Chapter 26
McCoy
turned around after taking a much-needed drink from the water fountain to find
Barry Peck standing behind him.
“Hey,
where did that assistant of yours run off to?” Peck asked. “You sure have a
knack for choosing the hot ones.”
Giving
him a look of disdain, McCoy responded curtly, “She received an urgent page
while we were in judge’s chambers. She’s calling our office. You may have all
the time in the world to file and appear for frivolous motions, Mr. Peck, but
the rest of us aren’t so fortunate. We have other cases to prepare for. We
wasted half a day arguing your pointless motions.”
Taking
the rebuff as a compliment, Peck smiled broadly. “I always say, if you can’t
beat them on point, dazzle them with bullsh...”
“Jack!”
Southerlyn interrupted from down the hallway.
After
shaking his head in annoyance at the pompous attorney, McCoy turned to meet
Southerlyn as she hurried toward him.
“It was
Branch who paged me,” she explained breathlessly as he reached her. “He just got word a
couple of hours ago. They’ve moved up the time for Fisher’s execution.”
“What?!”
“The
prison officials were worried about an altercation between the death penalty
protestors and some of the parents of Fisher’s victims, particularly Mr.
Larsen. It seems there have been rumors circulating about a press conference
the parents were planning to give immediately following the execution, which
would surely end in a confrontation. The officials contacted the families, our
office, and Morgan; everyone agreed to the time change, even Fisher. It’s
rescheduled for
McCoy
checked his watch and swore. “That’s only an hour from now! I don’t know if I
can make it in time!”
Following
quickly behind as he took off for the stairs, Southerlyn offered, “You can use
my car. I’ll take a cab back to the office.”
“I’ll
catch the cab. It’ll be a lot quicker than hiking the two blocks to your car.”
As he hit the bottom of the stairs and began striding across the marble floor
toward the exit he added, “I need you to do me a favor. Call the 27th
and find out where Ed and Lennie are. Hopefully they’re closer to Sing Sing
than I am. Tell them I need at least one of them to get out there as soon as
humanly possible and stick close to Calea. We were supposed to go together but
I’m sure she’s already on her way by now. With the attitude Larsen and some of
the other parents he’s stirred up have displayed, she could be walking into a
lion’s den.”
“I’ll
send them,” she promised.
As they started
down the steps, two at a time, he continued, “And call Calea’s office on the
outside chance that she’s still waiting and tell her to meet me there, but to
wait at check-in until I arrive.”
Southerlyn reached into her briefcase and pulled out her cell phone.
“Here – take this. You can call her on the way and then I can call you once I
get in touch with Ed and Lennie to let you know their status.”
Pocketing
the phone with one hand, he waved down a cab with the other. “Tell them to
hurry, Serena. I don’t want her up there alone.”
***McCoy drummed his fingers on the seat beside
his leg, waiting impatiently for someone to answer his phone call. After having
offered the cab driver a hundred dollar tip to get him to his destination in
less than an hour, they were noisily careening through traffic, with flashing
headlights and blaring horn.
“Law
offices,” a familiar voice finally said into his ear.
“Melissa,
this is Jack. Has Calea left yet?”
“Yes, she
has. She tried to call you and waited as long as she could but your
receptionist said you were tied up in court.”
“I just
got out of Judge Solomon’s chambers and I’m on my way to Sing Sing now.”
“Thank
goodness!” the receptionist exclaimed. “I tried to talk her out of going,
especially when she couldn’t get in touch with you, but there was no stopping
her.”
“Is there
a way to get a message to her?”
“She left
her pager here but I can try her cell phone. I can’t guarantee she’ll answer,
though.”
“If she
does, tell her to wait for me at the sign-in desk. I’m also sending either Ed
Green or Lennie Briscoe out to wait with her. Tell her to watch for them.”
“I’ll do
my best to get the message to her, Jack.”
“Thanks,
Melissa.”
He had
barely ended the call when the phone chimed in his hand.
“McCoy.”
“Jack, I
got in touch with Ed,” Southerlyn reported. “He’s about thirty minutes away
from the prison. That’s not much closer than you but he promised to track down
Calea and stay with her.”
“Good.
Hopefully I won’t be far behind.”
“Is there
anything you need me to take care of for you at the office? Don’t you have an
appointment with Garnett and his client this afternoon?”
“Yes, I
do. If you want to try and handle it yourself, go ahead. Unless they can give
you one hell of an explanation for what Garnett’s client did, we won’t go lower
than fifteen years, though. If you don’t feel comfortable handling it alone,
ask Arthur to sit in on the meeting with you. I’m sure he won’t mind. Or, you
can cancel and reschedule for tomorrow afternoon. The decision is yours.”
“What if
I simply push the appointment back for later in the day? Say around 5:00?”
“I’m not
coming back in this afternoon,” he informed her. “I’m taking the rest of the
day. Tell Arthur he can chew me out later if he has a problem with that. I’ll
be in early tomorrow morning. Don’t forget about the meeting with Helen Brolin
at 7 a.m.”
“I wish I
could forget,” Southerlyn acknowledged. “I’m not looking forward to letting
Raymond Harrelson walk away with not much more than a slap on the wrist for a
homicide.”
“Neither
am I but it can’t be helped. It’s Harrelson’s good fortune that the only
witness to his crime had a weak heart.”
“And
society’s bad fortune that the woman had a heart attack before testifying.”
Southerlyn paused, unsure of what to say to someone about to witness an
execution. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, Jack. I hope the rest of your day goes
more smoothly.”
“Thanks
for your help, Serena. I appreciate it.”
Snapping
the phone closed, he tucked it back into his pocket. Letting out a pent-up
breath, he shifted on the seat and tried to force himself to relax. There was
nothing more for him to do at that moment but wait – and dread what was to come.
***He walked quickly past the administrative
offices of the prison, the tapping of his footsteps echoing in the deserted
corridor. Although the cabbie had earned his tip, he knew he was only going to
make it by the skin of his teeth. In addition to having to make his way through
security, he had ducked two reporters and ten or so protestors outside the gate
before entering the prison compound. He knew, though, that the number of
interested parties would have swelled had the time for the execution proceeded
as scheduled. But he still felt anxious after finding that Morgan had already
checked in and entered the facility. He was sure the bigger threat to her would
come from the interested parties inside.
He
rounded a corner to find Green standing a few feet from a doorway several yards
down the hall.
“Counselor,”
Green greeted him as he approached. “It’s a good thing you sent me. A couple of
the parents had Calea cornered and were ragging on her pretty good when I
arrived. She was holding her own but seemed to appreciate the help.”
“Is she
all right?”
“Shaky,
but okay. She’s inside with everyone else. They’ve all settled in and things
are finally quieting down. They should be starting any minute now.”
“Thanks,
Detective, I owe you one,” he noted, heading quickly for the door. When he
reached it, he realized Green hadn’t followed. Turning to give him a
questioning look, he asked, “Are you coming in?”
Green
shook his head and smiled. “I’m only here to keep the peace.”
McCoy
nodded, wishing for at least the fiftieth time that he could also skip the
whole event.
When he
entered the room, he found himself standing to the side of three rows of low
bleacher-style benches. He took a few steps toward the front, searching the
packed room for Morgan. Between what he assumed were mostly parents and grandparents
of the victims, he was sure there were at least twenty people crowded together,
some talking in subdued voices while others waited in stoic silence. It took
him a couple of moments to spot Morgan sitting against the far wall on the
front row. Swearing to himself, he made his way toward her, wondering what had
possessed her to choose to sit where she had.
He was
only a few steps away from her before she noticed him. When she looked up he
groaned inwardly, struck by the look of sheer terror in her eyes. And as he sat
down he could clearly see that she was trembling. Focusing on the closed
curtain in front of him, he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. It
took every ounce of self-control he could muster to not grab her by the arm and
pull her from the room.
Finally
stealing a furtive look to his right, Morgan’s hands caught his eye first. They
were clenched tightly together in her lap, the knuckles white with the effort.
Glancing up at her face, he could see that her eyes were focused straight
ahead as if she didn’t trust herself to look at him. He shifted slightly on
the bench, closing the already small gap between them, and leaned toward her.
“Give me
your hand,” he whispered in the suddenly too quiet room.
Morgan
remained as she was for a moment, then discreetly place her left hand on the
bench between them. He slid his under it and interlaced his fingers with hers. Squeezing her shaking hand gently, he again fought the urge to drag her away.
“It isn’t
too late to leave,” he whispered.
She shook
her head slightly at the suggestion, just as the curtain before them slowly
opened. McCoy heard her suck in a quiet, involuntary breath, along with several
others in the room. Before them, Fisher lay strapped to a gurney, a tube
already taped to each arm. After addressing Fisher, a man beyond the glass
switched on the speaker and then left the room, leaving behind two prison
officials standing beside the device that would deliver first anesthesia, then the
fatal dose of potassium chloride into Fisher’s veins.
Raising
his head as much as his restraints would allow, Fisher surveyed the attendees.
Wetting his lips nervously, he said in a shaky voice, “I want to say that I’m
sorry for the things I’ve done. I know it doesn’t mean much now but I want
everyone to know that I’m … I really am sorry.” He lowered his head, his chest
heaving, then turned it to the left and looked directly at Morgan.
McCoy
clenched his teeth in anger when he realized Fisher’s eyes were locked with
hers. At that moment he wished he were in control of the device set into the
wall behind Fisher. He would gladly have pulled the switch to end once and for
all the existence of the man in front of him and the hold he seemed to have on
Morgan.
He
suddenly became aware that Morgan’s breaths were becoming uneven. He glanced at
her to find her lower lip pinched tightly between her teeth. As the two
officials unlocked the small glass door covering the injection device, he
leaned toward her and whispered, “Calea, I want you to close your eyes when I
squeeze your hand and keep them closed until I squeeze it again.”
Focusing
his attention on the two men standing in front of them, he watched closely,
waiting for the crucial moment. When it came he squeezed Morgan’s hand, then
stole a sideways glance at her. To his relief he saw her eyes flutter closed.
The only
sound that could be heard was the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor
attached to Fisher’s chest, piping through the intercom. Within only seconds it
began to fluctuate, becoming more erratic, to finally be replaced by the
high-pitched whine signaling cardiac arrest.
Beside
him McCoy heard Morgan suck in a breath again. A quick glance revealed that her
eyes were clenched tightly closed. It wasn’t until the curtain had been drawn
before them that he squeezed her hand, letting her know it was safe to open
them.
She
opened her eyes slowly, staring blankly at the curtain. Behind them one voice
from the crowd said a loud, “Amen,” while others could be heard crying quietly.
After a moment she turned to look at him with pleading eyes. Her voice
matched the desperation in her eyes as she said shakily, “Get me out of here,
Jack.”
Only too
happy to oblige, McCoy stood and began to lead her to the door, dodging several
people heading in the same direction but at a slower pace. As they emerged from
the room and started down the hallway he realized that Morgan’s hand had
begun to feel clammy. Glancing at her, he saw that she had grown even paler
than before.
“Are you
all right?”
She
nodded silently without looking at him and without breaking her quick stride.
When they
reached Green he fell into step beside them. “Is everything all right?”
McCoy
nodded. “Thanks for waiting, Detective.”
The three
walked quickly down the long corridor. But just before reaching the security
gate and sign-out desk, Morgan abruptly pulled her hand from McCoy’s and ducked
through a door marked “Women” without saying a word. Stopping in his tracks,
McCoy could only stare as the door swung closed in his face.
With a
sigh he moved a few feet ahead and leaned back against the wall.
“I didn’t
want to say anything but she wasn’t looking too good,” Green noted as he joined
him. “Why’d she come, anyway? Seems like an odd thing for the lawyer of a
condemned man to do.”
“You
think so too?” McCoy retorted. “I should’ve enlisted your help when I was
trying to talk her out of it.”
“Did she
give you a reason?”
With a hint
of anger in his voice he replied, “Fisher asked her to. The bastard would’ve
asked her to hold his hand if they had let him.”
“Well,
his asking days are over now,” Green pointed out.
“None too
soon, as far as I’m concerned,” McCoy muttered.
When a
group of people began to approach moments later, Green indicated a man in the
lead. “That’s one of the parents who had Calea cornered. I thought for a minute
I might have to get physical with him. He didn’t want to back off, not even
when I shoved my badge in his face.”
They
watched in silence as the group passed, with the man eyeing Green warily.
“That’s
Craig Larsen, the father of one of the slain girls,” McCoy informed him when
they had passed. “I recognize him from a picture that accompanied a newspaper
article about a month ago. I spoke with him over the phone a couple of times. I
had a feeling he might be trouble.”
“Nothing
I couldn’t handle,” Green boasted with a grin.
As more
people began to file past them on their way out of the facility, McCoy and
Green stood guard outside the ladies’ room. But after quite a bit of time had
passed McCoy began to pace anxiously.
“If she
doesn’t come out soon, I’m going in after her,” he vowed, checking his watch.
“You
think she’s all right? She did look a little green before she went in there.”
Shrugging, McCoy admitted, “I don’t know. It has been a long time.”
As they
were speaking a woman who had come from the same direction as the others
entered the ladies’ room. Several minutes later when she emerged, McCoy took a
step toward her.
“Excuse
me. Did you see a woman in there with long brown hair, wearing a dark blue
dress?”
“Yes, I
did,” the woman agreed. “She’s … indisposed at the moment. I asked her if she
was all right and she said she was. I’m sure she’ll be out shortly.”
“Thanks,”
McCoy nodded. When the woman had walked off he noted, “Maybe I should go in
and see if there’s anything I can do.”
“You
should probably give her a few more minutes,” Green advised. “She may not appreciate
an audience right now.”
McCoy
sighed and nodded. Glancing down the hallway at the last few stragglers he
said, “You know, it isn’t really necessary for you to wait any longer. I’ll
walk Calea out.”
“Are you
sure? I don’t mind sticking around if you think things might get ugly outside.”
He shook
his head. “I don’t think there’s going to be any trouble. Changing the time
averted a lot of the problem. We’ll be fine.”
“Okay.
I’ll take off, then.”
McCoy
held out his hand. “Thanks for dropping everything to come up here, Ed. I
appreciate it.”
“No
problem,” Green smiled, gripping his hand firmly. “This is going to be my
excuse for taking the rest of the day off.”
As Green
continued toward the sign-out desk McCoy returned to his spot against the wall
to wait, wondering if he should poke his head in the door to check on Morgan.
He had consulted his watch and was about to begin pacing again when the door
opened and she finally appeared.
“Are you
all right?” he asked as he quickly moved to meet her.
“I’m fine,” she answered. “I’m sorry you had
to wait so long.”
“That’s
okay. I was worried, though. The woman who came out a little while ago said you
were sick.”
As she
began to walk toward the exit Morgan replied, “I’m all right, Jack. I just
really need to get out of this place.”
***He sat back in the cab, keeping a close eye on
Morgan as she stared out the window at the passing traffic. Her hand no longer
felt clammy tucked inside his but it was still shaky. They had made it off the prison
grounds without incident, although they had been inundated with questions from
the waiting reporters whose numbers had doubled while they were inside. But
Morgan hadn’t spoken a word in the almost forty-five minutes since they had
walked out and he was beginning to worry. He had expected her to be upset.
Without knowing what was going through her mind, though, his imagination was
getting the best of him.
He
squeezed her hand gently. “Hey.” When she turned to look at him he asked, “Are
you okay?”
With a
nod she replied, “You’ve already asked that, several times, and the answer is
the same – I’m fine.”
He was
sure she was lying but decided not to press the issue. “I was thinking we could
go to my place. I’ll make dinner for us tonight.”
She shook her head. “I have to go to my office.”
Sitting
back and studying her carefully he asked, “You aren’t planning to work, are
you?”
“I have
clients waiting. I didn’t expect my day to be interrupted like this.”
“Have
Melissa reschedule them,” he suggested. Seeing the look of indecision in her
eyes he asked, “How effective are you going to be? Are you really going to be
able to keep your mind on your work?”
With a
sigh she turned and looked out of the window again. After a several seconds
she admitted, “I guess I can reschedule most of them. But I can’t get out of
the meeting with Mr. Colton. I have to write up the addendum to his contract
today. He wants to submit it to the leasing agent first thing in the morning.”
He
regarded her unhappily. “What time is the appointment?”
“Four-thirty.”
“How long
will it take?”
“Not
long. Maybe thirty, forty-five minutes. I can take my laptop along to the site
and save what I write to a disk for him to print out himself.”
Shaking
his head he admonished, “I don’t want you driving, not while you’re upset.
Will you at least take a cab, or better yet, let me go with you?”
“I have
an hour before the meeting, Jack. I’ll be all right to drive by then. And the
building where we’re meeting is on the way to my place. I’ll go straight home
afterwards. There’s no need to be concerned.”
He
frowned obstinately. “Will you at least promise me that you’ll take a cab if
you still feel shaky when it’s time to leave?”
She
nodded. “Yes, I will do that.”
“All
right,” he agreed reluctantly. “I’ll go pick up my bike from the office and
return Serena’s cell phone, then meet you at your place around 5:00.”
“I
thought you wanted to go to yours.”
“I don’t
want you driving any more than you absolutely have to,” he argued. “I’d prefer
that you not drive at all. I certainly don’t want to see you come all the way
over to my place when you finish with your appointment. I’ll feel better if we
meet at yours.”
Growing
quiet she regarded him for a moment. “Maybe we should skip dinner together
tonight. It’s been a long day for both of us and, with everything that’s
happened, I’m not going to be very good company anyway. I can’t say I’m feeling
very social.”
He turned
to face her more, pulling her hand closer to him. “And what will you do for the
rest of the evening, Calea?” he asked quietly. “Relive what just happened in
your mind, or go running until you’re too exhausted to think?”
Morgan
looked away, avoiding his eyes. “I don’t know.”
“Look at
me,” he commanded softly. When her eyes met his, he said, “I don’t care if
you’re lousy company. I don’t expect you to entertain me. We don’t have to talk
if you don’t want to. We don’t have to do anything at all. I just want to be
with you.”
The look
in Morgan’s eyes softened just before she lowered them to focus on her lap.
“All right. I’ll meet you at 5:00.”
***“It’s funny how when nothing else sounds good,
soup always hits the spot,” McCoy commented, pushing his empty bowl aside.
“That was
a good idea for tonight,” Morgan agreed. “I’m glad you suggested it.”
“I’ve
never had mushroom from scratch before. It was delicious.”
“Thanks.”
“What are
the ones we bought that looked like little fans?”
“Those
were oyster mushrooms.”
“And the
brown ones?”
“Shitake.”
“I know
the big ones were portabellas. I’ve had those before at a restaurant.”
Morgan
nodded slightly before concentrating once more on her soup. Another long pause
punctuated the conversation, one of several to engulf them that evening. McCoy
found the silence troublesome and had tried hard to keep the conversation
going. Morgan was anything but talkative, though, and seemed perfectly content
with the quiet.
“Would
you like to watch a movie?” he asked when she stacked her bowl inside his.
“I don’t
know,” she replied dispiritedly.
“We could
go for a walk,” he suggested, getting up to place the left-over pot of soup in
the refrigerator.
“I don’t
really feel like doing that, either,” she responded, depositing the empty bowls
in the dishwasher.
When she
turned around he stood in front of her and took her gently by the shoulders.
“I know,” he said. “Why don’t we go sit out on the roof? The moon is almost
full tonight.”
After
contemplating for a moment she slowly nodded. “Okay.”
Pleased
with himself, he gave her a smile. “I’ll get the chairs.”
***They had been sitting side by side on the roof
for more than two hours, with Morgan wrapped in the quilt she had retrieved
from her rocking chair. They had talked little, but somehow
McCoy felt more at ease sitting in silence underneath the open sky.
“I can
remember going camping with my best friend when I was around eight or nine,” he
mused, gazing at the sky. “I couldn’t believe how many stars you could see at
night away from the city. It’s a shame more kids can’t experience that. The
light pollution takes a lot of the fun out of being out of doors at night
here.”
Morgan
was silent a moment before responding quietly, “When I was married Frank and I
once stayed in a cabin in the Colorado Rockies. You could actually see the
Milky Way. It was so beautiful. But nothing can compare to the night sky over
Texas. I don’t know that you can see more stars than you can in other places
but they look so much closer, like they’re just above the tops of the trees.
I’ve never been anywhere else like it.”
“How does
that song go?” he asked, frowning in concentration. “‘The stars at night, are
big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas’?”
She
looked at him curiously, a hint of a smile on her lips. “Where did you learn
that? From Pee Wee’s Big Adventure?”
He
grinned at her. “That was a classic movie, wasn’t it? I still crack up every
time I hear the song ‘Tequila’.”
“It was
funny,” she agreed.
The
conversation lapsed once more into silence. After a while Morgan stood up and
clutched the blanket tightly to her, then walked toward the edge of the roof.
McCoy watched quietly as she stopped several yards from the edge and looked out
at the city. He remained where he was for a few moments longer before getting
up to join her.
He came
to a stop slightly to the side and behind her.
“Did you
ever wish you could fly, Jack?” she asked in a soft voice. “I don’t mean in an
airplane, but like a bird, feeling the wind stream over your body. It has to be
such an incredible sense of freedom.”
“I used
to wonder about that as a kid,” he admitted.
“It was
my second greatest wish when I was young, after wanting to be invisible.” She
paused and then added sadly, “There are times when I still wish for both.”
He
contemplated quietly for a moment, then placed one hand on her shoulder and
pointed with the other to a spot in the distance. “That’s the Chrysler
Building. And to the right of it is Met Life, just this side of the Empire
State Building. If there were fewer buildings in the way you could probably
see the Statue of Liberty from up here when it’s really clear.”
Morgan
let out a long sigh, pulling the blanket tighter against the cool air.
He
squeezed her shoulder slightly. “Eight million people, Calea. Some of them are
going to sleep a little easier tonight because of what happened today. And
tomorrow, the sun will come up and life will go on.”
She
turned around to regard him intently.
“You have
to put it behind you,” he advised gently. “What’s done is done. You can’t
change the past. You can only use what you’ve learned from it to change the
future.”
Morgan
continued to study him, considering his words. After a moment she nodded
slowly. “We should probably go back inside now.”
Once the
chairs were put away and the door leading to the roof locked, Morgan made her
way to the kitchen to settle at the bar with a bottle of water. McCoy poured
himself another glass of tea and sat down across from her.
“Would
you like to watch a movie now, or some television?” he asked.
“It’s
kind of late,” she pointed out.
“It isn’t
that late. We could squeeze in a quick show or two.”
“You have
an early appointment in the morning,” she reminded him.
“I don’t
need much sleep,” he acknowledged with a smile. Keeping his tone light he
suggested, “You know, I could sleep on your sofa tonight, to keep you company.”
“You
should go home, Jack,” she advised kindly. “It’s been an exhausting day. We
could both use some sleep.”
He
reached for her hand, covering it with his own. After hesitating for a moment
he admitted, “I don’t want you to be alone tonight.”
Looking
at him curiously she asked, “Why not?
“Because
I’m worried about you,” he answered simply.
“Why? I’m
fine, really.”
He shook
his head. “No matter how many times you tell me that, I don’t believe it. Not
after everything that’s happened.”
“I
appreciate your concern but there’s no reason for it. I’m not going to go off
the deep end if that’s what you’re worried about,” she assured him. Leaning
toward him she added, “Look, what you said outside was right – life does go
on. And I know I have to put this all behind me. But I need some time to myself
to do that. I have to come to grips with what happened today, to put it into
perspective and file it away. It isn’t something you can help me with. I have
to find my own way.”
Looking
into her eyes he finally nodded. “Okay. But promise me one thing.”
“What is
it?”
He stood
up and pulled her to her feet with him. “Promise you’ll call if you need me, no
matter what time it is. Even if it’s only to talk, I can be here within
minutes. And I won’t mind a bit. In fact it would please me a great deal for
you to ask.”
Morgan
nodded solemnly. “I promise.”
Giving
her a smile he said, “Then I’ll go home.” Strolling with her to the elevator
he continued, “Maybe we can go out for dinner tomorrow night. I’ll take you
someplace special.”
“Maybe,”
she agreed. “My schedule is pretty full so it will have to be kind of late if
we do. I’ll call you tomorrow afternoon and let you know how my day is going.”
“All
right.” Stopping at the elevator he said, “Good-night, Calea, sleep well. And
don’t forget your promise.”
“I
won’t.” Looking up at him, her eyes sincere, she added, “Thanks for everything
you did today, Jack. I don’t know if I would’ve gotten through it without you.”
“I was
glad I could be there,” he acknowledged, stepping into the elevator.
“Good-night,” she said softly just before the door closed.