Chapter 26

Monday, June 28, 2010

The room was sprayed with glass, blood, skull fragments, and brains. Jake felt something strike him painfully in the cheek, just below his right eye. A squishy mass hit him square in the face. Caldwell fell onto the conference table without the top part of his head.

The court reporter screamed, loud and long. One of the lawyers vomited. Jake was buffeted by the shock and fear of all the people present. It took him several seconds to compose himself and filter out the chaos of the other minds. He spat something chewy onto the table. It was cerebrum, he noted numbly. The walls and the table and most of the lawyers were spattered with pieces of Caldwell.

Staffers crowded in the door. Jerry pointed to his secretary.

“Leah, call Judge Thompson now. Tell him it’s an emergency. We’ll be there in his chambers in five minutes.” Then Jerry pointed at Sidney Vincent. “To the judge. Right fucking now. Your client has gone too far this time.”

Vincent looked at Jerry, his face still registering shock.

“We should wait for the police.”

“There’s plenty of time to talk to the police later. Caldwell’s not getting any deader. Either you come with me voluntarily or I’m going to drag you there by the scruff of your pompous neck.”

Vincent was starting to think like a lawyer again. He decided his client’s interests would not be best served by talking to the judge. He was about to object when Jake took control of him.

Jake stood and leaned over the conference table toward Vincent. “Go with him, now,” Jake said quietly. “You will otherwise represent your client as you normally would.”

He nodded, stood, and started out the door.

“Jake, would you attend me?” Jerry asked.

“I’m right behind you,” he said.

Jake looked at Caldwell. He had never seen a dead body. He had never been responsible for a person’s death. Maybe not as responsible as Cox or the shooter, but Caldwell had only been in this room to meet his end because of Jake.

But he didn’t feel guilty. Not even particularly regretful. Humanity wasn’t out much with Caldwell dead. The only problem, as far as Jake was concerned, was that without his testimony, the burden now fell on Nina. It had just become that much more important to protect her. And that much harder, too.

Jake hurried after Jerry, reaching him at the elevator. They were a mess. Blood spots covered them from their heads halfway down their torsos. Little chunks of brains stuck to them. They got into the elevator to the horror of several people already inside.

What are you going to do, Jerry?

The only thing I can think of that will put you in the same room with Cox. Just hang close and help me any way you can.

The elevator opened and Jerry stalked out. Jake followed after him, as did Vincent, though reluctantly. Jerry’s cell phone rang.

Jerry, the judge is on the bench. His administrator is giving him a note saying that you’re on your way.

“Thanks, Leah.”

They walked the block to the courthouse and stalked through the lobby. People stared at all three as they passed. They climbed the stairs and Jerry led them into the courtroom.

Judge Thompson examined them as they approached the bar. He adjourned his current hearing for half an hour.

“Permission to approach, Judge.”

“Come on up here, Jerry. What the hell’s going on?”

“That crazy son of a bitch Cox has gone renegade. He just assassinated my star witness at his own deposition.”

“Your honor, he doesn’t know that,” Vincent said. “There is absolutely no evidence that Mr. Cox was responsible for that.”

“How about the bullet that narrowly missed the only living eyewitness to the accident on Friday? A few more inches and I’d have two dead witnesses.”

Jake saw that that was news to Vincent.

“That’s the first I’ve heard about a shooting involving another witness, Your Honor, but I doubt that there’s any more evidence tying Mr. Cox to that one than this one.”

I can give you the team that tailed us and took the shot, Jerry. They were hired by Cox’s new chief of staff.

“There’s evidence, Judge. I can show that a high-level Cox employee gave the order to shoot at Ms. Tamborg. I can maybe show Cox’s direct complicity if I can get either Cox or his new chief of staff on the witness stand.”

“So do you have a motion?”

“Judge, I move that Tommy Cox be found in criminal contempt of this court. I request an immediate setting for a contempt hearing. I ask the court to modify the existing order for Nina Tamborg’s deposition scheduled a week from today to provide improved security for my witness.”

“Jerry, I don’t know that I have the authority to find Cox in contempt in the absence of a written order and I don’t recall ordering him to refrain from killing your witnesses. It sounds crazy that there would need to be one, but I believe that is the current state of the law.”

“I’ll find the precedent, Judge, or I’ll make it. I can prove Cox’s involvement. He must be held accountable for the harm he has done to the ability of the court to hear this case and other cases. Witnesses who fear for their lives will no longer voluntarily participate, and the court will no longer be able to conduct trials.”

“I agree. The court orders a hearing on criminal contempt be held Thursday, July 1st at nine a.m. I order you to have your client present at the hearing, Mr. Vincent. I cannot order it but I direct you to have Cox’s new chief of staff present, as well. What’s his name?”

“Gordon Patterson, Your Honor.”

“Have Mr. Patterson here as well. Mr. Amos, draft an order for the hearing setting and another one for conducting your deposition. Mr. Vincent, tell Mr. Tommy fucking Cox that I don’t care who he is and how much power he has. There will be no more violence. Or if there is, he had better direct it at me because I’m going to make his life hell.”

The judge took a look at Jake.

“Tell me your name again, son.”

“Jake Fielding, Your Honor.”

“Jake, you should probably go get that cut looked at if you don’t want it to scar.”

Jake put his hand to his cheek and winced at the pain. It was still oozing. He could feel a track of congealed blood running down his face.

When they got back to the office building, they found the police had taken control of the crime scene. The officer manning the reception room took one look at them getting off the elevator and requested a detective. Jerry, Jake and Vincent were quickly separated.

Jake was put in his office with a policeman to watch over him. After fifteen minutes his cell phone rang. The Harrison’s phone number was on caller ID.

“No phone calls,” the policeman growled.

Jake ignored him and accepted the call.

“Oh, thank God,” Jan said. “We just heard that someone had been killed at Jerry’s office. It was on TV. Are you okay, Jake?”

“I’m fine, love. But Cox killed Ryan Caldwell. He’s the guy who was supposed to testify today.”

“When will you be back, Jake? I don’t want you running around out there where you could get hurt.”

“You’re right that I need to reevaluate our security. I’ll be by later. But it has to be in a way that doesn’t bring Cox’s attention to you. I’m waiting to talk to the police now.”

“Please, Jake, don’t take any chances. You’re not invulnerable to bullets.”

“I’ll try hard to be very careful. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Jake disconnected.

“I told you no calls,” the policeman said. “Now give me your phone.”

“Like hell. You saw what Tommy Cox has done already. There are people who need to be protected.”

Jake was dialing his home phone number when the police officer tried to grab it. Jake paralyzed him, pushing him back into his seat as he fell. He finished dialing home. Brenda answered.

“Change in plans, Brenda. You and the other servants are spending the week with us in New Mexico. Pack and be ready to leave in two hours. We’ll be taking two cars. Stay away from windows. Don’t answer the door.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll be home, shortly,”

“One thing, sir. You had a visitor today.”

“Me? Who was it?”

“He wouldn’t leave his name, sir. But he was very insistent that he wanted to talk to you. He asked for you by name. I let him look around the house so that he would know that you weren’t here, just as you said before you left on Friday.”

“You did fine. What did he look like?”

“Short. Red hair. Slender. Mid-thirties.”

“I don’t have a clue. And it’s a problem for some other time. Let everybody know the new orders.”

“Yes, sir.”

The visitor hadn’t behaved like one of Cox’s thugs. Jake would have to think about what it meant later.

Jake called Boris and told him what was going on. They talked about how to ensure that Jake and the servants could get back without being followed. With the more aggressive tails, Boris didn’t want Jake to drive. The flying idea was still a problem because the watchers could see where they were flying to.

“What if we avoid a nonstop flight? Then it will go to some other city first. Maybe Kansas City, or Memphis or St. Louis.”

“But if they’re waiting at that city, they can follow you to your next gate and see what your final destination is. If they know you’re flying into Springfield-Branson Regional Airport it wouldn’t take much of a leap to guess where we are.”

“I’ve always wanted to see the Anasazi ruins. What if we go ahead and drive to New Mexico. At the least, it will draw some of the resources away from the hunt for Nina.”

“Jake, are you trying to get me neutered? Because that’s what those women will do to me if I tell them you’re not coming back. Besides, it’s a bad idea because it puts you in more danger. Cox’s people may be getting desperate. They might go for you or one of us to increase their leverage over Nina.”

“Then I’m out of ideas.”

“Hold on. I’ve got a thought. I’ll call you back in a couple of minutes.”

Jake hung up. He unparalyzed the police officer who was, by this time, very confused and scared.

“What the fuck did you do to me?”

“Do to you? What do you mean?”

“I couldn’t move.”

“If you’re not feeling well, maybe you should take the day off.”

“I’m not sick, goddamn it.”

“Then I don’t have any more suggestions for you. But that doesn’t sound good to me.”

When Jake’s cell phone rang again the officer said, “No phone calls,” but he made no move to take Jake’s phone away.

“I think I’ve got something, Jake. When you want to come back, go to Alliance Airport. There’s a charter service there that will fly you and your servants here in a Queen Air. The only way Cox’s guys can find out where you’re going is from the Charter operator itself. Or the FAA air traffic control database but we can get the FAA to keep that information private.”

“Sounds pricey.”