Irrefutable Evidence (14 page)

She pushed her palms against him and sat back, forcing him to meet her sad, scared eyes.
“
Listen to me. Charlotte
’
s lost her witness. Laura Yim has vanished.
”

The heat building in him, dissipated, replaced by a chill of pure fear.
“
When? How?
”

She shook her head.
“
I don’
t know. I told Charlotte one of the two conditions she had to meet if I
’
m going to testify is to loop Hank into the search for Yim. At least we
’
ll have some idea of what
’
s going on, and Hank can prevent them from doing anything too stupid.
”

He nodded grudgingly.
“
That
’
s smart. Have you talked to Hank?
”

“
I called him while you were still sleeping. He
’
s on board.
”
She glanced at her watch.
“
He
’
s probably already talked to Charlotte by now.
”

Leave it to his wife to risk more lives before breakfast than most people risk all day. He almost laughed at the thought. Almost. But her looming testimony overshadowed any humor he found in his weak joke.

“
Still. It
’
s not your job or obligation to pinch hit for Yim just because some prosecutor can
’
t keep tabs on her own witness.
”

“
There
’
s more.
”

Of course there was; there was always more.
“
What
’
s that?
”

“
The prosecutor
’
s office has an FBI agent working undercover. He
’
s ingratiated himself pretty deeply into the crime family. And Charlotte
’
s concerned that he
’
s potentially vulnerable. She already started the ball rolling on the grand jury proceeding before Yim disappeared. If she delays the indictment to find Yim
…”
Sasha trailed off, either unable or unwilling to finish the sentence.

“
Her guy on the ground is exposed,
”
he said.

“
Right.
”

He sighed heavily. This Charlotte Cashion woman was right. Her agent would be in danger during any lull in activity. What self-respecting criminal enterprise wouldn
’
t take advantage of a delay to tie up any loose ends? And Sasha was right to step up to protect the man, whoever he was. Leo
’
s years of service made that an easy call. But he didn
’
t have to like it. And he didn
’
t have to let her know he agreed with her behavior. Finally he said,
“
What
’
s the other condition?
”

“
I
’
m testifying tomorrow. I want this done and over with before Christmas and before our anniversary trip.
”

She said it as if it were just one more task to check off her to-do list:
make cookies, wrap gifts, testify in front of secret grand jury regarding murderous organized crime ring, pack for the beach.
For the briefest moment, he imagined shaking her to her senses. But she
’
d probably break his arm if he tried that.

“
Well get dressed.
”

“
What?
”

“
Congratulations, you
’
ve won an armed escort for the week. From now until we get on that plane Friday morning, you go nowhere alone. Let
’
s get this show on the road.
”
He gently placed her hands in her lap and walked over to the closet to pick out a jacket that would conceal his shoulder holster. If he couldn
’
t stop her from engaging in patently dangerous activities and risking her neck, he
’
d just have to make sure she didn
’
t get herself killed. He steadied his hands and reached for his gun box.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Sasha scanned the faces of the hastily assembled grand jurors. Despite the short notice and the fact that it was the day before Christmas Eve, sixteen of the twenty-three members of the standing grand jury had managed to show up. Sixteen, just enough for a quorum, if her faded law school memories of federal procedure were correct.

Grand jury service had to be among the most onerous of the civic duties the government asked of its citizens. But here they sat, open-faced and patiently waiting for Charlotte to get started. A few of the women even wore festive holiday sweaters. One had small ornaments adorning her ears.

Unlike a trial, a grand jury proceeding was shrouded in secrecy. The location, the identity of the jurors, their deliberations, and all of their decisions were protected from the public. No judge sat in on the proceeding. The target was given no notice or opportunity to speak. It was just the grand jurors, the witness, the prosecuting attorney, and the court reporter, as it had been for hundreds of years. The result of all this one-sided secrecy was the reality that a prosecutor could get a grand jury to indict on the merest of evidence
—
or, as the saying attributed to former New York State Chief Judge Sol Wachtler went, a prosecutor could persuade a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.

At this particular moment, the imbalance struck Sasha as just fine. She was the sole witness. Her job was to walk the grand jurors through the documents and show them what she and Yim had seen. If she succeeded, they
’
d indict. If she didn
’
t, well, Charlotte had made a fatalistic little sigh, letting Sasha imagine the painful death that awaited the undercover agent. Charlotte
’
s theatrics had earned her a fierce glare from Connelly, but Sasha had gotten the message.

Connelly.
Her cranky, anxious personal bodyguard and his Glock were currently parked out in the hall on a bench near the elevator bank. When Charlotte had informed him that he not only couldn
’
t accompany her to the grand jury room, but that he wasn
’
t even permitted to know its exact location, Sasha had feared he
’
d explode. But she
’
d shot him a pleading look and he settled himself on the bench, arms crossed, glowering at everyone who dared to walk past him.

They
’
d both definitely need a long week of hot sandy beaches, sapphire blue waters, and fancy umbrella drinks when this was over.

“
Ready?
”
Charlotte stage whispered.

“
As I
’
ll ever be.
”
Sasha squirmed in the wooden seat. She
’
d had the misfortune to testify on a handful of occasions and didn
’
t think she
’
d ever be as comfortable on this side of the process as she was when she stood in Charlotte
’
s shoes.

Charlotte proved to be an effective prosecutor, Sasha had to hand it to her. Not that it came as a surprise. She was smart, self-assured, and carried herself with an air of certainty that everyone would see everything, including the evidence, the same way she saw it. In fact, Sasha envied her ability to assume that her views would prevail.

Her questioning was direct, succinct, and focused on highlighting the mountain of documentary evidence that laid out the scheme. Sasha
’
s answers were similarly to the point. Anyone listening would have been justified in thinking they
’
d spent hours polishing the question and answer routine. But the truth was far from it. They
’
d had a hasty meeting over stale bagels in Charlotte
’
s office to sketch out the salient points. It had been all they
’
d had time to do. Judging by the way the grand jurors
’
heads were bobbing along to the story, it had been enough.

Charlotte did a quick wrap-up summarizing the evidence and asked the grand jury to return a
“
true bill,
”
the term of art for a criminal indictment. Then she turned the floor over to the grand jury foreperson to ask any questions he might have.

The foreman, an African-American man who looked to be in his late fifties smiled at Sasha as he peered at her over the half-moons of his glasses.
“
I have a question for Ms. McCandless. How come she
’
s here talking to us and not this insurance gal she mentioned
—
Ms. Kim?
”

“
It
’
s Yim, actually,
”
Sasha said mainly to buy time to formulate a response. Charlotte had worried the jurors would wonder why she showed up with an attorney as her sole witness but hadn
’
t shared any strategy for addressing the potential question. Sasha decided to lead with humor.
“
I
’
m not privy to the Assistant U.S. Attorney
’
s thought process, but she may have figured she
’
d end up on Santa
’
s naughty list if she dragged an innocent office worker away from her holiday preparations. I went to law school with Ms. Cashion, so she likely had good reason to assume I
’
m already on the naughty list, so I was a safer bet.
”
She waited until the chuckling died down and then let her expression grow more somber.
“
But in all seriousness, I know all the same information as Ms. Yim, I
’
m local, and I happen to also know a little bit about insurance coverage law in case you have any questions in that vein. I think I was a logical choice to serve as a witness.
”

“
I can see that,
”
he agreed in a thoughtful tone.

Behind the jurors, Charlotte pantomimed wiping sweat off her brow.
Yeah, right, as if she were the one on the hot seat.

The kindly foreman leaned forward again.
“
Now, you know all this insurance law stuff, but you don
’
t know anything about the organized crime business Ms. Cashion was talking about. Or do you?
”

She cleared her throat and let her eyes scan all sixteen faces.
“
I know a little bit
—
what I remember from law school and what I picked up watching
Law and Order
. I think that Ms. Cashion
’
s office has solid support for its belief that this scheme implicates the Manetto family up to the highest levels of the organization.
”
Frankly, Sasha thought the evidence Charlotte had presented on that point was paper thin, but then she wasn
’
t the federal prosecutor. Several of the grand jurors were chewing their lips and the ornament earring lady was twirling one of the bulbs in her ear in a worried gesture. Not good. She hurried to continue,
“
I imagine it
’
s pretty daunting to consider indicting a reputed Mafia boss and murderer on any amount of evidence. At least, I know if I were in your shoes, I
’
d be daunted.
”

One of the sweater ladies mouthed,
“
Amen.
”

The foreman looked around at his fellow jurors, as if he were taking the temperature of the room, then returned his eyes to hers.
“
That
’
s for sure.
”

“
I can tell you that under the law, if the Manetto family profited from the arson ring, they
’
re all on the hook.
”
She was about to launch into a mini-lecture on criminal culpability and conspiracy but she could sense that she was losing them. She shifted tacks.
“
I can also tell you there are no victimless crimes. Maybe nobody died in any of these fires, but hardworking Pittsburghers lost their jobs, their homes, and in at least one case, a husband and wife who built a business through hard work and sacrifice are in danger of losing their dream.
”
Another pause to meet each grand juror
’
s eyes.
“
And why? Because someone didn
’
t pay a gambling debt and his bookie decided to engage in self-help? Or the property taxes started to eat too far into some fat cats profits? Why should people like you and me pay the price so people like Giancarlo Manetto can import the bricks for his backyard pizza oven all the way from Italy at some obscene cost?
”

She sat back. That was the best she could do. Charlotte didn
’
t want to mention the undercover FBI agent, which was her call. But it made it hard to personalize the situation, and Sasha
’
d learned long ago as a junior lawyer representing faceless behemoth corporations
—
jurors always respond better to the personal threat, the personal damage.

“
Anyone else have any questions for Ms. McCandless?
”
the foreman asked.

Nobody spoke up. He waited a beat then nodded.
“
All right then. We
’
re gonna excuse Ms. McCandless and get down to voting. You have yourself a very Merry Christmas, ma
’
am.
”

“
I will, and the same to all of you. And I may not be a prosecutor, but I am a member of the bar, so I do want to say thank you all so much for your service. It
’
s got to be thankless at times, but without you, the system simply wouldn
’
t work.
”
She picked up her bag and headed for the door. Charlotte held it open and ushered her into the hall.

“
You did great, of course,
”
she said, steering Sasha toward the hallway that led to the elevators.

“
I hope so. I
’
m not convinced they
’
re going to indict.
”

“
They
’
ll indict.
”
Charlotte
’
s voice rang clear with no hint of doubt.

“
How can you be so sure?
”

Charlotte stopped mid-step and turned to face her, so Sasha stopped, too.
“
They feel like they
’
re part of the system. They identify with me, with the Department of Justice. They
always
indict.
”

“
Okay, as long as you
’
re satisfied.
”

“
I am. I
’
ll call you after they vote to return a true bill, but I
’
m telling you now, they will. It
’
s clear sailing from here.
”
Charlotte held out her hand.
“
Thanks for your help.
”

“
You
’
re welcome. Now all you guys have to do is find Yim,
”
Sasha said as she shook Charlotte
’
s cool, perfectly-manicured hand.

“
We will.
”

Sasha turned the corner to go find Connelly to take him out for lunch. She was in the mood for Thai food.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Charlotte called while they were following the host to their favorite table
—
a two-top tucked between the sleek bar and the doors to the kitchen. It sounded like a less than ideal location, but it was so private and out of the way that they often felt as though they were hiding in plain sight when they sat there.

“
Sasha McCandless,
”
Sasha answered the ringing phone.

“
The grand jurors returned an indictment,
”
Charlotte announced without preamble.

“
That was fast.
”

“
Told you.
”

“
Well, thanks for letting me know. And congratulations. Now comes the hard part,
”
Sasha said.

“
I can
’
t wait to nail Giancarlo Manetto
’
s hide to the wall,
”
Charlotte said in a very unladylike growl.