by Val Welch
His dedication finally paid off when the NBC affiliate showed a clip of them transporting her from the jail to the courthouse for a pre-trial conference.
He felt as though he’d been hit in the gut with a sledgehammer as he watched the footage of Eden, shuffling as fast as she could across the parking lot, head bent, trying to avoid the prying eyes of the camera. He played it over and over again, until he had to run into the bathroom and vomit. He sat on the floor, clammy with sweat and knew he had to see her.
He called Doc, got Shelby’s cell number, memorized it and walked around the house for two hours trying to talk himself out of making the call. Finally, he just picked up the phone and dialed the number. He almost hung up when Shelby answered. Part of him was hoping she wouldn’t.
“Hello, Gabe,” she said.
The sound of her voice threw him. It was kind of soft and sexy. He swallowed hard and kept going. “Hello, Shelby, this isn’t a bad time, is it?” he asked, checking his watch.
“No, not at all. We’re hanging out in a hotel room, eating takeout and prepping for a big meeting in the morning. How’s everything at home?”
“Good. Cold. We could get snow soon.”
She laughed. “Thanks for the weather report.”
Damn that was stupid. “Sorry, guess I’m a little nervous.”
“Why? I thought we were friends, Gabe.”
He took a deep breath and just said it. “I was wondering if you could get me in to see Eden.”
Silence. A long, empty, cold, silence that made him wish for the millionth time he’d never met Eden Malone.
“Hello? Are you still there?” he asked.
“Sure, I’m still here. I’ll make some calls and get back to you,” she said, her voice flat, detached and all about business.
“Thanks. I really appreciate it, Shelby.”
“No problem. I’ll call you with the details.”
“Good night, Shelby,” he said, but she was already gone. He slammed the phone against the wall. “Damn you, Eden. Damn you.”
Twelve
Shelby was sitting in the interview room with Carson waiting for William Malone to be brought down when Morgan stuck his head in the door and pointed at Carson. “Come with me. I want Shelby on this.”
Carson looked at her. She shrugged and went back to writing on her legal pad.
A few minutes later, the door opened again and she had her first look at the emaciated, wild-eyed, scab encrusted, tweaker that was William Hendrix Malone. He swaggered in and leered at her as two beefy guards accompanied him into the room, secured his shackles to the table restraint and backed away a few feet.
“Hello, William Hendrix Malone, I’m Special Agent Ryan with the FBI. It’s my understanding that you have refused legal representation, is that correct?”
He stared at her and rubbed his crotch. “Yeah, that’s right. Cut the crap, bitch.”
She smiled sweetly across the table. “All right. Asshole. You’ve got your scrawny, lice infected dick in a wringer, and I’m your best bet for a deal. Do you want to cut the tough guy act, and get down to business?”
He stuck his finger up his nose, dug around, and withdrew a booger. Shelby’s stomach rolled, and she stifled a gag as he popped it into his mouth and grinned at her. “Sure, let’s talk about how many ways I could do ya right here on the table. I’m sure your buddies behind the mirror would get off watching.”
She grinned. “I’ve got the wrong set of genitalia for your tastes. You didn’t get HIV from doing girls.”
He slammed his chained fists onto the table. “That’s fucking bullshit. I don’t got no fucking HIV.”
She laughed and leaned forward. “Ah, can’t take the truth, huh? It’s all right here in your medical report, along with the lice, parasites and a whole host of other critters eating you alive,” she said, patting the two-inch-thick file on the table. “You know what they’ll do to you in there, when they find out, don’t you? You’ll be dead in a week, with your dick stuffed in your mouth.”
He looked down at his scab encrusted hands and arms. “What’s the deal?”
“If you help us bring down EFA, we’ll get you treated. You do a cushy ten years in a resort. With good behavior you could get out in seven years. You’ve got thirty seconds. Take it or leave it.” She looked at her watch, and slid a document across the table with her pen lying on top. He snatched the pen, scribbled his name, and pushed it back as the door flew open and Morgan entered the room.
“Nice doing business with you,” Shelby said, taking the paper and adding it to the one she’d already had Eden sign. She handed both of them to Morgan as she left the room.
“Ryan, be in my office at ten a.m. tomorrow,” Morgan called after her as he scanned the documents.
Carson walked toward the exit with her. “Damn. I hope this is worth it.”
“Me too. Come on. Let’s go get drunk and plan my next career move. Something tells me I’m going to have some free time on my hands.”
Morgan kept Shelby waiting for over an hour. She spent the time rereading her four page letter of resignation. Of course, she wasn’t going to go lightly, she was going to stand up and be heard as loudly as possible. Only after three revisions did she feel it adequately conveyed her full contempt for the archaic policies Morgan used to run the section. She also offered real solutions to facilitate the changes needed to make effective interagency collaboration a reality.
Morgan opened the door of the conference room he’d commandeered. He waved her in and returned to his seat. She sauntered in, surprised to see several members of the unit’s supervisory level already sitting around the conference table. She took the last remaining chair, sat her briefcase on the table and calmly looked around the room. “Hi guys. Nice day for a lynching. Huh?”
There were a couple nervous chuckles as Morgan glared down the table at her. He shook his head. “Special Agent Ryan, the disciplinary review panel has convened to review your actions leading to the execution of unauthorized plea agreements with William and Eden Malone. You are hereby officially notified of your suspension, pending a full administrative review of the issue.”
Although she’d known it was coming, it was still a shock to hear him say the words. She waited a full uncomfortable minute before she snapped open her briefcase, took out her letter of resignation, credentials and duty weapon and slid them to the middle of the table. She closed her briefcase and walked out of the room.
Her hands were trembling by the time she left the building and stood dazed outside the entrance of the courthouse. Her eyes swept across the vast sunlit plaza and she saw him. He stood, arms crossed, casually leaning against the railing waiting for her, as she knew he would be.
She walked to him.
He draped his arm over her shoulders and steered her through the blinding midday sun. “Shelby, I’m in love with you and have been since the moment I laid eyes on you.”
She stopped. “What the fuck?”
Carson laughed, squeezed her shoulder and again propelled her across the courtyard. “Don’t act surprised, Shelby. You’ve got it for me just as bad. Admit it.”
“Why now? Here?” she asked trying to keep up with his breakneck pace.
He stopped and looked down at her. “The look on your face when you walked out of that door just about broke my heart. I needed you to know that I’m here for you. That I’m crazy in love with you,” he said, blushing.
She set her briefcase down, wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him. “Why did you wait so long to tell me?”
He smiled. “Why couldn’t you see it?”
“I did see it, months ago, and it scared the hell out of me.”
He laughed. “Why?”
“Because, I love you too. And I’m not very good at it … the whole relationship thing. You do realize that, right?”
“Shelby, I know everything I need to know about you.”
Thirteen
Gabe stood slightly apart from
the rest of the visitors waiting to be cleared through security. He didn’t know what had taken place since his phone call to Shelby. But, yesterday evening Eden’s court appointed attorney had called and instructed him to be at the Maricopa County jail for a meeting with her and Eden.
After clearing security, he was escorted to a private meeting room to wait.
He hated himself for being so weak. It had been so damn easy to say he was done with Eden. Unfortunately, saying it didn’t make it so. His humiliation was complete, now that Shelby, Doc and his mother knew he was seeing her. The disappointment and concern on his mother’s face had filled him with shame.
The door opened and Eden, along with her attorney, walked into the room. Eden was cuffed and wearing an orange jumpsuit. She refused to look at him as they crossed the room and sat across the table from him.
“Hello, Chief Navarro, I’m Julie King, Eden’s attorney. We need to get right down to business. I have a pre-trial meeting in a few minutes.”
Gabe nodded, still looking at Eden who had her face averted.
“Hello, Eden,” he said softly, lowering his head and trying to make eye contact with her.
She slowly raised her face, and he couldn’t help the involuntary gasp that escaped when he saw what had been done to her. She stared straight ahead, refusing to make eye contact.
“Chief Navarro, we need to move along here. I have a lot of information for you.”
He turned toward the attorney. She was in her mid-thirties, heavyset with long, wavy brown hair and a round owlish face. She seemed almost hostile toward him as she glared across the table.
“What’s the plan for the arraignment?” Gabe asked, still looking at the Eden-like zombie across the table.
“She walks in and pleads.” The attorney shrugged. “The deal we signed is intense probation including drug testing for the next five years. She’ll spend the next few weeks in a halfway house and then you can take her home.”
“Home? She’s walking with just time served?” he asked. “How the hell did that happen?”
She laughed. “Shocking, isn’t it? The really unbelievable part is that it’s courtesy of some hot shot FBI attorney, who actually got fired for doing it.”
He knew before he asked and it made him sick. “Shelby Ryan?”
“Yes. Have you heard this story?” she asked, leaning forward and licking her lips.
She repulsed him, but he had to know. “No, what happened?”
“She made an unauthorized plea deal. William gets ten years in exchange for informing on EFA and Eden walks with probation.”
“And she was fired?”
“That’s the word on the street,” the attorney said, standing and gathering her stuff together. “Oh, I’m assuming that you’re willing to take her after the halfway house…?”
He looked at Eden and saw the faintest flicker of fear in her eyes. “Yeah, she’ll be coming home with me.” He was shocked as hell that he was actually going down this road again. But, what could he do? She had no one else. Will would be out of the picture. Maybe this time, it would work for them.
“Good. I’ve got to run. I’ll tell the guard to give you five minutes. Are you coming to the arraignment tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” he said, still looking at Eden. “I’ll be there.”
The door closed. He looked at Eden and winked. She smiled faintly and said. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
He reached across the table, palms up, waiting. “It’s okay. I’ll take care of everything.”
She slowly placed her hands in his and looked into his eyes. “No Gabe, this time, I have to do it myself.”
Fourteen
Shelby was standing outside the courtroom, waiting for Eden Malone’s arraignment to begin when Gabe walked down the corridor to her.
“Good morning, Shelby,” he said stopping in front of her.
She smiled. “Gabe, it’s good to see you. I heard you saw Eden yesterday. How did it go?”
“Good. She’s got a lot to work on, but I think she’s finally ready to do it. I have to tell you, though, what you did was unbelievable.” He put his hand on her shoulder and slowly shook his head. “Why?”
She gestured across the corridor to an alcove in front of a window. They crossed the corridor and stood together looking out the window at the people moving over the quadrangle two floors below. “I love this view,” she said.
“Shelby, I know how much your job meant to you. Why throw that away for someone you don’t even know?” he asked.
She couldn’t trust herself to look at him without crying. She clutched the windowsill and stared intently at a man in a dark suit hurrying toward the parking garage. “I did it for a lot of reasons. But the bottom line was that I’m tired of a judicial system that allows injustice because it’s the expedient thing to do. Society is constantly changing, but our system is this big unyielding monster incapable of change and I don’t think that’s what our founding fathers had in mind.” She shrugged. “It’s been a long time coming. I guess Eden was just the last straw for me.”
He put his hand on her shoulder and turned her toward him. “I can never thank you enough.”
“Yes, you can, just have a happy life … big brother,” she said, smiling at him.
He laughed. “So, you heard, we’re going to be related.”
“Yeah, Doc called me yesterday and told me he and your mother were engaged. I’m really happy for them.”
“Were you as surprised as everyone else in town?”
She shrugged. “At first, but when I really thought about it I could see some symmetry there. They’ve know each other for years. Why should they be alone at this point in their lives?”
“Yeah, I agree. Guess they’d been seeing each other for months and I was too wrapped up in my own life to notice.” He pointed toward the court room. “Are you going in?”
“Yes, let’s go.”
They found two seats in the rear together and watched as the clerk called the case number and Eden was brought in. The charges were formally stated and the judge asked her how she pled. Eden said something inaudible to them, the judge ordered that her plea be entered into the record and that she receive her sentence per the plea agreement. She would be released to the halfway house the following day.
Shelby was unable to hold back the tears when she saw the joy on Gabe’s face as Eden was given another chance. She just hoped this would be the time she could break the cycle.
After the proceeding, they went back to the corridor to wait for Carson. Shelby dabbed at her eyes as they waited. “Here comes Carson, we’re having lunch together. Please join us.”
Gabe nodded. “Sure, I haven’t met Carson yet.”
Shelby watched Carson walk toward them with his usual big smile. He stopped in front of them, hand outstretched and said. “Hi, Gabe. I’m Carson.”
“Hello, it’s real good to meet you. Thanks for all your help with Eden.”
Carson grinned. “I saw her yesterday after you. She was one happy girl. Come on, let’s go eat.” He took Shelby’s hand in his. “We know this great Mexican buffet just down the street, don’t we, Shelby?”
Shelby smiled up at him as he draped his arm over her shoulders and the three of them walked down the corridor and into a waiting elevator.
“Gabe, you should stay with us tonight. We can hang out, and get to know each other better,” Carson said, when they walked out of the elevator.
“I’d like that,” Gabe said. He held the door as they walked out onto the quad. “Do you know where the halfway house Eden is being assigned to is?”
“Yeah,” Carson said, leading the way along the high-rise lined street. “It’s not far from the condo I just rented. You should stay with us when you come down to see her.”
“You guys, it’s just too much,” Gabe said quietly.
Shelby touched his arm and tried to see his eyes behind the impenetrable dark glasses he’d donned when they left the courthouse. “Gabe,
we’re going to be family and helping each other is what family is about. I’m just a little concerned that this is all happening really fast. I don’t want you to get into a situation you’re not ready for.”
“Hell, I’m ready,” he said, smiling at her. “I’ve been waiting for her to come home. What do you know about where’s she’s been? And what the hell happened to her face?”
“We have no idea what happened to her face. We do know that she’s been living and working in a domestic violence shelter in Tucson. She’s drug free, HIV free and seems to have none of the symptoms long-term meth users usually have. She wasn’t with William, and she wasn’t involved in any of the terrorist acts after the logging company office. And we can’t tie her to that either,” Carson said, opening the restaurant door.
Shelby was the first one through the buffet line. She found a booth, and was waiting for Carson and Gabe when she saw Morgan. He was sitting with two members of the unit across the aisle, and down a couple of booths. He looked up, saw her, and at least had the decency to look embarrassed. She got up, walked down the aisle and stopped at his booth. All conversation ceased as he put down his fork, wiped his mouth on his napkin and warily looked up at her.
“Yes, Shelby?”
“Hello, Morgan.” She smiled down at him, tapping her nail on the table top. “I just wanted to stop by and say … you have the smallest dick I’ve ever seen.”
The guys at the table erupted in laughter. She grinned at them, turned on her heel and walked back to her booth where Carson and Gabe were now waiting.
Carson looked down the aisle at Morgan’s red face. “Shelby, what did you say to him?”
She shrugged. “Nothing.”
“It sure doesn’t look like nothing. Just keep in mind that he can send me to Fargo.”
“Don’t worry. He’s not going to be a problem. He doesn’t want to seriously piss me off.”
Gabe glanced over his shoulder at Morgan. “Who is that guy?”
“My ex-boss,” Shelby said, picking up her fork.