of a talent that could be developed. She needed to find him an art teacher if he continued to have interest in the subject.
    But that would cost money and she had nothing left over at the end of the week. She sighed. At least she had Markie, she reminded herself. The rest was just superfluous.

3
    The public defender, Harris, was trying to get his client a job. It wasn’t really his concern, but the young man in question was just twenty years old and already had a wife and a small child. He’d been prosecuted on a bank robbery charge, which put him in the crosshairs of the FBI. He was arrested, charged, jailed, prosecuted and convicted. Now he was out on parole for good behavior after some spectacular legal footwork by this attorney. It had been one of Jon’s cases.
    â€œHe got drunk one night with some friends, who knocked over a branch bank when it opened early one morning,” Harris said. He toyed with his napkin in the restaurant where he’d invited Jon Blackhawk for dinner. “He drew five to ten, even though he was asleep in the backseat the whole time.”
    â€œRough,” Jon said.
    â€œIt’s my first real case,” the younger man said. “I want to do a good job.” He glowered. “Substance abuse is responsible for so many problems in our society.”
    â€œThey did try to ban alcohol once,” Jon remarked.
    Harris chuckled. “Yes, with interesting results. The only people who got rich during Prohibition were the gangsters.”
    â€œThat’s usually what happens when you declare something illegal. Is it a first offense for your client?”
    Harris nodded. “He taught Sunday School, actually.”
    â€œI know a minister who was involved in a murder,” Jon said, tongue-in-cheek.
    Harris laughed. “I know what you mean. But this kid was straight from the time he was old enough to walk. I talked to every relative he had and several friends, not to mention educators who taught him, vouched for him.”
    â€œThat’s a lot of legwork.”
    â€œYes, it is, and I did it on my own time. I believe in this kid. I want to help him. If I can get him a job, and make him understand that he has to stay away from his so-called friends, who are also out on parole, he might have a chance. He’s got a three-year-old kid,” he added heavily. “And a sweet young wife who adores him.”
    â€œSad case.” Jon was noncommittal. He’d heard this story so many times it was grating. It usually ended badly. But he wasn’t going to tell this naive but passionate new attorney that. Ideals should be worth something.
    â€œThe boy lives in Jacobsville. I thought, since yourbrother worked in Jacobsville with Cash Grier he might be willing to talk to the local parole officer and put in a good word for him, mention the bad crowd that he got in with and see if there’s some way he can be kept away from it,” the public defender said hopefully. “A good talking-to at the outset of his parole might do some good.”
    Jon laughed. “It might at that. Okay. I’ll ask him.”
    Harris brightened like a lightbulb turning on. “Thanks! I owe you one.”
    â€œNone of us in law enforcement want to see a man fail for one mistake. However,” he added solemnly, “if he steps out of line again, you’ll be talking to a brick wall if you ask for help.”
    â€œI know that.”
    Jon smiled. He’d talk to Mac. But he knew how this was going to go down, all the same.
    â€œThe guy’s a born loser,” Mac said predictably when Jon phoned him. “If he’s stupid enough to be led into crime, he’ll stay there. He’s a follower with no sense of judgment about other people.”
    â€œI don’t doubt it. But I promised Harris I’d ask you to intervene. If the kid can be kept away from his old associates, it might help. You can say no. It’s not my