The Last Justice

by Anthony J. Franze

Pacini grabbed a water carafe from the next table and dumped it on Petrov, as if to revive him. Petrov started swatting him away as Pacini rubbed the wet collar of Petrov's shirt against the discolored spot on his neck. Petrov's shirt started to stain as thick beige makeup foundation rubbed off his neck. Pacini rubbed harder, with Petrov continuing to struggle. The outline of two letters began to appear.

  As two officers helped Petrov to his feet, Pacini said, "Arrest him."

  The room erupted in a chaos of shouting and more camera flashes.

  Hart Senate Building, Capitol Hill

  acini detained Petrov in the security office of the Hart Senate Building until he had time to speak with the FBI director and the director of national intelligence. All agreed that Petrov should be escorted out of the building in custody, in front of the media circus outside-a "perp walk," reserved for the most notorious suspects. Each federal agency would choose one member to walk alongside Pacini and Petrov to a government van. A short walk, but just enough time for the media to capture the spectacle and ensure that every news outlet had a photo showing that the Supreme Court Commission and federal law enforcement had finally made an arrest in the Black Wednesday investigation.

  Assad and Milstein, awaiting Pacini's instructions in the anteroom behind the hearing room, stood when Pacini walked in.

  "That was unbelievable," Assad said.

  "That it was," Pacini sighed, flopping down onto a chair.

  "So, what's next?"

  "We're going to walk him out in cuffs once all the necessary agents have arrived-you wouldn't want this to be anything less than a major political event, would you?"

  "I hope we're right about him," Assad said. "Or we all lose our heads."

  "No fear of that. They've already searched Judge Petrov's home. They found a BlackBerry hidden in his things-it belonged to Parker Sinclair."

  "How does that confirm anything?"

  "It's got Petrov's prints all over it. He must have sent e-mails to the Washington Post reporter pretending to be Sinclair, leaking the McKenna bribery story, and also e-mails to Sinclair's parents saying McKenna was 'C-B.'We think Parker Sinclair must have been suspicious about his girlfriend and Petrov having an affair, and hid a camera in the judge's chambers-maybe even confronted them both about it. When the commission went public about the mark on the assassin's neck a few days ago, Sinclair must have recalled the mark on Petrov's neck from the video. If he'd confronted either Petrov or Dakota about the video, that could have raised Petrov's concerns that Sinclair knew about the mark on his neck."

  "So Petrov has his old foster brother kill Parker Sinclair and plant blood evidence at McKenna's hotel?"

  "That's what we think."

  "But why frame McKenna?"

  "We're not sure yet. It's likely Petrov was monitoring Parker's email at work. He may have feared Parker would go to McKenna, since he knew he was on the commission. Maybe Petrov was monitoring office e-mail and found out about Parker sending the package to McKenna."

  "What about the bribery allegation against McKenna?" Milstein asked.

  "Parker may have had suspicions and told Petrov. Petrov then used it to discredit McKenna. That would explain why they killed Griffin Nash, to give added weight to any suspicions Parker had."

  "Is McKenna going to be arrested?"

  "No. Not today, anyway. I've got orders to let him leave the building and to make it crystal clear that he's not in custody. Just as wellguy's been through enough. We've already released Kate Porter."

  "Has anyone spoken with Dakota Cameron about the video?" Assad asked. "Wouldn't she have seen the mark on Petrov's neck?"

  "We just learned she was killed in a hit-and-run."

  "Aw, shit," Assad groaned. "Do we think Petrov or Bigler-"

  "Yeah, we think so. Cameron probably knew too much or was simply a political liability if word got out about the affair."

  "It's unbelievable," Assad said. "All this so he could be nominated to the Supreme Court?"

  Pacini shrugged. "Welcome to Washington."

  A man poked his head in the door and said, "Ready, sir."

  On the second floor of the Hart Building, a doctor finished examining McKenna and said he needed to go to the hospital to get the wound irrigated and stitched, but that he was going to be fine. An agent told McKenna he would need to be available for questioning, but he was free to move about as he wished.

  McKenna looked at the agent skeptically. "So I can just limp out that door?"

  "Those are my orders," the agent said, sounding as surprised as McKenna.

  That was good enough for McKenna. He decided to leave now before they changed their minds. Then he saw her, coming toward him. She looked tired, but beautiful as ever.

  Kate embraced him, careful not to squeeze him anywhere he was hurt.

  "I thought you might want some company," she said.

  "You didn't have to come."

  "I know." She gave him a fleeting smile.

  "You're sure?"

  "I am."

  For the first time in recent memory, he felt a genuine smile on his face.

  Hart Senate Building, Capitol Hill

  acini, Assad, Milstein, and an entourage of federal agents led Petrov out the main entrance of the Hart Building. Pacini had asked the two detectives to join him in escorting Petrov so they would appear in the pictures that would soon cover the front page of every newspaper in the country. And indeed, the photographers and camera crews were already jostling and jockeying for the best vantage point to capture the historic event.

  Ivan Petrov, led out in cuffs and feeling acutely all the unflattering attention, could not quite believe what was happening to him. Not an hour ago, he had been the presumptive chief justice of the United States, and now he was getting perp-walked to jail. Hair tousled and shirt still damp from the earlier dousing, he squinted under all the camera flashes.

  Amid all the gawking figures that lined his route, he saw one in particular, moving toward him through the crowd. He knew that walk, that sense of petite elegance. It was Liddy Kincaid. He had seen her in the spectator gallery for the tribute to her husband. Now she looked as if she was going to spit in his face.

  The next moments seemed slow and unconnected to reality.

  "Gun!" he heard someone yell.

  Then he heard screams and was shoved into a group of reporters who surrounded him. Someone dived in front of Petrov and Milstein as Liddy Kincaid fired and kept firing.

  Milstein picked herself off the ground and watched as agents twice the woman's size swarmed Liddy Kincaid, taking her to the ground. Milstein pushed through the crowd, looking for Assad.

  Not'she screamed, running to him. Something tripped her, and she only barely managed to keep her feet. She looked down into the blank, unseeing gaze of Ivan Petrov. Just above one of those steely blue eyes, a small round hole leaked a thread of blood onto the freshly cut grass.

  "I'm okay,"Assad said. He was holding his arm, and blood showed between his knuckles. Milstein began to cry and held him, kissing him and brushing the hair out of his face, not caring who saw her.

  This book is the result of a lot of late nights and weekends, but more so, the unwavering encouragement of my beautiful wife, Tracy, who has supported me in everything I've done since I was sixteen years old. I also must thank my children, Jake, Emma, and Aiden. It never ceases to amaze me how daily aggravations fall away when I am with them. As they insisted, I included their names in the novel. I did so not because their namesakes bear any resemblance, but because my memories of the years writing this book also are filled with memories of them as young children-a time I never want to forget.

  This novel would remain half-finished in a desk drawer were it not for numerous friends and colleagues. Longtime friend, Sheila Scheuerman, could always be counted on to say what she liked and didn't like about the book, often not in that order. Debbie Carpenter, another valued friend and one of the best colleagues one could ever hope for, also provided endless suppo
rt. Reeves Anderson, Brooke Anderson, Elizabeth Cavanaugh, Rebecca Nassab, and Mara Senn, all great lawyers and friends, gave insightful comments on the manuscript. And the brilliant Dan Barnhizer always could be counted on for a good laugh and sage advice.

  Many others also took time out of their busy lives to assist in my effort to try and bring to life the inner worlds of the Supreme Court, the White House, the Justice Department, and Capitol Hill. I thank Brian Hook for our lunches at the White House mess and Michael Sozan for shining a light on the Hill. And many thanks to Lisa Zeidner Marcus and other former law clerks who gave me a glimmer into the insular universe of the judicial law clerk. None of them ever worked for the likes of Judge Petrov, but their general insights about the life of a clerk and procedures proved remarkably helpful. To these individuals, and others, who took time from the serious business of their positions to help add a ring of authenticity to a story that admittedly takes a leap of the imagination, I thank you. All errors and the many embellishments are mine alone.

  I am also grateful to my law firm, which has allowed me to work with the best legal talent in the world in an atmosphere of individualism and creativity. In the midst of a busy law practice, it was a challenge to find the time to write, but motivation could always be found in the extraordinary accomplishments of my firm colleagues who are examples of how to pursue outside interests while providing the best representation around.

  the listwould notbe complete without thanking RachelTrusheim, Amy Parker, Ashley Cadwell, Casey Fischer, Lauren Fontaine, Tyler Hickey, and the Sterling & Ross team for their professionalism and enthusiasm, and for making The Last Justice the best it could be.

  Finally, special thanks go to my family, including my doting sisters, Laura Roske and Andrea Williams and their families; Charles and Juli Franze; Paul, Trish, Jay, Golda, and all the Adairs; Ron Caller; and Stuart and Louise Caller. But most of all, I thank my mom for always believing in me. This novel is dedicated to her memory.

  In conducting the research for this novel, I reviewed several exceptional works. I found Rebecca Mae Salokar's, The Solicitor General: The Politics of Law (Temple Univ. Press, 1992) to be a key source on the rarely examined SG's office. For questions on Supreme Court procedure, I turned to Stern & Gressman, the Supreme Court practitioners' "Bible," Eugene Gressman et al., Supreme Court Practice (BNA Books 9th ed., 2007). The late Chief Justice Rehnquist's book, The Supreme Court (Vintage Books, 2001), also provided valuable information on the high court from someone who was there.

  On the politics of judicial appointments and the confirmation process I found two scholarly works particularly enlightening: Lee Epstein and Jeffrey A. Segal,Advice and Consent (Oxford Univ. Press, 2005) and Michael Comiskey, Seeking Justices (Univ. Press Kansas, 2004). John Dean's insiders account, The Rehnquist Choice: The Untold Story of the Nixon Appointment That Redefined the Supreme Court (Free Press, 2002), also was fascinating. With regard to law clerks, I turned to Edward Lazarus's somewhat controversial Closed Chambers (Penguin Books, 1998), and the thoughtful Sorcerers' Apprentices (NYU Press, 2006) by Artemus Ward and David L. Weiden.

  For high court trivia and interesting facts, David L. Hudson, Jr.'s The Handy Supreme CourtAnswer Book (Visible Ink, 2008) lived up to its name as a handy guide. Other helpful resources on the Supreme Court Building and past and current justices, included Fred J. Maroon & Suzy Maroon, The Supreme Court of the United States (Thomas & Lickle, 1996) and The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies, 1789-1993 (Clare Cushman ed. CQ 1993).

  I was also fortunate that there have been several very readable recent works on the Supreme Court, including Jeffrey Toobin's The Nine (Doubleday, 2007), Jan Crawford Greenburg's Supreme Conflict (Penguin, 2007), and Jeffrey Rosen's, The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries That Defined America (Henry Holt, 2006). I also benefited from the press coverage of the Supreme Court and always looked forward to pieces by Robert Barnes, Joan Biskupic, Marcia Coyle, Lyle Denniston, Adam Liptak, and Tony Mauro. I also could not go a day without reviewing SCOTUSblog.

  Though these works and sources have little in common with a legal thriller, all provided information and inspiration for the imaginary world created in The Last Justice.