Returning the jewel case to Elizabeth, she then took the book and opened it to the title page. “Lizzy this is wonderful! You have been looking for a copy of this work for years. Fitzwilliam must have sent all the way to London for it. I have not seen it for sale in the States for several years, and when I did, it was well over three hundred dollars.”
“Hmm, I never thought of London, but I suppose he must have. I have searched everywhere—even the Internet. I suppose he must have spent a small fortune for it. He never thinks of what something costs—unlike me. As to the jewelry, yes, it will match my purple outfit perfectly. I don’t know why I haven’t worn it more often. I guess I was waiting for my birthday present.” She giggled. “Well, let’s get our things and go. The men are waiting,” Elizabeth said as she retrieved her presents and took them back upstairs.
Recalling her earlier thoughts as Jane watched her sister depart, she breathed deeply. Jane was all but certain that she and Elizabeth were part of the promise. But something loomed on the horizon, and she had not a clue as to what it was. Perhaps it was Liddy. That was another thing that pressed on her—that and the promise. However, Jane knew better than to bring either of them up again with her sister. They had agreed to disagree, and she would leave it at that. She sighed deeply.
~*~
The girls met their husbands in the hallway where they donned their coats, scarves, winter hats, and gloves. Once outside, Elizabeth and Jane picked up handfuls of snow and began to pelt Fitzwilliam and Charles as they ran, but the men soon caught up with them. They fought for several minutes until Jane and Elizabeth finally fell in a large drift of snow, laughing.
“Enough! You two are too much,” Elizabeth relented, panting for breath. “You’re supposed to let us win. Didn’t they teach you that at your boys’ school?”
“No, I think we missed that one.” Charles laughed, pulling Jane into a hug.
“It was under ‘How to be a gentleman and win your lady,’” Jane said.
Elizabeth got up and dusted herself off. Then she picked up a handful of snow and the fight was on again until both couples collapsed in a mound of white fluff, exhausted and out of breath.
“I truly give up this time. Let’s stop this and make a snow couple,” Jane said.
“Okay,” Elizabeth joined in, “Fitzwilliam, you start by rolling the first ball, and Jane, you go in and bring us what we need.”
Jane scurried into the house. When she returned, the men had already begun in earnest while Elizabeth stood back watching and giving directions. In fact, Charles and Fitzwilliam did all the work while Elizabeth and Jane critiqued. They spent hours laughing and frolicking, making two snow-people—one snowman and one snowwoman. Jane made them complete with carrot noses, scarves, hats, and two buttons for eyes. When finished, both couples stepped back and admired their work.
“So what do you think, Lizzy?”
“Jane, I think they’re wonderful. We did a good job.”
“Oh, who did a good job?” both men said at once.
The girls giggled.
“We all did a good job, but it’s getting colder, and I’m tired. Come, Charles,” Jane said as she reached for her husband’s hand, “let’s go in and have a cup of coffee. How about you two?” Jane called back over her shoulder as she and Charles walked up the steps.
“We’ll be there soon,” Elizabeth returned. “You two go along, and fix another pot of tea. We’ll be in shortly.”
As Jane and Charles entered the house, Fitzwilliam turned to Elizabeth. “Don’t you want to go inside, Liz? You look chilled, love.”
“No, not yet. It’s not often that we get this much snow. This is our second one this season, and it’ll most likely be our last, so I want to enjoy it just a little while longer.”
“Well then, come here. You’re cold. Let me warm you,” Darcy said as he put his face next to hers.
At about that time a car full of college kids slid by, whistling at the couple as they called out, “Dr. Darcy! Carpe diem—seize the day.”
Fitzwilliam glanced up just in time to catch the sight of some of his second term Latin students. Smiling, they gave him a thumbs up. He smiled back and waved as he folded Elizabeth into his arms. He had always gotten along well with his students, but since his marriage, the relationship was even better. He knew he smiled more and was much less reserved than he had been when he first came to the plateau. He sighed in pleasure. His wife definitely had a positive effect on him.
Finally, Elizabeth agreed to going inside to warm up. As they sat together on the loveseat in front of the fire savoring their tea, Fitzwilliam gave thanks for the little things in life, such as a heavy snow in late February and a woman to warm his bed. He heaved a sigh and smiled as Elizabeth’s uncle’s words on their wedding day came to mind …There’s nothing like having a woman to share your bed on a cold winter’s night.
Chapter Twenty-nine
…storm clouds gathering…
Robert walked over to his desk and threw down the legal papers he’d just received an hour earlier. Meandering over to the large second-story office window of Bennett and Bakersfield, Attorneys at Law, he glanced down at the courthouse square. It was the first week of March. The snow from the winter storm still clung to the grass and buildings where they were shaded from the sun. He had a call in to his long-time friend, Sam Armstrong. Deep in thought, he almost didn’t hear his legal assistant standing at the door, rapping gently against the glass pane. Robert turned and grimly motioned for her to enter.
“Mr. Armstrong is on line one.”
“Thanks, Andrea. I’ll take the call now. If you don’t mind, bring me a cup of coffee, and then close the door. I am not to be disturbed.”
“As you wish, Mr. Bennett,” she curtly nodded. “I’ll be right back with that coffee.”
Andrea left and quickly returned with the coffee. “I’ll hold all calls. Let me know if you need anything else.” She stepped outside and quietly closed the door behind her.
Robert sat the coffee down, plopped into his oversized chair, and picked up the phone. “Sam, it’s good to hear your voice.”
“Robert, what’s up? No problems with the case, are there? I assume the arrest warrant has been issued.”
“Yes, I’ve just been notified. I’m to present her to the county jail the day after tomorrow by noon. The feds are going to take jurisdiction over the case. They want Jackie Lee, and Liddy is their chosen tool to nail him with—if she’ll cooperate.” Robert thumbed through the documents on his desk.
“What are they charging her with, and when is she to be arraigned?”
“She’ll be arraigned within five days at the federal courthouse in Nashville. They’re chargin’ her with felony drug trafficking, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. There is a little more to it, but that’s the summation of the arrest charges.” He paused for a moment and wiped his weary brow. “Sam, she’s facin’ thirty years to life with a fine of nearly a million dollars.”
“I see. And how is Miss Fanning taking this upcoming event? What is her state of mind?”
“She’s scared to death. Her baby is due in two months, and she’s afraid she’s gonna have the child in jail while awaitin’ trial.” Robert blew on his coffee to cool it before taking a sip.
“Okay, I’ll catch a plane to Knoxville this afternoon. My legal assistant will call within the next hour with my travel plans. It’s time I met with Miss Fanning, the D.A., and the federal prosecutors. I don’t want any surprises, and I don’t want her saying a thing unless I’m with her. Keep that girl’s mouth shut. From all we’ve discussed, she reminds me of another high-profile case which I lost.”
“You lost a case? When and where?”
Sam hesitated. “Seven years ago. It was the Carrie Anne Nelson case, one of my greatest defeats, not to mention my most tragic. She was an accomplice in a murder case with James Alvin Monroe, a man whom she fancied hers
elf to be hopelessly in love with. I had her defense locked solid, and then she did something very stupid. She wrote a series of secret love letters to him, denying her defense.”
It was evident to Robert by Sam’s strained voice that this was a painful memory, yet Robert was intrigued and wanted to know more. “I seem to recall a short blurb about a case that sounds a lot like what you are describin’. I caught it on the evenin’ news about the time you said—seven years ago. What happened?” Robert propped his feet up on his desk and took another sip of coffee.
Sam blew a frustrated breath. “The jury was so outraged that they not only found her guilty, they recommended the death penalty, which the judge agreed to, sentencing her to death in Alabama’s electric chair, yellow mama. The ironic thing about it was that the man who actually committed the murders got life in prison. I’m still working on the appeals for that case. It happened in DeKalb County, Alabama. The murder Carrie Anne was standing trial for had a witness that swore it was James Alvin who’d pulled the trigger, but the jury totally disregarded his testimony when those letters came out in court. The poor girl was seventeen and pregnant. She’d run away from home at the age of sixteen with a twenty-seven year-old man. They kidnapped and murdered six young girls from Georgia to Alabama before they were apprehended in Pinedale, Alabama. She was pregnant throughout the whole crime spree and delivered a baby girl while in jail.”
Robert shook his head. He could see Liddy being just as naive and just as foolish as that young girl had been. “Yes, I do recall the event. It happened about a hundred miles from here as the crow flies. We’ve got some serious talkin’ to do, Sam. I’ll pick you up in Knoxville. You can stay with Tana and me. This town doesn’t have a decent hotel. Bring Angie along, if you want to. That way she and Tana can visit. We’ll meet with Liddy tomorrow afternoon. I’ve already arranged for bail.”
“My assistant will get back to you with the arrival time. I’ll see if Angie wants to come. With Sam Jr. off at UCLA, she might want a diversion.” Sam chuckled. “I’m bringing some old newspapers from the Carrie Anne trial. I don’t intend to be blindsided again. And don’t worry, Robert. I’ll go down to the county jail with you when you take your niece in to be processed. We’ll get through this.”
As Robert hung up the phone, he leaned back in his chair and took a long sip of coffee. He needed to call Lizzy. They would need Sam’s retainer released shortly after he arrived, and he needed Lizzy’s signature for Liddy’s bail.
The Next Day
Fitzwilliam sat at his desk, busily preparing for his 2:20 Latin class when his mobile rang. It was his wife.
“Fitzwilliam, I’ll be late coming home tonight. Andrea, Robert’s legal assistant, just called. I have to stop by my uncle’s law office and sign some papers and write a check. Liddy’s defense attorney needs his advance, plus they have some other expenses. Liddy has to turn herself in tomorrow.”
Fitzwilliam hesitated. “Elizabeth, must you be the one to sign? I mean, can’t Jane sign or someone else?”
“Jane has the flu, and the papers need to be signed today. The only way anyone can sign in my place is if I give them power of attorney. Fitzwilliam, do you have a problem with this?”
He sighed, tapping his fingers on his desk. He was treading on thin ice, and he knew it. “Yes, Elizabeth… yes, I do. It’s not only your name going down on paper. It’s mine, too. You are my wife, and if you sign that document, it’s as if I have signed it, and I don’t want my family name connected with it in any way.”
“Well, you had better explain this to me because I’m not getting it. This is my family, and I owe them my allegiance.”
Fitzwilliam could feel the ice crack beneath his feet as her rising annoyance coupled with anger came through the phone clearly. Getting up from his desk, he walked over to the cooler for a cup of water as he listened. Finding middle ground was not going to be easy. “Elizabeth, I don’t want this scandal attached to my family name. I’ve always been low-key–kept a low profile, if you will. I don’t want my association with this sordid affair picked up in the press. So far, no one from the U.K. knows I’m here. Should I be connected to this, it will make the London news. It will be news—big news. I can see the headlines now. Darcy Heir’s Defense of Drug Smugglers. It will not be good for my family, and my father—”
“Your family!” Elizabeth interrupted. “Fitzwilliam, we’re talking about my family here! My father’s sister and her daughter—my cousin. I’m sorry, but that’s where my concerns lie.”
He drew in a long, measured breath and closed his eyes, slowly shaking his head. She was clearly angry, and the last thing he wanted was a disagreement with his wife. “It will be all right. Hopefully no one will notice. Just keep a low profile for my sake, Elizabeth…please.”
“I’ll see what I can do. I won’t go out of my way to advertise your name, but I will take care of my family.”
“Elizabeth, you’re not going downtown alone,” he quickly added. “I’ll meet you in your office after class, and we’ll go together.” He paced his office floor, running his hand through his hair. The situation was serious, and he couldn’t lose total control of it. There was too much at stake.
“Suit yourself. You are more than welcome to accompany me. In fact, I would like that,” she said. “I’ve got to go. My Cal I class starts in ten minutes. I’ll see you after class. Bye.”
He slid his mobile shut and groaned. “If Father hears of this, he very well may disinherit me. Scandal is the one thing Father will not tolerate. He’s going to be furious,” he said out loud. Walking over to his desk, he picked up his copy of Wheelock’s Latin, along with the class notes he’d composed and headed for his next class.
~*~
Late that afternoon, Robert and Sam Armstrong sat in the legal conference room in heavy concentration, poring over legal documents with an occasional question directed at an obviously bored and very pregnant young lady sitting across the table from them. When Sam had asked Liddy a question, she answered with a smart retort.
Fire flew from Armstrong’s eyes. He was not a man to be disrespected, especially by the dim-witted girl he was trying to help. Getting up out of his seat, he walked around the end of the table and grabbed the young woman by her hand, pulling her out of her chair. “Come with me, Miss Fanning.” He dragged her over to the window and pointed to a very large tree standing in the courtyard of the county courthouse.
“You see that tree? Take a good look at it. Do you know its history?”
Liddy glanced out the window and then drew her eyes back to Sam. She shook her head.
“Up until 1913, that tree there was where they hung people. It’s known as The Hanging Tree. Now, if I lose this case, they won’t be hanging you, nor will you face the electric chair like the last young lady I represented. But like you, that young woman didn’t understand the seriousness of the charges leveled against her. She chose to protect a man who had murdered six young girls, and that landed her on death row in Alabama. Unlike her, you’re not facing the death sentence, but you are facing thirty years to life at a maximum security prison for women. Do you know what they do to little girls in prison?”
She stood there like a deaf mute.
Sam pressed on, intent on making his point. “You will be exposed to the worst dregs of society. There’s a pecking order in prison, and you, being young and pretty, will be at the mercy of an older woman who will do with you as she pleases.” Sam pinned her to the wall with his intense and piercing gaze. Liddy swallowed hard.
“These charges are serious, and I need your full cooperation in order to defend you. Do you understand that, Miss Lydia Fanning?”
The fear was evident in her eyes as she nodded.
“Good, now let’s start over. Tell me how you came to be a courier for Jackie Lee?”
Liddy waddled back over to the conference table and flopped down. Dropping her head into her hands, she shook and cried. “I swear I didn’t know what he was doin’. Not at first,
anyways. Yes, I had heard the rumors, but I didn’t believe them. I loved Jackie Lee, and he was good to me… in the beginning, at least.”
Robert pushed a bottle of soda in her direction. Liddy twisted the cap and took a long drink before setting it back down.
“One night, when they thought I was asleep, I overheard them talkin’ about a drop east of Knoxville in Cocke County. It’s high up in the mountains near Thunder Road. Jackie was talkin’ about kilos of cocaine, and about killin’ someone who knew too much. I kept very still, strainin’ to hear every word they said. My name was mentioned, and I heard Jackie Lee say that there was no need to worry about me because I was now involved.
“Later, I asked him about what I’d heard. He slapped me, sending me sprawling across the floor, and then he picked me up and shoved me up against the wall. He told me I was lucky he didn’t kill me for listenin’ to his conversations. I cried hard. I was scared to death. No one had ever struck me, not even Momma or Daddy. I guess the cryin’ must’ve bothered him, ‘cause he left.” Liddy paused for another long drink from her soda bottle. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she continued.
“He came back later and held me. He told me he was protectin’ me, and that this was not his operation alone. That’s when he told me that the packages I had taken to Aunt Wilma in Kentucky contained pot and cocaine. He said that if I ever thought about talkin’, that I would go to jail, too, or worse. And I didn’t have to ask him what he was talkin’ about, because I knew. I knew they’d kill me.” Liddy paused and reached for the soda, gulping it down. She was clearly shattered. “They’ll kill me. So many have died already. Please, Mr. Armstrong. They’ll kill me.” She burst into tears.
The Cumberland Plateau Page 38