Wrongful Death: A Novel

by Dugoni, Robert

  Addressing Beverly Ford, Judge Natale had said, “If ever there was a case that cried out for justice, Mrs. Ford, this would be it. I hope you find it.”

  Ford had turned and smiled at Sloane. “I have hope, Your Honor. And faith.”

  Natale had then turned to Sloane. “I suspect my ruling will cause you to appeal this matter to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Mr. Sloane.”

  Sloane nodded. “It will, Your Honor, and perhaps beyond.”

  Natale nodded. “Perhaps.” Then she stood and left the bench, and the onslaught of reporters converged on Sloane and Kannin for nearly an hour.

  Ford handed Sloane a wrapped package. “I got you something. And I want you to know, win or lose, I won’t forget what you’ve done for James and our family.”

  Sloane unwrapped the package. Inside was the framed painting from Beverly Ford’s mantel, the one of the dove and the prayer about houses being built not of wood and stone but love. He smiled. “I’ll put it on the mantel in my home. And it will remind me of what you’ve done for me as well.”

  “What I did?”

  “You taught me about hope, Beverly.”

  Sloane gave her a hug. When they separated they started toward Beverly’s children, who stood on the grass beneath the fist sculpture in the middle of the courtyard, along with Charles Jenkins, Alex, and John Kannin. Sloane would not allow Tina or Jake to be at the hearing. He did not want either one of them appearing on film or in the papers.

  As Sloane and Ford approached, Althea broke free of Lucas’s hand and ran across the cement toward them. Beverly Ford reached out to greet her daughter, but to Sloane’s considerable surprise, Althea veered at the last second and ran to him, wrapping her arms around his legs.

  When she released her grip, he lowered to her eye level and asked, “What was that for, angel?”

  Althea turned and looked over her shoulder at her brother. Lucas nodded. Then she turned back to Sloane.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  AS ALWAYS THERE are many to thank. If I miss anyone, you know who you are and how grateful I am for the help and support.

  My thanks to those who allowed me to use their names or likenesses, either to benefit charity or just for the heck of it. Among those are King County Superior Court judge Anthony P. Wartnik (retired), who allowed me to sit in his courtroom and pick his brain. Thanks also to John Kannin, a good friend and excellent trial attorney; and to Charles Jenkins, my law school roommate and friend. I’d like to say I made Charles larger than life, but those who know him, know he is larger than life. To Jo Natale and her husband Scott Cameron for their generous contribution to the Bellevue Boys & Girls Clubs in exchange for my use of her name. Thanks also to Johnson Marshall, a Canadian but with such a cool name I had to make him a United States senator. And thanks to Dan House, aka Dan the Sausageman, owner of the Tin Room, a great restaurant in Burien.

  To Colonel Drew Blazey, United States Army (retired), for putting me in contact with those who served in Iraq who were willing to share their experiences. To Command Sergeant Major (retired) Bill Barkley (Washington National Guard) for taking the time to give me a tour of Fort Lewis and Camp Murray and to introduce me to JAG officers and other soldiers who served in Iraq and who have handled the claims of soldiers and their families, including Major Matt Cooper, Judge Advocate General–Washington National Guard, for taking the time to explain to me some of the intricacies of the claims process and Feres doctrine.

  Thanks also to W. L. Rivers Black, Esq. (Navy Reserve), and Joseph C. Misenti, Jr. (JAG, Captain, Navy Reserve), for their help in sorting through and understanding the claims process and the Feres doctrine.

  To Sergeant Jack Lewis (Army Reserve) who generously gave of his time to help me understand his experiences on the ground in Iraq. I couldn’t have written this novel without his help. He provided me with much of the information for the fictional account of the guardsmen set forth herein, corrected my mistakes, and helped to make real the fictional events portrayed herein. I am indebted for his kindness. And to those other soldiers, U.S. Army and national guardsmen, who provided me with their experiences serving in Iraq, but who for personal reasons wish to remain anonymous, thank you for your time and for your service. Any mistakes in the portrayal are mine.

  To Mr. Michael T. Hurley, supervisory special agent, Drug Enforcement Administration (retired) who always goes out of his way to provide me with numerous contacts, all of whom made the book infinitely better, among them Daryl Higgins, Tacoma Police detective, Special Investigation Division; and Sergeant Tom Davidson, CID/Homicide/Robbery/Assaults, Tacoma Police Department. I’m grateful for the tour of the Hilltop in Tacoma, and for their insights.

  To Ignacio Davila, for helping to translate my sometimes poor English into proper Spanish; and to Dr. Shane Macaulay, for proofreading the manuscript and educating me on rifles, handguns, shotguns, and just about everything else that fires a bullet.

  To Cherie Tucker, the grammar guru of GrammarWorks, for giving the manuscript her critical eye.

  In addition to the dozens of legal cases, treatises, and magazine and newspaper articles I read on the Feres doctrine, the military contractor defense, and the issues of body armor and Iraq’s chemical weapons program, I also read a number of blogs of soldiers serving in Iraq, as well as first-person accounts published, including: The Gift of Valor, Michael M. Phillips, Broadway Books, 2005; Just Another Soldier, Jason Christopher Hartley, HarperCollins, 2005; My War: Killing Time in Iraq, Colby Buzzell, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2005; In the Company of Soldiers, Rick Atkinson, Henry Holt & Co., 2004; Operation Homecoming, the award-winning anthology of stories written by military personnel and their families and edited by Andrew Carroll about military service in Iraq and Afghanistan; Michael Yon’s Online Magazine, http://www.michaelyon-online.com, on Fallujah; Columbia: Journalism Review Dispatches from Iraq, www.cjrdaily.org/dispatches_from_iraq.

  While the information concerning the history of Iraq’s chemical weapons program comes from newspaper and magazine accounts, the events portrayed in this book and the characters are all fictional. None of the above persons breached any confidences or privileges in lending me their names, likenesses, or assistance. To the extent anything in this novel reflects a true account, it is coincidence. Again, all mistakes are mine.

  I am also grateful to all of the people at Touchstone for making Wrongful Death as good as it can possibly be. Thanks to publisher Mark Gompertz and deputy publisher Chris Lloreda for believing in the manuscript; to publicity director Marcia Burch and publicist Ellen Silberman for getting the book and me out there and for their creative means to publicize it. To art director Cherlynne Li and production editor Josh Karpf for making the book look and read better than I could have hoped. To Louise Burke, Pocket Books publisher; and Pocket Books associate publisher, Anthony Ziccardi, thanks also for believing in the manuscript. Special thanks to Trish Grader, my editor. It can be a thankless behind-the-scenes job, but without her deft touch in helping me to improve the manuscript, keep the story moving, and ratchet up the suspense, I would not be writing this acknowledgment. Thanks for your guidance and your support. And if things in Trish’s office work the way they do in mine, thanks also to her assistant, Meghan Stevenson, for taking care of the little things that make the big things work. Finally, to all on the Simon & Schuster/Touchstone sales force, without whom no one would be reading this book, thanks for your hard work and dedication promoting and selling Wrongful Death.

  To Jane Rotrosen, Donald Cleary, Mike McCormack and everyone else at the Jane Rotrosen Agency for continuing to take an interest in all aspects of my career and for taking such good care of me; and especially to my agent, Meg Ruley. Meg is the rare person who, as talented as she is at being a literary agent, is an even better person. Meg, I couldn’t do this without your guidance, tenacity, enthusiasm, humor, and patience. I am truly grateful for all that you do for me.

  And always, to my wife, who puts up w
ith the mood swings of a writer, and makes everything else in our lives never skip a beat. I’ve said before you are more talented than I, and I grow to appreciate and love you more each day.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ROBERT DUGONI is a New York Times bestselling author of the legal/political thrillers The Jury Master and Damage Control. His exposé The Cyanide Canary (Simon & Schuster, 2004) was a Washington Post 2004 Best Book of the Year Selection, and the Idaho Library Association’s Book of the Year. He is a two-time winner of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary Award for fiction. Mr. Dugoni lives in Seattle, Washington, where he coaches basketball and Little League baseball. For more about Robert Dugoni, visit www.robertdugoni.com.