Chapter 41
The Final Days
The next morning, Joel Roberts woke up exhausted. He hadn't slept well after Randy's call. All night, he contemplated what would happen if Steve and Randy found Sam Stewart. He’d never met Sam Stewart and didn’t know if he could be trusted to keep his mouth shut. Hamlin apparently had hired Stewart to help him pull off the robbery. Roberts didn’t know that for sure, but he thought it was a safe bet. Now it looked like Sam might have double-crossed him. He’d have to call Peter Shiller and pass along Randy’s request for information on Sam’s relatives, but he’d give him other things to do as well so it would be unlikely he’d find the information Randy needed quickly enough to do them any good.
Roberts thought about his closing argument. He had to be careful not to be perceived as providing anything less than a zealous defense. Any obvious errors on his part would be picked up by the judge and the press pretty quickly and raise questions. He wondered what he would do if Steve and Randy actually found Sam Stewart. That could be a disaster, but he had no way to plan for it since there was no way to anticipate what Sam would say or do. He was in an untenable situation and it had his stomach in knots.
As the morning sun began to flood into the bedroom, he wasn’t anxious to get up and face the uncertainty that lay ahead. Finally, he worked his way out of bed and into the shower. He lingered under the soothing liquid massage much longer than usual. The hot water beating down on his back and his neck was very relaxing. Eventually, adrenalin began to pump into is system. He got dressed and made it to the breakfast table. His wife Jennifer had made him his favorite breakfast, French toast, bacon, and coffee, but he couldn’t eat and risk losing it later.
"Well, just a couple more days, and this mess will be over." Jennifer said cheerily.
He forced a smile and took a few bites of food and then said, “I’ve got to go, honey. There’s much to be done before the trial begins.”
Jennifer frowned. “You better eat something. You’ll need your strength.”
“I’ll eat when the trial is over.”
When Roberts got to his office, he called his private investigator, Peter Stiller, and gave him several tasks to perform. The very last one was the need for information on Sam’s relatives in Toronto, but he didn’t indicate there was any urgency or give him any priority in completing the tasks assigned.
Next Roberts called Congressman Bartlett. He figured it must be lunch time in Washington and he’d be free. “Just wanted to let you know we may have a problem.”
“What happened?” Bartlett asked warily.
“It’s seems our amateur sleuths may find Sam Stewart.”
“No. That can’t happen.”
“I don’t think it will but they are very determined, so I’ve got to be prepared for the worst.”
“Okay, do whatever takes to make sure they don’t find him.”
“I’ll do what I can but they are thousands of miles away in Canada so my options are limited. Anyway, I’m about to head on over to court. I’m not expecting it to go well today for Fred. All of his sins are about to be revealed to the world.”
“Good. I need to get this mess over with so I can concentrate on my reelection campaign.”
“Right. It shouldn’t be too much longer now.”
Roberts hung up the phone and started gathering what he needed for court. He tried to focus on the day’s proceedings but he kept thinking about Steve and Randy. There was no way they could find Sam Stewart, he kept telling himself. Still, they were just a bit too diligent for his liking and that made him nervous.
Uncommon Thief Page 41