by Lynn Bulock
“Trial stuff,” Rose said smoothly, coming up between them. “And Lucia’s mom says to sit down at the table before things get cold.”
The gorgeous, dark-haired young woman that Jake figured must be Holly’s cousin Lucia laughed. “Great. Your first day as a group here and she’s got lunch fixed for you when you come in. You must rate. Usually she lets my firefighters, or Sam’s police friends, order off the menu at least once before she starts cooking special stuff.”
“I think it’s the family special,” her brother Travis piped up, moving in to join the group as well. “There’s so many of us here, Mom probably put together Thanksgiving dinner, only without the turkey.”
Jake wondered what else was left and was about to open his mouth to ask when Lidia herself breezed into the room, urging everyone to sit down. In a moment platters of salad, pans of lasagna, huge baskets of rolls and mountains of other delights filled the table and were being passed from person to person. Somehow he’d ended up between Holly and Lucia, who were both enthusiastically filling their plates for lunch.
Jake figured he must have looked stunned by the quantity of food, and the volume of people around the table. “Poor Jake,” Holly said, passing a basket of rolls. “You never had any Italian family dinners. I’ll bet with a name like Montgomery, big family gatherings were almost sedate compared to this.”
“A little quieter,” he agreed. “Unless we’re talking holidays at Aunt Fiona’s. Then this noise level is just about right, and while the type of food on the table might be different, the amount here matches hers.”
He looked down the way at Travis, who was dishing out a square of lasagna. “Man, I’m glad it’s you testifying this afternoon and not me. If I had to get up on the stand after this I’d be fighting the urge to nap.”
Travis smiled, waving in dismissal. “Not a problem. I’m just wondering what’s for dessert. Did Mom do deep dish apple pie or cannoli?”
Lucia laughed beside Jake. “Oh, come on, she knew you and Dad and Sam were all going to be eating this lunch. What do you think?”
Jake resisted the urge to groan when Travis and his sister answered together, “Both!”
After that lunch, Holly did find it a little more difficult to stay awake in the courtroom that afternoon. Aunt Lidia’s cooking was the best ever, and she’d missed having the chance at any holiday dinners with that part of the family, so today had been a welcome change of pace. Still, she wondered what Rose and Jake had really been discussing so seriously when she and Lucia entered the side room of the café. Jake’s testimony was finished; what kind of “trial stuff” did they have to go over?
She chided herself for even worrying for a moment about Jake and her own cousin. If she was ever going to have anything serious and lasting with Jake, she was going to have to trust him. It was difficult for her to trust people, even this long after the incident with Victor Convy. But surely this was connected to her trust in God. She’d put her trust in Him for so long; if Jake truly was the right person for her, the Lord would lead them both to the right decision.
Holly was pulled from her serious thoughts of the future with Jake by the court bailiff calling for Major Patricia Vance. It was still difficult for her to connect that formal address with her new cousin Tricia. She looked very professional in her Air Force dress uniform, and Holly was buoyed by the look that passed between her and her new husband Travis before she testified. It was good to see Travis so obviously and deeply in love after the hard times he’d had.
Rose’s boss, Kirk, was back asking Tricia questions now. When she was finished with her testimony, there was little doubt of the connection between La Mano Oscura and the organization’s drug traffic from Venezuela, and Alistair Barclay. He was just connected in too many ways through the things that Tricia had uncovered by investigating General George Hadley. Barclay’s lawyer worked on the finer points of her investigation and the things that tied it the most incriminatingly to his client, but it all held fast. Tricia left the stand smiling.
She was followed by Travis, who solidified the connection between the general and Barclay even more. The only chink the defense could find in his armor was a pretty weak one. The lawyer got him to admit that yes, Max Vance was his father, and his brother Peter was the CIA agent who’d uncovered Baltasar Escalante’s identity as the head of the drug ring, and his alleged ties to Barclay. “And the lady who just testified, Major Vance. What a coincidence, she’s another Vance. What relation would she be to you?”
“She is my wife,” Travis said, pride and happiness the only things evident in his voice as he answered with a smile.
“Your family seems to have a personal vendetta against my client,” the lawyer said, as Rose and Kirk quickly objected. While they aired their objections to the judge, who ordered the offending comment stricken from the record, Holly looked over at Alistair Barclay. He looked even less confident than he had earlier in the trial, and he seemed to have aged in two days.
When the argument was over Kirk went back to ask Travis a few more questions, centering on his relationship with Tricia before their marriage. His testimony was a reminder of how much the couple had gone through, having been college sweethearts over a decade before. Travis didn’t waver while Kirk had him tell of his marriage to Allison, and the horrible accident that took her life as well as that of their young daughter. “So you had an opinion on how to proceed when Major Streeter came back into your life?” Kirk asked.
Travis nodded. “With my experiences I know that life is precious, unlike the drug dealers who’ve infested our city lately. And I decided quickly that if I was to be blessed with a second chance at happiness, I’d take it. Quickly.”
Holly had a lump in her throat that felt the size of a grapefruit. What a testimony to love, she thought. But definitely something she never wanted to have to go through on a witness stand. It intensified her desire to finish this chapter of her life, as Jake’s assistant, before they started a new chapter that might include a serious relationship. How she would manage things, she didn’t know, but it had to be done.
While she sat trying to puzzle out just when and how to act, Kirk asked the judge to call a slightly early end to trial proceedings for the day. “We call as our next witness former General George Hadley, your honor,” the district attorney said. “And due to the security level we need to maintain while he’s in the courtroom, and the probable length of the testimony, we request that we be allowed to call him starting tomorrow morning.”
“Very well,” the judge said. “Trial to resume at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow.” There was a general murmur through the courtroom with the stir of people getting ready to leave. Holly happened to look back at Barclay. He was pale to the point of being pasty, and gripped the edge of the table like a life raft.
That picture was still with Holly the next morning when her cell phone rang as she was getting ready to go into work. “Come straight to court,” Rose told her. “You guys have to be here right at ten when they start proceedings.” It was all that she’d say, making Holly wonder what on earth was going to happen.
Jake, when she found him shortly after they’d both gone through the courthouse metal detectors, was as clueless as she was. “I have some ideas, all of which would be good news for our side,” he said. “But concrete evidence of what’s going to happen when we walk in there? Nothing except Rose’s phone call this morning. I take it she called you, too.”
“With the same message, to get here on time and see what happens.” Rose and Kirk had obviously been busy making phone calls, because by the time Holly and Jake had picked up a cup of coffee at the ground floor stand in the courthouse, and taken the elevator to the second floor courtroom where Barclay’s trial was going on, there were quite a few people they knew standing and sitting in the gallery. The only ones missing were Rose and Kirk, and Barclay and his defense team.
A few minutes later, the jury had all filed in to their seats, and the court officials were in place as well. When the att
orneys came out of the judge’s chambers and took their places, Jake and Holly exchanged glances. “You’ve attended a whole lot more trials than I have,” Holly said to him. “Tell me if that was as significant as it looked to me.”
Barclay was ushered in from a side room somewhere, and the bailiff was calling the proceedings to order before Jake could answer. He didn’t get the opportunity to say anything before the judge answered Holly’s questions for her by turning to the jury and beginning a speech.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I want to thank you for your participation in the due process of law in El Paso County, and I want to tell you that your services will no longer be needed. Mr. Barclay’s attorneys have advised me that he wishes to change his plea to guilty on the charges before him and as such, this trial is adjourned.”
Rose and Kirk were smiling broadly, while Barclay’s lawyers glowered. He himself looked relieved, and the noise level in the courtroom rose in a very short time.
“For somebody who hasn’t seen many of these, you caught on quickly,” Jake told Holly.
“Well, from my limited experience, I knew that having the lawyers talk to the judge right before the beginning of the day’s trial wasn’t quite normal. Plus yesterday they said there would be extra security for General Hadley…I guess that’s just plain old Mr. Hadley now, isn’t it? And no one in the way of extra security was here, and neither was he.”
“Very good, Watson,” Jake said with a grin. “In any case, it means we’re out of here. Done. We won’t be ringing in the new year waiting for this whole mess to be over with.”
“You’ve got that right,” Rose said, beaming while she clapped them both on the shoulder. “This is excellent, better than we could have hoped for. And if Barclay’s lawyers are to be believed, you’re half of what made him decide to call it a day.”
“Really? I just figured he had no desire to let a jury hear what Hadley would say against him,” Jake said.
“Like I said, you’re half of it. Apparently nobody on the other side expected you to come up with nearly as much of his private information as you did. That, combined with Hadley’s testimony, was going to sink Barclay once and for all. If he plea bargains now, he might possibly see a few of his golden years on the outside. At the very least, he’ll be in a better class of institution.”
“I’m not sure he deserves any consideration, but I’m glad for your sake and for ours that this trial is over. Guess you have to go through the sentencing phase yet.” Jake looked up at the front of the courtroom.
Rose nodded. “We do, but that will be a few days at least. For now Kirk will probably want to celebrate with everyone to blow off a little steam first.”
“Sounds good to me. We definitely have some celebrating to do.” Jake’s pointed look in her direction made Holly shiver with anticipation.
Jake looked around him in the private dining room, wondering how even D.A. Kirk Callahan could have gotten this room at the Cliff House Restaurant at such short notice. Surely even on a Wednesday, in the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, it would have been difficult. After all the hours he’d personally put in, though, he wasn’t about to turn down a celebration of this magnitude. It was especially great because he had so much, personally, to celebrate.
Kirk came in, introducing Jake to his wife. She was a pretty blond woman who appeared to be as happy as her husband that this trial was almost over. “I’m sure you’re looking forward to seeing a great deal more of him.”
“Definitely. Just seeing any of him at all will be a new and different thing. Christmas was the only day he’s taken off in a month, and even then once he sat down to play Billy’s new video game with him, he fell asleep with the controller in his hand.” Still, she smiled indulgently at her husband.
As several of the others involved in the trial filtered in and began to find seats at the long table, Jake started to wonder if it had been such a great idea to let Rose talk him into letting her bring Holly this evening. He had so much to discuss with Holly that he would have rather brought her himself. And the two women still weren’t here. Several other members of the Vance family had come in, making an impressive array around the table.
Everywhere he looked, Jake saw couples. Maybe there had always been this many of them around him, and he just hadn’t noticed because he wasn’t all that interested. But now that he planned to ask Holly to start seeing him in a serious way, everyone seemed to be paired. Max and Lidia Vance looked more like newlyweds than the actual newlyweds among their offspring did, if that was possible.
Musing over that while standing near the table, Jake almost jumped when there was suddenly a hand on his back and a low voice in his ear. “You look deep in thought,” Holly said as he tried not to upset his lime and tonic water.
“Just got to daydreaming while waiting for you two to show up,” he said, enjoying the two beautiful women beside him. Rose had changed out of the more severe suit she’d worn in court into a black ensemble offset with sparkling earrings. Holly, ever more sedate, still wore her dark-brown hair pulled back in her normal French braid, and a black pantsuit less flashy than her cousin’s, but every bit as elegant. “You look very nice. Definitely worth the wait.”
“I should hope so. We’re not even the last ones to show up,” Holly said, motioning him toward the table. “My mother told me to blame her for our tardy appearance anyway. She and Rose started talking when she came in to pick me up.”
“We made a lunch date for next week. I can hardly wait to catch up on all the missed holiday activities, now that I’m free again.” Rose started toward the table. “But for tonight I’ve got to help Kirk host all this, so I’ll catch you later, all right? And both of you, order steak or lobster or something, because you deserve it.”
Shortly after that the party got going, and in the chatter, ordering appetizers and dinner and talking with everyone else around him, Jake didn’t get a chance at more than pleasantries with Holly for another hour.
“Is there a possibility that I can take you home instead of letting Rose do it?” he asked during a quieter moment as the waiters cleared salads.
“I suppose. Do you think we can stop worrying about whoever was following us now?” Holly looked more concerned than Jake expected her to, but he reminded himself that she and her mother were basically alone in their home without much protection. He thought about suggesting that she call Mike and ask if King could spend a week or so at the house, but it wouldn’t be fair to the big dog to be alone all day, and he certainly didn’t want that big furry lug in the office.
“We should be all right. Neither of us has seen anything since we came back to town, right?” Holly’s nod was confirmation to his question. “And I think that now that Barclay’s entered a plea, it would make little sense to threaten me any more.”
“Then if you want to take me home, that will be all right. It will be good to get back to something like a normal routine tomorrow. I’ve honestly forgotten what that is like.”
“Judging from the conversation around the table, you’re in good company,” Jake said. Before he could tell Holly that he was anxious to get back to the office just so that things could be different, Kirk called from across the table to ask a question, then the entrees were served, and the night passed all too quickly in similar fashion, without another chance to talk about the future.
By the time dessert and coffee rolled around, Jake noticed that several of the couples and groups at the table were making their goodbyes. Travis and Tricia Vance left first, and several other twos and threes were quick to follow. In a few minutes it was mostly Kirk and his wife, and Rose and others from the district attorney’s staff. “Well, why don’t we leave these folks to settle up the bill so that they can go home, too,” Jake said.
“I’ll tell Rose what we agreed on and meet you in a moment.” Holly got up and went to talk to her cousin. Jake pondered how to do things now. He didn’t want to bring up the subject in a setting as unromantic as his ve
hicle. For this conversation he wanted to be face-to-face with Holly, with no other distractions so that he could hear what she had to say, and see her expression.
Around Holly, though, he still felt awkward in so many situations. She meant so much more to him than just being his assistant now, and they’d shared so much in that cabin. Even though his brain was screaming that he should detour, find a quiet place in the lobby or go someplace for another cup of coffee, or anything just to talk to her, Jake found himself at the car all too quickly. He helped Holly up into the high seat and closed her door. It was far too cold to sit and talk in the vehicle, so he started the engine and got the heater going while he drove the much too short distance to her home.
“Would you like to come in for a minute?” Jake wasn’t sure if the hopeful tone in her voice was because Holly wanted him there, or wished he would leave quickly. He decided to stop second-guessing her and agreed to go inside.
The front room was dark except for the lights on the Christmas tree, and wherever Marilyn Vance was, she didn’t come to the front of the house to say hello right away. Jake found himself hoping that she’d gone to bed early so that he could have a quiet conversation with her daughter, hopefully the first of many in this cozy front room.
“About getting back to normal tomorrow,” Holly began as she sat on the other end of the sofa from where he sat. She smoothed invisible wrinkles out of her slacks with nervous hands, and Jake’s heart sank. “I think we need to talk about that.”
“I guess we do. I’d really hoped that things wouldn’t be so normal. I’ve been waiting for this trial to be over, Holly, so that we could get back to the office. But I don’t want to fall back into our old routines. I’ve seen you in a whole different light during the course of this trial, and I want to see more of that person.” Jake felt more nervous than he’d been in years.
“I want to see more of you, Holly, and I’m not talking about just working with you. I’d like to start seeing each other outside of work, and soon. Could we go out tomorrow night? We could make it low-key, a movie or something, but—”