Cascade (37 page)

“
I’m an example.”

“
You’re being used as an example,”
Samantha said.

“
And if we take it to
trial?”

“
The DA is pissed off, Aden,”
Samantha said. “He’ll come at you full force. Plus…”

Closing her mouth, Samantha shook her
head.

“
This is the best we can expect,”
she said.

“
Plus what?”

Samantha sighed.

“
Have you ever heard of Judge
Howard Alberts?”

“
The hanging judge? Yeah, he was
the judge on my last case. He scared the crap out of me. He told me
nothing pissed him off more than seeing a capable person ‘shit
their life away.‘ Said if he ever saw me again, ever, even in the
grocery store, he would give me the maximum sentence on my case and
throw in a couple of charges for sheer stupidity alone. My PD told
me he was the hardest, meanest judge on the bench. He’s probably
the single most influential person in my life. I was so terrified
of him that I got clean, let Nuala go, and the rest is
history.”

Puzzled, Aden’s brows furrowed.

“
Why?” he asked.

“
He’s the judge on this case. Your
case, Sandy’s father’s case and the rest of the cases. He’s a
senior judge now. He’ll decide what happens in all of these cases.
He’s chosen to try your case. He specifically said he would preside
over your case.”

“
Fuck.”

“
Fuck is right, Aden,” Samantha
said. “The DA told me that because a senior judge has chosen to
take the bench, he’s going to personally prosecute your case. If we
take this to trial, we…”

“
We’ve already lost,” Aden said.
“Wow, I really fucked up my life.”

“
I’m sorry.” Samantha’s baby blue
eyes relayed her empathy. “We’ll get through this
together.”

“
Yes, thank you for everything,
Samantha,” Aden said. “As always, I’d be lost without
you.”

“
We’ll take the plea?”

“
Yes, we’ll take the plea,” Aden
said. “How long do I have?”

“
Not long,” Samantha said. “The DA
wants you gone, and fast. I’ll try to stall but I bet they’ll want
to do this by the end of the week. You need to get
ready.”

“
Crap,” Aden said.

“
No point putting off the
inevitable,” Samantha said.

“
What does that mean?”

“
I don’t know,” she smiled. “It’s
something my Dad used to say all the time. We’ll get through this.
Jake said you’ll have your job when you get out. You know how to do
easy time.”

“
I’ll miss almost two years of my
kid’s lives! Noelle will be a teenager by the time I get done. My
unborn baby will be a toddler. God, Nash will grow up without me,”
Aden said. “Judge Alberts has a final say on sentencing. He can
give me the maximum. What’s the maximum?”

“
He can insist that it’s a first
degree assault – intent to do serious bodily harm and doing serious
bodily harm – rather than what we’re pleading to, third degree
assault – knowingly or recklessly causing bodily harm,” Samantha
said. “First degree assault is mandatory ten years. At the minimum.
We’ll claim self defense because you believed you were protecting
Noelle. But if he refuses the plea and goes with first degree
assault, we’ll have to go to trial. No choice.”

“
At least ten years!” Aden said.
“He’s going to give me the maximum. I just know it.”

“
One thing at a time,” Samantha
said. “We can always make a big media fuss. The DA isn’t going to
want that kind of attention.”

“
But he took my case,
right?”

“
He did,” Samantha
said.

“
I’m fucked.”

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday morning — 2:30 A.M.
Czech Republic

Mike set Valerie down to open the apartment
door. She stumbled into the living room and flopped on the couch.
He helped her out of her clothing then carried her to the bathroom.
By what the media called her ‘diva demands,’ their plush apartment
came with a large bathtub. She dozed against him while he started
their bath.

He helped her into the bathtub then stepped in
behind her. She rested against him for a while. When she roused, he
asked:

“
How are you?”

“
Very happy,” Valerie said. “I had
a great day and this is a dream come true.”

He pulled her against him. They fell asleep in
each other’s arms.

CHAPTER
SEVENTY-NINE

and purposes…

Tuesday early morning — 4:20
A.M.

“
Slow down. Slow down,” Sandy
whispered into the telephone. “I don’t understand what you’re
saying. What happened?”

“
It’s your father, Sandy,” Seth
yelled over the siren of his squad car. She could hear his car
engine roar as he sped up.

“
What is it?” Next to her, Aden
sat up in bed. “What happened?”

“
Nothing. Don’t worry,” Sandy
said. “You have a half hour. Go back to sleep.”

Carrying her cell phone, she got out of bed
and went out to the living room of the apartment they were staying
in.

“
What is going on?” she asked Seth
again.

“
Your father was transferred to
county last night. No one’s sure if he killed himself or if someone
did it for him,” Seth said. “The Feds are freaked out. Everything’s
up in the air. Someone should be there to get you.”

There was a tap on the apartment front door.
Sandy went to answer the door. MJ stood outside. She held the door
for him to enter.

“
MJ’s here,” Sandy
said.

“
Is that O’Malley?” MJ
asked.

Sandy nodded.

“
Great. I’ll call you from the
jail,” Seth said. “Do not go anywhere without someone you
know.”

“
Someone I know?” Sandy
asked.

“
The Feds say this is a contract
hit out of China. Sandy, if it’s true, you’ll be the next
target.”

Sandy dropped to the couch.

“
I’ll be in touch,” Seth hung up
the phone.

“
What do you know?” Sandy asked
MJ.

“
Nothing. The LC called and said
to get up here.”

MJ took a handgun from a holster on his hip.
He flicked off the safety and cocked the gun.

“
Oh no you don’t,” Sandy said. “We
have little kids here. You put that safety back on that gun and
cycle that action.”

“
Sandy…”

“
Do it,” Sandy said. “No one even
knows I’m here. And anyway, who could get through all the security
here? Ever since that Trevor thing, and you moved in, there’s
security everywhere.”

“
Better to be safe than sorry,” MJ
nodded.

“
That’s what I’m saying. Cycle the
action and put on the safety!”

Not wanting to upset her further, MJ did what
she asked. They sat looking at each other.

“
You don’t have any idea?” Sandy
asked.

MJ shook his head.

“
You’re just doing what you’re
told?”

“
You know how many people applied
for my job? Eight thousand. So when the LC says jump, I
jump.’”

“
I guess we just wait,” she
said.

“
We wait.”

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday afternoon — 2:12
P.M.

“
Do you swear to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?” the bailiff asked
Honey.

“
I do.”

Honey’s mouth was so dry that her voice
cracked. She took a drink from her water bottle. The water was cold
against her throat. To avoid looking at the crowded court room, she
focused on the plastic bottle. Arrowhead. Delphie had tucked the
frozen bottle into her wheelchair this morning.

She looked up to see the Assistant District
Attorney, Ann Campbell, walk across the courtroom toward her. The
woman smiled in an effort to reassure Honey.

“
Can you state your full name for
the court please?” the assistant DA asked.

“
Honey Lipson Scully,” she
said.

“
You had another last name?” Ms.
Campbell asked.

“
I was Honey Gilmore until my
father adopted me when I was nine or ten years old.” Honey cleared
her throat.

“
Your father is Greg Gilmore,” the
assistant DA said.

“
My father is Sam Lipson,” Honey
said.

“
Let me rephrase,” Ms. Campbell
said. “Your biological father is Greg Gilmore.”

“
Yes, ma’am.” Honey’s voice
dropped at the mere idea that she was related to Greg
Gilmore.

“
What was Mr. Gilmore like as a
father?” Ms. Campbell asked.

“
Objection!” Honey’s sister’s
attorney, Miles Blanchard yelled. “Relevance?”

“
Your introductory statement said
that your client’s childhood created the template for her troubled
life,” the assistant DA said.

“
That’s correct,” the judge said.
The judge’s piercing voice softened as she smiled at Honey. “Mrs.
Scully, you may answer the question.”

“
He…” Honey cleared her throat.
Her eyes looked down at her maimed fingers.

“
Why don’t you rephrase the
question?” the judge asked Ms. Campbell.

“
Honey, what can you tell me about
Mr. Gilmore?”

Honey’s eyes moved over the people crammed
into the audience. She saw MJ smile at her. Jill winked at her.
Sitting next to MJ, her mother, Tiffanie, was anxiously biting her
nails. The door opened and Sam Lipson stepped into the courtroom.
Across the space, Big Sam’s compassionate hazel eyes filled Honey
will warmth. She nodded. She could do this.

“
Greg. That’s what we called him.
Greg.”

“
Why did you call him
Greg?”

“
Because he refused to accept that
we were his children. Even though we look like him,” Honey said.
“He was convinced my mother cheated on him. He used us as an excuse
to beat my mother for being a ‘whore.’”

Honey gulped at the word. Looking at the
judge, she said, “Sorry.”

“
You’re doing fine,” the judge
said.

“
So Greg beat your mother? Once?
Twice?”

“
Every day, sometimes more, when
he was around,” Honey said. “He was agitated all the time, hyper. I
guess he was on drugs. I mean, I saw him smoke pot, shoot heroin,
snort a whole bunch of meth, cocaine, whatever. He wasn’t so hyper
when he was on drugs. He was mean when he was drunk. Really mean.
When he had drugs, we had money. Everything was good, or as good as
it could be, when he was around.”

“
Greg was a drug addict, alcoholic
and wife beater. What did he do for money?”

“
I don’t know,” Honey said. “He’s
in prison for stealing. He’s in for life now after getting three
felonies. But he was always in and out of jail. He’d go out some
night, get picked up by the police then be gone for months at a
time. Mom had to find ways to feed us. We would clean hotel
rooms.”

“
We?”

“
My Mom and I would split up the
hotel where we lived.”

“
When did you start doing
that?”

“
I remember cleaning at four or
five, so some time before that,” Honey said. “My sister is two
years older than me. She went to school.”

“
This is fascinating but can we
get to the point?” Miles Blanchard, her sister’s attorney,
asked.

The DA had told her that Mr. Blanchard would
try to keep the jurors from liking her or forming a bond with her.
Honey smiled at the man. She must be doing well.

“
Let’s keep moving,” the judge
said.

“
I’ll cut to the chase,” the
assistant DA said. “You said your father hit your mother. Did he
hit you?”

“
Yes,” Honey said.

“
And your sister?”

“
She was his favorite. He held her
on a kind of pedestal, said she was the best of all of us leeches.
If she did something wrong, she’d tell him I did it and he’d hit
me. I think she was reprimanded but I don’t remember him hitting
her.”

“
When you say ‘hit’ what do you
mean?”

“
I couldn’t go to school because I
was so battered. He broke my arm a few times. When my Dad adopted
me, they had to re-break my arm to make it work right.”

“
But your sister went to
school?”

“
Yes, she was good at school,”
Honey said. “Mom and I would clean the hotel while she went to
school.”

“
Mr. Blanchard has said that your
sister was ‘raped’ by your father,” the assistant DA
said.

“
I don’t remember that,” Honey
said. “Mom and I were always at his disposal. He kind of idolized
my sister. She’s pretty, funny and smart. They were a lot alike –
my sister and Greg.”