The Prosecution of General Hastings
Page 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Sally thumbed through the pink phone messages that she was holding. There was a call from her sister that must have come in just before she got back to the office. It was marked 5:02 p.m. They had spoken earlier in the day and Sally had promised to call her back. But then there was the arraignment and dealing with an angry Jack Hastings as he was taken off to jail. Her other messages could wait.
She loved talking to her little sister. The six year age difference had diminished greatly after Annie had gone off to law school at Georgetown. Sally was secretly proud that Annie had followed in her footsteps and never missed a chance to brag on her to her colleagues. After all, few could boast of a younger sister being a law clerk to a Supreme Court Justice. She checked her watch. It was just before six o’clock, and an hour later in D.C.
She punched Annie’s number into her phone. Annie picked up after the first ring. “Hello, Counselor,” Annie answered recognizing the caller i.d. “If you’re still at the office you’ve had a long day.”
“Ha,” Sally responded. “I feel like I need a counselor… a different kind, mind you. I saw where you called. Sorry I didn’t get back to you earlier. I had an arraignment to deal with today that didn’t go so well.”
“Wow. What’s an arraignment? All I have to deal with everyday is the United States Constitution.” Annie was kidding, of course. She never missed an opportunity to let Sally know how much she loved her area of the law. Sally and Annie Wilcox were raised by “Wild Bill” and Connie Wilcox with a genuine love of the country, its founding and history. Annie found it very natural when she fell in love with Constitutional Law.
“Ha ha, very funny, Sister. What are you up to this evening, there in the nation’s capital?” Sally asked.
“Bobby and I are going out to Match Box Pizza,” she answered. “Only the best pizza in the universe.”
“Bobby? You’re still seeing Bobby? It’s been quite a while for you two, hasn’t it?” Sally asked.
Annie knew that Bobby couldn’t hear what was being said when she answered, “Not nearly long enough, Sal. This one is a keeper.” Her voice dropped into a conspiratorial tone. “He’s in the little boy’s room right now, or I wouldn’t have said that.”
“Whoa, now,” Sally laughed. “Careful there, girl.” She was delighted that Annie had found a man that she seemed to admire and respect. Much like Sally, Annie had always been a high achiever and had always set the bar very high for potential gentlemen friends. Sally knew that if Bobby met with Annie’s approval, he must be quite a guy.
“Oddly enough,” Annie said, “something has come up that involves Bobby. In fact, he asked that I give you a call about it. He’ll be back in a minute and I’ll put him on. But, do you know anything about a case out there involving an Army general? A Jack Hastings?”
Sally could hardly believe her ears. She leaned forward in her chair. “What?” she asked. “I can’t believe you just asked me that.”
“Why?” asked Annie.
“Who do you think got arraigned today? I’m defending Jack Hastings,” Sally said. “This is just too weird.”
“Wow,” Annie exclaimed. “It sure is. Hold on, Sal, Bobby’s back.” Sally could hear Annie saying to Bobby, “My sister is General Hastings’ defense attorney.” Then, coming back on she said, “Sally, I’m going to give the phone to Bobby… Bobby Lawson. He’s got some questions.” Then Sally again heard Annie say, “Here, Bobby. This is my sister, Sally Stillwell…”
Bobby took the phone. “Ms. Stillwell?” he asked.
“Oh pa-lease, Bobby. It’s Sally. Let’s get off on the right foot, here,” she answered.
“Great. It’s good to meet you… so to speak,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Annie. I was hoping we’d meet.”
Sally was immediately impressed by this seemingly shy young man on the phone. “I’d say I’ve heard a fair amount about you, too,” she replied. “Some of it was good.”
Bobby was a bit thrown off, but recovered quickly, “Oh. Ha,” he said. “Um, Did I understand that you are working with General Hastings?” he asked.
“Well, if you call defending him in a murder trial working with him, then yes, I am,” she answered. “And what, may I ask, is your interest in him?”
“I, uh, work for a company here called Oceanic Import-Export. We are in the import-export business,” he said.
“Hmmm, clever name,” she said. “And how does that tie to General Hastings?”
“Our current client has an interest in a transaction involving General Hastings’ company, Mesquite Manufacturing, and the Mexican government,” Bobby said. “It’s a fairly involved situation, but there has been a snag in the deal and my client is asking that we intervene and set things straight.”
“Hmm,” Sally thought for a minute. “And may I ask who your client is?”
Bobby didn’t usually reveal a client’s identity. But this was an unusual case. “Confidentially, Sally?” he asked.
“Yes, I’ll respect that,” she answered.
“We’re working for the federal government on this one… well, one branch of it,” Bobby said. “We really need to ask Hastings some questions. It could be important.”
Sally began connecting some dots. “You know, there is some kind of chance that this could impact my case here,” she said. “in a positive way. He claims that he had a call today from a Mexican in some cartel who wants to buy arms from him. That was before they hauled him off to jail.”
“Ms. Stillwell… I mean Sally, my partner and I need to come out there and speak with the general. Is that agreeable to you?” he asked.
“Well, he’s easy enough to find right here in the Oklahoma City Jail,” she answered. “But, sure, I have no objection. When can you get out here?”
“Is tomorrow okay?” he asked. He looked over at Annie and, away from the phone asked, “Want to go see your sister?” Annie was shaking her head enthusiastically.
Sally answered, “That’s fine. What time can you be here?”
“Most any time,” Bobby answered.
“Do you want to check flights and call me back?” she asked.
“No, that’s okay. I’ll be flying us out there and we can be there most any time you tell me.”
“You’ll be flying? Flying what?” she asked.
“The company’s got a Cessna Citation that I use. We can be there in just a couple of hours,” he said.
Sally blushed at the thought of her little sister’s boyfriend flying out there in a private jet. “Good, then. How about noon at our office? I can send a car to the airport for you,” she offered.
“We’ll need a car anyway, Sally. We’re going to need to run up to Stillwater, too. I’ll just get a rental.”
“Super. Put my sister back on, will you?” Sally asked.
“Here she is… Nice meeting you, Sally. See you tomorrow,” Bobby said.
He handed the phone back over to Annie then took out his own to call Kincaid. “Hello?” Annie answered.
“Boy is Daddy going to like that one?” Sally said. “Flying out here in a private jet. Can you come?”
“Yeah, I can take a personal day. I guess the Court can do without me tomorrow,” Annie smiled.