by Marti Green
“It’s fine. I’m glad you’re doing your job. I don’t mind you checking it out. I’d forgotten all about it. But I don’t get it. How could the fingerprints on some letter match Stacy’s?”
“It wasn’t Stacy’s fingerprints. Let me explain. Everybody has a unique set of markers on their fingerprints. A couple of those markers matched Stacy’s but not all. Sometimes that means it’s a close relative of Stacy’s.”
“You mean me or Janine?”
“That’s what the investigator is saying. But I’m sure it’s just a mistake.”
“How does that happen?”
Cannon put down the cup of coffee and leaned toward Mickey. “I wish I could tell you the feds were infallible, but they make errors just like anyone else. And remember, it was just a partial match. Maybe a few of the markers were the same and they called it Stacy’s, but it could just as easily have belonged to someone else.”
Mickey nodded. “Well, I hope they get it straightened out.”
Cannon coughed and squirmed in his seat. “Listen. I hate to ask you this, but I wouldn’t be doing my job otherwise. Do you remember where you were the day after that investigator visited you?”
Mickey thought for a moment. “Wait, let me check my appointments.” He pulled out his smartphone and scrolled to his appointment calendar. “Do you have the exact date?”
“April 15. Tax day.”
“Here it is. I was on the road that day. I called on a couple of accounts in Cleveland.”
“I’ll just need those names.”
Mickey laughed. “It’s a good thing I wasn’t carrying on an affair. You could really get me in trouble if you checked and I wasn’t there.”
“Ah, Mickey, you know I’m not trying to cause you problems. Look, with my schedule, I probably won’t even get to this for a few weeks. If then. I just had to ask.”
“Don’t worry, Hank. You’ve been great to our family. We really appreciate it.”
Cannon took out a notepad to write down the people Mickey had seen on his trip and then searched through his pockets for a pen. “Now, this is embarrassing. I don’t have anything to write with. Can I borrow a pen?”
“Sure,” Mickey said. He walked into the kitchen and came back with a pen. Cannon wrote down the names Mickey gave him and then stood up to leave. As Mickey walked him to the door, he asked, “So what’s happening with that guy on death row? The one the investigator is working for?”
“Oh, it’s going to be over for him soon. His time is up.”
CHAPTER
32
When Dani arrived home, Katie met her at the door. “I didn’t want to bother you at work. I know how wrapped up you are now. But Jonah’s coming down with something, I think. He’s had diarrhea all afternoon, and his stomach is really bothering him.”
“Any fever?”
“No, ninety-nine even.”
She went upstairs to Jonah’s room. As a child with Williams syndrome, he was more prone to illnesses than other children. It was one of Dani’s reasons for avoiding taking on cases from the investigation stage. She hated being away from home when he was sick.
Jonah lay on his bed with his eyes closed and an open comic book next to him. Dani started to leave and then heard a moan. “Jonah, are you asleep?” she whispered.
“No, I’m conscious. My stomach is feeling awfully unpleasant, though.”
“Katie told me.” She sat on his bed and felt his forehead. “What did you eat at school today?”
“Pizza.”
“Nothing else? Did you take food from anyone?”
Jonah shook his head and suddenly bolted upright and scooted off the bed. “I have to depart now,” he said as he rushed to the bathroom.
When he came back, Dani got him settled into bed again and then left to call Dr. Dolman.
“Give him Immodium AD or Pepto-Bismol and watch him over the weekend. If it persists, call my office on Monday and tell them I need to see him then.”
Monday. She was supposed to leave Sunday and fly back to Indiana. She was supposed to sit with George Calhoun one more time to wait as the clock ticked down. Doug could take off Monday to stay with Jonah, but did she want that? Dani wondered if fathers, even those as actively involved in their children’s lives as Doug, felt the same tug between work and family. When Jonah was sick, she wanted to be near him, to comfort him. And although in most instances Jonah was perfectly content to be with his father or even Katie, when he was sick he wanted his mother. All she could do was hope he’d feel better tomorrow.
She went back downstairs and sat in the kitchen. Katie busily prepared dinner for them—meatloaf and mashed potatoes—and Dani enjoyed chatting with her while she did so. “How is Megan doing?” Dani asked.
“That girl will be the death of me, I swear. If I weren’t her mother, I’d wring her neck.”
“What’s she up to now?”
“Claims she needs a break from college and is going to spend next year volunteering to teach poor children in Nicaragua. Can you imagine that? We skimp and save every extra penny to send her off to college, and she up and decides to quit.”
“Why do you say she’s quitting? It sounds admirable to me. And then after a year she can go back to her studies.”
“Now, that’s easy for you to say. Jonah is nice and safe here in his home with both his parents around. All those poor people she’ll be around—who’s to say they won’t be jealous of the pittance she has and rob her in her sleep? Or worse.”
“Megan is so independent. She’ll be able to take care of herself.”
“Humph!” Katie turned her back. Clearly, Dani hadn’t offered her the answer she’d hoped for. No doubt she wanted Dani to say she was right, that Megan should stay at home. She wanted Dani to understand her need to protect her child. And she did understand. Sometimes, though, it was beyond a parent’s control.
Jonah was awake most of the night, running to the bathroom at irregular intervals. Dani made a bed for herself on the floor of his room so she could be near him. He was such a good child, rarely complaining, and it ached her to see him suffer so much. They both fell asleep around 4:00 a.m., and the morning sun woke Dani two hours later.
She checked Jonah’s forehead as he slept and it still felt cool. She tiptoed to her own bedroom and slipped in beside Doug. He murmured something unintelligible and resumed his rhythmic snoring. Dani’s mind swirled with confusion. Should she stay home with Jonah and send Melanie in her place tomorrow? She’d been George’s lifeline these past few weeks. How could she abandon him now? Yet, in the end, lawyers were fungible; mothers were not.
Underlying her unease was the awareness that Williams syndrome children were prone to celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder caused by an intolerance to gluten. The symptoms include diarrhea and nausea, just like Jonah had been experiencing. She and Doug had been grateful that Jonah seemed to have escaped that added burden. He loved his pizza and Katie’s homemade cookies that awaited him on his return from school, and Cap’n Crunch cereal in the mornings. If he had this condition, there were so many other foods he’d need to avoid. It was hard enough to explain to a child with the normal range of intelligence that certain foods were forbidden. How would she make Jonah understand the importance of eliminating foods he loved?
Dani tended to do this, imagine the worst before it became a reality. She didn’t know why. For herself, she turned a blind eye to any symptom that might pop up, but with Jonah and Doug, the opposite occurred. At 8:00 a.m., with Jonah and Doug still sleeping, she slipped out of bed and called Dr. Dolman’s answering service. He called her back fifteen minutes later.
“Dr. Dolman, I know I’m being a worrywart, but could this be the onset of celiac disease in Jonah?”
“I gather he still has symptoms.”
“Yes, he had a difficult night.”
“It could be cel
iac, or it could be a stomach virus, or mild food poisoning. He hasn’t developed celiac disease yet, so that wouldn’t be my first guess.”
“I’m supposed to be somewhere else tomorrow and Monday. I’m afraid to leave him.”
“Mrs. Trumball, Jonah is not in serious danger. Can your husband be home with him?”
“Yes.”
“Then go and don’t worry about him. To be on the safe side, keep him away from wheat and grain products until I see him on Monday. But if he’s still having symptoms, he probably won’t be too hungry anyway. Just make sure whoever’s with him keeps him hydrated.”
She thanked Dr. Dolman and hung up.
When Jonah awoke, Dani could see from his whitewashed pallor and the perspiration beading his forehead that he was still sick. She fixed him a breakfast of scrambled eggs, but after two forkfuls he said, “My tummy needs a respite.” The day proceeded slowly, with Jonah lethargic and only reluctantly sipping the hot soup and drinking the warm tea Dani prepared for him.
By the time Jonah finally fell asleep that night, Dani felt drained. “I don’t think I should go tomorrow,” she told Doug during their honeymoon hour. “Jonah prefers when I take him to the doctor.”
“Whatever is going on with Jonah is not going to change if I take him to see Dr. Dolman.”
“Sure, but—”
“I know. You’ll feel better if you’re with him. But do you really think it’ll be the same for George if Melanie is by his side instead of you?”
Dani sighed. Doug was right, of course, infuriatingly right. Once again she felt the tug of war raging within her. Mother or lawyer? Which came first? Motherhood, of course. Jonah’s well-being always took precedence. But if she was honest with herself, she knew he would be fine with his father.
She lay her head on Doug’s shoulder. “It’s so hard for me to let go.”
“I know. “
Dani looked up at the clock. She needed to call Melanie before it got too late if she wanted her to fly to Indiana in Dani’s place. As she lowered her eyes, she spotted Jonah’s backpack on the chair across from the couch. The one he’d used in kindergarten had sported pictures of Barney, the giant purple dinosaur. Now it was the Jonas Brothers. He’s growing up. I’ve got to accept that. Dani lifted her head and looked at Doug. “I’m going to Indiana tomorrow. You’re right. That’s where I need to be.”
CHAPTER
33
Two Days
Once again, Dani flew to Indianapolis, this time with no airport delays. She arrived early enough to get her rental car and drive to Michigan City the same day. Being away from home so often had been hard for her, but handling a case from the beginning had given her a connection to the client that she’d missed when only handling the appeals. That was both good and bad. Her connection to George Calhoun was so strong that the thought of losing her battle for his freedom devastated her. She pulled up to the Holiday Inn and found a parking spot right in front. With her overnight bag in hand, she approached the front desk.
“Ms. Trumball, nice to see you back here,” said the young lady behind the counter.
“Thank you, Angie,” she said, reading her name from the tag pinned to her shirt.
“I have Room 229 for you. That’ll be two nights, right?”
“Yes.”
“If there’s anything we can do for you while you’re here, just call down to the front desk.”
Dani thanked her and went up to her room. She unpacked her toiletries and placed them on the bathroom vanity. She turned on the TV and watched CNN for a few minutes before turning it off. It was too early to eat dinner, and she was too nervous to relax. She picked up the phone and called Tommy.
“We’re missing something,” she said to him when he answered.
“What do you mean?”
“There has to be something else we can do to find this woman. I just keep thinking there’s something we should have done, and it’s right there in front of me and I’m missing it.”
“Look, I know what you’re going through. I’ve been second-guessing myself all weekend. But we’ve done everything we can. The courts have failed us, that’s what’s happened. And it’s not because you weren’t brilliant. Your arguments were strong and you presented them well. The system just got it wrong this time.”
“What about the funeral home, the one that buried Trudy Harrington? They must have an address for Sunshine.”
“Already checked and came up empty. Nancy was their contact person.”
“The woman who lived across the street, the one whose daughter was friends with Sunshine—maybe her daughter kept in touch and knows where she is now.”
“Checked and checked. Nada.”
“Social media sites?”
“I didn’t expect to find anything without her married name, but I tried anyway. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. A bunch of smaller ones too. Nothing.”
Dani knew she was grasping at straws. She’d asked to have Tommy on her team because he was the most thorough investigator in the office. Top drawer all the way. Of course he had followed up on any possible strand.
They were both silent for a moment. “Tommy?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think it’s strange that Nancy died in an accident? I mean, she was the only person who could lead us to Sunshine, and before she returns home, she goes out on her own and just happens to fall over a canyon ledge? I’m not usually a conspiracy nut, but still.”
“It’s been bothering me too. I keep thinking that Mickey Conklin is somehow involved in this. It had to be him that left the threatening note on my car. He’s been trying to stop us, and Nancy’s death sure as hell slammed the brakes on finding Sunshine. I can’t figure out how he’d know about Nancy, though. And if somehow he did know she held the key, how would he know where to find her?”
“He followed you once. Maybe he followed you back to Byron, learned about Nancy the same way you did.”
“I’ve thought about that. But that would mean he followed me back to New York, kept tabs on me until I went back to the Mayo Clinic, then followed me out there. He’d have to be awfully good to do that without me catching on.”
“He didn’t need to. Cannon could have told him where you were going.”
“Shit. Of course. I practically gave Cannon a blueprint of my plans.”
“The answer’s out there, Tommy. I just know it.”
“Dani, don’t get your hopes up.”
“I won’t. But Tommy…”
“Yes?”
“It’s just—we’ve had our differences on this case. I know you thought I was crazy for believing George. But I want you to know that I couldn’t have done this with anyone but you. Thank you.”
“Get some rest, Dani. You need to be strong tomorrow.”
After she hung up, Dani decided to go for a walk. She’d been sitting all day, in the airport terminal, the plane, and then the car. Daylight would last at least two more hours, and she used that time to wander the streets of Michigan City. The stores were closed, but she stopped now and then to look at the merchandise in the windows. It was mindless walking, and that was what she needed.
As it approached seven o’clock, she realized she was hungry. She began walking back in the direction of the hotel, looking for a restaurant that seemed welcoming. She hadn’t paid attention as she walked and was surprised when she heard someone call her name. She looked up and saw Warden Coates.
“You look lost,” he said.
She smiled. “Deliberately lost. I needed to clear my mind, and just drifting along seemed to do the trick.”
“No hope left for tomorrow?”
Dani tried to look stalwart. “I’m afraid not.”
“Mr. Calhoun seems prepared for what’s coming. I find that’s often the case when the day draws near. The inmate accepts the inevitable.”
“Maybe I would sleep better if I saw his execution as inevitable. Nothing about this injustice seems inevitable to me.”
Coates looked at Dani kindly. “Do you remember our first conversation? I told you I was glad Mr. Calhoun had contacted you. That death-row inmates who insisted they were innocent should have every chance to prove their case. He’s had that now. You’ve advocated for him in every possible way. Now it’s time to accept that, with every case, there comes a time for argument to end.”
“I do remember our conversation. You also said you sleep better knowing something wasn’t missed. Something has been missed here: the true identity of the girl buried in that grave. It wasn’t Angelina Calhoun. I’m certain of that.”
“Then we’ll both have a sleepless night tonight,” he said, a look of sadness on his face.
They parted ways and Dani continued her search for a restaurant. Finally, one looked promising, and she went in. It was a homey southern Italian restaurant with only ten tables, each covered with red-checkered tablecloths. She ordered linguine with white clam sauce and a glass of Chianti. Dani loathed dining by herself. She found it impossible to avoid staring at the other patrons, whether they were couples enjoying an intimate evening, families struggling to keep the younger children quiet, or a group of friends getting together. She didn’t want to, but staring into space didn’t work either. So she pulled out a book to read while she sipped her wine and waited for dinner to arrive. When it did, the food tasted as if it had come from the freezer section of a supermarket. She downed it quickly and returned to the hotel.
By the time she got to her room, it was almost nine o’clock, time for her call home. Doug reported that Jonah’s stomach had returned to normal. Once more, they seemed to have escaped a greater medical issue.
“By the way, Jonah’s camp package came in the mail today. It tells what he should bring for the summer,” Doug said. “Jonah’s been poring over it and making a list of all the new things he’ll need.”