When Rome Stumbles

by David Kershner

  When he finished, Giuseppe said, “Well it sounds to me like there are six defendants, not two. Every one of you guys that pulled a trigger is gonna get dragged into this. This Evan guy, he didn’t handle a weapon in Athens, but he drove. That makes him an accessory. I’ll push to have the two incidents combined, better odds that way.”

  “The hell you will,” Josh quickly corrected the lawyer. “My girls aren’t getting tried, Giuseppe.”

  “Oh, okay,” he replied and stared at his notepad as if he were contemplating another defense strategy. “Then perhaps you’d like to ask this Evan fellow to take the stand, blatantly lie under oath, and explain why there were twelve shell casings collected. Let’s not forget about the body riddled with holes and the forensic analysis showing that there were two different guns.”

  Sarcastically he added, “I know! He must have been armed to the teeth because he’s the secretive leader of an underground militia movement along the Ohio River. No wait, that’s not plausible enough for you. How about he stopped, reloaded, and switch out the barrels. Come on, Josh. No jury is gonna buy any of that. They’ll know right away that there was more than one shooter. If you have a better idea, I’m all ears. As of right now, I sure as hell don’t.”

  “How do you know they have all of that evidence?”

  “I don’t command four hundred dollars an hour because I’m an idiot, Josh.”

  “Four? The first time around you charged two.”

  “Your little fiasco up there in Columbus helped me make a name for myself. What can I say,” he said as he made a point of straightening his tie knot and flashing his pinky ring at Josh.

  “Nice... smart ass,” was all Josh could think to say.

  Giuseppe flashed him a toothy smile in return.

  “Listen, you hold tight. Let me meet with their DA and see about the bail hearing. Once that’s done, I’ll swing back by and let you know what’s going on. If there’s enough time after that, I’ll head over to Athens and try and get those three out of the pokey. Okay?”

  The trial lawyer collected his things and headed across the street to the courthouse. The County Prosecutor was coming out of a meeting when Giuseppe caught him in the hall. He handed him his business card and introduced himself as Josh’s attorney.

  “Giuseppe Rossi, eh? Come on into my office. We can speak in there,” he said in a thick New England accent.

  The two walked down the hallway, not saying a word. As they entered the office Giuseppe said, “Where you from? That accent’s not from around here.”

  “I grew up in a small town in western Massachusetts. We moved here after we got married. The wife’s from McArthur.”

  “I’ll bet that was a bit of culture shock.”

  “Not too much. We were both from small towns so the B.S. is the same. Took a while for everyone to understand what I was saying though,” he replied and the two shared a chuckle.

  “So what can I do for you, Mr. Rossi?”

  “I’d like to post bail for my client, but I didn’t see a bail hearing schedule posted anywhere downstairs.”

  “We’re pretty informal around here. All bail hearings are scheduled for Monday mornings. Your client had the misfortune of being brought in on a Tuesday. So he’s gonna sit there til next week.”

  “Seriously?” Giuseppe questioned.

  “As a heart attack. We don’t get to many murders, Mr. Rossi. It’s mostly DUIs, possession and an occasional meth lab. Mondays just worked better for everyone. Apparently, these folks only get silly on the weekends.”

  Giuseppe knew there was no point in trying to get a special bail hearing so he let that go. “So let’s talk charges.”

  “All right.”

  “What are we looking at?”

  “I’ve talked with the ME over in Montana and I have the statement the Sheriff collected from Mr. Simmons. I’ll need to talk to the other three shooters and the two women,” he said as he glanced down and reviewed the notes on his legal pad. “Let’s see here, his daughter, Layla, I believe, and a Ms. Samantha Jameson.”

  “We can produce those witnesses except Ms. Jameson. She’s in protective custody with the feds.”

  “I figured we wouldn’t get to talk to her. Long story short, it sounds like a righteous shoot. If I can corroborate that with the other parties, they won’t face any additional charges.”

  “That’s great news,” Giuseppe started to say before he saw the look of consternation on his brow. “There’s a ‘but’ in there somewhere, isn’t there?”

  “Unfortunately, yes. This business of shipping the body across state lines is a problem. I don’t care what kind of pissing contest he and Mr. Edward Tomason were having; he’ll have to be charged for that at a minimum. Someone has to answer for that and I can’t ignore this thing entirely... even if the guy deserved it. It’s obvious Mr. Simmons was in charge.”

  “So what are you offering?” Giuseppe asked.

  “Provided the other witnesses can attest to his presentation of the facts, the deal is he pleads to the misdemeanor and no one else is charged.”

  “Time?”

  “We drop all other charges in exchange for a guilty plea... he gets six months, out in three plus time served. It may be an election year, but I don’t want the media circus you’re sure to bring. This thing stinks to high Heaven. You keep it quiet and I’ll do the same. Deal?”

  “I see you’ve done your homework,” Giuseppe smiled his well-rehearsed ‘old country’ smile and stood up. He extended his hand and said, “Let me talk to my client, but I’d say you’ve got a deal.”

  Josh’s lawyer exited the Courthouse and went back to the Sheriff’s office to break the news. The father was ecstatic that no one else would be charged, but he was less than enthused about being locked up for several months. Jail is still jail.

  The next morning, he had a similar meeting in Athens County. The Prosecutor’s office dealt mainly with drunken students, indecency, and open container violations. He wanted nothing to do with a shoot out between a would-be kidnapper and two previous kidnap victims. Fortunately for the three, the city of Athens is a college town. Bail hearings are held daily to accommodate the idiocy that accompanies dorm life.

  Giuseppe was successful in getting Evan and the girls released. They were all less than enthused about their deal though. Each had to surrender their CCL licenses for ninety days and appear in court before the Judge would sign off on it.

  Giuseppe delivered the Athens gang back to the farm that afternoon and broke the news to the others regarding their father, friend, and employer.

  “Look, guys. Here’s the deal. Josh is taking a plea bargain,” Giuseppe started.

  Basilia practically launched herself off the couch at him. “What? Why? All he was doing was protecting them!”

  “I know that. We all do.” he corrected. “The important thing to remember here is that both the Sheriff and the Prosecutor do as well. That’s why they are offering the deal.”

  “So what’s the deal,” Evan asked calmly.

  “Stallings all but said he was willing to let Josh walk. Unfortunately, you guys basically mailed Toombs’ body back to Montana, COD of all things. As funny as that is, that’s obstruction of justice,” he answered and then directed his gaze at the girls trying to keep it together. “The offer on the table is as follows. In exchange for dropping all charges against Juan and his sons, Josh is going to have to spend two to three months in lock up.”

  Layla and Katherine couldn't hold it in any longer. The tears started flowing, but they didn’t lash out in anger. They knew their father’s heart. Deep down, they expected nothing less.

  “Señor Simmons is willing to do that for us?” Juan asked.

  “Let me put it this way. If Josh doesn’t do this, then all of you guys that pulled the trigger will stand for murder. Listen,” he continued compassionately. “This is as close to a slam-dunk of a deal as I’ve ever seen. If we go to trial, and this thing goes to a jury, there are no guaran
tees. This entire case could go south in a hurry if the wrong jury is seated in the box. All of you could very well get fifteen years plus, easy.”

  Chapter 18

  Josh was arraigned on the following Monday. The court accepted his guilty plea on the misdemeanor obstruction of justice charge. He was gratefully relieved when he was ordered placed back in the county jail to serve his term.

  Two weeks later, Evan and the girls were presented in Athens County. The Judge, ever the hard-ass he was known to be, wanted them to speak for themselves instead of listening to Giuseppe drone on. He had them both sworn in and forced both to take the stand. Josh’s daughters explained the circumstances as the man attempted to discern if they had simply colluded to tell the same story or if they were telling the truth.

  When he asked Katherine why two young women were both armed, she shocked the court and her counsel when she refused.

  Thinking quickly, Giuseppe intervened and said she couldn’t reply to the question because it was sealed. This response piqued the Judge’s curiosity. A recess was immediately called and a meeting in his chambers followed. Again, their lawyer was admonished for speaking for the women. The attorney tried unsuccessfully to cut in and provide detail, but the man had tuned him out. The Judge wasn’t going to be satisfied until Katherine stated it in her own words.

  She got so sick of his badgering that she screamed at him. The survivor’s guilt had come to a head.

  “My sister and I were kidnapped and drugged. While we were strapped to beds in a rat infested warehouse, I had to watch three men rape her over four days of captivity. They spared me because they said I was too young. Do you have any idea what it’s like trying to live with that?

  “That was over a decade ago, and to this day, I still refuse to let a man touch me. Some guy pulls out his thing near me, I’m cuttin’ it the hell off! When that idiot took a pot shot at us in the alley, I told myself that I wasn’t going to be a victim ever again. I did everything I could to put as many holes as possible in that son of a bitch!

  “Do you understand?” she said, continuing to keep her voice raised. “Is any of this unclear?” raising the volume more. “Is that English enough for you!” she screamed at him.

  Then she started in on the Judge’s personal motives for wanting them to testify and pushing her on the stand.

  She slowly leaned over the desk toward the aging man and seductively said, “Why do you want to know this stuff, huh? Our lawyer’s explanation should have been sufficient. Is it possible that you like domination?”

  “That’s it! You, young lady, are in contempt of court! That’ll cost you a night in lockup!” the Judge barked.

  Katherine removed herself from atop his desk and shot back undeterred. “Screw you ya damn crusty old bastard! You can go straight to hell and jerk off the devil himself!!”

  “Three nights!”

  Pulling her away from the man’s fury and anger, Giuseppe stepped in and tried to diffuse the fray. “That’ll be just fine, Your Honor,” he offered quickly.

  The Judge reconvened the court, accepted the plea deal, and the surrendering of the CCL permits as per the agreement. He then ordered the bailiffs to take Katherine into custody.

  As the attorney escorted his client to the holding cells, he couldn’t help but think, Holy crap! What was that! She’s supposed to be the docile one.

  He would have half expected Layla to read a Judge the riot act, but not her. From everything he had gathered over the last few days and weeks, this was beyond out of character.

  Giuseppe dropped his other two defendants off at the farm. With Katherine sitting in the Athens County clink, and Josh serving time for the next three months plus, he drove straight to his downtown Columbus office. There was something to Katherine’s outburst that teased at his recollection of Josh’s previous case. He needed to review those files.

  On the drive back, he called his assistant and asked her to pull Josh’s trial documents from storage. When he reached the city ninety minutes later, the boxes containing the paperwork had been placed on his desk. As he flipped the lids onto the floor, he immediately began turning pages in the assembled folders looking for the DNA lab results from the rape kit.

  * * *

  Josh spent the first several days of his incarceration getting the lay of the land. The jail was a miniature prison, except for the inclusion of the drunk tank. The other prisoners were fairly docile, but there were a few that tried to claim certain things like the weights. By and large, they were harmless though.

  Giuseppe swore it wouldn’t be the full six months so he took comfort in that thought. This was a tiny rural facility so there wasn’t a street gang presence or roving sodomite groups from the Aryan Brotherhood. All of the guests of the county were in for petty crimes and misdemeanors. The more violent felons were all shipped to the maximum security prison in Chillicothe. The structure of his day actually reminded him a lot of boot camp on Parris Island.

  His daughters and extended family visited every Sunday. Basilia did her best to incite a riot by wearing the most provocative clothing Juan was willing to accept. Aside from the weekly visits, Josh had nothing but time on his hands. The omnipresent distractions of the farm were removed so he spent most of his nights thinking about Samantha and wondering of what might have been. When the memory of the Tin Foil Hat Club returned to his mind’s eye, he started laughing uncontrollably. The jailhouse guards and staff thought he had cracked under the pressure.

  Then Giuseppe came to visit.

  * * *

  Josh had been locked up for over two months, but Katherine had something on her chest that needed to be resolved. She couldn’t take the constant favoritism and excuse making by her father regarding Layla any longer. When she saw Juan loading up and preparing to head into town, she hopped up in his truck.

  “Hey, Juan,” she began. “Can you take me to see Dad?”

  “Si, Señorita. I’ll drop you off and then come back and get you when I’m done running errands in town. Couple hours?”

  “Perfect,” she replied.

  The two made the drive to McArthur and Katherine signed in at the visitor’s desk just before the 10:00 AM cutoff. Josh was retrieved from his cell. When he walked in, he saw his daughter waiting for him.

  “What’s going on? What are you doing here? It’s not Sunday,” her father asked.

  “Is it a crime to want to see my dad?” she replied quickly.

  Josh leaned back and cocked a wary eye at Katherine.

  Changing the subject, Katherine quickly said, “Oh, before I forget, I’m supposed to tell you that a couple of the farmers from the network have stopped by.”

  “Really?” Josh replied as he raised his eyebrows in surprise. “What did they want?”

  “They’re curious about what we were planning to do. People are starting to get nervous out there.”

  “What have Juan and Evan told them?”

  “As far as I know, they’ve been telling them to grow extra food and either can it or build a root cellar.”

  “Why are they coming to us?”

  “Beats me. Most of the other farmers, especially the ones we’ve worked with in the past, have always looked to you for answers.”

  Josh thought for a moment before answering, “I’ve got some ideas so see if they’ll come back after I’m released. Maybe reach out to the Mayor while you’re in town. Once I get out, we can figure something out that’s more permanent.”

  The two continued with their small talk for a few minutes before Josh said gently, “You know, Giuseppe visited me.”

  Before she knew what had come over her, Katherine blurted out, “I don’t know what happened!” and began sobbing.

  “Oh honey, you don’t have to be sorry about any of it. What you girls went through should never happen to anyone, ever. That Judge was out of line and got what he deserved as far as I’m concerned. You didn’t do anything wrong in my book.”

  “That’s what our lawyer said, but it
doesn’t make me feel any better,” she replied through the tears, drool, and snot.

  Trying to assuage her guilt, Josh said, “I’ve got some good news for you though. Well, actually, two bits of good news.”

  “Oh yeah?” she answered and sniffed loudly.

  “They said they are letting me out at the end of the month. Three months served. Can you believe it?”

  “Really!”

  “Yup, just found out this morning. Giuseppe came by and told me about an hour ago.”

  Katherine started to stand up to head toward her father to hug him before the guard cleared his throat as a warning not to touch the prisoner. Hearing the muted coughing sound reminded her where she was. She quickly sat back down.

  “It will be so nice to have you home,” she said. “What’s the second piece of good news?”

  “The third guy,” Josh started to say then he saw Katherine’s mood turn more serious and somber.

  “Yeah, what about that little – ,” she started to say before she stopped herself.

  This language and attitude was very uncharacteristic of Katherine. First Giuseppe tells him about the contempt charge and now she’s just stopping short of swearing. Josh couldn’t recall ever hearing her, or her sister, swear. To Josh’s credit, with the exception of the incident at the warehouse, he had not uttered a full blown cuss word since he retired from the Marine Corps. This was not lost on his children or the people he employed.

  “Is there something else wrong, Katherine?”

  Katherine fumed for a few seconds and looked around the room seemingly contemplating an appropriate response.

  “What’s gotten into you? Giuseppe said you absolutely snapped at the Judge and now you’re –.”

  She cut him off and said, “I don’t know. I – ,” and then her voice trailed off.

  “You just what? Katherine, the three of us have been through so much. You can tell me anything. What is it, sweetie?”