by Dave Daren
“Hello?”
“Ohmygodhenrywerecomingwegotjustinilostmyphonethisiscrazydontleave--” AJ’s voice machine-gunned out before I cut her off.
“AJ!” I exclaimed, which woke Vicki up, “calm down and talk slowly, what’s going on?”
“Okay okay,” she began. “We are coming with Justin, we’re like five minutes away.”
“Thank goodness you’re safe,” I said with a relieved exhale. “When you didn’t answer your phone I thought the worst.”
“Yeah, I kinda left my phone behind at the Rattlesnake Motel accidentally,” she explained.
“Where the heck is that?” I asked.
“In the seediest part of Lake Montezuma I ever saw,” she answered. “It’s where Justin was holed up. We had to wait for him to come out of his room to serve him since we figured if we knocked on the door he wouldn’t ever answer or come out. Luckily, he came out to go to the vending machine around lunch time, and we nabbed him.”
“Is he alright?” I asked.
“Yeah, he was super scared, but he knows Bill, so he felt comfortable coming with us. And in the rush to get back here I left my phone there,” she concluded her story.
“Alright cool, see you in a few,” I said, disconnected the call, and we all began to celebrate in our own way. Vicki jumped up out of her chair and cheered, Agent Palko took his laptop back out, and the stenographer looked straight ahead at the wall.
She may have actually blinked.
Shortly afterward, the door to the room opened and AJ, Bill, and Justin came rolling in.
“Henry!” Bill exclaimed. “I got yer man!”
“Excuse me, sir,” a shocked Agent Palko said to Bill. “I don’t believe it’s legal to come into a government building with firearms.”
Bill sized Agent Palko up menacingly ,but his eyes stopped on Palko’s FBI badge on his belt. “As is well known in the community, I am a law-abiding citizen and I have nothing but the utmost of respect for the Federal Government, so I’ll be politely taking my leave of y’all now,” he said.
“Bill,” I said and extended my hand, “thank you.”
He took my hand, and we shook. “You’re very much welcome, you just fulfill your end of the bargain and we’re squared up.”
“I will,” I declared, and Bill tipped his cap to everyone in the room and left.
I turned back to the room. “We only have a few minutes, let’s get this done quickly.”
Vicki swore Justin in, and I began my questioning. “Were you paid or otherwise coerced to alter the results of the forensics test on Harmony Irving’s clothing?”
“I would like to invoke my Fifth Amendment right,” he declared. I looked over at Agent Palko as that was his cue to spring into action.
“Hello Mr. Pell, my name is Agent Palko of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” he began. “We have evidence to prove you have been extorted or coerced into supporting the criminal activity of an organized crime operation.”
Justin gulped nervously.
“In exchange for your testimony, we are prepared to make you the following offer,” Palko said. “Firstly, we will provide you full witness protection services. Secondly, we will offer you a guilty plea for Obstruction of Justice and a reduced sentence that will result in no jail time for you.”
“I-I-I can’t, they will kill me,” Justin stammered.
“Justin,” I started, “I assume you know, but Gerard is dead, they got him. You’re a threat to Udinova, and if you walk back out on the street on your own, they’ll get you too. If you go to jail, they will find a way to get you there, too. This deal is the only way to avoid jail and avoid being killed.” I looked him dead in the eyes. “Do the smart thing.”
Justin looked around the room at everyone, and he eventually stopped at the stenographer.
“Take the deal, knucklehead,” she said to him, and her tone convinced me that she’d been waiting her whole life to tell someone how stupid they were.
“Okay, but you have to make sure they can’t get to me,” he implored.
“You’ll be fully protected,” Agent Palko assured him.
“Justin, were you coerced into falsifying the evidence against Harmony Irving?” I asked.
“I was,” he responded, and I cheered inside. We won.
“By whom and by what method?” I asked.
“Vasili told me that if I changed the report to make Harmony look guilty, they would wipe out my debt…” he trailed off.
“And if you refused?” I asked.
“They didn’t overtly say it,” he shuddered, “but I knew they’d kill me.”
“What was your relationship with Gerard Chamberlin?” Agent Palko asked.
“Not much, we played poker every now and then,” he said, “but he was the one who ‘helped’ me out when I fell into debt by getting me a loan from Vasili.”
“Who is Vasili?” Agent Palko asked.
“You don’t know him?” Justin asked confusedly.
“I know who he is,” Palko asked, “but I want to know what you know and what you can testify to.”
“Oh okay,” he said. “Vasili Udinova is a cousin or something of Danila. Seems like they send him out here to handle business.”
“Who killed Bradford Jules?” I asked. “Was it Gerard or Vasili?”
“I dunno,” Justin answered with a sigh. “But Gerard wasn’t a violent person as long as I’ve known of him, and Vasili was.”
Agent Palko pulled out his cell phone and asked whomever he called to get a warrant for Vasili and put him on a no-fly list.
It was now Five o’clock, and we were out of time, but I’d gotten what I wanted and had no further questions. Agent Palko advised Justin he was going to take him into protective custody and they’d be going to Flagstaff. The stenographer advised she would have the full transcript done within the hour, she packed up her gear and left. In a matter of seconds it went from a full house to just AJ, Vicki, and I in the room.
“You did awesome,” Vicki said.
“We got so lucky in so many ways today,” I told her. “If he had asked for his lawyer, we wouldn’t have had time to do the deposition today, and we would have had to turn over discovery tonight without it.”
“But he didn’t, and we won’t,” she declared. “Plus, you know that a good lawyer makes his own luck. If you didn’t make the choices you made, we wouldn’t have been in a position to get this outcome.”
“I’m not going to stop you if you want to keep feeding me compliments,” I laughed. “No need to lay it on so thick, I already like you.”
“Yeah, yeah,yeah,” she said with an exaggerated eye roll. “So once the Golden Girl sends us the transcript, we turn over our discovery?”
“Nah, we got until midnight and I intend to take every last minute,” I said. “If we turn it over, the prosecutor will drop the charges, but I want the case dismissed.”
“What’s the difference?” AJ asked.
“If the charges are dropped, it will be quiet and the town will be full of rumors that will follow Harmony forever,” I explained. “But if Judge Rose dismisses the case, she will read the prosecutor the riot act, and the media will report every sentence. Harmony will be fully exonerated.”
“Wow, you really want to punish Chet,” Vicki said.
“Of course I do,” I responded, “but it's more about repairing Harmony’s reputation as fully as possible, it just so happens that involves me twisting the knife in Chet a bit… no pun intended.”
“Alright, let’s go,” AJ began, “I need ice cream to celebrate.”
“Ice cream for dinner?” I asked.
“I second this motion,” Vicki added cheerfully.
“I guess I’m overruled,” I said with mock sadness. “Let’s roll.”
We walked out of the double sliding doors and made our way to the parking lot to the west. The sun was just beginning to set on the tops of the mountains and send off the brilliant and blinding golden rays that Sedona was known for. The air was fre
sh and smelled of the unique blend of red dirt, pine, and desert flowers. As we walked, I noticed a car moving quickly through the parking lot in my right peripheral vision. I glanced at it and saw it was a tan Toyota sedan with some pretty serious driver side damage.
“Oh shit,” I said, and Vicki and AJ gave me a puzzled look. I quickly looked left and saw Agent Palko and Justin walking together to Agent Palko’s car. “Palko! Look out!”
They looked up at me and then looked at the tan car barreling down upon them.
Chapter 18
Agent Palko pushed Justin out of the way and tried to dodge the other direction before being hit. He was too slow, and his body rolled over the hood of the car and across the windshield before he hit the ground with a thud. The Toyota kept traveling in the same direction and was preparing to make a loop to the left while Justin ran in the direction it came from with a look of total panic on his face.
AJ, Vicki, and I ran towards Agent Palko while the sound of tires screeching filled the air. Palko was still breathing but was unconscious and bleeding fairly profusely from his scalp.
“AJ, call 9-1-1,” I barked. “Vicki, call Agent Blume.”
“What are you going to do?” Vicki asked, but instead of answering her, I reached into the unconscious FBI agent’s jacket and pulled out his pistol.
“They’re going to kill Justin,” I said as if to justify the incredibly stupid thing I was about to do.
Then I bolted after Justin.
He was now cornered by the trash dumpsters in a half-alley on the side of the library some fifty yards away. I saw the Toyota come to a stop at the end of the alley and a very large, pale, and bald man wearing all black emerged from the vehicle holding a pistol in his right hand.
I was about twenty-five yards away, and I saw Justin duck behind the dumpster out of sight of both the man and myself.
“Justin!” The large man called out in an accent that was half Russian half Brooklyn. He took three steps toward Justin’s position and brought his pistol to shoot, so I quickly put the brakes on my full sprint and raised my pistol as I caught my breath.
Before he pulled the trigger at Justin, the Russian man saw me out of the corner of his eye and began to turn toward the more immediate threat.
Me.
As he turned, I fired three quick shots, two of which struck him in the torso and one that missed completely. He fired a shot immediately afterward, but it went wildly into the air. Then the big man collapsed to the ground with a wet thud.
I approached carefully as my heart hammered in my chest and my lungs screamed desperately for oxygen. The gangster was either unconscious or dead, but I didn’t want to get close enough to tell the difference, so I merely kicked the gun out of his hand and away from him.
Then I saw the blood.
It was pooling around his chest like a leaking bathtub, and he didn’t appear to be breathing, so I felt my adrenaline dump with relief. “Justin, he’s down,” I called out as calmly as I could.
Justin poked his head around the dumpster, confirmed for himself that what I said was true, and crept out.
“Y-you saved me from Vasili,” he stammered with his eyes bulging out.
“You’re not innocent,” I replied, “but you don’t deserve to die either.”
He nodded meekly in response, and my ears stopped ringing enough for me to hear the approach of emergency sirens. I tossed Agent Palko’s pistol to the ground, and within seconds the parking lot was enveloped by two ambulances, police and sheriff’s patrol cars, and a fire truck.
The next few minutes were a blur. Police asked me what happened, EMTs checked my body for injuries, and other EMTs loaded Palko into an ambulance. I saw Vicki and AJ through the crowd swarming around me and then shouldered my way through everyone.
When I made it to the women, AJ embraced me in a hug and began to sob into my chest while Vicki stood next to me and took my right hand in a tight clasp between both of hers.
“It’s okay,” I assured them. “It’s all over.”
“I heard them say that Palko was probably going to be alright,” Vicki said, and I felt relief flood my stomach.
We were at the scene for several hours being interviewed separately by the police, sheriff’s deputies, and the FBI team who had quickly driven down from Flagstaff. Agent Fitzgerald took Justin into his protective custody and gave me thanks for saving his friend before leaving, and shortly thereafter the Coconino sheriff's deputy gave us the all clear to leave.
By this point, we were all beyond exhausted and agreed to take a rain check on the ice cream. We dropped AJ off at her apartment, and then Vicki and I headed home to a complete madhouse.
“Thank the goddess you’re alright, Henry,” my mother said hysterically.
“I’m fine. It’s okay,” I tried to assure her in vain.
“The news said there was a shootout at the library, and we thought you were with the ancestors,” my father delivered grimly.
Harmony said nothing but gave me a huge crying hug, and then my parents joined in the hugging tearfest as well. “Oh fuck it then,” Vicki cursed and then joined in the now-five-way hug.
Since neither Vicki nor I had eaten dinner yet, my mother began to prepare a couple of veggie burgers for us, Vicki began retelling everyone the story of the day’s events, and I took the opportunity to step out onto the patio and send a lengthy email to Judge Rose with my discovery findings as well as recounting the events of the day. Helpfully, Agent Blume had written an amicus brief on Harmony’s behalf which recommended dismissing the case, and I included that in the email as well. I CC’ed everything to Chet Levinson to meet my discovery deadline, and then sat back in the patio chair, looked up at the stars in the night sky, and exhaled deeply.
Shortly after ten, Vicki and I had just finished inhaling our surprisingly delicious veggie burgers and sweet potatoes when my phone rang. I checked the caller ID and saw it was Judge Rose.
“Hello, Judge Rose,” I said.
“You’ve had quite a week, counsellor,” she replied.
“You could definitely say that,” I responded with a chuckle. “I take it you’ve seen the news tonight then?”
“Yes, and I’ve read your discovery findings,” she said.
“I hope the material wasn’t too boring,” I joked.
“If you’re done with the comedy routine Mr. Irving, I would like to get to the reason I called,” she reprimanded sternly.
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied a tad chastised. I had briefly forgotten how no-nonsense she was in the courtroom.
“I’m calling an emergency hearing tomorrow morning, so your sister should be prepared to appear at nine sharp,” she instructed me.
My heart swelled with hope, but I didn’t dare yet put into words what I expected would happen at the hearing. “We’ll be there,” I said, and she disconnected the call.
I walked back inside, and everyone was looking at me. “Get some sleep,” I told everyone, “we have an emergency hearing tomorrow morning at nine. Wear your best, we’ll probably be on TV.
“What’s going to happen at the hearing?” Harmony asked with worry evident in her voice.
“If my guess is correct, Judge Rose will dismiss the charges against you,” I answered. She immediately jumped out of her chair and nearly tackled me in an embrace.
“Thank you,thank you, thank you,” she blasted out.
“Hold your horses,” I told her. “First, thank Vicki too. This wouldn’t have happened without her, and second, don’t get too excited because anything could happen still.”
I had tried to moderate everyone’s excitement, but it was too late. After thanking Vicki, the family decided to have a drum circle in the living room to celebrate. Vicki joined them, but I was desperate for sleep and took my leave to pass out in the treehouse. I changed into my pajama pants quickly, laid down, and then closed my eyes. Either a minute or an hour later, Vicki came up the ladder and curled up next to me and was asleep before I could say anything
to her. I closed my eyes again, totally exhausted but totally elated.
The next morning we woke up at six and I felt full of nervous energy. I was showered, dressed, and ready to go within thirty minutes, and then the HAV team was in the car and driving to Flagstaff by seven. The drive was filled with playful banter between my team, and I couldn’t help but smile the whole way there.
“Thanks for the doughnuts, you’re getting the hang of being a useful paralegal,” Vicki joked to AJ while she took a big bite of a strawberry jelly.
“I like to think of it as sharpening my skill set,” AJ replied with a grin.
“I don’t think a glazed donut and a coffee is a resume builder,” I added, “but it can’t hurt.”
We arrived at the Coconino County Superior Court shortly after eight, and the entrance was thick with news trucks and media types. I figured after the shooting at the library yesterday, this regional story had just gone national. We parked in the garage and snuck into the building through a side entrance to avoid the media crush. After passing through security we went to the courtroom to wait. Harmony sat between Vicki and I, and I thought to myself that Harmony had received quite an upgrade in her defense team since the last time she was in this room.
As nine o’clock loomed, I looked back to the gallery and saw everyone assembled. My family was there, along with Harmony’s artist friends, the media, Agent Blume, and various other random community members. I even saw Detective Leonard sitting near my folks. Chet Levinson sat at the other table for the prosecution, and he looked sick. Guess those to-go tacos he ordered didn’t sit well with him.
At exactly nine, the bailiff walked in. “All rise,” he instructed, and Judge Mallory Rose entered her courtroom. After she sat, the bailiff ordered everyone to be seated.
“In light of yesterday’s news, my calling of this hearing might seem obvious to many of you,” she began. “But let me make it clear for the rest of you: a gross miscarriage of justice has occurred in Coconino County. The system failed the accused at every level from the preliminary investigation of Bradford Jules’ murder, to the lab work, to the public defender, all the way to the prosecutor’s office. Were it not for the hard work of the defense team, and the unbiased professionalism of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Ms. Irving would be on the fast track to state prison.”