A Time for Justice: A Legal Thriller (Bill Harvey Book 4)

by Peter O'Mahoney

  “If Monty finds out that Amy is still alive, he’ll kill you.”

  “If anyone finds out she’s alive, they’ll all want to kill me, but I’m not afraid of death anymore.” With Amy’s help, Terrance lugs himself up off the couch. “I went to church, Bill.”

  “And did what?”

  “Asked for forgiveness.” He begins to move towards the front window to check on the pickup truck.

  “Really?” Bill opens his mouth.

  “I confessed that I had sinned and the priest told me to pray the Lord’s Prayer. I haven’t done that since the day I returned from war. I cried, Bill. I blubbered like a big hunk of a mess. The priest was there for me, and he blessed me. Honestly, I feel free. I feel ready for death.” He opens the blinds, leaning close to the window to check any movements outside.

  “You can’t die yet. You still have too much explaining to do.”

  “Like what? It’s all out in the open now.”

  “You need to tell me where the footage is. And Kevin’s black book.”

  “Sorry.” Terrance’s eyes drop down as he leans on the windowsill, tired of what life keeps dealing him. “I destroyed the footage the day I took it.”

  “Did you watch it?”

  “No.” He shakes his head, ashamed of his past. “I didn’t. There’s no black book either. Sorry, Bill. If I had it, I would give it to you. I would love to help you, but I can’t.”

  “Then why convince me that you still had it?”

  “To keep me in the loop. If I had told you that it wasn’t available, I wouldn’t have heard from you again.”

  “Then you have to testify for me. Tell the court what you told me about Kevin. Amy becomes my leverage.” Bill looks across at Jack, gun lowered, but still ready for action.

  “For you, I’ll do that.” Terrance rubs his shoulder. “And I’ll tell you something else. You’re looking at the wrong person for Tiffany’s murder. You’re—”

  The close and loud rumbling of a pickup truck captures their attention.

  “Expecting someone?”

  “No.” Terrance leans close to the living room window again, but the sudden shine of headlights almost blinds him.

  “Get down!”

  Smash.

  Chapter 35

  After a sudden, massive impact sprays Amy forward, the rest is a blur.

  Her head is dazed, her vision is blurred, and the taste of blood fills her mouth. When she raises her head off the ground, she looks down at her sweater, drenched in red. She’s not even sure if the blood is hers.

  Pain shoots down her left side as she tries to turn over. At least one broken rib, maybe two. She’s short of breath as she stares at the black pickup truck halfway into the living room. In front of the truck are a pile of bricks, broken under the force of the bull bar. Furniture has been thrown around the room, resembling a bomb site. Like cardboard, the front wall of the home has crumbled under the force of the powerful truck.

  With the headlights still on, the driver’s side door swings open.

  As the man steps out, she gasps.

  The sight of the blood-stricken man isn’t shocking; it’s the shotgun he’s holding that startles her.

  “Amy!” Terrance splutters blood from his mouth, trying to move under a pile of bricks. “Amy!”

  As Terrance struggles to push the bricks off him, he hears the click of a loaded shotgun.

  “Stay right there,” the man says.

  Terrance’s vision is still blinded by the glaring headlights.

  “And you,” the man continues, “stand up.”

  Rubbing the side of his head, blood running down his arms, Bill begins to stand up. “Monty?”

  “That’s right.” The shotgun points to where Jack lays, thrown backward from the impact, the gun dislodged from his hand, lying a few feet away from him. “Don’t go near that. If you move, I will shoot you.”

  “Monty Lee.” Terrance splutters again.

  “Terrance Marshall. I never thought we would see each other again.” Monty grunts, pointing the gun back at Terrance as he tries to move. “But I’m glad this day arrived. I will finally get revenge for what you did to my Tiffany.”

  “I didn’t kill Tiffany,” Terrance moans.

  “Don’t lie to me! I know you did it!”

  “I didn’t,” he whispers. “Tiffany died because of what she knew. She died because she overheard a conversation. But I tell you, I didn’t kill her.”

  “I don’t believe you! And I will kill you for what you did to my girl!”

  “Do it,” he whispers, the searing pain starting to shoot up his leg. “Just don’t hurt her.”

  Monty’s vision goes back to the girl struggling to move at the side of the living room, having been thrown three feet through the air.

  “Who’s the girl?”

  Terrance looks up at the raging man standing in front of them. “No one.”

  The non-response piques Monty’s curiosity. “Stand up.” With his gun, he indicates to the girl. “Stand up and move over there.”

  She doesn’t move.

  “I said stand up!”

  Despite the pain aching through his legs and torso, Terrance struggles upwards. “I said leave her alone.”

  “Is she yours?” Monty grunts. “Because if she is, I will make sure that you watch her die. Just like I had to watch my children die.”

  “No.” Terrance shakes his head, trying to stand up straight despite the pain aching through his ribs, chest, hips, and legs.

  “Who is she?!”

  “No one.”

  “She’s someone! She’s right in front of me! I can see her.” Monty Lee, veins popping out of his skin, walks over and grabs Amy by the hair, turning her head to look at Terrance. “She sure looks like someone to me.”

  As Monty focuses on the girl, Jack Grayson edges sideways.

  Monty stares at the girl. “It can’t be. No.”

  The shock runs through him.

  “What’s your name, girl?” he whispers, pulling her hair tighter, tilting her head backward.

  “Amy,” she whispers.

  “Amy what?!”

  “Amy! Don’t tell him your last name!” Terrance calls out.

  “Amy what?!” Monty holds the shotgun to her head, resting the cold metal against her jaw. “Amy what?!”

  “Amy Wu,” she answers innocently.

  Monty’s world stops. Not a movement.

  For all the action, for all the adrenaline, she’s the only thing he can see.

  That daze doesn’t last long.

  “Amy Wu?” His pleading eyes look back at Terrance. “Amy Wu? The girl that my daughter was killed for?”

  Terrance doesn’t answer.

  “She’s still alive?!”

  Monty doesn’t know where to turn. Who to turn to. What to do next.

  Running on instinct, he presses the shotgun harder into her chin.

  “Amy Wu?” he repeats.

  Jack creeps further to his left, closer to his gun.

  “How is this girl still alive? Why? Why?!” His knuckles go white from the grip on the shotgun. Every muscle in his body clenches. “My family was torn apart for this girl. And she’s still alive!”

  Jack is almost at the gun.

  Slightly further to go.

  “No, Monty.” Terrance tries to reason with him. “It’s not her. She’s mistaken.”

  Jack’s fingers reach out.

  “It’s not her? I can see that it’s her! She’s the spitting image of her mother! I can see that! Don’t lie to me!”

  Monty grips the gun.

  The rage is bubbling inside of him.

  The anger is ripping through his veins.

  Jack moves closer.

  Almost there.

  “She should have died five years ago!”

  “No, Monty,” Terrance pleads, too far away to save her, “that’s not what this is.”

  “What?!”

  Monty turns away, letting go of th
e girl’s hair, unable to control his movements as the anger fuels him.

  Jack is so close now. Within striking distance.

  Monty turns back.

  The confusion is gone.

  Only rage exists now.

  Only anger controls him.

  “She has to die!” He holds the shotgun inches away from her face, the butt of the gun resting on his chest.

  Tears stream down her cheeks, but she doesn’t move. She can’t.

  “She’s not dying!” Terrance yells.

  “Tiffany died because of her!” Monty steps closer, biceps clenching as he points the gun at her head again.

  “No!” Terrance moves.

  Monty’s attention swings to the man charging towards him.

  Jack moves.

  Two shots are fired.

  Two people go down.

  Chapter 36

  In the blinding headlights, it takes Bill Harvey a few moments to understand what has happened.

  There were two shots, in quick succession.

  He looks to Jack, lying on the ground, conscious, gun in hand, pointed in the direction of the headlights.

  He looks to Amy, frozen in fear, holding her body tight, waiting for someone to tell her what to do next.

  Then he looks to the bodies on the ground.

  Terrance Marshall lies on top of Monty Lee, a slow creep of red filling the carpet next to them.

  Bill inches forward next to Jack, still with his gun drawn, still ready to fire.

  “You hit?”

  Jack’s response is cold, but still, he doesn’t move. “I’m good.”

  “Amy? Are you ok?” Bill walks towards her.

  She doesn’t answer.

  He rests a hand on her shoulder, careful not to startle her. “Amy?”

  With large innocent eyes, she looks up at him and nods.

  “Terrance?” Bill advances towards the two men, Jack now standing to his right, gun still drawn and pointed at the two bodies on the ground. “Terrance?”

  Terrance moves, rolling over as he clutches his stomach. He moans with the agony of a man who has just taken a gunshot to the abdomen.

  “No.” Amy reacts, running to the side of her captor. “No!”

  “It didn’t get all of me.” He groans, clutching his side, trying to stop the fast flow of blood. “He must be a bad shot if he missed this stomach.” He tries to laugh, but instead, he coughs deeply, spitting blood.

  “Don’t die,” Amy cries, cuddling him. “You can’t die. I need you. I need you to stay alive.”

  “You don’t need me.” He tries to laugh the statement off, but the fast flow of blood from his stomach, drenching his hand, is sapping all of his energy. “Nobody needs me.”

  “I need you,” she cries. “I need you to stay with me.”

  His presence is all she has known for the last five years, it’s all she can remember.

  “And I’m afraid that I can’t let you die today either, Terrance,” Bill states, hearing the ring of sirens in the distance. “I still need you to testify. I need you to testify that Kevin set me up, and I need you to testify that Kevin killed Tiffany Lee.”

  “If I live, I’ll testify.” Terrance pants, short of breath. “He set you up, but he didn’t kill Tiffany.”

  “You drove the car to the reserve with Tiffany in the trunk.”

  “I did.” His voice is soft as Jack moves past them. “But I didn’t drive Kevin Wu.”

  Jack leans down to the body of Monty Lee.

  “He’s alive,” Jack says as he presses two fingers against his throat, looking for the wound. He locates the wound on the side of Monty’s chest, covering it with hands. “Your jacket.”

  Removing his jacket, Bill hands it across to Jack, who presses it hard over the wound.

  “You’re going to make it, Monty.” Jack tries to get a response from the man he shot. “We’ll get you through it.”

  “Thank you,” Terrance mumbles to Amy. “Thank you.”

  “No, no, no,” she cries. “Don’t die.”

  Terrance doesn’t respond to Amy, conserving what little energy he has left. “Bill.”

  Bill turns his attention to the dying man. Terrance nods then looks at the girl by his side.

  “I will,” Bill responds, acknowledging Terrance’s unspoken request.

  And Terrance Marshall lies down for the final time.

  Chapter 37

  “Did you find Monty Lee?” Harry Beach walks to Bill Harvey’s side, outside the steps of the courthouse that holds his fate.

  “Not now, Harry. It’s been a very long night.”

  “Are you going in to settle?”

  Despite his fast stride, Bill stops in his tracks, staring down at the reporter. The sun is still early in the sky, bathing the area in a soft morning glow. “What are you talking about, Harry?”

  “The case.” He adjusts his hat, confused by the question. “Are you going in there to settle?”

  Bill’s mouth drops open a little. Harry Beach doesn’t know what occurred only hours earlier, and if Harry doesn’t know, nobody knows. “Are you playing me? Is that what this is? Looking for a different angle for your story?”

  “I don’t understand.” Harry squints. “Kevin Wu said that he was coming here to settle. He said that this meeting was about settling this case.”

  “Kevin Wu is here?”

  Harry nods. “As is his wife.”

  When Bill left the hospital, he left the young Amy Wu in the care of Detective Stacey Oates, her shock at the girl’s story only matching his. Oates had already tried to contact the Wu family three times before she left, but nobody answered, and no one returned her call.

  For Bill, the recent ordeal was nothing more than a few cuts and bruises, the same for Jack Grayson. The same could not be said for Terrance Marshall – declared dead at the scene.

  “How long ago did they walk in?”

  “Only ten minutes ago.” Sensing a story, Harry pulls out his phone, and steps closer. “What’s going on, Bill? You look like you haven’t slept, and you look very confused. Where have you been all morning?”

  “The hospital, and then a storage facility.”

  “I don’t understand. How’s that connected to this case?”

  “Follow the Wu family and have a camera ready.” Bill looks to the courthouse. “You’ll get a front-page story, Harry. A shocking one.”

  Chapter 38

  “Thank you for your timely arrival, Mr. Harvey.” Judge Dean looks at his watch. “I trust that you have come to this Case Management Conference in good faith for a settlement.”

  “I’m only here because it’s mandatory.”

  “We have made our conditions clear.” Taylor Reaper unbuttons his Italian fitted suit jacket as he sits down. “Mr. Harvey needs to acknowledge that he takes full responsibility for his actions, and the actions that he influenced Kevin Wu to take, and then we can begin to discuss a smaller settlement amount.”

  Still angry that he was played by Bill last time, Taylor won’t be fooled a second time.

  But in response, Bill only shakes his head.

  “Mr. Harvey?” Judge Dean questions. “If you would like to begin proceedings.”

  A phone buzzes on the table. Kevin Wu, dressed impeccably in a dark blue suit, looks at the number and then places his phone back down without answering it.

  Sitting behind her husband, Eva Wu takes her buzzing phone out of her purse. Following her husband’s lead, she does the same, not answering the call.

  “Detective Oates?” Bill nods towards the phones.

  Kevin’s eyes squint together. “How would you know that?”

  “She has important news for you.” Bill places his briefcase on the table. “I suggest that you return her call.”

  Kevin scoffs. “No. I’m not falling into that trap. I don’t return the calls of police officers. I know what she wants – she wants to trap me, force me into a mistake. I know how you guys work, but I’m not going to fall fo
r it. Not today.”

  “That’s not the case. She has good news for you.”

  Kevin bursts out laughing, slapping his right hand on the table. “There’s not a chance that I’m falling for your tricks. Not a chance. If Detective Oates wants to find me, she can send out a warrant for my arrest.”

  “Return the call. She has information for you.”

  Bill looks at Eva Wu, sitting behind her husband, arms folded across her chest, hair covering half her face.

  “Mr. Harvey, I’m keen to get this CMC moving,” Judge Dean interrupts. “If you could please sit down and begin.”

  Tired from the night of fighting and confusion, Bill takes pleasure in sitting down. “I’m not settling this case.”

  Taylor looks away, shaking his head, fist clenching on the table. “I knew it. This is just another play by you.” He begins to pack up his files. “I don’t have time to waste here. I have a job to do, not games to play. I’m not your pawn, Harvey.”

  “Your time here won’t be wasted,” Bill states, staring at Kevin, whose eyes are focused on the edge of the table in front of him. “But I imagine that your last four months have been.”

  “Mr. Harvey,” Judge Dean interjects again before the argument gets out of hand. “We’re all busy people. Get on with it.”

  Bill nods, still discerning how he’s going to play this. He had expected to walk into the room and find that Taylor Reaper had requested an extension with all the confusion surrounding the night’s events.

  “Tell me, Kevin, what’s it like to be the smartest person in the room?”

  Kevin tilts his head as he stares at Bill.

  “You’re too smart for me, obviously. You outsmarted me in those hypnotherapy sessions, didn’t you, Kevin?”

  “What game are you playing?” Taylor asks.

  “Kevin is a very smart man. Very, very smart.” Bill’s voice is composed. “Too smart, it appears.”

  “I don’t have time for this.” Taylor throws his hands in the air.

  “The orange door, Kevin. I found it.”

  “What orange door?” Kevin uncrosses his legs and leans forward.