Leading up to the trial, Salvino constantly attempted to lower their expectations. And his negativity wasn’t just the result of the new healthy diet Megan had put him on—the path to a conviction would be precarious at best. They would have to meet the ultimate “double standard”—proving that Fisher was Myles, and then convince a jury that Myles was responsible for these horrible acts against his country … and his own children. Add to that a disbelieving public, from which they would draw a jury, and it wasn’t exactly screaming winner.
But despite the challenges ahead, Cam liked their chances. The trial was moved to Washington DC. It made sense, being that DC was at the heart of the crimes. Both lawyers were in favor of the move. Barney Cook pushed for it, likely seeking the publicity that would be generated by having this spectacle in the nation’s capital. And from Salvino’s perspective, he just wanted to get as far away from the Blake Fisher’s passionate Sedona supporters as possible.
And while public sentiment might not have been on their side, Cam believed their case was strong. Henson was their first witness, and to say he was well prepared would be an understatement—he’d been waiting to tell this story to a jury for decades. He walked the jury through the story, starting with a young cop in Montgomery County, Maryland who was called to a car accident, and ending with a retired FBI agent arresting an auto mechanic in Arizona, who was holding Cam and Sam at gunpoint. He outlined all the many twists and turns along the way, including the clues left behind by Senator Barrett that got the case started, the Durst arrest which pumped new life into it, and Tim O’Connell bringing him the alias of Victor Stepania, a missing link which had stymied the investigation for years.
Victor Stepania’s daughter then took the stand and explained how she’d seen the image of Jack Myles on television and being struck by the resemblance to her father. She brought what she knew to a PI named Tim O’Connell, and his research led them to Blake Fisher. By any account, Anna was the perfect witness—smart, likeable, and unflappable.
Cam followed Anna to the stand—his focus was on that fateful day in Sedona, where a falling rock brought him back together with his father. He’d spent most of his life in the public eye, and was predictably polished and detailed. Cook didn’t want any part of him.
But Sam was another story. After Cam’s testimony, she was under pressure not to deviate from the way he’d outlined the events of that day. And when the paths didn’t perfectly connect, Cook had a way to make her look like the biggest liar on the planet. She began nervously, which turned out to be effective, as she came off as real.
But when Cook began insinuating that her relationship with Cam Myles was more than the friendship she claimed, and of the gold-digging variety, the same nervousness made her seem like she wasn’t telling the truth. And when he tried to paint Tim as a down-on-his-luck PI who tried to extort money from his client, Roxie came out. She fought back hard, and the exchanges surprisingly got heated. Even more surprisingly, Cook backed down.
In fact, in contrast to his reputation, Cook was generally tame in his crosses. This continued when the ex-wives club took the stand, including Gloria Abiso, Stepania’s wife from Cuba, who had traveled to DC to testify. True to form, Katie was professional and believable, while Irina came off as stiff and testy. Cook had no questions for Irina at this time, and had just a brief questioning of Katie:
“Ms. Barrett, both of your children were conceived through relations with Jack Myles?”
“Yes.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because he was the only man I had, to use your words, relations, with in that time period.”
“So if my client is proven to be Jack Myles, then he would be the father of your children?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you. No further questions.”
But when the DNA tests came back, the questioning seemed to be moot. The results were that Blake Fisher had a 99% chance of being the father of Cam, Anna, and Natasha. As far as Cam was concerned, that was well beyond reasonable doubt.
Chapter 90
Cam glided around the bases in slow motion, savoring the moment.
Following the trial, he signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants, with the opportunity to work his way up to the big league team. It didn’t take him very long—he was so impressive in Spring Training that he earned a spot on the opening day roster. And his early success, which included numerous long home runs, brought the inevitable comparisons to you-know-who. But his lack of experience eventually caught up with him, which first increased his strikeouts and then decreased his playing time. But he kept battling, improving each day. There was one trait he was proud to have inherited from his father—survival was in his DNA.
And DNA is what dominated the defense’s case.
Cook first brought witnesses to refute the damaging 99% test results. For those who remained awake for the bland, analytical testimony of the paternity experts, they learned that a perfect match is considered to be 99.9%, which is called “practically proven”. This is based on a paternity index of 10,000. In layman’s terms, there is a 1 in 10,000 chance that the man is not the father. Pretty unlikely.
99% is accepted in most US courts in paternity cases, signifying that the man is “probably” the father. But the paternity index is just 100, so there is a 1 in 100 chance he is not the father, which greatly improved the odds of the defense, especially when the standard was ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’.
The jury looked as disinterested when it came to science in the courtroom, as they probably were with science in school. Cam thought this worked in their favor—99% chance that Fisher was the father of multiple children from around the world made simple, common sense that he must be Kushka/Myles/Stepania. And if he was lying about that, then was it such a leap to believe that he was a murderous spy?
Cam was still feeling good when he took a break from science class to use the bathroom one afternoon. The man washing his hands at an adjacent sink looked up at him and said, “They won’t let him be convicted. There’s too much at stake. The biggest threat to the present can often be the past.”
Cam studied the short, thin man with ruddy complexion, probably in his late fifties. He detected a slight Eastern European accent. “Who won’t let him be convicted?”
The man just smiled. “Exactly.”
He then walked out of the bathroom, and Cam never saw him again.
Two days later, the courtroom was awakened from its slumber. Against the advice of almost all of the armchair legal experts, Blake Fisher took the stand in his defense. In doing so, he created the most anticipated courtroom moment in history.
Just like all those in attendance, Cam couldn’t take his eyes off him. Some people shrink under the bright lights, but his father seemed to grow like a vine. He appeared scarily comfortable, like the courtroom was his living room and the onlookers were his longtime friends.
During Cook’s questioning, he predictably denied he was Jack Myles or Victor Stepania, or that he had any connection to the crimes that had been described to the court. Then he dropped a bombshell—that his true identity was Alexander Kushka.
But his back-story was different than Henson’s version. He admitted being a Soviet soldier, but denied ever coming to the US during that time, much less transforming into the famed Jack Hammer. He claimed to have spent that time involved in secret missions related to the Soviet/Afghan War, and the only reason his name was ever connected to Jack Myles was the words of the traitorous Durst, who would likely do or say anything to save himself after his arrest. The jury nodded their heads, agreeing that Durst didn’t make a very believable witness. And since he’d died in prison years ago, he couldn’t testify on his behalf.
And according to Kushka, faking his death ten years ago and leaving Russia had nothing to do with Henson being on his trail. He did so in response to learning that Irina had betrayed him while he was away serving his country, and that she had an ongoing affair with his brother
, Nikolas. This drew gasps from the crowd. The spy novel had turned into a soap opera.
At one point during his testimony, he looked directly at Natasha and told her how much he loved her. So much so that it killed him every day to look at her and know that his brother was her true father. This led to a theatrical display by Natasha, screaming out, “No, you are my daddy, Daddy!” Federal judges are not known for their bedside manner, but Judge Campbell allowed her to act out her anguish as Alexander Kushka continued his orchestration.
“How do you know you’re not her father?” Barney Cook asked.
“Because I was half a man,” he said with a fifteen-degree tilt of his head, acting ashamed.
“Please tell the court what you mean by half a man,” Cook instructed, faking delicacy.
“I had been diagnosed with testicular cancer when I was a young man—and lost my ability to have children. I always wanted a big family, so I was devastated, and embarrassed that I wouldn’t be able to provide Irina with children. It’s one of the reasons I avoided returning to her for so long. I had to come to grips with it.”
“So it must have been surprising to you when she told you she was pregnant?”
Natasha turned hysterical, “You are my daddy!” she called out, practically begging, and finally had to be removed from the courtroom. It took five armed guards to accomplish it.
Cook was able to secure Alexander Kushka’s medical records from Russia, working with the US State Department to gain access, and to nobody’s surprise, the records backed up his story about the cancer. Irina was later recalled to the stand, where she admitted having an affair with Nikolas. She denied she had any relations with him after Alexander’s return, or that he was Natasha’s biological father, but the damage had already been done.
Cam had never seen Salvino as mad as when he confronted Irina for not informing him of the affair. She shrugged, calling the entire trial a “sham,” and adding, “Justice for Alexander won’t be settled in a courtroom.” She explained that his brother Nikolas was the one who suffered from testicular cancer, and couldn’t have children. And he had relapsed around the time Alexander returned, rendering him incapable of carrying on an affair, or fathering Natasha. He eventually died from the disease, but the reports stated he died in battle.
Cam thought of the mysterious man in the bathroom. Some larger force wouldn’t allow Blake Fisher to be convicted—Salvino believed it was groups within the US and Russian governments working in concert, as both had motive to deny Jack Myles was a spy—and years ago were willing to switch his medical records with his brother’s in preparation for this day. Cam thought of what Salvino had said, about his father making people nervous with the secrets he held, and perhaps he was hiding from those people as much as he was from Henson. In jail, he would be a threat, but if he was released, they could control the situation as they saw fit … maybe even permanently silence him. It seemed to match Irina’s statement about justice being settled outside of the courtroom.
If the fix was in, then the trial could have ended with much less fanfare, or perhaps be no trial at all, if the medical records were presented at an earlier point. The excuse given by Cook was that Kushka was embarrassed by his half-a-manness, and hoped to win without revealing his medical history. But the fact was that he wanted the trial—to be back on the big stage one last time.
So based on facts presented, whether true or not, Alexander Kushka had lost his ability to have children in his early twenties. And since the very believable witness, Katie Barrett, testified that Jack Myles was the only man who could have fathered her children, then Fisher couldn’t be Myles, because Myles fathered two children, which essentially ended the case.
It was not a defense without holes the size of Oak Creek Canyon. The fact that the man before the court had a 99% probability of being the father of his accusers, who came from different parts of the globe, was proof enough for reasonable people to believe, and should beat trumped-up Soviet medical records and fancy science.
But it did provide enough reasonable doubt for the jury—and the fact that it was his brother, coming from the same genetic lineage, helped rationalize the 99% obstacle. But it really came down to what the jury wanted to believe. And they must have really wanted to believe in the memory of Jack Myles, to take the word of Soviet military medical records from the height of the Cold War. So on a wintry February morning after the jury deliberated for less than an hour, the Jack Hammer walked out of court a free man.
The idea of the monster on the loose—the man who held a gun to his and Sam’s heads—would have once been Cam’s worst nightmare. But he was too busy chasing his dreams these days to notice the dark clouds. He finally reached home plate, and was mobbed by his teammates in celebration. The crowd was still on their feet, chanting his name. Cam Myles finally was his own man.
Chapter 91
Cam’s heroics were short lived. The Yankees scored two runs in the ninth to beat his Giants and win another World Series.
So instead of a celebration, and the anticipation of a deciding seventh game the next night, the Giants quietly dressed and headed into the off-season. Like most endings, it was abrupt.
Cam quietly thanked many of his teammates for what turned out to be the best experience of his life, and slipped out of the clubhouse without fanfare.
It was a cool October night in the Bay area. Cam stood outside the players’ lounge in a dimly lit section, and waited for his friends and family.
As he waited, a short, squat man approached him with a scowl on his face. He was also wearing a Yankees cap, which wouldn’t make him too popular in these parts. “Great game,” he said in his New York accent, and flashed a victory smile.
“Since I pay you, couldn’t you at least act upset that we lost?”
“I told you when you hired me—what you see is what you get.”
That was one of the things Cam respected about former police officer Bernie Lewis. After living a lie for almost thirty years, he found raw realism to be a refreshing attribute. “So did you come here to gloat, or do you have an update for me?”
“Carthage staked him out all night. We got word he might be given tickets to the game tomorrow by some publicity-seeking company, but since you guys lost, there is no game for Daddy to attend. He watched tonight at a local bar called Maxwell’s. And as usual, he’s drunk off his ass, I’ll bet he’ll be there all night.” Cam checked his watch—it was still only 8:30 Pacific time.
Bernie Lewis and his partner Steve Carthage left the police force to start a private investigative firm called Sip & Tip Investigators. “The murders eventually catch up to you,” Lewis had told Cam in their first meeting, when discussing why he decided to leave the force after thirty-five years. And since the murders had yet to catch up with Cam’s father, and Lewis and Carthage came highly recommended by Lee Henson, Cam hired them to keep tabs on Blake Fisher … every day for the rest of his life, regardless of the cost. He would do whatever it took to keep his family safe.
“Thanks for the update,” Cam said, and looked at his watch once again to indicate he didn’t have much time before his visitors arrived. Nobody besides Cam knew about their agreement, and he wanted to keep it that way.
“Carthage needs to call it a night—leaving early tomorrow to head back to Chicago for a family reunion—do you want me to take over his shift? I can fly into Flagstaff, and be back in Sedona in a couple hours.”
Cam thought about it for a moment. “No, go celebrate your Yankees win.”
“Better luck next year,” he said with a cocky smirk as he strutted away. Typical Yankees fan.
Cam watched him disappear around the corner, but then his eyes went to the glowing creature heading toward him from the other direction. Her blonde hair lit up the dark night, and despite the chilled temperatures and fog marching in from the bay, she wore a mini dress and a pair of Christian Dior pumps so high Cam worried they might cause a shift in the San Andreas Fault.
Natasha greeted him
with a hug, which represented a seismic shift in their evolving relationship. It got off to a shaky start, and it had deteriorated further during the trial when her constant look-at-me, over-the-top theatrics gave the impression she was more interested in her own publicity than a guilty verdict. She further infuriated Cam and his family after the acquittal when she was quoted in a magazine article that she wanted a relationship with the man who raised her, even if he wasn’t her biological father, and was spotted lunching with him when she played in the Scottsdale Open last April. She backtracked, explaining that she wanted to meet him face-to-face so she could look him in the eye and tell him how much it hurt her when he abandoned her and her mother. But the damage had already been done.
Cam had no use for her following the trial, but his mother reminded him of her “people can change” theory, and how family was the most important thing in the world. She didn’t have to say the name Geoff to evoke his memory. She was a master.
So a couple of text messages led to a peace treaty, and eventually a daily communication. To Cam’s surprise, he found they had a lot more in common than he could have imagined, beyond sharing the same father—no matter what the Soviet medical records said—and the bitter bond of abandonment.
“Hey, big brother, that was an amazing home run. If I wasn’t your sister I’d be all over you like a groupie.”
He laughed—it was still too surreal to believe they were related. He asked her to join them for dinner, but she declined. “I’d love to, but I have a flight to catch. I just wanted to stop by and congratulate you on your awesomeness. I play a tournament in San Jose the end of November, maybe we can get together then.”
The Jack Hammer Page 28