Chapter 7: Site Visit

Joe

"Jesus, Joe! What on earth were you thinking?" Albert Palliser blurted.

"Al, this is not about thinking. I told you," I returned defensively.

"Damn it! You're not a teenager. Grown-ups have some control."

"Well, then maybe I didn't want to be a grown-up. For once I'm not following the fucking rules. What? You wanna fire me?"

Al glowered at me. You see, he's my boss, and I just told him that I'd fallen for one of my parolees. He did not take too kindly to it. He took controlled breaths.

"I can't fire you! Delegate Mornington will visit our office on Friday, and guess who he wants to meet? You and your porn bimbo!"

Mistake! Bad mistake! I'm twenty years younger, five inches taller, and in a far better shape. Al's eyes bugged in fear when I stuck my nose into his face.

"I told you how I feel about her, didn't I? Her name is Dolores Jorgensen. Miss Jorgensen for you. Get that into your head! She's on a good path, too. I talked to Marcie, and I'll swap cases with her. And don't you even think of messing with Dolores! I covered for you more than once, remember?"

He nodded, blushing furiously. Al had a problem every so often. A drinking problem. He would go dry for four, six months, and then throw a binge. Whenever that had happened, I had covered for him, filled in, and found excuses.

"Okay, Joe, I get it. You feel for the girl. I'll leave you alone and I'll leave her alone. Just do me the favor and don't take out ads before she's completed the parole."

I relaxed and nodded stepping back.

"We'll keep a low profile. Now, what do we do about Mornington's visit?"

"I dunno. You met the man. What do you suggest?"

Just like that we were back to normal. I'd make suggestions and Al would adopt them as policy.

"I think we need to convey the message that we are working hard under a too tight budget. So, we'll have to call in a few more of our parolees, have them waiting outside. Not too many; that would spell bad organization. Do we have any parole violators this week?"

"Hendersen has this fellow, Jose Arroyo. He made a withdrawal with a stolen bank card. Dumbass got his face on the security cam."

"Great! Let Hendersen call Arroyo in for Friday. Let Mornington watch when he's led out in shackles. That'll show him we're tough on violators."

Al began to smile seeing the light. "Arroyo used to be gang. He's still got tats all over. Jeez, what a great idea! Mornington will love it. So that's the bad cop act. Who gets to play the good cop?"

"Me of course," I grinned. "I'll keep Dolores Jorgensen until Friday. Wouldn't do to explain to Mornington why I have to swap her."

"Yeah, that's a good point you have. Anything else?"

"Your nephew, can he get our computers to freeze right during the visit? Show the Delegate what shoddy equipment we have?"

Al's nephew ran the computers in the office.

"Oh yeah! Let the rebooting take five or ten minutes. I'll talk to Francis."

"Apart from that, we all need to look sharp and dress neatly. I know that counts for me as well."

Al nodded sorrowfully. He was not a preppy dresser either.

"Yeah, we better," he sighed. "I guess that settles it. Umh, Joe? I'm sorry about that remark. Come to think about it, Jorgensen should be more understanding about your work."

"She ought to," I grinned.

When Delegate Mornington with his daughter, two aides, and three reporters in tow entered our offices on Friday he saw the benches in the hallway filled with a variety of clients. We had been careful not to call in any of our real problem parolees. First, Al got his ten minutes of fame as he led the delegate and his entourage through the offices. The old equipment, the less than adequate furniture, and the peeling paint on the walls were noted.

Then, right on cue, two Maryland correction officers in uniform led Jose Arroyo from Bill Hendersen's office. He was agitated, cussing and struggling against the cuffs, and he made a great impression on the delegate.

"What happened, Bill?" Al asked Hendersen.

"Got him for use of a stolen bank card," Hendersen shrugged. "Flimsy excuse, and the troopers found more in his home this morning while he waited here. Some guys just don't want to learn!"

His piece of dialogue delivered, Bill looked along the hallway.

"Mr. Delmar!"

An obviously cowed parolee jumped from one of the benches and hurried into Bill's office. Mornington nodded with satisfaction. My office was the next stop. Mornington introduced me to his pretty daughter and to his aides and then sat down while I completed my interview with another handpicked client, Rafe Montoya. This was Rafe's last visit, his parole being completed. I told the delegate about Rafe's good work ethics – they had already offered him full employment starting the next month – but also about the misunderstanding and the prejudice he had suffered. Again, Mornington was impressed.

I started to fill out the final report for Rafe on my computer when all of a sudden the screen went black. Cursing under my breath, I tried to reboot but it took some time before Francis, our IT guy, allowed that. I apologized for the delay explaining about the age of our system and again, Mornington shook his head. I filled out a report form on the ancient IBM Selectric since the system boot seemed to take hours. Then Rafe received his final handshake and good wishes.

Next came Dolores' turn. I explained that her regular appointments were on Mondays, but I had arranged an extra visit. Lori came in wearing the nice stuff I had come to expect of her. The one tattoo I knew she had – from her prison file – was not in evidence, and she looked just like your young, midlevel office worker. Over the past eighteen months she had filled out a little giving her a more wholesome look. Damn, she was looking good!

Tonia Mornington hugged her for a while and one of the reporters snapped away with his camera. Then the newspeople were ushered out and the Delegate shook Lori's hand.

"Miss Jorgensen, I have a piece of news that will interest you. The Parole Commission, on its next meeting, will decide on my petition to end your parole early. I am confident that you will find yourself free from any restrictions in two weeks' time."

Lori just exhaled deeply giving me a smile.

"Thank you, Mr. Mornington. This will help me a lot. But the best thing is, I could keep that man from hurting Miss Mornington. I've been through it twice, once when I was a little younger than her, and it killed a piece of my soul."

"You'll probably be happy to learn that the assailant survived. They were able to remove the airway yesterday. DNA evidence tied him to three other attacks, so that's three other women who may now recover faster knowing that the man is out of the circulation. All that thanks to your help."

Lori nodded with satisfaction. "Three times ten to life?" she asked evenly. No place to learn judicial procedure and terminology like in stir.

"That's what the DA will shoot for. The man's got two priors for indecent exposure; he's been graduating towards rape it seems."

The Delegate had done some online research I thought. Many sex offenders start out with indecent exposure or peeping, 'harmless stuff' that cannot satisfy them in the long run.

"Miss Jorgensen," Tonia Mornington started, "I'll have my birthday on July 17. Thanks to you I can have a celebration. Would you please come to my party? It's not going to be wild or anything, a couple of my friends from MC, and a few relatives and friends of my father. I would really like to welcome you."

Lori blushed. "Are you sure?"

"One hundred per cent," Tonia assured her.

"I'll be glad to attend then. Is this with significant others?"

"Oh, I didn't know. Sure."

Lori turned and smiled sweetly at me. "Any objections, Mr. Dresdner, against me bringing my boyfriend?"

I grinned back. "I can see no conflict."

Mornington looked at us in turn. "Something tells me I am behind events," he said.

I decided to bite the bullet. "As of next Monday, Miss Jorgensen will be serving the remainder of her parole under Mrs. Hofmann in our office. Recent developments necessitate this."

"What developments?" Mornington asked with his head tilted.

I pointed at my ego wall with the pictures of my ex-parolees. "We have decided that I'll have her picture in a nice silver frame on my desk and not on that wall behind me."

Mornington looked me up and down before he found his voice. "Damn!"

They left my office and found the aides and reporters outside. Mornington made Lori stand in the middle between himself and Al and waited for the TV camera man to give him the signal.

"I have gained some astonishing insight today. My visit here was prompted by this young lady who, without hesitation, defended my daughter against an armed attacker. I was astonished to learn that she is currently on parole after serving a two year prison term, and that she is on her best way to complete her parole. In the past 18 months, instead of costing the state over one thousand dollars per month as an inmate, this young parolee has worked for her living and paid her taxes. She has also learned a craft that will support her in the future without having to resort to her former activities.

"The parole system is often criticized for bringing felons back on the street. Once making the effort to learn the facts and statistics, however, any thinking man or woman will agree that every dollar spent on the parole system is a dollar well spent. People make mistakes, and those willing to change their ways should be given an honest chance to better themselves. I was also satisfied to learn today that the hard working officers of the service are as vigilant towards parole violators as we can wish. Thank you!"

Al received a handshake in front of the cameras, and then Mornington was off again. Al loosened his tie and went back inside while Lori and I went out to grab lunch. I remembered the Italian place where I had gone repeatedly with Judy and we were lucky enough to get a table. We were pretty much focussed on each other talking about Lori's plans when I heard a gasp and looked up.

It was Judy who had gasped. The divorce was already cut and dried and we were waiting for the papers to come out of the legal system, but we were still legally married. I did not worry much about that seeing that Judy had not come alone either. The guy looked a bit insecure and awkward and he had to be at least forty-five. Shrugging I stood and gave Judy a peck on the cheek.