Chapter 1: Fallout

June 20, 1987, Milford, Ohio

"Edward Krajick, you're under arrest for murder!"

"What the fuck?" I said aloud.

"Sir, step away from him, please," the Sheriff said.

I looked at the Sheriff dumbfounded.

"Steve, come over here, now!" Pete barked in his 'Law Enforcement' voice.

I took a few steps away from Ed and towards Pete. The Deputy Sheriff put handcuffs on Ed and one of the Milford Police officers read him his Miranda rights.

"Ed, don't say a word," Karl said. "Officers, may I see your arrest warrant, please?"

"What business is it of yours, Commander?" the Deputy asked, seeing the rank insignia on Karl's white dress uniform.

"I'm an attorney with the Judge Advocate General Corps, admitted to the Federal District Court for Northern Illinois, as well as the Bar of the States of Illinois and Wisconsin."

"This is Ohio, Commander."

"True, but he is entitled to counsel, and I want to be able to advise his local attorney. May I see the warrant, please?"

The Deputy handed over two pieces of tri-folded paper to Karl, who unfolded them. He scanned them carefully and handed them back to the Deputy.

"It's all in order," he said. "Ed, you have to go with them, and they can search you and your car. Keep your mouth shut until you talk to a lawyer. That will probably be on Monday. One of us will talk to your parents and arrange it."

"I need to search your car, Mr. Krajick. Do you have the keys?"

"In my right front pocket," Ed answered nervously.

The Deputy reached in and took the keys, and then the Milford police officers patted Ed down. The Deputy went over to Ed's car, opened the trunk.

A moment later, he called out, "Found it!"

"OK. We'll call for an evidence technician and a tow truck," the Sheriff said.

"Oh, shit," I breathed. "Bethany!"

"Go tell her Steve," Pete said. "Mr. Adams, would you talk to Ed's parents?"

"Yes, of course," my dad said. "Sheriff, is he going to the county lockup or the village jail?"

"The county lockup, at least for now," the Sheriff answered.

I turned and quickly walked back into the building. Bethany and Nick were just about to cut the cake, and I didn't want to ruin that. Only the guys who were outside knew, so I felt I could wait. I saw my dad come in and pull Harry Krajick aside. Harry recoiled from the hushed conversation and hurried outside with my dad. After Bethany and Nick cut the cake, they stepped aside to let it be served, I went over to them and asked to talk to them privately.

"What's up?" Nick asked.

"Just come with me to the room you guys were in before," I said. "It's extremely important."

They followed me, and Bethany had a look that was a mix of curiosity and concern. We got to the room, and I closed the door. I didn't feel that I could mince words, so I just told them straight out.

"Bethany," I said, trying to keep my voice calm, "I don't know how to say this any way except bluntly — the Sheriff just arrested your brother on a murder charge."

"What?!" she shrieked and collapsed against Nick.

"Steve?" Nick said, asking a thousand questions with that one word.

"All I know is they had a valid warrant. Karl looked at it and said that Ed had to go with the Sheriff. They're taking Ed to the county lockup. There's nothing you can do right now," I said.

"I need to see him!" Bethany wailed.

"Bethany, they've already taken him away," I said. "And I know this may be hard to hear, but you need to stay at your wedding party, AND you need to go on your honeymoon."

"No, I can't!" she protested frantically.

"Bethany, listen to me," I said gently but firmly. "You can't do anything for Ed right now. Neither can Nick. He needs an attorney here, in Ohio, licensed to practice here in Ohio. It'll take some time to sort it out. Please go on your honeymoon."

"Steve, let me talk to her, please," Nick said firmly.

In Nick's voice, I heard Jason telling me that Stephie was his girl. And now Bethany was Nick's.

"Of course," I said. "My dad talked to Bethany's parents. I'll be outside if you need me."

I left the room, closing the door behind me, and went back outside. I saw Harry and Nora getting into their car, and walked over to my dad.

"They're heading to the Clermont County Jail. I tried to talk them out of it, because they won't be able to see Ed at least until tomorrow, and probably not until he's arraigned. How is Bethany?"

"In shock. I left her with Nick in a private room. He's the one to take care of her now."

"Yes, he is," my dad agreed.

"I did encourage her to go on her honeymoon, but I'm afraid that she won't."

"That's up to her and Nick, Son. Let them work it out."

"Yes, Dad."

"Do you have ANY idea at all what this is about?"

I had speculation, but I didn't know for sure. Given what Stacey had said about Anthony, it wouldn't surprise me if he'd dragged Ed back in, and given what he'd asked me, it probably had involved a firearm. Don Joseph had reprimanded Ed for brandishing the gun and had kicked him out. That could have affected Ed in a way that might lead to something like this. But I didn't know. It could have been something else.

"No. I haven't talked to Ed in quite some time, and Stephanie hasn't seen him for a few months, at least. Maybe even over a year. She and Jorge have been dating fairly seriously, though there seems to be some issue between them right now. But Stephanie and Ed don't talk at all, as far as I'm aware."

"Well, all we can do now is wait to see what the police have on him. I was able to convince the Sheriff not to draw his service revolver, because I knew that Ed would come out here voluntarily with you."

"I'm glad we were outside. That would have been really ugly if they had gone inside and arrested him."

"That's what they were planning. It was lucky that I know the Sheriff."

"I'm going to go talk to my friends," I said.

"OK, Son. I'll see what I can find out on Monday from the Sheriff."

"Thanks, Dad."

I walked back over to where Pete, Karl, and the rest of the guys were standing.

"How's Bethany?" Kurt asked.

"In shock, I think," I replied. "I'm afraid that she won't want to go on her honeymoon."

"It's tough," Karl said. "If she stays, there really isn't anything she can do. If she goes, she's going to feel guilty that she didn't stay. Howard, you're Nick's best friend — why don't you find Kathy Jaeger and see if the two of you can talk to Nick and Bethany?"

"Good idea," Howard said, turning to head back in.

"Does anyone have ANY clue what this is about?" Karl asked after Howard had left.

"Not me," I said. "I haven't talked to Ed since Thanksgiving of '85, and the last time I saw him was at my wedding, three weeks later. That may well have been the last time my sister saw him. Let me get her."

I went inside and found my sister.

"Where's Ed?" she asked.

"Come outside with me, Squirt," I said.

"What's up?" she asked, suddenly curious.

I grabbed her hand and led her outside to where the guys were standing. I was purposefully vague to see if I could draw anything out.

"Ed was arrested," I said. "Do you have any idea what he might have done?"

"Arrested?! For what? The last time I saw him was for a few minutes at your wedding. He was pretty upset about what happened at Thanksgiving, if you remember."

"I do," I nodded. "The Sheriff arrested him for murder."

"What?!" she shrieked. "Ed? Murder? No way!"

"Well, that's unanimous then," Lieutenant Park, whose first name I couldn't remember, said. "The kid is going to need a very good lawyer."

"I'll call my friend Ben van Hoek," I said. "It's early enough that he'll likely still be up."

I went inside and found the payphone, dropped a quarter into the slot, and dialed the van Hoeks' number.

"Hello?" Becky answered.

"Hi, Becky, it's Steve. May I speak to your dad? It's urgent."

"Sure. Where are you?"

"Milford, for Bethany's wedding. I'm sorry, but it was a quick trip, so I wasn't going to be able to see you. I do need to speak to your dad right away, please."

"One minute, I'll get him."

I heard her call her dad to the phone and a few seconds later, I heard an extension click onto the line.

"Steve? It's Ben. What's the problem?"

"My friend Ed, who is Bethany's brother, was arrested tonight and is being charged with murder. They took him to the Clermont County jail."

"Did you see the warrant? Who arrested him?"

"It was the Clermont County Sheriff and Milford Police. I didn't see the warrant, but my friend, Lieutenant Commander Schumacher, did. He's a Navy lawyer who's not licensed to practice in Ohio."

"Is he there? May I speak to him, please," Ben said.

"One sec," I replied.

I let the phone hang down, hoping nobody would hang it up, and hurried outside to get Karl. I explained what I needed, and he came back inside with me. I only heard his side of the conversation, but it did shed a little bit of light. The alleged murder had happened in Cincinnati earlier in June, and the warrant had been issued by Hamilton County. They'd called the Sheriff and the Milford Police to arrest Ed.

Karl handed me the phone.

"Steve," Ben said, "I'm not a criminal defense lawyer, and that's what your friend needs. Most likely, he'll be transferred to Hamilton County on Monday, and be arraigned on Tuesday morning. I have a friend who specializes in felony defense. I'll call him tonight. Who should I put him in touch with?"

I thought for a minute.

"My dad," I said. "He'll be able to talk to Harry and Nora Krajick, and he's friends with the Clermont County Sheriff, so he'll probably be able to find out when the transfer will happen and where Ed will go."

"OK. Does your dad still have your old number?"

"No, they have a new one. Do you have some paper?"

He did, and I gave him my parents' new number, thanked him, and hung up.

Karl and I walked back outside to find my dad.

"Dad, I talked to Ben van Hoek. He's going to call a friend of his who handles felony cases, and have him call you. I figured that was best, because I have no idea what Harry and Nora will do. I figured you might also be able to find out when Ed will be moved to Hamilton County, given that's who swore out the warrant."

"I'll do what I can," he said.

"Mr. Adams," Karl said. "The most important thing to find out is where Ed will be held so the attorney can get to him as quickly as possible."

"Yes, Commander," my dad said, suddenly sounding like the Chief Petty Officer that he had been.

"Did you serve?" Karl asked.

"World War II. Destroyers. I left the service as a CPO."

"Thank you, Chief Adams!"

"I hope you don't mind that I don't salute," my dad chuckled. "I'm not in uniform and I haven't saluted anyone in over forty years! And that's the first time I've been called 'Chief' in almost as long."

Karl nodded, "I knew Steve had to have come from a Navy family. It was the only thing that made sense."

We all went back inside, and it was clear that word was spreading, since nobody was dancing and everyone was standing in small groups speaking in hushed tones. I didn't see Bethany and Nick, so I assumed they were in their private room. I wanted to check, but it wasn't my place. Pete and Karl went to talk to Nick's parents, and I went to be with my wives.

"Steve, there's a rumor that Ed was arrested for murder!" Kara said.

"He was. I have no idea what's going on beyond that. Bethany's obviously upset, and her parents took off for Batavia."

"Is that where the Sheriff's jail is?" Jessica asked.

"And the courts. But the warrant was from Hamilton County, so they'll send him there at some point. Karl thinks it will be Monday morning. I called Becky's dad and asked if he could help. He's going to refer a criminal defense lawyer to the Krajicks."

"This is unbelievable!" Jennifer said. "Poor Bethany! What a way to ruin a wedding!"

"At least it happened outside, after the wedding was mostly over, and not in front of all the guests. We have my dad to thank for that. He had me come inside and ask Ed to come out. It's a good thing that my dad is friends with the Sheriff, because otherwise they'd have come in with guns drawn."

"What are Nick and Bethany going to do?" Elyse asked.

"I don't know. Howard and Kathy are in with them. I let Bethany and Nick know what happened, and then Karl suggested that it was best if Nick's best friend and Bethany's best female friend talked to them."

As if on cue, Kurt walked over to where we were sitting.

"Is the rumor true?" he asked.

"It is," I said. "Is your wife still in with Bethany and Nick?"

"Yes. Her mom has the baby. What a complete mess!"

"That's for sure," I said.

June 21, 1987, Colerain Township, Ohio

Joyce arrived at Donna Grossi's guest house just after we'd finished breakfast. She'd been at the wedding, but I couldn't ask her the question I needed to ask then. When she arrived at the house, I took her aside.

"Do you know if Ed has been involved with Anthony and Connie?" I asked.

"I try to stay out of that as much as possible," she said. "The less I know, the better. But Grandfather broke his relationship with Ed years ago."

"I'm aware of that. But a couple of weeks ago, I ran into someone who used to work for one of the houses. She told me that she ran away to Chicago because Anthony had tracked her down and tried to blackmail her back into working for him. I wonder if he tracked down Ed, too."

"It's possible," Joyce sighed. "And Ed was a hothead to start with, which is why Grandfather sidelined him and had Andreas take back the pistol."

"I can't imagine any other plausible scenario. If the victim had been Josh Benton, Bethany's rapist, then I might believe it, but he's been dead for a couple of years now, and was killed in prison. Of course, then it might be me, instead of Ed, who was sitting in jail right now."

"Ed's going to need a very good lawyer," Joyce said. "It'll be telling if one of Grandfather's lawyers shows up to defend Ed. That'll tell you everything you need to know."

"I called Ben van Hoek — Becky's dad — to get a referral. He was going to talk to one of his friends who handles this kind of thing. Ben does corporate and tax law."

"Here's the other question. Do you think Ed can hold «omertà»?" she asked.

"I have no idea."

"If he doesn't, and Antony IS involved, Ed will be dead. Anthony is just stupid enough to give an order like that himself, or to tell Ed it was OK to use the gun if he needed to. He doesn't understand the concept of buffers."

I chuckled, "The family had a lot of buffers!"

"Godfather 2" Joyce smirked.

"Of course," I said, then sighed. "If Ed tries to go the route of Frankie Five Angels, he's going to end up the same way."

"No. My brother-in-law would have him hit; he wouldn't wait for Ed to slit his wrists in the bathtub."

"I thought Cincinnati was all business!"

"It was until my grandfather made the only big mistake he ever made in his life — handing the reins over to Anthony."

"Did he have a choice, really? It's like in the original Godfather, where things go really bad when hot-headed Sonny takes over. But Don Corleone didn't really have a choice at that point, with Michael hiding in Sicily and Fredo being, well, Fredo. Only after Sonny died could Michael return and become Don."

Chapter 2 »