Jury Town (17 page)

“Yes, David,” she answered, “Sofia will be going to Jury Town. And she’ll need a strong shoulder to cry on when she gets there.”

Mitch tapped out a text on his phone as he limped up Ninth Street along the crowded sidewalk, nearly running into several people hurrying the other way, muttering a curt apology to their wake. He was late for a meeting with his uncle, and he was going against the early rush-hour traffic to get back to the Supreme Court Building.

Not many people were aware, but Chief Justice Eldridge had a fiery temper behind closed doors. He never screamed or yelled, so no one ever heard his wrath. He carefully safeguarded his reputation as the eternally calm voice of reason. But he could be scathingly spiteful to subordinates, sometimes over seemingly minor issues, even to his chief of staff.

Mitch stopped behind a huddle of people, waiting for the light at Franklin to change, then trailed along when they began to move. There was no way to get around the pack. He’d just have to face his uncle’s wrath for being late.

Halfway across the street, Mitch glanced up from his phone, and for a moment, came face-to-face with a young woman hurrying the other way. She seemed
so
familiar, despite the sunglasses and baseball cap pulled low over her eyes.

Then she was past him.

Mitch whipped around, wincing as a bolt of pain knifed though his bad hip. “Sofia!” he yelled. The woman’s shoulders seemed to hunch when he called out. But she didn’t look back.
“Sofia!”

As he took a step to go after her, his phone pinged. Eldridge was already grilling him by
anticipating
his lateness.

When Mitch glanced back up from his phone, the woman was gone.

CHAPTER 21

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

“Close that door, Mitch,” Judge Eldridge ordered sternly from behind the ornate desk of his Supreme Court office.

“Yes, Your Honor.”

Mitch addressed Eldridge as “Your Honor” at all times these days, even at family functions. It had always been Uncle Dan before, here in the office as well—at least privately—but their relationship had cooled in the last few months.

Mitch had no idea why.

In fact, he wondered if he’d still have a job in a few minutes, or if this meeting had to do with something more ominous. Perhaps his uncle’s command to close the door had been given to cover law-enforcement people who were massing outside the office, about to arrest him for accepting bribes from Salvatore Celino in exchange for Supreme Court documents, perhaps even charge him as an accessory to Raul Acosta’s murder.

Mitch didn’t like that drab, dark-blue bow tie his uncle was wearing. Whenever Eldridge delivered bad news, he wore ties like that one. Every lawyer in the city who argued before the Supreme Court recognized that signal. But today’s courtroom proceedings had been routine. There had to be another reason for the sad tie—at least, not in the courtroom.

“Sit,” Eldridge ordered gruffly as he eased into his leather chair, still wearing his long black robe even though court was over for the day.

Eldridge always wore his robe at the office, even on days he wasn’t going to court. The other six justices did as well, though Eldridge had never asked them to. They did it out of respect.

“Is something wrong, Your Honor?”

His uncle’s forehead creased, and he raised a hand to smooth the divot of stress between his brows. “I’m very sad about Raul. He was a good man.”

Mitch nodded. “Of course you are. I am, too. He was a
very
good man.”

“Have you found out anything more about the shooting?”

Well, at least it didn’t sound as though this meeting had anything to do with an accessory-to-murder charge. “I’ve been in touch with city detectives several times, but they have no leads.”

“Do you think it had anything to do with that letter he was carrying for me?”

“I don’t know, Your Honor.” Now he was lying directly to his dead father’s brother. If it all came out, he’d go from war hero to villain in no time. Of course, it wouldn’t really matter at that point because he’d be behind bars. “I don’t even know what was in the letter. You never told me. I delivered it to Raul, as you requested. That was all.”

Eldridge shook his head. “Even if it was a random shooting, Raul was out late because of me. His death is on my shoulders.”

Mitch began to relax. He wasn’t out of the woods, but the conversation didn’t appear to be heading in the direction of him being fired, either.

“Raul had a wife and children,” Eldridge said softly.

“A boy named Daniel who’s ten, and a girl, Maria,” Mitch answered. “His wife’s name was Sofia.”

The Acosta house had been dark and empty last night when Mitch had gone there to find out what Sofia knew. He’d assumed she’d already gone back to New York with the children. In fact, he’d intended on asking Salvatore to find her in Brooklyn. But he could have sworn he’d just passed her on the street a few minutes ago. Maybe she’d heard his cell phone go off after all. Maybe that’s why she’d ignored him on the street.

“I know. Sofia was here a little while ago,” Eldridge said. “I spoke to her.”

Mitch’s eyes raced to his uncle’s, then quickly away for fear Eldridge might see his shock. “Oh?”

“She invited me to Raul’s funeral, but I couldn’t go. I asked her to come in here and talk.”

“What did she say?” Mitch asked hesitantly. Perhaps he shouldn’t have started feeling better after all.

“It’s what I said to her. I gave her the opportunity to become part of Project Archer. I gave her the opportunity to go to Jury Town. Then I sent her over to see Victoria.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Money.”

“Money?”

“She’s a single mother now. She’ll need a big income.”

“And she’ll get that from being a juror inside Archer?”

“I haven’t told you everything about Project Archer, Mitch. I’ve had to keep things very secret.” Eldridge winced apologetically. “I’m afraid I’ve been short with you the last few months. I’m sorry. It hasn’t been you; it’s been me. Project Archer has been quite a challenge. I’ve gone back and forth many times about bringing you in on everything. But Victoria Lewis and I had to maintain the utmost security level around the project. We still do, but I feel it’s time to bring you in, especially now that Jury Town has gone live.”

Mitch leaned forward in his chair. He had to
appear
as if he had no idea what was really going on, even though he’d read everything he’d given to Salvatore. “What things have you not told me, Uncle Dan?” he asked, feeling
very
good now about going back to the old habits. Eldridge was accepting blame for them not being so close the last few months. It was nothing he had done.

“For starters, the jurors are earning two million dollars a year.”

“My God,” Mitch whispered. Had that sounded genuine? “That’s incredible. Where do I sign up?”

“Yes,” Eldridge said expectantly, “that’s everyone’s first reaction. But would you really give up two years with your children? No contact with them
at all
for two years? Honestly, Mitch.”

He eased slowly back into the chair and, after a few moments, shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t. Not at the ages they are right now.”

“Even though I know you could use the money.”

Again Mitch’s eyes raced for his uncle’s. “What do you mean?”

“To buy all the things your wife has cajoled you into buying, you must have run up a mountain of debt. It’s no secret in the family that we think she’s a very pushy woman. No offense, Mitch.”

Relief eased through him—again. His uncle knew about his wife’s extravagances, but assumed it had been funded with loans. “None taken.”

“She’s a social climber, too, though I think we both know she has no chance of ever piercing the society circles she’s trying to invade. You know this city. I’m sorry, but a woman like that, especially one who isn’t from Richmond, doesn’t have a chance. They’ll string her along and make her think she does, because that’s the kind of people they are. But she doesn’t.” Eldridge winced. “Glad my wife never got caught up in all that.”

“Yeah, well—”

“I feel bad. You’ve taken extraordinary care of me as my chief of staff for the last few years, but you’ve been doing it on a state salary. You need to start earning some real money, Mitch. So I’ve taken the liberty of arranging a position for you at Knowles & Williams.”

Knowles & Williams was the largest and most prestigious Richmond law firm.

As active as Eldridge was, it was easy to forget he was seventy-six. Today, he looked it. “But—”

Eldridge held up a hand. “I’m retiring, Mitch, in ninety days. I need to take care of you before I do. So the managing partner at Knowles and I have agreed on a package for you. When I retire, you’ll go into the firm as a senior associate, two years away from partner. You’ll make two hundred thousand a year to start. He’s going to give you a decent signing bonus as well, so you can pay off some of that debt your wife’s pushed you into.”

Immense relief flooded Mitch. “I don’t know what to say except
thank you
.
” After the initial shock, a stunning realization hit him head-on. He had to disengage from Salvatore Celino. As long as Salvatore was alive, he’d be in the mobster’s debt—and no lawyer’s salary could pay that off.

“But you’ll stay here with me until I retire.” Eldridge leaned over the desk. “And we have a problem you need to take care of immediately, a
serious
problem.” Eldridge pursed his lips. “Someone’s been going through my office.”

For the third time during this meeting, Mitch’s eyes raced to his uncle’s.

“I’m certain some of my files have been moved overnight several times in the last few weeks. Very slightly, but I noticed in the morning as soon as I got here.”

“I’ll have the lock changed on your office door immediately.”

Eldridge shook his head. “We need to take it a step further than that. After hours and as soon as possible, I want you to have a hidden camera installed. You must find out who’s been going through my office.”

“I’ll get to it tonight.” He’d been the one going through his uncle’s office, of course, so there wasn’t really any need to follow through here. But if he didn’t, Eldridge might become suspicious. “We’ll find out who’s been in here,” he assured his uncle confidently, feeling emboldened. He’d had nothing to fear after all. He’d just been paranoid all along. “What else haven’t you told me about Project Archer?”

Eldridge exhaled heavily. “You must keep this absolutely confidential.”

“When have I ever violated that?”

“Never. It’s just one of those things I have to say to everyone. You know that, Mitch.”

Mitch nodded. “What’s the big secret?”

Eldridge’s pause stretched out long enough that Mitch thought he’d changed his mind. “Project Archer didn’t start with Victoria Lewis,” Eldridge said finally. “It started with the United States attorney general.”

Mitch caught his breath. “With Michael Delgado?”

Eldridge nodded. “Delgado and I believe a growing list of high-profile cases are being manipulated through jury tampering. Whoever is behind this is using very personal information against jurors to blackmail them into voting certain ways. These cases aren’t just civil matters or isolated crimes. They’re cases that affect the very ability of state and federal governments to enforce laws. And, to the extent these bad verdicts keep coming down, they set precedents for other cases. We must stop these people.” The judge grimaced. “Even if we can’t figure out who ‘these people’ are.”

“So you put jurors behind walls and guards where they can’t be manipulated.”

“Exactly.”

Mitch shook his head. “And one of them is going to be Sofia?”

Eldridge nodded. “Victoria still had a few spots left to fill. Sofia’s struggling with that same question I asked you earlier. She won’t be able to see or even speak to her children for two years. But she’s in a different place than you are. She can’t earn what you will in private practice, not even close. She wants to see her kids go to college. What she earns at Jury Town will enable her to secure a very nice future for her kids and herself.”

“She’s a very—”

“Strange thing about her,” Eldridge interrupted.

“Oh?”

“She doesn’t like you very much.”

An uncomfortable expression clouded Mitch’s face. He shrugged. “I barely even know her.”

“She wouldn’t come up here until she was convinced you were gone. And when she first arrived, it seemed she had something important she wanted to say about you. After I asked her about the possibility of joining Project Archer, she didn’t want to discuss it anymore.” Eldridge held his gaze. “Any idea what was on her mind?”