Chasing Justice (23 page)

“It’s the three of us or no dice. If I leave and give you the evidence you need about the judge, then dozens of cases will be retried. My friends
and
my enemies will all be facing possible jail time, and they’ll no longer be able to buy their way out of it. If I leave my brother behind he’ll be dead within a week. I know he’s got some issues, and I’ll get him some help. He needs to get out of here, get away from all this bullshit he thinks is our destiny.” Christian’s face suddenly softened, the sternness melting away and replaced with weariness. His eyes begged for compassion as he quietly uttered, “He’s my little brother.”

All of this was so counterintuitive to Bobby. There were good guys and bad guys, but now, standing here in front of someone he didn’t think was capable of sincerity, he realized he might be wrong about the world. Maybe being a criminal didn’t mean you didn’t love your family. He’d never understood how someone could wake up every morning and break the law, but he knew what it meant to love someone enough to want to protect him. He never wanted to find common ground with a man like Christian, but that’s what seemed to be happening. He cleared his throat and gritted his teeth and spoke in a tone, letting Christian know he was serious.

“If he goes with you, he registers as a sex offender under his new identity. He gets counseling, and I will personally come out there and hunt him down if he so much as grabs a woman’s ass without her permission. He doesn’t deserve a free pass as far as I’m concerned, but we’ve got the potential here to make a much larger impact.” Bobby shook his head, disappointed with himself and the situation. Why did it always have to come down to compromising yourself to get things done?

Christian let out an audible sigh of relief. He wasn’t ignorant to what a low-life moron his brother was, but he had an obligation to him. He was blood, and their father had completely failed Sean. It was a miracle he’d survived this long. Christian had personally beaten his brother senseless when he had found out about the horrific crime he had committed and the way he had tossed that girl out of his car like she was trash. He had saved his brother from prison by paying a hefty fee, but he had found other ways to punish him. Christian honestly believed he could save him, if he could only get him out of this town.

Christian couldn’t believe what he was about to say. He couldn’t believe he was about to sell out everything his father had taught him. When the doubt rose up in his stomach all he had to do was picture his son. There was no denying a new life, somewhere far from all this, would be the best gift he could ever give Chris. He closed his eyes and spoke quietly. “Judge Rosenthal. I won’t meet with anyone else. If you can get her out tonight and get my family and me out of here by morning I’ll give you whatever you want. I’ve got voicemails, loads of communications, and of course that box of filth I took from the judge’s house sitting in my truck. You get Judge Rosenthal, and you’ve got a deal.” Christian approached Bobby resignedly with his hand extended, ready to make a gentleman’s agreement. As Christian and his loaded weapon came closer, it suddenly dawned on Bobby how dangerous this had all been, how close to death he’d been, and how furious Piper would be. At any point Christian could have, and maybe still would, lift his weapon and kill him.

Bobby took Christian’s hand firmly and shook it. “I need your gun, Christian. You know we’re not going to go sit with a judge while you have a weapon. We’ve both taken some risks here tonight. I need you to take one more.” Bobby extended his hand and gestured toward Christian’s weapon. Christian hesitated and looked over at the judge one last time.

“I want my kid to have a better life. I don’t want him constantly in the crosshairs. I don’t want him to be afraid of me the way I was of my father. I’ve tried to do things right by him, but at every turn I keep getting myself in deeper. This might be the first risk I take that actually makes him safer.” Christian handed over his gun and wiped away the sweat that had gathered on his forehead. Christian asked, pointing over to the judge, “So what are we going to do with him? The stuff I gave him will keep him out for another eight hours or so.”

“Do you have anything we can use to tie him up?” Bobby asked, deciding it was better to keep the judge in one spot to limit their liability of him either taking off or seeking retribution.

“I’m the head of the largest crime family in this state. I carry around rope like normal people carry a pack of gum. I never leave home without it,” Christian said with a wry smile. Bobby wasn’t quite ready to start cracking jokes with Christian, but he had to admit it was a pretty witty response. He bit his lip to hold back a smirk, and Christian patted him on the shoulder. “I get it
Officer
; I’m still the enemy here. I’m not trying to be best friends, but I have a feeling we’re in for a long night so you might as well warm up to me now.” Bobby and Christian headed outside as Bobby pulled out his cell phone.

“You can put comedian on your list of career options, since you’ll be in the market for one. With any luck you’ll get relocated somewhere real remote, maybe the Midwest. Can you milk a cow?” Bobby pushed open the door as he heard Christian mumble an expletive or two under his breath. It was clearly just dawning on Christian that he may not be picking his destination the way you would a vacation spot.

Bobby knew Piper would be bubbling over with questions and probably frustration. But she’d have to wait a little longer to scold him because Michael needed an update first.

As Bobby drove down the quiet streets of Edenville, he tried to wrap his mind around the evening’s events. He never would have imagined his passenger tonight would be Christian Donavan. He assumed, instead, the man would be handcuffed and riding in the back of his cruiser. He was equally surprised how well Piper had taken the direction he’d given regarding her heading back to Betty’s and waiting for him to call. He had thought, for sure, she’d be furious for the sudden change of plans and her lack of involvement in the next few steps.

The quick conversation he’d had with her was still spinning around in his head. He had turned the words over and over in his mind trying to make sense of it. When he had sidled up to her car window and waited for her to roll it down, he was shocked by her smile. He’d immediately apologized but she barely let him finish his sentence. She had beamed gratefully up at him. “Don’t apologize, Bobby. You didn’t just save the judge’s life tonight; you saved mine. I thought I wanted him dead. At first I was so angry that you put yourself in that situation, but when Christian finally lowered his gun and agreed to the terms you’d given him, I felt relieved. I’ve seen so much in my life I thought Christian killing the judge would somehow fix everything, but now I think it would have destroyed me. There you were again, rescuing me from something I didn’t even realize was about to hurt me.” She had leaned out of the car and kissed him, a short peck on the lips, and then she sped off to Betty’s house. As usual, she had completely surprised him.

Christian’s hands were shaking as he bit his already short fingernails. He wasn’t sure why he felt compelled to speak, but he wanted someone to know this wasn’t the life he had imagined for himself. “I don’t think my son knows who I am yet. I think if we leave tonight and start somewhere fresh, some suburb with a gate and pool, he may actually never have to feel the way I did when I realized the kind of man my father was.” He stared out the window, speaking more to the stars than to Bobby.

“How old were you when you figured it out?” Bobby asked, genuinely curious about what it must have been like to realize your father was a criminal. He now knew two people who had lived through that. Bobby thought maybe Christian could give him some perspective that would help him understand Piper better.

“I was twelve. I always thought my father was a foreman at a construction company even though, looking back, I realized he was never actually on a jobsite. He never had any tools, and he never came home dirty or anything. This particular Sunday, we were driving in his brand new red Cadillac Deville. I loved that car, and my father was so proud of it. He kept it immaculately clean. Suddenly, this old shit-box pickup truck with two guys in the cab pulled up ahead of us, and the driver started slamming on his brakes. I thought they were real jerks, maybe some kids messing around. My father was furious, and I remember him saying he couldn’t believe they would do this with his kid in the car. Then they tossed their soda bottles out of their windows, and one made contact with the windshield and a crack spread across it. I could tell my father wanted to speed up and take care of this right then, but he looked over at me, patted my leg and said we’d head home. I remember memorizing the license plate in case my father wanted me to go with him to the police department to report the damage to his car. I thought I’d be such a hero when the detective would come over and I would say TS-1874. But I never had that chance. My father drove straight home, bypassing the ice cream shop, and told me to head into the house and tell my mother he’d be late.” Christian cleared his throat, and Bobby could tell the story wasn’t coming to a happy ending.

“The next morning I sat eating my cereal and watching the news with my mother. I heard a story come on that immediately got my attention. The reporter was standing in front of a burned out pickup truck surrounded by yellow police tape. Over his shoulder I could make out most of the license plate, and I felt myself getting lightheaded as I realized it was the truck that had harassed us the day before. The report stated that the two men in the truck had been shot in the head before someone torched the vehicle with a Molotov cocktail. I didn’t want to believe that my father had anything to do with it. I convinced myself whoever was in the truck must have continued vandalizing vehicles and had crossed paths with the wrong person. It wasn’t until I was on my way down our driveway to catch the bus and saw my father pulling in that I realized he was the wrong person they had crossed. He rolled down his window, and with a big smile on his face, told me how sorry he was we missed our ice cream cone the day before.

When I leaned in his window for a hug goodbye I saw his hand wrapped in white bandages, and the smell of gasoline stung my nose. When he saw me staring at his bandage he said not to worry he had burned his hand on the exhaust pipe of an excavator at work. That was the last time I hugged my father. For the next couple of years I watched everything he did. I had my antenna up and put together the puzzle that was my father, each piece revealing a more complex and immoral man. Then, as I got older, he pulled me into his life and made me a part of his world. After years of feeling so distant from him, I’d do almost anything to be close to him again. I know most of what I do looks like a choice, but you’d be amazed how quickly you can fall down the rabbit’s hole and not know how to get yourself back out. I’ve tried everything to legitimize my family’s business, but every time I get us out of one deal we get pulled into something else. I know it doesn’t mean much to you, but I don’t mess with the sex trafficking and prostitutes, I’ve stayed out of all the drug deals inside Edenville, and I was on the verge of ending our gunrunning. We dropped a shipment a few months ago, and it was the last one. We’re still pretty deep in the gambling ring, and I know that’s no more legal than anything else I mentioned, but I’d like to think it’s a victimless crime.” Christian wasn’t sure why he was pouring his heart out to this kid. He had said more in the last five minutes to this practical stranger than he had said in the last year to people in his immediate circle.

“You aren’t your father—you’ve got a great shot of putting all this behind you and sparing your son the things you went through. You’re doing the right thing tonight.” If there were any doubts swimming around in Christian’s mind, Bobby was trying to proactively squash them. “This is the place. Michael asked me to come to his office first so he could talk with me privately about something, and then have you join us, but I’m thinking we should stick together,” Bobby said, putting his truck in park outside Michael’s office building.

“Let’s get this over with.” Christian swung open his door and huffed loudly, obviously dreading this moment even as he knew it was his best shot at a new life.

They entered through the back door of the office building Michael had suggested and boarded the staff elevator. It was a quick but quiet ride up to the ninth floor and as the elevator door split open Michael came into view.

“Are you kidding me!” Christian exclaimed, his eyes large and his face immediately turning red. He knew this was all too good to be true, deals like this never worked out. He reached his hand to his side where he would normally keep his gun and clenched his fist when he realized he no longer had his weapon. His only hope was there wasn’t an army of the judge’s men waiting just around the corner to torture or kill him. “This is the lawyer we’re meeting with? You’re dumber than I thought kid. He’s on the judge’s payroll, and I’m getting the hell out of here. The deal’s off.”

Bobby heard the words, but they didn’t compute in his head quickly enough for him to even make an attempt at correcting Christian or to stop him from repeatedly hitting the close-door button on the elevator. Luckily, Michael had his wits about him and put his arm across the closing door, and it popped back open.

“Give me a chance to explain,” Michael said hurriedly, imploring Bobby to step off the elevator and into his office so they could talk. If Michael was trying to calm Bobby with his demeanor he was doing a terrible job considering his forehead was covered with sweat and he was almost breathless. “This is why I wanted to meet with you first. This is what I wanted to tell you on the phone earlier.”

“You wanted to tell me that you’re on the judge’s payroll?” Bobby asked incredulously, his brow furrowed and his stomach turning in knots. He had prepared himself to be surprised by how deep this conspiracy would run, but he never assumed how close to home it would hit.

“No. Well, not exactly, it’s a long story, but if you don’t get off the elevator I’m not going to be able to tell you any of it.” Michael said, gesturing for him to step through the doors and give him the opportunity to explain.

Christian crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Bobby, refusing to address Michael. “I’m not getting off this elevator. If you want to chitchat with your buddy here, you can get off and let me go or he can get on and start talking.” With that, Michael acquiesced and joined them on the elevator. “Listen Bobby, it’s not what you think. Not everything is black and white, good guys and bad guys. If you hear my side of the story I know you’ll understand.”

“I can’t believe I let you get close to Jules,” Bobby yelled, his fists clenched and ready to strike his betrayer. “How could you screw all of us like this? What exactly have you been doing, losing cases on purpose or something?”

“Yes,” chimed in Christian, “that’s exactly what he did. It was with one of Duke Cheval’s guys who caught a case for possession with the intent to distribute. Your buddy here sandbagged the case on purpose.” Christian’s voice was angry, and his finger was pointing accusingly at Michael.

“That isn’t true, how about you tell the whole story, Christian?” Michael sighed somewhat dejectedly, and launched into his explanation. “Some people approached me about making some evidence in the case disappear, and I told them to go to hell. They came back and threatened me, so I threatened them right back, letting them know they didn’t scare me. I told them I intended to have them charged with tampering and intimidation. A week later I got a package in the mail loaded with pictures of my baby sister who was away at college. There were photos of her in class, out in the campus courtyard, and sitting in the local coffee house. Then finally there was a picture of one of Cheval’s guys talking to her in front of her dorm. A note read, ‘You might not be afraid but you can bet she will be.’ I had my sister leave school immediately and sent her to stay with our uncle. I tried the case and brought forth all evidence I had available. I still lost, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying, I can promise you that.” Michael choked out, his voice catching as he stared hard at Bobby. “I could have brought the evidence to the judge but, just like you, I had no idea who I could trust. I did my job without hesitation, and my conscience is clean. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you that I’d been approached by these idiots. I was trying to put it all behind me. The moment I heard you and Piper had a plausible plan to do something about it, I got on board.”

Bobby turned from Michael to Christian who was now noticeably silent and staring at the floor of the stopped elevator. “I don’t know the details,” he mumbled, sounding much less confident than he had moments earlier. “I remember hearing chatter that he wasn’t really playing ball and that they were going to pay a visit to someone in his family. When I heard the guy got off, I just assumed their threats had worked and Michael had thrown the case.”

“You know what they say about assuming,” Michael barked. “Only assholes do it.”

“I’m pretty sure that isn’t the saying,” Christian replied, shooting a dirty look back at Michael.

Bobby waved his hands, cutting through their childish attacks. “You should have told me,” he said, his mind bouncing between anger and pity. Michael was right, he’d have certainly done the same thing if he thought Jules, Betty, or Piper was in imminent danger. Look at how many concessions he had already made since starting out on this. It wasn’t like Michael had lost the case intentionally or destroyed important evidence. Should he have blown the whistle? Maybe, but as Bobby was starting to find out not everything was quite so cut and dry.

“Judge Rosenthal is going to be here any minute.” Michael said impatiently. “She’s probably down there right now wondering what the hell is wrong with the elevator. We’ve got one shot at this, and if she thinks for a minute we aren’t all calibrated then she’ll pull the plug. You won’t get your protection and relocation,” Michael said pointing at Christian, “and you, Bobby, won’t get your justice.”

Bobby turned to Christian and tried to put this whole thing in perspective. “You remember earlier tonight when you told me you wanted your brother to be included in your relocation? It goes against everything I believe, but I am going out on a limb, because I trust you’ll get him help. You know him better than I do, and if you really believe you can help him then I have to default to you in order to make the rest of this work. I’m asking you to do the same. I know Michael, and I believe him. Without him we can’t pull this off.”

Christian didn’t speak. He only nodded and rolled his eyes. Michael released the stop button on the elevator and they all stepped out as the door opened back up.