Love and Injustice

by Mary Crawford

  Phoenix chuckles softly. “I’ve met Cody. I don’t know if he can be more objective when it comes to you, but it wouldn’t hurt to have another opinion about all this.”

  Something about his dry tone makes me laugh too. “Okay, you have a good point — but, I’d still like Cody to hear what you have to say. So, what did you find?”

  “Well, there are a couple of things. First, the raw video Kat Burns provided to Tristan is not the same as the video which was provided to the news outlets.”

  “You’re kidding! I was totally bluffing when I told Derek Zane the same thing. He got under my skin that day because he was being a patronizing jerk. I was trying to call his bluff and see if he would tell me why in the heck he fired me. I had nothing on him, but I decided to go all in because I didn’t have anything to lose. He’d already fired me from my job — I figured he couldn’t do much more.” I laugh bitterly. “I guess I was wrong. The jerk filed a bar complaint against me. Can you believe that?”

  “Well, he might not be the only jerk in your life —” Phoenix says mysteriously. “We were able to chase down the so-called anonymous tips to several media outlets. Tristan has worked with local news stations many times and helped solve several high-profile cases. One of the new stations gave him a copy of the tape where the person was bragging about having the tape of you in the elevator. Tristan figured if the person was bragging in one location, they probably bragged somewhere on social media. He has a computer program which analyzes voice messages. We use this program to catch people who catfish.”

  “Fascinating, but what does this have to do with my case?” I ask.

  “You may be interested in hearing who the computer program matched the voice file with — Or would you rather wait until I give the full report?”

  “I think you know the answer,” I practically growl with impatience.

  “Well, this result surprised me so much, I ran the program three more times with different samples to confirm the finding.”

  “Please don’t tell me it’s somebody I know —” I plead with the sense of foreboding.

  “I suppose it’s possible you know him. I don’t know how connected you are to local politics. The computer did a voice analysis and matched with an eighty-seven percent degree of accuracy to a gentleman named Shaddick Warren.”

  “Shut the front door!” I exclaim.

  “I’ve never really understood that expression,” Phoenix says.

  “Me neither, but it saves me from saying vastly inappropriate stuff. You’re pretty sure it’s him?”

  “Like I said, I ran multiple samples. They averaged out to eighty-seven point four percent. Is this consistent with what you know of the councilman?”

  “Considering his girlfriend was promoted into my position, I’d say so,” I retort, not hiding my disgust.

  Phoenix is silent for a couple of moments and I wonder if I went too far. Through my phone, I hear him shuffling papers. “That’s interesting,” he finally says. “Our records show the councilman’s been married for twelve years and has two daughters aged ten and seven.”

  “Somehow that doesn’t even shock me. It makes me profoundly sad for his family, but it doesn’t surprise me.”

  “You’re sure they’re not simply colleagues?”

  “I have no first-hand knowledge, but my good friend still works there. The other day she went to deliver a fax to the new prosecutor who is allegedly the Councilman’s girlfriend. She didn’t even realize they were in the office so she entered Stacy’s office without an invitation and caught them in a compromising position right in the middle of the day. They didn’t even bother to lock the office door.”

  “Huh, do you think your friend would be interested in talking to Isaac Roguen? Just so our file is complete as to motive?”

  “In a heartbeat. Crystal has been waiting for someone to listen to her side of the story.”

  “Awesome! What’s Crystal’s last name? I’ll text Isaac right now.”

  “It’s Crystal Downing. She’ll be happy to hear she has something to contribute. She was angry when she thought I had been unfairly discriminated against, but who knows how big this is?”

  “That’s what we aim to figure out Ms. Clarkson.”

  “I can’t wait for Cody to hear what you found out. I’ll call you when he’s available to talk, okay?”

  “Works for me. I’ll text you my direct line. I’m sorry you’re having a tough day. I hope what I told you makes it a little better.”

  “You have no idea how much better this makes me feel. Sure, it’s a little disconcerting to know someone with the power of Councilman Warren is after me. On the other hand it makes me feel less crazy. I knew I did nothing wrong, but there was this tape out there which made it seem like I did. But, thanks to you, I can now refute his so-called evidence. Now I have a name and a face to put behind the effort to push me out of my job. It makes it a little more manageable.”

  “I know what you mean. When Zoe’s brother was on the loose, we didn’t know where he would strike next. We knew he was dangerous, but we didn’t know how dangerous he was or if he would actually hurt Zoe. It was a horribly scary time. We felt stuck until we knew he was behind bars.”

  “You took the words right out of my mouth. I’m going to go home now and talk to Cody. I’ll send you a text later and set up a time for us to have a video call so you can fill Cody in on all the details. I can’t wait to nail this guy. Hey, do me a favor? My gut tells me he’s not working alone. I still think my former supervisor Derek Zane is somehow tied in with Shad Warren. Those two guys are like two peas in a pod. They both give me the creeps and they are far too cozy for my comfort. I bet you they are working together. Derek Zane doesn’t like me because I wouldn’t feed his ego and go out with him. I can’t imagine he would destroy my career for that, but stranger things have happened.”

  “Okay, I’ll add the possibility to my notes and get back to you later.”

  “Phoenix, can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure, I don’t know if I’ll be able to answer it — but I’ll try.”

  “Do you think you’ll be able to collect enough scientific evidence that he won’t be able to buy his way out of this no matter how much money he has?”

  “I don’t know for certain, ma’am. But, we’re certainly gonna give it a shot.”

  “I guess that’s all I can reasonably ask for.”

  “Sometimes, a fair shot is all we really need.”

  I have my iPad set up on the coffee table between us. There is a large chicken pesto pizza there too, but I am too nervous to eat. I gave Cody a bit of the news, but he stopped me and told me that it would be better if he heard it directly from Phoenix.

  He’s so funny. He brought a whiteboard from his place to take notes on. It looks like the kind we had in school. It’s so big that he had to borrow Dylan’s pickup to bring it over to my house. He even bought a brand-new package of dry erase markers. When I asked him why he needed such an elaborate set up, he told me he wanted to be prepared for any breakthroughs in my case. His head will spin when he hears what Phoenix has to say.

  I cringe when Cody pops another piece of pizza in his mouth. “Aren’t you nervous? How can you eat at a time like this?”

  “I have to eat. If I stopped eating every time a case made me anxious, I’d be a skeleton. Besides, this pizza is awesome. You should try some.”

  My stomach lurches at the suggestion. “No thanks. Maybe after all this is over.”

  Cody aims the iPad camera and glances over at me. “You ready? Let’s see what Phoenix has to say. I’ve worked with him before. His girlfriend’s brother is Katie’s crazy ex. He did a good job of keeping Zoe safe. He’s a little different, but his attention to detail is phenomenal. If anyone can put the puzzle pieces together, I think it’s probably him.”

  “What he’s found so far has been impressive, that’s for sure.”

  Cody links to Phoenix and I’m surprised to see a shaggy haired blonde guy
wearing a plaid shirt. He has a pencil stuck behind his ear, and he’s consulting a different monitor.

  “Hey, Phoenix, how are you? Did we call it a bad time?”

  Phoenix looks into the camera blankly. “Oh, no, this is fine. I was just chasing down some last-minute leads. Tori, you were right on about Zane and Warren. They are thick as thieves. My preliminary search of ties between them shows they go way back. They were fraternity brothers. It seems they have a penchant for dog racing and underground dogfights.”

  I sit up straight and stare intently into the camera. “You’re kidding! No wonder Derek fought so hard when I tried to go after the puppy mill. He put up roadblocks every step of the way. At first, I thought he was simply acting as a good devil’s advocate to make sure my case was strong but, in retrospect, I wonder if he was just trying to undermine my confidence and make me drop the case. He certainly wasn’t happy when I won.”

  “I imagine not. It probably impacted his bottom line. I only have minimal information right now, but it looks like Warren and Zane were pretty active in online gambling pools in both dog racing and underground dogfighting.”

  “That’s just sick,” Cody mutters. “It doesn’t matter how closely we monitor that stuff, it still happens right under our noses. I don’t even want to tell you about the last rescue operation I went on with the Humane Society. I had nightmares for weeks.”

  “Well, that explains why my supervisor didn’t view my big victory as something to congratulate me over. It may also provide his motivation to fire me. It might even explain why he manufactured evidence to get me fired and filed a bar complaint against me. What I don’t get is what in the heck Shaddick Warren has against me? I barely know the man.”

  “Shaddick Warren is one messed up dude. I don’t think it boils down to one thing. Like we discussed earlier, by all appearances, he’s not only cheating on his wife, he’s orchestrating an unlawful firing to get his mistress a job. We weren’t able to tell exactly how long this relationship has been going on, but we were able to uncover evidence that they’ve known each other at least three years,” Phoenix answers.

  “Oh great! I wonder if they've been plotting that long to push me out of my job?” I ask, feeling defeated. “It must’ve killed them when I was promoted into Mr. Fleming’s position as assistant district attorney.”

  “I don’t know. If we speculate on that, we’re getting ahead of the evidence. We know Shaddick Warren is heavily in debt between his gambling debts and his campaign debts. We also know he’s leading a double life. He presents himself as a wholesome family man, while he’s privately carrying on a long-term affair.”

  “It’s really not so private,” I mumble under my breath. “Apparently, everyone in my former office knows about it.”

  “That may very well be true. At this point, we haven’t investigated further to see who else is aware of their relationship.”

  “I’d be willing to bet if a few people know, several other people are aware,” Cody comments.

  “I think so too. I haven’t had a chance to deep-dive into Shaddick Warren’s background but a preliminary search uncovered something disturbing which might also play into what’s happening to you.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask with trepidation.

  “I found several old social media posts from Shaddick Warren that he tried to bury when he ran for public office. Unfortunately, what you post on social media stays there forever. At the very least, Shaddick Warren sympathizes with white supremacist values. I have a hunch when I dig a little deeper, it might be more. Usually, when someone goes to the lengths Shaddick Warren did to hide their digital past, there is more to the story. It’ll just take me a little time to find out the whole story.”

  “So, I just want to make sure I understand this correctly,” Cody says as he stands up to write on the whiteboard. “From what Tori has told me, you discovered concrete evidence that the tape was tampered with and you now have evidence that two people conspired to wrongfully terminate her and smear her reputation in order to advance another person? Does Stacy Hildebrand have an active role in this scheme?”

  “I’m not sure if she helped commit any crimes or if she is just a lucky recipient of the windfall.”

  “I hate to be a wet blanket. I don’t know if any of this will make any difference. The people who matter might decide it’s just a nasty employment dispute and avoid it like the plague. If they do that, all this evidence means nothing.”

  Cody squeezes my arm. “You’re not looking at the picture through a wide enough lens. If everything Phoenix is saying is true, one of our newest politicians is involved in an elaborate scheme to perpetrate what amounts to a hate crime.”

  “Even if all that’s true, it may not matter if I lose my battle to save my legal career. We’re in a race against time. The State Bar is investigating as we speak.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m on it. The report on the videotape is ready to go. The supplemental report on the relationship between Warren and Zane should be wrapped up in a couple of days. I venture to guess based on what we found, your license to practice law is safe.”

  I sag against Cody in relief. “You know, there were days in the middle of really tough trials I used to say that I hated my job and I wondered why I ever became an attorney. I take it all back. I’m sorry I ever said that. I’m proud of the work I do and I don’t want anyone to take away my right to do it.”

  “I understand,” Phoenix responds. “We’re working as quickly as we can to rectify the situation.”

  “We really appreciate all that you’re doing. Thank you for stepping up. Let us know if you need anything else from us,” Cody says.

  Phoenix smiles at Cody. “Will do. It will be a pleasure to help bring these guys to justice. I hate people who act like jerks just because they think they can get away with it.”

  “Me too, Phoenix. Me too.” I respond, feeling hopeful for the first time in several weeks

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CODY

  AS TOBY PAYNE SETS UP his presentation in the conference room, Dylan glances over at me with a skeptical look as he grabs a donut from the box. I just shrug. Toby may look young, but his skills are impressive. It’s one of those things you need to see to believe, so I’ll wait and let Toby dazzle Dylan on his own. Darya is watching the interplay between the two of us in silence waiting to see if she has to intercede. She’s been on enough task force assignments with the two of us to know sometimes she needs to play referee.

  Toby turns back to us and clears his throat. “I wanted you all here today because I think I made a breakthrough. Each of you has a missing persons case you are working, correct?”

  “Well, Isadora isn’t technically missing anymore but her perpetrator hasn’t been caught yet,” Darya clarifies.

  “DeAndre isn't missing either, but he was. I have another potential missing teen. I’m still trying to rule out whether he left voluntarily.”

  Toby scowls at me. “Make that determination carefully.”

  “I will. After meeting you, I’ll never look at a missing child case quite the same ever again. In this case, the parents are insistent he’s simply rebelling against the rules but his grandmother isn’t so sure, so I’m looking a little closer before I decide.”

  Dylan’s voice snaps with pent-up anger as he demands. “Do you have news on Tallulah Johnson? Her parents may have given up, but I haven’t.”

  “That’s what I was getting to. I believe I found the connection between cases. With their permission, I examined the text messages both DeAndre and Isadora received from the YouTube promoter. I found they were both going to a site called The Ignis Fatuus Hex.”

  Dylan shakes his head and chuckles wryly. Darya and I look at each other blankly trying to figure out what’s so funny. Toby grins at our confusion. “Did I mention both my parents are teachers? When I ran across this odd name for a YouTube channel, it sent chills up my spine. It’s almost as if this dude wanted to be caught. He gave clues about
the nature of his website right in the name.”

  “Sorry, you’ll need to be a little more explicit. I guess I wasn’t paying close enough attention in English class that day,” Darya admits.

  Dylan sticks up his hand. “I’ve got this one. The words in the website name mean a delusion or a false hope combined with a curse.”

  Darya’s eyes widen. “Wow! That’s putting it right out there if you know where to look. I take it no one looked?”

  “Isadora and DeAndre thought his name was Ig. DeAndre figured it was some Hollywood name,” I add.

  “How does the disappearance of Tallulah Johnson fit into this?” Dylan asks as he takes notes on a legal pad.

  “I’m not exactly sure, although my hunch is that she was probably snared by the same trap. DeAndre told us this Ignis person, who I believe to be Bex Michaels, specifically targeted kids who were shy, artistic types. If I remember correctly, Tallulah Johnson was involved in theater and choir, so the pattern would fit. However, I can’t confirm my hunch until I have access to her computer records.”

  Dylan shoots out of his chair. “I can do better than get you records. I’ll be right back.” Dylan rushes out of the conference room.

  “I’ll check with Joey Ward’s parents to see if I can get access to his phone or computer. Maybe we can see if he’s tied in to the rest of the missing teens. It might help to determine whether he left voluntarily.”

  “That would be helpful. The more victims we can tie to one perpetrator, the stronger the case becomes.”

  “Speaking of the perpetrator, have we gotten any closer to finding him?”

  “Not so far. I hope each new clue I uncover will bring me a little closer to something which will break the case wide open.”

  Dylan comes back into the conference room carrying a large evidence box. He pulls out a computer case with an evidence tag on it. “This is Tallulah Johnson’s laptop. She took it everywhere with her. She wanted to major in journalism in college. She was on the school paper and she was always writing stories everywhere she went. After her parents had a funeral for her, they turned it over to us — in part to see if we could find any clues on it, but also because they couldn’t bear to see it.”