Suffer II (26 page)

Judge Hall awoke refreshed and exhilarated knowing that her ordeal was over. After pouring a cup of coffee, she sat at her desk and opened a notebook. She started by making a list of names of people that could hurt her. One by one, they were being crossed off. She smiled thinking that Kate did most of the work for her.

Beside the names that remained, she wrote down possible scenarios. Kate and her team could do little to influence the judiciary commission and have her removed from the bench. Lewis was a smalltown sheriff and no longer had the evidence to connect her to Bullet or Emily.

Brittany, Tyler, Greg, and her son were the only names left that could inflict damage. Mark and Greg would be easy enough to control. Brittany and Tyler were the two names that caused her slight concern. Once Mark was released from jail, she would pay a visit to both of them. She was convinced that a reminder that everyone who had crossed her was either dead or in jail would keep them quiet.

When all of the bases were covered, she ripped the pages out of her notebook and fed them to a shredder. Her first phone call of the day came from Sheriff Lewis. He asked if she would be home later in the evening. He told her his officers found another media card with the same encryption. He would bring it to her after he finished for the day. She commended him on being thorough and said she looked forward to his visit.

Her second phone call came from investigative reporter Marilyn Crawford of WGNO News. Judge Hall was familiar with her work, but had never spoken with her prior to her call. Coming from a small online magazine in Indiana, Marilyn was looking for her first big story.

Judge Hall was hesitant to comment at first, but Marilyn put her mind at ease by calling her story heroic. She said she spoke with Sheriff Lewis earlier in the day and confirmed his statements with the prosecutor. It would be the first segment of a series that would air as the lead story on the evening broadcast.

As the hours passed, Judge Hall expected a third call to come from the prosecutor informing her of Mark’s release. There was little concern when her phone didn’t ring. She was more interested in becoming a hero on the six o’clock news. She convinced herself one more night in jail might do him some good. She poured a glass of wine and settled in the den. As she was waiting for the start of the broadcast, the doorbell rang.

“Good evening, Your Honor,” said Lewis, taking off his hat. “Traffic was a mess. I apologize for the late hour.”

“No apology needed,” said Cassandra. “I was just waiting on the news. Why didn’t you tell me they were running a story on me?”

“Oh crap,” said Lewis. “I was going to tell you when I got here. I swear, she told me they were doing it tomorrow. Are you sure it’s tonight?”

“Yes,” said Cassandra, smiling. “Don’t worry about it. I know you’ve had a lot on your plate lately.”

“That’s an understatement,” said Lewis. “Okay, I’ll fill you in on everything.”

They had time before the story aired. Judge Hall walked him into her study after offering him a glass of wine. He declined and pulled a tablet out of his briefcase. After a few swipes on the screen, he placed it on her desk.

“What’s that?” asked Cassandra.

“A video,” said Lewis. “There are a few things you need to know before I show it to you.”

“Okay,” said Cassandra, sensing a change in his demeanor.

“The media cards I gave you are blank copies,” said Lewis. “I have the originals and there was no encryption. I heard every word of every meeting between you and Bullet. That includes the day you told him I was going to be alone at my cabin. You said it would be the perfect opportunity to kill me. You even gave him my home address and my wife’s schedule in case I survived.”

“James I –”

“Shut up, Cassandra,” said Lewis, reaching for the tablet. “This is from Emily.”

He started the video and slid it across her desk. It showed Mark naked in a room with four other inmates. After a short scuffle, two of the inmates bent him over a table.

Whoever was holding the camera zoomed in on his bloody face as another inmate stood behind him and dropped his pants. He grabbed a handful of Mark’s hair and slammed his head onto the table. Screams and crying blared out of the speakers as the inmate forced himself inside of Mark. The video ended after each inmate took his turn with her son.

“Now he knows how it feels,” said Lewis. “Just so you know, he didn’t have the luxury of being drugged. He’ll remember every second of that.”

Judge Hall lowered her head and tried to process what she had just seen. She didn’t notice Kate walking into of her study and taking a seat in the corner. Sheriff Lewis slid the tablet back into his briefcase and then slammed his fists down on her desk.

“You told Bullet to kill my wife and kids like you were asking him to take out the fucking trash! I don’t care what she does to you. It won’t be enough.”

When she raised her head, she saw Kate. Her shoulders dropped and she deflated. Sheriff Lewis composed himself, and stood.

“I had to use up a few favors to make that happen,” said Lewis. “Kate made the guards an offer they couldn’t refuse, so don’t forget to thank her for that.

“Finding inmates willing to help was the easy part, Your Honor. As soon as they found out it was your son, some of them offered to do it for free. They’ll be visiting him again as soon as he gets out of the infirmary. The entire cell block is going to pass him around like a cheese tray at a Super Bowl party. He knows that.

“He’s never getting out of prison, Cassandra. The drug trafficking charges are going to stick. I’ll make sure of it. He knows that too.”

“Are they going to kill him?” asked Cassandra, trembling.

“I hope not,” said Lewis, walking towards the door. “Goodnight, Judge. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

Before leaving, he stopped in front of Kate. She looked up at him with no expression. He leaned down and put his hand on her arm.

“I’m not sorry either,” said Lewis, earning a slight smile from Kate. “I guess that makes me one of you.”

After he left the house, Kate sat in silence and stared at Cassandra. When the time came, she reached for the remote on the table. She raised the volume on the TV so the judge wouldn’t miss a word. After an introduction to their top story, Marilyn Crawford’s face filled the screen.

“
As we previously reported in our exclusive coverage, police divers recovered the partial remains of three people from the waters of Mud Lake near Boudreaux. One person is still unidentified, but the other two have been confirmed as brothers Eddie and Billy Simmons. Billy, known to locals as Bullet, is a convicted felon with criminal ties to the Perez Cartel out of Matamoros, Mexico. He is suspected of orchestrating one of the largest drug smuggling operations in Louisiana history.

“In another WGNO exclusive investigative report, we now know how he did it and how a federal judge appointed by Congress made sure he wouldn’t get caught. This is just the beginning of a bizarre and twisted story of deceit, corruption, and murder at the highest level. This isn’t a script out of Hollywood. This happened in our own backyard. This is real.

“What you’re about to hear are a series of conversations that took place between District Court Judge Cassandra Hall and Billy Simmons. WGNO obtained those recordings from a confidential source, but what you’re about to hear has been verified and the content is beyond shocking. Viewer and listener discretion is advised
.”

“You can watch the rest later,” said Kate, turning off the TV and then moving to the seat across from her. “I’m sure you have a lot on your mind right now, so let me help you with the obvious points first. There was no search warrant, we weren’t arrested, and there’s no evidence that I killed anyone. Sheriff Lewis was kind enough to let us borrow his jail for a few minutes. I had to be sure.”

“Of what?” asked Cassandra, looking down at her ringing phone.

“Let me turn that off for you,” said Kate, picking it up. “That thing is going to be ringing all night long. I’m sorry, what was your question?”

“You had to be sure of what?”

“Oh, yes,” said Kate. “I had to be sure that you weren’t sorry.”

“I’m not in the mood for more of your games, Kate. Just get this over with and get the hell out of my house.”

“Defiant to the end,” said Kate. “In different circumstances, I’d admire that. Not now. Now you answer for what you did to Emily.”

“They’re going to know it was you,” said Cassandra. “They’ll figure out that you kidnapped me and then murdered those men. I can spin this any way I want. You’re still going to prison for the rest of your life. I’ll make that happen. I was there, remember? Everything that you have on me is circumstantial.

“You’re not as smart as you think you are, Kate. Those recordings and any testimony will be thrown out before it reaches a jury. If that’s all you have, then you showed your cards too soon. In the end, I’ll still beat you, sweetheart.”

“Now who’s delusional?” said Kate, smiling. “You’re not going to make anything happen. It hasn’t hit you yet, but it will, I suspect shortly after I leave when you turn on your phone and watch any of the news channels, but let me help it along. I took your power, Cassandra. I took all of it. I didn’t do it in a court of law; that’s your domain. I took it in the court of public opinion.”

“The court of law is the only place that matters,” said Cassandra.

“No, it isn’t,” said Kate. “Right now, hundreds of thousands of people are watching your story on the news, and they’re disgusted with you. When the broadcast is over, millions more will download the recordings available on the WGNO website. It’s already going viral.

“They’ll hear your cold, heartless voice telling a drug dealing thug to humiliate and torture a beautiful, young, innocent girl. They’ll hear a woman without remorse telling him to get her hooked on heroin to the point she’ll have to sell her body to pay for her addiction. Then they’ll hear you ordering her execution and the execution of a sheriff that was trying to stop you.

“They’ll know you offered Bullet protection from police to run his criminal organization without fear. They’ll know you did all of that to protect your sick son from being arrested for raping Emily. The same son who was recently busted with half a pound of heroin in his car. Those recordings connect you to all of them. Is it starting to sink in now, sweetheart?”

“Get out of my house,” said Cassandra.

“You gave me the idea,” said Kate, ignoring her. “I’ve discredited you to the point nobody is going to care about your side of the story. You can scream my name from the rooftops, and they still won’t care. They’ll just see me as one victim trying to help another. The sheriff is going to confirm that I was nowhere near Bullet, his brothers, or you. He’ll tell investigators that he was concerned for my safety and had me under surveillance the entire time I was in Boudreaux.

“The pressure that the court of public opinion will put on law enforcement is going to be impressive to watch. They’ll be knocking each other down to be the first name on your arrest warrant. You’re about to make history, Cassandra. You’re going to be one of only sixteen federal judges removed from office by Congress, but you’ll be the first woman. They’ll never be able to take that accomplishment away from you.

“You succeeded in making the citizens of Boudreaux believe that Emily wasn’t worth saving. I just succeeded in making the citizens of the world believe the same about you.”

“I –”

“There’s no need to thank me,” said Kate, standing. “But you’re welcome.”

“What do you want?” asked Cassandra, making her last stand. “There has to be something. You didn’t go to all this trouble to just embarrass me on national TV. Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you. I’m sure someone as smart as you knows how to stop the bleeding that you started.”

“I gave you that chance yesterday, remember?”

“A chance for what?” asked Cassandra. “I’m sorry I missed it. I was confused by what was happening.”

“I took all of the pressure away from you,” said Kate. “I made you believe that you were going to get away with murder. I wasn’t scaring you. I wasn’t inflicting pain. At that point, you controlled everything and I asked you a question.”

“I remember,” said Cassandra, lowering her head. “You asked me if I was sorry about what I did to Emily, and I told you I wasn’t.”

“No,” said Kate. “I already knew you weren’t sorry. Your last chance to avoid what is happening to you now was to confess to Sheriff Lewis. You laughed at us and told me to hold my breath.”

“I was angry with you,” said Cassandra. “You’ve made my life a living hell since you got here. I’m tired of fighting with you, and I’m tired of carrying this burden around. I swear to you, Kate, I am sorry for what I did. There isn’t a minute that goes by that I don’t think about what Bullet and his brothers did to her. I know that was my fault. I’m truly sorry, Kate. I’ll do whatever it takes to prove that to you. I promise.”

Kate turned around and walked up the wall displaying Judge Hall’s accomplishments, accolades, and photographs. She noticed a picture that she didn’t see during her first visit. It was Cassandra as a little girl holding the hands of her parents. The smiles on their faces were genuine and warm.