by Dave Daren
I glanced over to see Adams looked like a tomato, and I was a little surprised there wasn’t any steam pouring from his ears. He was furious I’d recorded the security feed, but I didn’t care. Rossi’s life was in danger, and apparently, the warden wasn’t going to do anything to ensure his safety.
“And this was the second attack on your client?” Goldberg murmured once the video was over.
“Yes, Your Honor,” I confirmed. “The first was a day prior in the cafeteria when three inmates assaulted him from behind. In both instances, my client immediately surrendered once law enforcement arrived. He merely defended himself until he was no longer under attack.”
“And what happened to your PC request?” he wondered.
“Mr. Marlowe has yet to approve it,” I answered. “As of now, my client is supposed to be in solitary until this evening.”
“Which is standard protocol,” Adams chimed in.
“I’ll deal with you momentarily, Mr. Adams,” Goldberg replied in an icy voice that made the DA cower where he stood. “Now, Counselor, I need your client’s name.”
“Gervasio Rossi,” I answered as the judge tapped the keys on his computer. “My name is Hunter Morgan.”
“I know who you are,” the judge chuckled. “Your reputation precedes you, I’m afraid.”
“I’m not sure if that’s good or bad,” I said with a smile.
“Today, it’s good,” he replied. “Your request for habeas corpus is approved. I’ll have my secretary send the official documents to Rikers by the time you get there, but I am adding a provision. Mr. Rossi is required to wear an ankle monitor pending the results of his next hearing. I’m bypassing the bail hearing that was scheduled for tomorrow in favor of this release. Do you have any questions?”
“No, Your Honor.” I shook my head. “Thank you for your diligence. It’s a relief to know my client will be safe soon.”
“Before you go, I want you to know I’ll be discussing this situation with both the commissioner and Warden Marlowe,” he continued. “The behavior I witnessed in your video is appalling, and I hope DA Adams and I can come to an agreement about the best way to handle an ongoing investigation.”
“Your Honor--” Adams started again.
“My decision is final!” Goldberg thundered. “We may not be in my courtroom, Mr. Adams, but we are in my chambers, and you will respect the authority I hold. Thank you, Mr. Morgan.”
“Have a good day, Your Honor,” I murmured as I started toward the door.
“Now, Mr. Adams, we can discuss your immoral and unprofessional behavior,” he continued. “Preventing the defense from accessing key evidence in your investigation shows a blatant disregard for…”
I eased the door shut behind me and tried to stifle the grin on my face as I breezed past Shelby’s empty desk. I pushed the button for the elevator and pulled up the prison’s main phone number on my cell.
As I stepped into the lobby, the call connected, and I walked lazily toward the front door as I made the arrangements for Rossi’s release. I hung up just as I stepped outside, and I was relieved to see the clouds had already started to dissipate. The sun was warm on my face, but my good mood was quickly spoiled by a slim hand on my shoulder.
“You have no idea who you’re dealing with,” Adams murmured into my ear as he stopped me.
“The justice system, as far as I can tell.” I smirked as I met his gaze evenly. “Or do you know something I don’t?”
“I know plenty,” he spat out. “And you better watch who you piss off.”
“I’m not worried about you, Mr. Adams,” I scoffed and looked around at the people who walked by without taking a second look at our heated conversation.
“It’s not me you should be worried about,” he laughed without humor. “I tend to fight in the courtroom, but I’m not the only dog in this fight.”
“Oh, yeah?” I raised a curious eyebrow. “Then who else should I be prepared to fight?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” he warned. “Just remember, the Febbos can only protect you so much.”
Chapter 10
My blood ran ice-cold as I stared into the Manhattan DA’s eyes, and something told me he would have no issue taking care of me the way Salvatore Febbo took care of his problems, but I stood my ground despite his intimidation tactics. And a few seconds later, I was no longer the one who was being intimidated.
“Is there a problem here, Mr. Morgan?”
I broke the staring contest to find Hank by my side as he looked the DA up and down with his lip curled in disdain. The bodyguard was a big guy, but he looked absolutely deadly with his dark eyes focused on Adams.
The DA slowly turned his head toward Hank and visibly trembled.
“I think we’re good, Hank,” I said with a second glance at Adams. “Right?”
“Y-Yeah,” he mumbled. “I have plenty of work to do.”
“Then I suggest you get to it,” Hank rumbled.
Adams opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water before he turned around and scurried back into the courthouse. I released a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding and patted Hank on the shoulder.
“Thanks, man,” I said. “I really wasn’t sure what his next move was.”
“I recognize the look of someone who’s willing to take a life,” he replied in a voice that sounded far away. “And I doubt it would be his first time.”
“That’s not ominous,” I muttered and shook my head. “Come on, we need to go get Rossi out of Rikers.”
“You did it?” Hank looked down at me with surprise.
“Yeah.” I smirked and started toward my car. “I told you I had some lawyering to do this morning. I’m not that bad at it.”
“Guess not,” he chuckled as he diverted to his own car. “By the way, we got your house keys.”
“Holy shit.” I’d lost track of what day it was. “Thank you.”
“No problem,” Hank said with a grin. “I’ll follow you out to Rikers.”
“I figured you would,” I laughed and climbed into my Mercedes.
I sent a quick text to Anthony to let him know I was picking up Rossi before I threw the car in gear and headed for the highway. I drummed the rhythm of a rock song as I drove toward Rikers while a few possible scenarios played out in my head, and I wondered if Marlowe would make a stink about Rossi’s release.
Maybe he would instigate another lockdown before I even arrived, so I couldn’t get in. Or he could make up an illness that had my client in the infirmary and unable to leave. There were tons of possibilities at play, especially since Marlowe would have a decent heads-up of my impending arrival with Judge Goldberg having already sent over the paperwork.
I liked to think the warden wouldn’t be stupid enough to try anything a second time now that I had Goldberg on my side, but I had no idea how pissed he’d be once he found out I had the video.
As I pulled into the parking lot for the main jail, nothing seemed awry.
The guards let me into the security hold like usual, and I waited for Rossi to make his appearance. It took nearly an hour for the guards to produce him, and by the time he was at the gate, I was pacing the waiting area like a lion in a cage.
“It’s about time,” I grumbled as the door slid open.
“We had a few paperwork technicalities to work out,” one of the guards sneered as he shoved Rossi toward me. “Have a nice day.”
“Did you set up his ankle monitor?” I asked.
We didn’t need to give the Manhattan DA any reason to pick up my client again.
“Yes, Counselor.” The jailer rolled his eyes. “Even if you don’t think so, we do know what we’re doing.”
“I’m sure you do,” I retorted before I motioned to the door. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Gladly,” Rossi muttered as he stalked ahead of me with a small bag in his hand.
We walked silently to my car, and he eyed it suspiciously before he climbed into the passenge
r seat. He was much larger than the female passengers I normally had, and he had to slide the seat back to keep his knees out of his chest. I eased out of the parking lot with Hank behind me and then realized I had no idea where I was going.
“Uh, do you want me to take you home or…” I trailed off awkwardly.
“Yeah,” Rossi confirmed before he rattled off an address in East Harlem.
I typed it into my GPS and headed for the Rossi home. As we drove along the bridge back into the city, I wondered what to expect. Rossi hadn’t told me anything about himself, so I didn’t know much more than what I’d figured out about his role in the Febbo family business.
And Rossi didn’t say anything to educate me on the drive.
I was left alone with my thoughts as the enforcer sat in stony silence. When the GPS said our destination was on the right, I pulled to the curb while Hank parked a few spaces behind me. The building featured a trio of townhouses, each with their own brightly colored door. I pursed my lips at the thought of the big burly man living in a house with a turquoise door, but he took a deep breath and opened the car door.
As soon as Rossi stepped out of my car, the turquoise door whipped open, and two heads of curly dark hair bobbed down the stairs to the sidewalk.
“Daddy!” they screeched as Rossi wrapped them both into a hug.
“Oh, I missed you both so much,” he murmured.
Well, damn. Rossi was a family guy.
“Did you know he had kids?” Hank whispered from behind me.
“Not a clue,” I replied under my breath.
“Thanks for the ride, Mr. Morgan,” Rossi said with a glance over his shoulder.
I looked past him and saw a beautiful Italian woman standing on the stoop with her hair pulled back into a messy bun. She wore athletic leggings and a tank top as she held a cup of coffee and watched Rossi with a fond smile.
“No problem, sir,” I replied. “I’ll let you know when our next, ah, meeting is.”
“Of course.” Rossi nodded, seemingly grateful I hadn’t said court hearing in front of his family.
“We need someone to watch over them,” I murmured to Hank. “Rossi can handle himself, but we don’t know what we’re dealing with, and we can’t leave his family at risk.”
“I agree,” the bodyguard said with a frown. “I’ll get the go-ahead from the boss and get someone over here.”
“Thank you.” I slid back into my Mercedes and sat for a moment as I tried to decide what to do.
All my court dates for this afternoon had been moved or rescheduled, and Liz had already taken care of the ones for yesterday and this morning, so I had the rest of the day to myself.
I’d scheduled the movers to come tomorrow, so I decided to head to my apartment and finish packing up for the move. I could call Liz on the way and make sure all the continuances had gone as planned.
“Hey, I was starting to wonder if you really were sick,” Liz giggled when she answered the phone. “Did you get what you needed?”
“Yeah, I think we did,” I confirmed. “How were the hearings? Any issues with pushing them all back a week?”
“Nope,” she replied. “In fact, I actually got one dropped for you.”
“How did you manage that?” I laughed. “I thought you were staying out of the argument things.”
“Well, this one had an easy loophole, so I handled it,” Liz explained. “Another one was really reaching on being more than a citation, so that one I talked it down, and the client paid the fine before we left. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” I grinned and shook my head. “You just can’t help yourself. Besides, you saved me some work for later.”
“Yeah, they were both pretty easy to fix,” she said as the tone of amusement faded from her voice. “In fact, I’d venture so far as to say several of your open cases seem pretty desperate on the state’s part.”
“I’ve thought the same thing,” I mused. “I can’t figure out what the point is, though. We keep getting the charges dropped or knocked down, so it’s not like they’re all going to jail.”
“Yeah, but they can’t do whatever their normal jobs are until the case is done and over with,” she pointed out.
“So, just a temporary slowdown?” I gnawed my lip in thought. “That seems like a petty shot to take. There has to be a long-term goal.”
“Have you talked to Anthony about what it could be?” Liz wondered.
“A little bit,” I hedged. “He doesn’t like to talk too much about the business with me, which I understand, but there has to be something going on we can’t see… Wait.”
“What?” she asked.
“Something we can’t see,” I murmured as the wheels began to turn in my head. “What if the arrests and charges and bullshit are just distracting Anthony from something someone doesn’t want him to see?”
“Like he’s focused so much on defending his guys that he doesn’t see another threat,” Liz whispered. “Oh, my God, you might be onto something.”
“We still don’t know who’s pulling the strings or where they don’t want us to look,” I grunted. “But I’m damn sure going to find out.”
A beep rang out from the speakers, and I looked at my screen to see Brenda was calling on the other line. I told Liz I’d call her back and switched over to the reporter’s call.
“What the hell is going on out there, Hunter?” Brenda demanded.
“What do you mean?” I asked as I made the turn into my parking garage.
“Your client’s guys are getting arrested and dismissed left and right,” she whispered frantically. “It’s like a damn catch-and-release pond out there. Is someone on a fishing expedition?”
“Sure feels that way,” I muttered. “I’m getting rid of all the cases I can.”
“And what about the incident at Rikers?” she pressed. “Rumor has it you were there when the CO was stabbed.”
“I can’t give you anything about that,” I replied carefully. “I’m already on thin ice with the warden and the DA.”
“Well, the warden is on thin ice with the commissioner,” the reporter scoffed. “You didn’t see her press release at lunch?”
I glanced down at my watch and realized it was already almost one in the afternoon. The day had flown by since I’d initiated Rossi’s rescue and return home.
“No,” I answered and put my car in park. “I was busy. What did she say?”
“She said the warden and several jailers are under investigation after Officer Bradford’s death, so the deputy commissioner is watching over Rikers for now,” she explained. “She looked ready to blow a gasket.”
“Understandable,” I murmured. “A guard gets killed on Marlowe’s watch, and the news crews made it to the prison before he even called her.”
“Shit, seriously?” I could picture Brenda’s eyes bugging out of her head as I fed her bits and pieces of the story. “He won’t last long.”
“That’s probably for the best,” I said. “Let me know if you hear anything else about it.”
“Aw, come on, Hunter!” Brenda pleaded. “I know you have more than that, and you know I’ll keep your name out of it.”
“There were only three of us in the office,” I chuckled. “It wouldn’t be hard for them to figure out who leaked info. I’ll give you this. The murder was in plain view of a security camera, so the DA should be releasing the names of the inmates responsible soon. If he doesn’t, he looks bad for not charging them yet.”
“Oooh, scandalous, I like it!” the reporter giggled.
“More like accountability,” I replied with a grin. “Don’t let Adams get away with anything.”
“Not a chance,” she scoffed.
We hung up, and I looked out my window to see a Crown Vic drive slowly in front of the parking garage.
“Not again,” I muttered.
I gathered up my papers and shoved them in my briefcase. Then I scurried out of my car and to the front door before the FBI agents co
uld intercept me for another one of their discussions. I had things to do, and keeping them away from me and my client was high on the list of what I wanted to do today.
I caught a glimpse of Hisashi as the elevator doors closed, and his face was twisted with annoyance before I began my ascent to the fifth floor. I figured they knew which apartment was mine, but they couldn’t just waltz in there, even if I was moving out.
As soon as the elevator dinged, I scurried down the hall and into my apartment without a backward glance. Once the apartment door closed behind me, I looked around at all the boxes and sighed. I’d filled most of them already, but a few things remained in my kitchen and living room that could be boxed up and ready to go tomorrow, so I changed into gym shorts and a t-shirt and got to work.
A couple hours later, I realized my phone was sitting on the coffee table, and it buzzed violently until it nearly fell off the edge. I rushed over to see Anthony’s name on the screen and answered his call.
“Jesus, what’s going on?” he demanded.
“Uh, I’m packing,” I answered in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
“Well, you never told me how it went with the judge, but Hank let me know you guys took Rossi home,” my client huffed. “Then you just went off the grid.”
“Sorry, I never heard my phone,” I explained. “I’m trying to get everything ready for the movers in the morning.”
“Hank saw the feds outside your building again,” Anthony continued as though I hadn’t even spoken. “Did they talk to you?”
“I think they were going to try, but I made it inside first,” I answered. “I don’t really know what you want me to tell them yet.”
“I’m working on that,” he muttered. “But I’m glad you got Rossi out of there. Even my dad is impressed.”
“Really?” I plopped down on my couch as I considered my impact on the elder Febbo. “He doesn’t seem to like me much.”
“He likes results,” Anthony corrected me. “While he was in the hospital, he couldn’t see them. Now that he’s out, he sees what you’re doing. The liking people part is something he isn’t great at, but he’ll get there.”