JD04 - Reasonable Fear
Page 21
“Just me and you?”
“Leon’s meeting us there, sugar. It’ll be fun.”
Chapter Forty-One
The clock on the courtroom wall read 9:02 a.m.
It was a Tuesday morning and Judge Adams had just entered. He was holding what he called a “miscellaneous day,” a session of court that involved the judge taking few pleas, hearing a couple of motions, and asking about the status of upcoming trials. It was a slow day by criminal court standards. There were only thirty cases on the docket. The gallery was less than half full. There were no reporters or cameras. I wouldn’t normally have been in the courtroom. Tanner Jarrett usually handled miscellaneous days in Judge Adams’s court. But I had an announcement, one that I had shared with exactly two people: my wife and Leon Bates.
It had been less than two weeks since the battle with the Colombians. None of the men I killed had any identification on them, nor did El Maligno, the murderer whose brains were blown out by Leon Bates. Mack McCoy leaked information about him to the media, though, which helped solidify the notion that what I’d done was at least understandable. There was a huge blitz that lasted about a week. There were newspaper stories, television stories, internet stories. Reporters tried to get in contact with me, but I refused to indulge them. They lingered outside my home until I finally turned Rio loose on them. Talking heads pontificated on television, discussing the morality and the legality of what I’d done. I didn’t pay much attention.
And then, like all big stories, it fizzled out.
My family arrived at the Tri-Cities airport a few hours after the lunch I shared with Erlene Barlowe and Bates. It was obvious that the two of them had developed far more than the “mutual respect” Erlene had mentioned. They acted like a couple of love-struck teenagers. The kids hung around for a couple of days, but then Jack went back to Arizona to continue his baseball career and Lilly went back to Knoxville to finish out the semester. Sarah swore the experience had sobered her enough that she didn’t need to go to rehab. I was skeptical, but given the circumstances, I let it slide.
Caroline and I made love as soon as we managed some privacy. And then we made love again, and again. I couldn’t get enough of her. It was intense, and it was beautiful.
Andres Pinzon came out of hiding a week after the gunfight and was running Equicorp. John Lipscomb had disappeared without a trace. Most people thought he’d run away to escape prosecution for the murders of the three girls, and Leon Bates reinforced that notion at every opportunity.
I stood after Judge Adams got settled in.
“I have an announcement for the court,” I said. “The state is moving to dismiss all charges against John Lipscomb, Andres Pinzon and Nelson Lipscomb.”
Judge Adams raised his nose like he was sniffing and looked around the courtroom. An announcement of such magnitude would normally have been accompanied by fanfare. Bates was standing about fifteen feet to my right, near a door that was used by attorneys, clerks, probation and police officers.
“Dismissing the charges?” Judge Adams said. “Just like that?”
“Yes, judge. Just like that. Our most important witnesses are dead. We can’t prove our case.”
“Are you moving to dismiss with prejudice or do you want to be able to reinstate the charges later if you develop more evidence?”
“With prejudice.”
Judge Adams was stunned, but there was nothing he could do, nothing he could say. The decision of whether or not to prosecute a case fell directly to the district attorney general. The judge hesitated for about thirty seconds, but then he said in his most formal tone, “Very well. Case dismissed with prejudice.”
I walked to where Bates was standing and put my arm around his shoulders.
“Step into the jury room with me for a minute, would you?” I said.
We walked into the empty room where jurors deliberate during trials. I pulled an envelope out of the inside pocket of my jacket and handed it to him. It was addressed to Lincoln Donner III, the governor of Tennessee.
Bates looked at it and said, “Is this what I think it is?”
“Caroline and I have talked about it a lot, Leon. I’m not a politician.”
“You’re right about that, brother Dillard.”
“Deliver it in person, will you?”
“With pleasure. You want me to give him that old Johnny Paycheck line?”
I smiled and nodded.
“Yeah, Leon, that’d be perfect. Tell him he can take this job and shove it.”
About the Author:
Scott Pratt was born in South Haven, Michigan, and moved to Tennessee when he was thirteen years old. He is a veteran of the United States Air Force and holds a bachelor of arts degree in English from East Tennessee State University and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Tennessee College of Law. He lives in Northeast Tennessee with his wife and four dogs.
www.scottprattfiction.com
Also by Scott Pratt
An Innocent Client (Joe Dillard #1) – Oct. 2012
(re-release)
In Good Faith (Joe Dillard #2) – Oct. 2012 (re-release)
Injustice for All (Joe Dillard #3) Nov. 2012 (re-release)
Reasonable Fear (Joe Dillard #4) (re-release)
Finding Lindsay (Joe Dillard #5) – Dec. 2012
(new release)
Russo’s Gold (Charlie Story #1) Jan. 2013 (re-release)
River on Fire Jan. 2013 (re-release)