Wings of Deception (12 page)

“
I am bound by law Mr. Jacks
,
to be objective
and
though
I stand firm on this
,
I can tell you one thing.”

He
gritted
his teeth in
aggravation at the Mr. but ignored it
.
“And
,
what can you tell me?”
His irritation show
ing
though he was trying not to let her attitude get to him.

“You are so very wrong
about this
and it is cruel to keep Carol from her parents.”

“You say this, but you cannot give me reason to believe you. If you are so sure of the Bowler’s innocence
,
then you should feel obligated to tell me
how
you know.
How can you be so sure?
”

Honey
would have loved to
prove to
him
that
Carol
’s gift
was true and beautiful and there was nothing for her or her family to gain
from it
.
She knew he would not believe
any
story
she could tell him
,
for she had already told him that she was a friend of the family. He would think it was a
false
story
as
he did not know she would never cover for anyone by lying.

“I know that
faith in God is on
the Bowler’s
side
. If you will give me a few minutes, I will arrange
to accompany
you to see
Carol
.”

“There is no God.
It is people such as
you and
me
,
who
will be the savior
s
of the weak and abused children
of
this world
.
I hoped we were
on the same
wave
length
with this
but I can see now that you are biased. Under the circumstances, I do
n’t
think it would be wise for you to
go with me to
see the girl.
”

“I
am
sorry you think that but I give you my word that I can keep it strictly professional.” Her eyes begged
him
,
for she really wanted to see Carol to let her know she was not alone. He
quickly
looked away
;
there was something else in her eyes. It was a mirrored reflection of him
self
that he saw there
.
H
e could
not
breathe
. H
e had to get out of the room
….
away from her.

“I
’
m sorry
.
I have to go now, thank you for at least seeing me.”

“But…
.
but
….
”

He was gone.

                                                                            
*********

W
hen the judge
dismissed the case
that same evening
and
allowed the Bowler’s to take
Carol home
, Jacks
was furious.

He was not the only one upset
,
so
were the people in New York
. T
hat
evening
he received another phone call from Sheila
and
a
fter
answering her questions
about the Bowler case,
he
asked, “Why
are
Morgan’s
people
s
o
concerned about
this
case Sheila
?
The
witnesses to the child abuse
case here
have
been working with our office directly on this
and
not one victim
show
ed
for court
. What’s
going on
?
Why are they so interested in a low profile case like this?
”

“Jacks,
since when would you care if anyone took an interest in
one of your
case
s
. If I r
e
m
e
m
ber corre
c
tly, you always said...”

He cut her off. “I r
e
m
e
m
ber what I always said
,
Sheila.
We are not talking about
prime time news
here
, just a couple of parents trying to make a
buck
off
a sick kid
and using religion to do it. Minor stuff and it will be over before it gets started.
The key witness did not show
,
so the judge did the right thing as far as the law is concerned and you must remember how I feel about politically correct, right? Look,
I got a handle on it.
We are coming
back with more evidence
.
”

“
That’s good
Jacks, because I don’t think these people
here
think it is such a minor issue. They want this little girl stopped
however you have to do it
.”

“Hey, hold on a minute Shelia. This little girl is not the probl
e
m
, it
’s the
parents and I told you I am working th
e
case myself and it will be taken care of.
You of all people should know that!
”

“Okay
already
,
so
how
do you
really
like
Mississippi
,
Jacks?”

Jacks realized that he was getting irate and was happy to change the subject.

“Things are settling pretty
nice
here and actually I
like
it better all the time. You
know the story,
a fishing pole by the back door ready to catch supper anytime and
weekends away
from work
.
What
’
s not to like?
” He laughed and she said so softly he could hardly hear her.

“
I wish we could
just go back to the way it used to be
!”

“
Ah
, do I hear misery in th
ere
somewhere? Is married life not what you dreamed it would be? Talk to me.”

“I can’t.
Jacks
,
we are in trouble,
and you
have to be careful!
”
Her
hushed words became
suddenly
louder and
stiff
, “
We will keep in touch
. Good-bye.”

“Sheila?”

“Sheila?”

She had hung up. Damn! What could be going on with her? It sounded like she could not even have a private conversation. He
cared enough about the girl to worry that she was in way over her head...how could
she
have become involved with a man she barely knew…
how could she have married him?
Damn Morgan Belk anyway!

He pushed the conversation out of his thoughts as h
is mind
drifted
back
to
the woman he had met
earlier
that day.

He had known many women and had genuine feelings for some of them
.
B
ut this wasn’t
just
a male female thing
he felt
between the two of them. Whatever it was transcended all time and space. For a split second in the room with her,
looking into her eyes,
he had almost grasped something, but it was lost before he could.
His fear got in the
way;
fear that someone may see him as he really was
.
F
or stripped of his court room self confidence and his macho personality, he was still the scared little boy who
had
suffered untold abuses. It was his inner self he could never show to anyone
,
lest they too think him unlovable.

Honey
had left the court
ecstatic when the judge threw the Bowler’s case out. 
O
nly a few minutes into the hearing
the judge
had
said
, “Give th
e
child to her parents and let th
e
m
take her home! Sometimes I have to wonder about you people at the ACAA. Do not bring this back in front of me unless you have some
proof of
real abuse, do you
understand
?”

“Yes, but your honor
,
to just dismiss this without a fair hearing is ridiculous,
we have witnesses
...
it is crazy!
”

“Mr
.
Jacks
!
You have no victim
here
and you
are pushing your luck with me! I said
this case is
dismissed!”
She looked
at the Bowlers sympathetically,
“Mr.
and Mrs
.
Bowler take Carol home
.
I am sorry that the ACAA
has put you through
this.
They really
are
a good agency and help many truly abused children. I
hate
that
Carol
was traumatized
by
their
efforts
.
God bless you and
God bless
Carol too.”

Jacks
’
face flamed red
as he left the room.

Three days later
Honey was still thinking how seriously the
ACAA
man took losing
in court
when she was
shocked to see the very
same
j
udge on the front page of The Sun.
Judge Langley
had been
murdered in her home.

She wasn’t the only one
in shock
. Everyone had the same reaction. Even Jacks, when he was picked up for questioning
,
was astounded
. He
found himself trying to convince
the detectives that
al
though
he
did have a confrontation
with
Judge Langley
at the hearing, he
certainly
did not wish her dead.
He
still
went home ‘a person of interest’ wondering what the hell was going on. Before nightfall
,
he received another phone call from Sheila.
When he
heard her voice
,
he said
with
much
annoyance
,
“
It’s you
,
I hope
you
intend
to
tell
me what the damnation is going on and do not even try telling me you do
n’t
know what I am talking about
,
because I am sure you do
.”

His voice was raised to almost a shout
but Sheila replied softly in return,
“They want you here in New York
by Thursday or…
”