I closed the phone and squeezed it as I headed down the ramp. I barely noticed the two men walking up the ramp until one of them called to me.
“Hey, you’re that guy, right?”
I stopped, confused by the question, my mind still firmly wrapped around Herb Dahl and Lisa Trammel.
“Excuse me?”
“The lawyer. You’re the famous lawyer from TV.”
They both moved toward me. They were young guys in bomber jackets, hands in their pockets. I didn’t want to stop to make small talk.
“Uh, no, I think you’ve got the wrong—”
“No, man, that’s you. I seen you on the TV, right?”
I gave up.
“Yeah, I have a case. It gets me on TV.”
“Right, right, right… and what’s your name again?”
“Mickey Haller.”
As soon as I said my name I saw the silent one take his hands out of his jacket pockets and square his shoulders toward me. He was wearing black fingerless gloves. It wasn’t cool enough for gloves and in that moment I realized that, since there were no other cars up on the second level, these guys hadn’t been going up there. They had been looking for me.
“What’s this all—”
The silent man swung a left fist into my midsection. I doubled over just in time to feel his right fist crush three of my left ribs. I remembered dropping my phone at that point but little else. I know I tried to run but the talker blocked my way and then turned me around, pinning my elbows at my sides.
He was wearing black gloves, too.
Twelve
They left my face alone, but that was about the only thing that didn’t feel bruised or broken when I woke up in ICU at Holy Cross. The final tally included thirty-eight stitches in my scalp, nine fractured ribs, four broken fingers, two bruised kidneys and one testicle that had been twisted 180 degrees before the surgeons straightened it. My torso was the color of a grape Popsicle and my urine the dark hue of Coca-Cola.
The last time I had stayed in a hospital I got hooked on oxycodone, an addiction that nearly cost me my child and career. This time I told them I’d gut it out without the chemical help. And this of course was a painful mistake. Two hours after taking my stand I was pleading with the nurses, the orderlies and anyone who would listen to give me the drip. It finally took care of the pain but left me floating too close to the ceiling. It took them a couple days to find the right equilibrium of pain relief and consciousness. That was when I started accepting visitors.
Two of the first were a pair of detectives from the Van Nuys Division CAPs Unit. Their names were Stilwell and Eyman. They asked me basic questions so that they could complete their paperwork. They had about as much interest in determining who had attacked me as they did in the idea of working through lunch. I was, after all, the defense counsel to an alleged murderer their colleagues down the hall had popped. In other words, they weren’t going to get their own balls in a twist over this one.
When Stilwell closed his notebook I knew the interview—and the investigation—was over. He told me they would check back if anything came up.
“You forgot something, didn’t you?” I said.
I spoke without moving my jaw because somehow moving my jaw set off the pain receptors in my rib cage.
“What’s that?” Stilwell asked.
“You never asked me to describe my attackers. You didn’t even ask what color they were.”
“We can get all of that on our next visit. The doctor told us you need your rest.”
“You want to make an appointment for the next visit?”
Neither detective answered. They wouldn’t be coming back.
“I didn’t think so,” I said. “Goodbye, Detectives. I’m glad the Crimes Against Persons Unit is on this. Makes me feel safe.”
“Look,” Stilwell said. “Likely this was a random thing. Two muggers looking for an easy mark. The chances of us—”
“They knew who I was.”
“You said they recognized you from the TV and the newspapers.”
“I didn’t say that. I said they recognized me and made it appear as though it was from TV or something. If you really cared about this you would’ve made that distinction.”
“Are you accusing us of not caring about a random act of violence in this community?”
“Pretty much, yeah. And who says it was random?”
“You said you didn’t know or recognize the assailants. So unless you are changing your mind about that, there is no evidence that this was anything other than a random act. Or at best a lawyer hate crime. They recognized you and didn’t like that you defend murderers and scumbags and decided to relieve their frustrations on your body. Could’ve been a lot of things.”
My entire body throbbed with pain ignited by their indifference. But I was also tired and wanted them gone.
“Never mind, Detectives,” I said. “Go on back to Crimes Against Persons and fill out your paperwork. You can forget about this one. I’ll take it from here.”
I closed my eyes on them then. It was the only thing I could do.
* * *
The next time my lids came open I saw Cisco sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, staring at me.
“Hey, Boss,” he said gently, as if his usual booming voice might hurt me. “How’s it hanging?”
I coughed as I came fully awake and that set off a paroxysm of pain in my testicles.
“Feels like it’s still about a hundred eighty degrees to the left.”
He smiled because he thought I was delirious. But I was lucid enough to know that this was his second visit and that I had asked him to do some sleuthing when he had come the first time.
“What time is it? I’m losing track, sleeping so much.”
“Ten after ten.”
“Thursday?”
“No, Friday morning, Mick.”
I’d been sleeping more than I realized. I tried to sit up but the movement set off a burning wave of pain across my left side.
“Jesus Christ!”
“You okay, Boss?”
“Whadaya got for me, Cisco?”
He stood up and came to the side of the bed.
“Not a whole lot but I’m still working it out. I got a look at the police report, however. Not a lot there but it did say that you were found by the night cleaning crew that came in about nine o’clock to work in the building. They found you out cold on the garage ramp and called it in.”
“Nine o’clock wasn’t too long after. Did they see anything else?”
“No, they didn’t. According to the report. I plan to be there tonight to interview them myself.”
“Good. What about the office?”
“Me and Lorna checked as best we could. It doesn’t look like anybody was in there. Nothing missing, as far as we can tell. And it was left unlocked the whole night. I think you were the target, Mick. Not the office.”
The medication drip worked on a regulated feed system that parceled out the sweet juice of relief according to impulses sent from a computer in another room and programmed by someone I had never met. But at that moment that computer nerd was my hero. I felt the cold trickle of a boost moving through my arm and into my chest. I was silent as I waited for my screaming nerve endings to be calmed.
“What are you thinking, Mick?”
“My mind’s a blank. I told you I didn’t recognize them.”
“I’m not talking about them. I’m talking about who sent them. What’s your gut tell you? Opparizio?”
“It would certainly be the choice. He knows we’re coming for him. I mean, who else?”
“What about Dahl?”
I shook my head.
“What for? He already stole my contract and made the deal. Why beat me up after?”
“Maybe just to slow you down. Maybe to add intrigue to the project. This adds another dimension. It’s part of the story.”
“Seems like a stretch. I like Opparizio better.”
�
��But why would he do it?”
“Same thing. To slow me down. Warn me off. He doesn’t want to be a witness and he doesn’t want to be dragged through the shit he knows I have on him.”
Cisco shrugged.
“Still not sure I’m buying it.”
“Well, whoever it was doesn’t matter. This isn’t going to slow me down.”
“What exactly are you going to do about Dahl? He stole the contract.”
“I’m working on it. I’ll have a plan for that douche bag by the time I get out of here.”
“When’s that supposed to be?”
“They’re waiting to see if I’m healing all right. If not, they might take off my left nut.”
Cisco cringed as though I was talking about his left nut.
“Yeah, I try not to think about it,” I said.
“Okay then, moving on. What about the two men? I’ve got two white guys, early thirties, leather bomber jackets and gloves. You remember anything else this time?”
“Nope.”
“No regional or foreign accents?”
“Not that I can remember.”
“Scars, limps or tattoos?”
“None that I remember. It went down pretty quick.”
“I know. You think you could pick them out of a six-pack?”
He was talking about a photo spread of mug shots.
“One of them I could. The one who did all the talking. I didn’t look at the other one too much. Once he hit me I wasn’t seeing anything.”
“Right. Well, I’ll keep working on it.”
“What else, Cisco? I’m getting tired.”
I closed my eyes to accentuate the point.
“Well, I was supposed to call Maggie as soon as you were awake. Her timing’s been off. Every time she’s been in here with Hayley you’ve been out.”
“You can call her. Just tell her to wake me up if I’m asleep. I want to see my kid.”
“Okay, I’ll tell her to bring her after school. Meantime, Bullocks wants to bring by the motion for a continuance for your approval and signature before filing it by the end of the day.”
I opened my eyes. Cisco had moved to the other side of the bed.
“What continuance?”
“For the prelim. She’s going to ask the judge to put it back a few weeks in light of your hospitalization.”
“No.”
“Mick, it’s Friday. The prelim’s Tuesday. Even if they let you out of here by then you’re not going to be in any kind of condition to—”
“She can handle it.”
“Who, Bullocks?”
“Yes. She’s good. She can handle it.”
“She’s good but green. Are you sure you want somebody just out of law school handling a prelim for a murder trial?”
“It’s a prelim. Trammel’s going to be bound over for trial whether I’m there or not. The best we can hope for is a little peek at the prosecution’s case strategy and Aronson will be able to report back on that.”
“You think the judge is going to allow it? He might see it as a move to set up an ineffective-counsel beef if there’s ultimately a conviction.”
“If Lisa signs off on it, we’ll be okay. I’ll call her and tell her it’s part of the case strategy. Bullocks can spend some time here with me over the weekend and I’ll prep her.”
“But what is the case strategy, Mick? Why not just wait till you’re healthy?”
“Because I want them to think they succeeded.”
“Who?”
“Opparizio. Whoever did this to me. Let them think I’m incapacitated or running scared. Whatever. Aronson handles the prelim and then we push this thing to trial.”
Cisco nodded.
“Got it.”
“Good. You go now and call Maggie. Tell her to wake me up no matter what the nurses say, especially if she comes with Hayley.”
“Will do, Boss. But, uh, there’s one more thing.”
“What?”
“Rojas is sitting out there in the waiting room. He wanted to visit but I told him to wait out there. He came yesterday, too, but you were sleeping.”
I nodded. Rojas.
“Did you check the car’s trunk?”
“I did. I didn’t see any evidence of a pick. No scratches on the tumblers.”
“Okay. When you go out, send him in.”
“You want to see him alone?”
“Yeah. Alone.”
“You got it.”
He left then and I grabbed the bed’s remote. I slowly and painfully raised the bed to about forty-five degrees so I was half sitting up for my next visitor. The adjustment ignited another run of searing pain that burned across my rib cage like an August brushfire.
Rojas tentatively entered the room, waving and nodding at me.
“Hey, Mr. Haller, how you doin’?”
“I’ve had better days, Rojas. How are you doing?”
“I’m good, I’m good. I just wanted to stop by and say hello and all.”
He was as nervous as a feral cat. And I thought I knew why.
“It was nice of you to come by. Why don’t you sit in that chair over there.”
“Okay.”
He took the chair in the corner. This allowed me a full view of him. I would be able to pick up all body movements as I tried to read him. He was already displaying some of the classic tells of a dissembler—avoidance of eye contact, inappropriate smiling, constant hand movement.
“Did the doctors tell you how long you have to stay here?” he asked.
“A few more days, I think. At least until I stop pissing blood.”
“Man, that’s bad shit! They going to catch who did it?”
“They don’t seem to be working too hard on it.”
Rojas nodded. I said nothing else. Silence is often a very useful interview tool. My driver then rubbed his palms up and down his thighs a few times and stood up.
“Well, I didn’t want to interrupt you. You probably have to get your sleep or something.”
“No, I’m up for the day, Rojas. It hurts too much to sleep. You can stay. What’s the hurry? You’re not driving somebody else now, are you?”
“Oh, no, no, nothing like that.”
He reluctantly sat down again. Rojas had been a client before he was my driver. He’d been popped on a possession-of-stolen-property beef and had a prior conviction to go with it. The prosecution wanted jail time but I was able to get him probation. He owed me three grand for my efforts but had lost his job since his employer was also the victim of the theft. I told him he could work it off by driving and translating for me and he took the job. I started out paying him $500 a week and counted an additional $250 against the debt. After three months the debt was cleared but he stayed on, collecting the whole $750 now. I thought he was happy and on the straight and narrow path, but maybe once a thief, always a thief.
“I just want you to know, Mr. Haller, that once you get out of here, I’m on call for you twenty-four hours a day. I don’t want you driving nowhere. If you even have to go down the hill to the Starbucks, I’ll be there to take you.”
“Thank you, Rojas. After all, I guess it’s the least you can do, right?”
“Uh…”
He looked confused but not that confused. He knew where this was headed. I decided not to dance around it any longer.
“How much did he pay you?”
He fidgeted in the seat.
“Who? For what?”
“Come on, Rojas. Don’t play it this way. It’s embarrassing.”
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about. Maybe I should go after all.”
He stood up.
“We don’t have an agreement, Rojas. We don’t have a contract, no verbal promises, nothing. You walk out of this room and I fire you and that’s it. Is that what you want here?”
“Doesn’t matter if there’s an agreement. You can’t just fire me for no reason.”
“But I have the reason, Rojas. Herb Dahl told me all a
bout it. You should know there’s no honor among thieves. He said you called him up and told him you’d get him whatever he needs.”
The bluff worked. I saw the rage explode in Rojas’s eyes. I had my finger on the nurse-call button just in case.
“That greasy little shit eater!”
I nodded.
“Good description. How—”
“I didn’t call his ass up. The fucker came to me. He said he just wanted fifteen seconds in the trunk. I shoulda known this would blow up on me.”
“I thought you were smarter than that, Rojas. How much did he pay you?”
“Four bills.”
“Not even a week’s pay and now you’re not going to have any pay.”
Rojas came close to the bedside. I held my finger on the call button. I figured he was going to either attack me or ask me for a deal.
“Mr. Haller… I… need this job. My kids…”
“This is like last time, Rojas. Didn’t you learn a lesson about ripping off your employer?”
“Yes, sir, I did. Dahl told me he just wanted to look at something but then he took it and when I tried to stop him he said, ‘What are you going to do about it?’ He had me. I couldn’t stop him.”
“You still have the four hundred?”
“Yes, I didn’t spend a thing. Four hundred-dollar bills. And they looked real to me.”
I pointed him back to the chair. I didn’t want him so close.
“Okay, time to make a choice, Rojas. You can walk out that door with your four hundred and I’ll never see you again. Or I can give you a second—”
“I want the second chance. Please, I’m sorry.”
“Well, you’re going to have to earn it. You’re going to have to help me make right what you did. I am going to sue Dahl for taking that document and I am going to need you to be the witness who explains exactly what happened.”
“I’ll do it but who will believe me?”
“That’s where your four hundred-dollar bills come in. I want you to go home or to wherever they are and—”
“I have them right here. In my wallet.”
He jumped up from the seat and pulled his wallet.
The Fifth Witness: A Novel Page 11