Nina started to get up, feeling heat flashing in her cheeks, but Amagosian made a motion downward with his hands at her and said to Riesner, “Let’s show some respect, Counsel.”
“Knowing Counsel, I can only say that it is probably she who is frightened, not her client, Judge. What are they trying to hide?”
“Professional courtesy would call for a continuance of this hearing, if Mr. Riesner had the slightest idea what professional courtesy was,” Nina said. “In the regrettable absence of that, I am compelled to ask the court for assistance.”
“But we won’t agree to that, Judge,” Riesner said.
“We’ve given due notice. We have a right to examine her today. No purpose would be served by delay.”
“You can’t find it in your heart to give this lady a few more days to prepare for this exam?” Amagosian said to Riesner.
“I’m here today and I am proceeding,” Riesner said.
“Well,” Amagosian said, giving Nina a “Sorry, but it’s his call” shrug.
“In that case, Your Honor,” Nina said, jumping in to take advantage of whatever small sympathy he might have mustered on her behalf, “if the court is inclining that way, I’d like to propose something. I have here a Declaration by Jessie Potter under penalty of perjury which gives a clear and detailed statement of her assets and debts.” Nina handed the single sheet of paper around. Jessie’s assets consisted of the jackpot winnings and some exempt items such as her clothes and her old Honda. She had no debts. “We’ll stipulate that this is what the oral examination would elicit and save a lot of time for everybody.”
“Oh, no. I don’t think so,” Riesner said. “I’m entitled to ask questions to determine where she might conceal assets, to get addresses and specifics so I can follow up on these so-called assets. I’m entitled to find out where she’s been so I can make an independent check as to the items here.”
“She doesn’t have anything but the jackpot, Your Honor,” Nina said. “This is harassment. It’s a personal vendetta. Look at the judgment. Mr. Potter wrongly believes that my client killed his son. He’s just trying to use your court to make her life hell, Your Honor.”
“Mr. Potter will not be with me during the examination,” Riesner said. “Just Mrs. Potter and myself.”
“But Mr. Riesner knows exactly how to pass on the hurt,” Nina said. Even Riesner looked surprised to hear her say something so out of line. She was flexing, because she wanted all these jokers to know she was going to fight on even if she lost this round.
Chock full of bogus outrage, Riesner protested. Nina controlled herself. She had gone as far as she could.
Amagosian’s shoulders stiffened, and Nina could see smoldering aggravation in his dark eyes. “I’m going to allow the examination,” he said. “Mrs. Potter, will you please stand up.” He had Jessie sworn in and said, “Any questions you are asked, you are to answer fully and truthfully. A false answer will be considered perjury, and I do not take lightly to perjury in my courtroom. All right, go with this gentleman here. Deputy Kimura will take you both to a room where the examination will take place. You understand that the law provides that you do not have the right to have counsel present?”
Jessie said, “But I won’t know if he has the right to ask me certain questions.”
“Has your attorney prepared you for this examination?”
“Yes, but—I want her with me.”
“The idea is for the examination to be conducted efficiently and, frankly, fruitfully,” Amagosian said. “That is why the legislature in its wisdom has decided to keep other attorneys out of the room.” He was looking very closely at Jessie, and Nina wondered what he was thinking.
“We request that a definite time limit be placed on this examination,” Nina said.
“We should be finished with the lady by five,” Riesner said.
“An hour and a half should be ample,” Nina said.
Amagosian looked down at the list of Jessie’s assets. “An hour and a half.”
“Thank you, Your Honor,” Riesner said, allowing just the slightest note of triumph to creep into his voice.
“We’ll adjourn for five minutes, then get the settlement conferences going,” Amagosian said to his clerk. “Court is adjourned.” He gave Jessie another long, curious look before he disappeared.
Jessie stood up and said to Nina, “I’ll handle it.”
“Don’t lie about anything. I’ll be waiting out in the hall. Remember, it’s all out in the open now. No use hiding anything.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Be careful.”
“Right.”
Deputy Kimura motioned to her, and she went toward the jury rooms, tailed by Riesner.
Nina grabbed her papers and went quickly out into the hall, leaving the suits to their crummy victory.
Nina passed the next two hours with black coffee in a foam cup and a lot of phone calls to and from Sandy. She was propped on a bench outside the courthouse in the sun when Jessie finally ran out, breathless. “I was just about to go in and drag you out of there,” Nina said. “Uh oh.”
Jeff Riesner strode up with a look that Nina, in her own mind, called his hypocritical horror look.
“I’m astounded, Nina,” he said. “To perpetrate such a fraud—well, it goes beyond anything you’ve ever done before. You encouraged Mrs. Potter to misrepresent herself as a legitimately married woman. This puts me in such an awkward position. Naturally, I’m obliged to bring it to the attention of the appropriate authorities. It’s such a shame, since this news may void the jackpot, which neither of us wants.”
“It wasn’t her! I told you that!” Jessie said.
Nina’s cheeks had reddened again. “She is legally married. I’ve already explained it all to Mr. Maloney of the IRS,” she said. “There was no fraudulent intent.”
“No intent! She lied about her identity! What won’t she lie about?”
“She didn’t lie. The date of her marriage was not asked on any of the forms.”
“Her marriage. Yes, her marriage. She promised to pay Mr. Leung to marry her. That’s a very big debt she tried to incur with my client’s money.”
“It’s not your client’s money.”
“It will be shortly.”
“You should think about this and think hard,” Nina said. “You’d be making a stupid mistake to tell Munzinger about the marriage. Maybe they will manage to get the jackpot voided as a result. Then what does your client get? Know what he gets? A big legal malpractice settlement. From you, for acing him out of a crack at the jackpot money.”
Riesner got a thoughtful expression. Evidently, he hadn’t thought this far.
Nina said, “They’re all much bigger players than you are and they’ll strip you clean and leave you in the gutter in about twelve seconds if you don’t watch out.”
“And where does that leave you?” Riesner asked her.
“You’re giving me legal advice? Bah! I’ve wasted enough time on you two.” He turned to go, but thought of something, and came back. “I almost forgot why I came out. Your client won’t tell me her current address. Where she is now. I know she’s not in Markleeville anymore. I have an absolute right to know where she lives.”
“Why?” Nina said. “So you can run and tattle to Mr. Potter?”
“So I can independently confirm that she is renting and doesn’t own the place. Hiding assets. And so on. As you know. I am being forbearing here. What is her address?”
“I didn’t tell him,” Jessie said. “It’s true.”
“I instructed my client not to answer that question due to the danger of imminent physical harm. I’ve explained all this to you several times. I won’t go into it again.”
“That’s what she said. You coached her well. I asked her for copies of the police reports to verify her claims. We’ll find her, don’t worry.”
“Tell your client to stay away from her,” Nina said. “I’m holding you responsible.”
Riesner loo
ked down his nose at her, checked his Rolex, and said, “Well, no more time to put up with your empty posturing. I’m a busy man with far more serious business to attend to. Good day, Mrs. Potter.”
Looking as vulnerable and nervous as someone who had barely survived a beating, Jessie didn’t answer. Her eyes were rimmed in red.
Had Riesner managed to make her cry?
Nina was so irritated that she didn’t allow herself to speak until she could calm down and keep her language clean and nonviolent. They both watched the tall figure get into his Jag and drive away, after some difficulty getting into gear.
“Those cars are mechanical nightmares,” Nina said. “All appearance, no substance.”
“Pretentious,” Jessie said.
“Despicable. I’m sorry. I wish I could have protected you better.”
“It’s the way the law is set up,” Jessie said. “If you’re poor. Somebody gets a judgment against you, for the TV set you couldn’t pay for or the unpaid rent, and then they have a right to make you sit in a room and make you tell them all sorts of personal things and you’ll go to jail if you don’t answer. Well, there’s some things I didn’t tell.”
Nina squeezed her eyes shut, rubbed her forehead. “Like what?”
“Private things.” She smiled slightly. “I may never see that money. But you know what? I’ve really enjoyed dreaming about it. After I lost my bearings—I mean, I always intended to have a long military career—after that failed, I started thinking about what I might want to do. And there is something—but I never even dared to hope there was a chance in hell. Then I won this jackpot. I lie awake at night sometimes, dreaming. It’s really not much different than dreaming you’ll win the lottery, is it? I mean, what are my chances of getting that money really? There are all these forces aligning against me. I can feel them sneaking around behind us. They’re bigger, stronger, better prepared, able to fight longer and harder.”
“Are you thinking of quitting the fight?”
“Of course not. Give up? No way.”
“So you have definite plans for the money?”
“Yep.”
“Want to talk about that?”
She smiled a shaky smile. “I don’t dare. Might jinx me. When we’re closer to actual money in hand, and not still hanging around the slots, waiting for a hit.”
“Let’s get out of here. Let me take you over to Heidi’s for a cup of coffee or a sandwich or something before you get back on the road. It’s a long way back to the trailer.”
“No, thanks. I have to get going right now. The trailer—it’s been great. It’s peaceful out there and not too far from Markleeville. Thank you for letting us stay.”
“How’s it going?”
“Not too bad. Kenny . . .” She smiled. “He’s so funny.”
“Just watch out for the coyotes. They sneak around at night and you could mistake them for people.”
“Then they’d be dead coyotes.”
Nina said carefully, “Kenny hasn’t found his gun, has he?”
“No.”
“And you? Are you armed?”
“Don’t start grilling me too!”
“Okay.” There wasn’t much else Nina could say at the moment. She decided to talk to Kenny about what exactly they were doing to protect themselves.
“What happens next?” Jessie had put on a pair of dark glasses with lenses so tiny they couldn’t do much to help with the afternoon sun, but which drew attention to the full mouth. She didn’t need makeup. “Kenny’s been up all night working on whatever it was you asked him to do.”
“I asked him to look into the Greed Machines, find out more about progressive slots in general,” Nina said. “Something’s going on. I’m looking for a vulnerability.”
“He’s smart. Smarter than me, but no common sense.
I’ve found that I can trust him. I think he has a crush on me, or not really me, that creature he made up. Joya. That part’s strange. And if he tries to lay a hand on me I’ll . . . Well, he knows that by now.”
“You don’t like him?” Nina said.
“He’s sure not my type, let’s put it that way. He lives in a fantasy world.”
“Is it a problem staying with him?”
“No. He’s a good cook and I wouldn’t like to be alone. Also, he has an interest in all this. Potter is after him, too.”
“We don’t know that it was Mr. Potter.”
“Who else? You know, come to think of it, now that the news that me and Kenny are really strangers is out, maybe Kenny will be out of danger.”
“Maybe. Well, anyway, Paul left last night for Hawaii.”
Jessie nodded. “I’m really hoping . . .”
Nina’s phone vibrated again. She watched Jessie walk away as she put it to her ear.
Sandy said, “Still got that wet washcloth? Put it on again.”
“What now, Sandy?” Et tu, Brute?
“I was playing the radio and the news came on. Guess what.”
Nina sighed.
“The body of a man was found in Minden this morning in a dumpster behind the Pizza Hut. ID in the wallet. Shot in the head, execution-style.”
Nina thought back to that eleven o’clock call that had never come.
“Charlie Kemp?”
“How’d you know?”
Nina headed back to the office, where the waiting room was full of clients. About six she finished up and headed home. She didn’t think much about Charlie Kemp. She was already overloaded with information, and his murder was just another blip on the screen. He was dead. A man like that would have many enemies. He had been a threat to Jessie, might even have been the one who had tried to run Kenny down and followed him to her house. R.I.P. She didn’t want to think further, speculate, or juggle any more balls of thought right now. There was too much she didn’t know yet. And she was tired.
The sun showed no sign of setting yet. It still had a couple of hours to go, but the light was late, long, a soft gold very different from the radiant blasting sun of midday in the mountains.
She turned onto Kulow Street and immediately spotted Bob and Hitchcock. In the pine needles and dirt that constituted their tiny front yard, the two had a unique game of fetch going. Bob threw the stick, a hard job, because then he had to chase Hitchcock to get it back. They came to greet her as she parked in the driveway. She rolled down the driver’s-side window and Bob stuck his head in and Hitchcock put his paws on the door and did likewise.
She looked at their eager faces, thinking, I am the luckiest woman alive.
“Let me out,” she said, laughing. They went inside and she changed into shorts and did the quickie cleanup. The three of them then took off through the hazy shimmer of a summer evening to the Big Rock. On National Forest land not far from the house, the rock sat amid a group of warm granite boulders in a field of tall ponderosa pines.
Now the light was growing dimmer, softening. She wished she had a camera, but contented herself with letting the beauty of the moment imprint itself on her memory. Bob ran on ahead with Hitchcock.
The Big Rock had one angled side that they could scramble up easily, even Hitchcock, and a small ledge at the top where all three of them could sit, heads in the trees. Nina scratched Hitchcock’s back as the dog lay beside her. Bob sat with his knees drawn up. Nina noticed with a small shock that he had very hairy legs in the space between the bottoms of his pants and the white socks.
“Mom?”
“Uh huh.”
“How was your day today?”
“My day? Oh. Fine. Lots of court stuff.”
“Did you win?”
“Not this time. How was your day?”
“Good.”
“Uh huh. What did you do?”
“Not much.”
“Like what?”
“Hung out on the computer with Taylor. After lunch we went on our bikes to town and we had snow cones.”
“Was anybody else with you?”
“Not really. Oh, Nikki
showed up.” Nikki was a girl, too old and too wise for Bob. Nina waited, but heard no more.
Bob was galloping fast toward fourteen. He had shot up to about five-ten in the past year, but he was still a child, and when she looked at him she saw the whole parade of years in his changing face, the towheaded baby crying at nap time, wanting to play on right through his exhaustion; the toddler who grabbed her leg and clung like lichen, loving her madly through an entire circuit at the Kmart; the excited kid on the way to the Monterey Aquarium, swearing he felt okay, throwing up in the back seat of her new truck.
And now this, an odd phase of life, half innocent, half sophisticated. Nina put her arm around him. They sat peacefully for a minute. The birds had gone to bed and twilight had come.
“Hungry? Let’s go fix supper,” Nina said.
At three A.M. she woke up. She wrote the dream down in her journal: she was swimming a women’s marathon down a long dark lake, a primeval lake, with night-brush along the side, swimming with wonderfully fast and powerful strokes. She couldn’t see the other side. Other women were swimming too, and there was one beside her chatting. They swam along the bank but Nina said, There are too many obstacles, we are constantly having to avoid hippos and debris—let’s go out to the middle. She wasn’t really racing, she just had to finish. She swam so smoothly and so strongly it was like a video game.
After a while she looked back and saw how the backwash—the waves produced by the women—pushed the boy children out toward the sea, where they could become independent.
15
GABE HAD A very loud voice which he deployed in the jackhammer range when he got frustrated, and naturally he did get frustrated being confined in a cage. However, Kenny was not about to let this roller-and-tumbler out anywhere near an electrical cord, a toilet, or a bug, so in the Portacrib he would stay for now. Jessie was in the back room getting ready to go out.
Gabe emitted a scream, a happy primate scream related to some private emotion occurring in connection with a white stuffed lamb he was trying to tear limb from limb. Hard to believe that only a few days ago, Jessie had rushed him to the Carson Valley Medical Clinic. Nobody could get that fever down, and then next day, like magic, Gabe had woken up fine.
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