Dead Lawyers Tell No Tales (34 page)

KERRI STOOD BY THE ESCALATOR
in the main lobby of the Chesapeake Circuit Court building, eyeing the doors. The Wolfman was lurking somewhere outside, and everyone else on the defense team was in courtroom number three. Kerri felt her heart pounding in her throat. She considered the evidence one more time, turning it over piece by piece. She prayed that her husband was right.

Sean Phoenix arrived alone a few minutes after eleven. He nodded at Kerri from the other side of the metal detector. She smiled, and he stepped in line behind a half-dozen people.

When he reached the front of the line, he pulled out his cell phone and put it in a plastic dish. Kerri knew that wouldn’t fly. The deputies had their rules, and they made no exceptions, especially on a day like today. Only lawyers could have cell phones in the courthouse. It didn’t matter if you were the president of the United States. Without a law license, you had to leave your cell phone behind.

Kerri watched Phoenix argue with them for a few seconds and frown. She knew they were telling him they could give him a plastic number
and keep his cell phone in a small locker, or he could take it back to his car. Kerri knew he wasn’t about to hand that phone over to the deputies.

Sean looked at Kerri, held out his palms, and motioned with his head for her to meet him outside. She started walking toward the metal detector.

Just as she was approaching, a deputy handed Sean a document. He eyed it contemptuously. “What’s this?” he asked, his voice acerbic.

“A subpoena,” the deputy said. “Courtroom three. ASAP.”

Sean looked at the document. “For what?”

“Your testimony,” the deputy said. A few other deputies had gathered around, one of them standing behind him.

“Do you know anything about this?” Sean asked Kerri, who was standing a few feet away.

“I know what it is,” she said. “My husband had it issued.”

He gave her a look that sent a shiver down her spine. She had seen the kind of power this man possessed, his penchant for revenge. She knew that his agents were everywhere.

“You didn’t give me any choice,” she said.

Nobody moved for a moment as Kerri and Sean stared at each other. After a few beats, the chief deputy spoke. “We need you upstairs right away.”

Sean didn’t take his eyes off Kerri. “You always have a choice,” he said.

A deputy gave Sean a red plastic piece the size of a quarter with the number 52 printed on it in white. “When you’re done, just return this to us, and you’ll get your phone back.”

Kerri watched as Sean passed through the metal detectors and endured a pat-down. Two deputies escorted him to the escalators. She felt her knees go weak as she watched him ride to the top.

///

When the commonwealth rested its case, Landon stood and announced that his first witness would be Sean Phoenix. Sherman immediately
objected. Phoenix had not been on the defense witness list submitted ten days before trial. Landon told Judge Deegan that new evidence had emerged since then that made Phoenix a critical witness.

As he stood next to his counsel table and presented his argument, Landon stole sideways glances at his client, who in turn checked the back door of the courtroom. When Elias nodded, Landon turned and saw Phoenix entering, one deputy on each side. They followed him down to the front, where he took a seat next to Parker Clausen—the same seat where Kerri had been earlier that morning.

“Judge, this is just a desperate publicity stunt by the defense,” Sherman argued. “I ought to at least be allowed to interview this witness before he takes the stand.”

Landon started to respond, but Deegan raised a hand. She didn’t like it when lawyers aired out their differences in front of the jury. “We’re going to dismiss the jury,” she said. “And then I’ll meet with counsel in my chambers.”

She glanced over her reading glasses at Sean Phoenix. “Mr. Phoenix, I don’t want you to leave the courtroom.”

///

Kerri had followed Sean and the deputies at a distance on their way to courtroom three. When she arrived, people were streaming out for a short recess. One of them was Parker Clausen.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

He nodded toward a spot a little way down the hall. The two of them huddled there. She had never seen Parker so wild-eyed.

“Landon asked me to take you home to the condo,” he said in hushed tones. “He doesn’t think it’s safe for you to stick around here. Right now, he and the others are meeting in Judge Deegan’s chambers, arguing about whether Sean Phoenix will be allowed to testify.”

“Why wouldn’t he be?” Kerri asked. She had never considered that possibility.

“Apparently he wasn’t on Landon’s witness list.”

“Why should that matter?”

Parker took a quick look up and down the hall. Jake King passed by on his way to the restroom. He nodded at Kerri.

“Look, I don’t know how it’s all going to come out,” Parker said. “But Landon says that one of Phoenix’s guys has been following you around and is probably in front of the courthouse as we speak. I know a back way out of here. Landon wants you home with Maddie.”

“I’m staying here with Landon,” Kerri said.

Parker’s face turned dour. He lowered his voice and inched closer. “Landon didn’t want me to tell you this, but he just got a note from one of the deputies. Everything’s all right, but somebody tried to break into the condo. Billy Thurston shot the guy, but Maddie’s pretty traumatized. There’s a squad car waiting at the back door.”

Kerri’s hands started trembling. She followed Parker as they raced down the hall.

BILLY THURSTON WAS NO LONGER
at the condo. Bum knee or not, he had decided he wasn’t going to miss the fireworks. Earlier that morning, Landon and Kerri had explained the new plan. Billy’s role was to take care of Maddie. But after Landon and Kerri left, Billy called one of the high school linemen he had been working out with whose father was a Norfolk police officer. The man was off duty and said he’d be glad to help.

A half hour later, Billy dropped Maddie off at the officer’s house along with a full page of instructions on how to take care of her. Among other things, she wasn’t allowed to leave the house for even one minute. Billy promised he’d be back as soon as court let out for the day.

Billy took advantage of his crutches to park in a handicapped spot right next to the J&DR building. He hobbled over to the other side of the building and found an inconspicuous spot on the ground between a few pine trees where he could watch people come and go on the quad. He called the Norfolk police officer every thirty minutes.

He knew Kerri would be mad at him if she found out that he left
Maddie with some strangers. But his gut told him he might be needed at the courthouse. Landon could still be in danger, and Billy wasn’t going to leave his buddy on his own.

At a few minutes after eleven, Billy saw Sean Phoenix show up and enter the circuit court building. He decided to give it a few minutes before heading over to the courthouse. That way, by the time he slipped into the back of courtroom three, Phoenix would already be on the stand testifying. Billy couldn’t wait to see the look on the man’s face.

///

When Landon returned from Judge Deegan’s chambers with permission to call Sean Phoenix as his next witness, he quickly surveyed the courtroom. People were shuffling back to their seats, but he didn’t see Kerri. Parker Clausen hadn’t returned either.

The bailiff announced that court would resume in two minutes. Elias hobbled back to the counsel table. Landon took his seat and shuffled some papers, mindful of the fact that Sean Phoenix was sitting right behind him.

“I need a word with you, Counselor,” Sean said, leaning forward. Landon scooted his chair back so that he was just a few inches from Sean Phoenix on the other side of the bar of court.

“You don’t want to put me on the stand,” Phoenix said, his voice a low growl.

Landon twisted in his chair to meet Sean Phoenix’s stare. The man’s blue eyes were cold, as if he could kill without emotion. “You’re wrong,” Landon said. “I do.”

“Every man has his price,” Phoenix said. “Parker Clausen, for example. You think he got to be a bestselling author because he’s a good writer?”

Landon didn’t respond. Was Parker one of them?

“Big John McBride wanted to get rich. Kerri wanted the big story. You—you’re motivated by family.”

Landon turned fully toward Sean and gave him a hard stare. “What are you saying?”

“All rise,” the bailiff called out. People stood as Judge Deegan took her place on the bench. Landon’s mind was racing with what Sean Phoenix had just said:
“You’re motivated by family.”

“Be seated,” Deegan said. “Bring in the jury.”

As the jury shuffled in, Sean Phoenix leaned forward again and spoke in a whisper. “We’ve got Kerri,” Phoenix said. “Don’t make me give the order to hurt her.”

The words chilled Landon as he quickly turned and surveyed the courtroom. Kerri was still gone. So was Parker. Landon wanted to tell the deputies and put out an all-points bulletin. But how far had Sean’s men taken her? Once Landon said something to the deputies, there would be no turning back.

“The defense may call his first witness,” Judge Deegan said.

Landon stood. “May I have a second, Judge?” he asked. The hair was standing up on the back of his neck. He had to fight back the panic and the bile in his throat. What if it was already too late? Why should he trust anything Sean Phoenix said?

“For what purpose?” Judge Deegan asked.

Landon held up a hand. “Just for one second, Your Honor. A short conference.”

“Make it quick.”

Landon turned and leaned over the railing, his mouth next to Sean Phoenix’s ear. “So help me God, if your men touch my wife, every one of you will spend the rest of your life in prison.”

“I’ve got people in this courtroom,” Phoenix whispered back. His voice was calm and steady, authoritative. Was it a bluff? “Put me on the stand, and it will be the worst day of her life. Let me walk out of here, and I’ll return her unharmed as soon as I leave American airspace.”

“Why would I trust you?”

“Because one of us has to trust the other. And because you know I don’t want to hurt her.”

“Counsel, let’s proceed,” Judge Deegan said.

Landon turned and faced the judge, his head spinning. He needed a few minutes to figure things out. This was like the two-minute drill. He had to slow down the clock.

“Counsel?” Judge Deegan’s voice had an edge to it.

“The defense calls Julia King,” Landon said.

“What?” Elias asked, his voice loud enough to be heard by most everyone in the courtroom.

“Ms. King, please come forward and raise your right hand,” Judge Deegan said.

Julia rose with a dazed look and walked into the well of the courtroom. Phoenix also stood and asked the court if he could be excused.

“Not yet,” Landon said. “We intend to call him as our next witness.”

JAKE KING DIDN’T UNDERSTAND
everything that was going on, but he had managed to put the big pieces together. He loved football, but deep down, he knew he really wasn’t very good at it. Until he had met Landon Reed—actually, until this case—he hadn’t known what he really wanted to do with his life. But sitting through this trial and watching Landon and his dad tag-team the prosecution had opened his eyes.

He had always done well in school. And he could be a leader when he wanted to. He could totally see himself doing what Landon was doing now.

Sometime during the second day of trial, Jake King had decided he wanted to be a trial lawyer.

He had been trying to follow all the ins and outs of why Landon asked certain questions on cross-examination and why the prosecutor might call this witness or that witness. He had listened carefully and had overheard enough that morning to know that the defense team was trying to get Mr. Phoenix on the stand. From what Jake had heard, he was pretty
sure Landon was going to try and lay the blame for Erica Jensen’s murder at the feet of Mr. Phoenix. For Jake, it was like living in a movie.

So when Mr. Phoenix came into the courtroom and sat down in the front row next to Mr. Clausen, Jake had been on high alert. The two men whispered back and forth. Jake, sitting on Mr. Clausen’s other side, had leaned a little to his left and was able to pick up bits and pieces. When he saw Mr. Clausen leave the courtroom, Jake had waited a few beats and then followed.

He had seen Mr. Clausen talking to Mrs. Reed in the hallway, an intense conversation, with both of them leaning toward each other, troubled looks on their faces. He pretended to head toward the bathroom. But something told him things weren’t right. It was what Landon called his “quarterback instinct.” Landon was always telling Jake that he thought too much on the football field and sometimes just needed to trust his gut. He also told Jake that he was too cautious, that sometimes you just had to improvise and go for broke.

Jake had set his jaw and circled back around, just in time to see Mrs. Reed and Mr. Clausen heading down the escalator. He had hustled over to the glass railing at the top of the escalator and watched Mr. Clausen and Mrs. Reed get off at the bottom. He glanced back at the courtroom doors—they didn’t need him in there—and took off down the escalator as fast as he could run.

By the time he hit the ground floor, Mr. Clausen and Mrs. Reed were nowhere in sight. Jake went to the security checkpoint, turned in his plastic marker, picked up his cell phone, and hurried out the door. He checked this way and that, frantically looking for Mrs. Reed. In the hallway upstairs, he had heard Mr. Clausen say something about Landon wanting Mrs. Reed to go home to be with Maddie. But Jake had been sitting next to Mr. Clausen all morning and had never heard Landon say anything like that.

Looking across the quad, Jake saw Billy Thurston coming toward the circuit court building on his crutches. Billy would know what to do! Maybe Jake was just making a big deal about nothing.

He started to jog toward Billy but first took one last glance around. That’s when he spotted them, in the opposite direction from Billy, walking side by side. They ducked down a path through a small section of woods that led to a massive parking lot behind the Chesapeake Community Center. They were over a hundred yards away.

Jake sprinted toward Billy. Breathless, he gave Billy a quick rundown of what he had seen and heard.

“You know how to drive?” Billy asked urgently.

“Sure.”

“I parked Landon’s truck in the handicapped spot on the other side of that building.” Billy pointed to the J&DR courthouse. He gave Jake the keys. “Here. Get Landon’s truck and bring it around to this street.” Billy pointed to the street behind the court building about fifteen yards away. “I’ll meet you there, and we’ll head over to the other parking lot.”

Jake ripped off his suit coat and sprinted as fast as his legs would carry him toward Landon’s truck. The more he ran, the more he convinced himself that Kerri Reed was in real danger. He found the truck right where Billy had said it would be. He wheeled out of the parking lot and drove to the street where he was supposed to pick up Billy.

Billy already had his plastic brace off and was holding it in his right hand. He threw it into the bed of the truck.

“It takes me forever to get in and out of that cab with this knee,” Billy said. “I’m going to hop in the back. You drive. Head to that parking lot over there and drive around until you find them. Park right behind ’em. And don’t move until I tell you to.”

“Yes, sir.”

Billy lowered the tailgate, sat on it, and scooted up into the bed of the truck. “Okay . . . let’s go,” he said.