He had defended Carl Lee's brother in a murder case a few years ago. The deputy continued to answer Jake's questions about the girl's condition and when the preliminary trial was set for and anything else he wanted to know. Then the deputy asked Jake a couple of questions about the sentences. If the girl dies, the two rapists will be looking at capital murder, with a bond request completely irrelevant. If she doesn't die, they could be charged with rape, aggravated assault and kidnapping. The maximum time for rape is life, twenty years for kidnapping and twenty years for assault. They could be paroled, however, after three years for the kidnapping, three years for the assault and seven years for the rape. Thirteen years, if convicted of all three, was nothing compared to what the two should be locked up for.
Jake finishes his breakfast and leaves the Coffee Shop, heading for his office. The building his office was in was built by the Wilbanks family back in the 1890s when they owned Ford County. The family had started practicing law there from the day it was built until 1979, the year of disbarment. This is when Jake began to practice there. He had a secretary, Ethel Twitty, who had worked in the building for years before Jake came around. Jake started working for Lucien Wilbanks in 1978, fresh out of law school. .
Lucien was the youngest son in the Wilbanks family and the only son of his generation. this left him the whole business when his father and grandfather were killed in a plane crash. After Lucien had his license to practice law disbarred, Jake took over. .
Jake was alone at the office from seven o"clock until Ethel arrived at eight-thirty. .
When she came in that morning, there was a Mrs. Earnestine Willard to see him. Without an appointment, he sent her away, not realizing it was Pete Willard's mother to hire him to defend her son in the rape trial. Across the street at the Ford County jail, Pete Willard.