Stone Cold (30 page)

“How’d he know about Dwayne and the necklace?”

Gloria didn’t answer.

“You told him? If he was the fool, what’s that make you?”

Gloria waggled the barrel of the gun. “It make me the one wit’ the gun, bitch.”

Alex nodded. “You’re right about that. So did Dwayne take your picture before or after he cut off Wilfred’s dick?”

Gloria threw her head back, laughing. “Dwayne didn’t cut that pissant muthafucka’s prick off. He saved that part for me.”

Alex held her face in check, the same as she did whenever her clients tried to shock her. Both she and Dwayne had taken credit for mutilating Donaire Reed. At this point it didn’t matter which one was telling the truth. What mattered is that Gloria wanted Alex to believe that she was a dangerous woman. The gun Gloria was aiming at her was all the convincing Alex needed.

“Do you still have your phone?”

She shook her head. “Cops took it from me.”

“Which means Detective Rossi has seen the picture of you in Donaire’s backyard. If I could put it together, he can too. Did the prosecuting attorney promise to cut you some slack on Donaire’s murder if you testify against me?”

“I tol’ him that picture don’t prove nuthin’ ’bout me and Wilfred.”

“That’s what I would have told him if I was your lawyer, so why are you telling me what you did?”

“’Cause there ain’t nuthin’ you can do ’bout it.”

“I can testify about it.”

Gloria laughed. “Girl, you see this gun? You ain’t gonna be testifyin’ about shit.”

Alex realized that if Gloria was telling the truth about mutilating Wilfred Donaire, she wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. The worst thing Alex could do was to show the fear that was rising from her belly to her throat. The best way to avoid that was to keep talking.

“Ortiz knows you’re right about the photograph, so he’s got to have something else on you to turn you into a snitch.”

She glared at Alex. “Tellin’ what some white bitch did to my man ain’t snitchin’.”

“Fair enough. What does Ortiz have on you that made you willing to do your civic duty?”

Gloria hesitated, smiling halfway like a kid about to tell a secret. “Fuckin’ baseball bat he say got my fingerprints on it.”

Alex’s jaw went slack, her mouth hanging open. “You did that to the Hendersons?”

She grinned. “Mighta had some help.”

Alex balled her fists, pressing her arms against her sides, wanting to strangle Gloria. “How could you have done that? They never did anything to you!”

Gloria shrugged. “Jameer, now, that man was a snitch, and he got to pay the price. His wife and kids, they part of the price. And me and Dwayne, we a team.”

Alex had seen a lot of bad cases and defended a lot of bad people, but she couldn’t remember anyone as casual and callous as Gloria, who treated mass murder as a team sport. She wished she had seen Gloria there when she killed Dwayne so she could have killed her too.

“Then why did you run? Why didn’t you take whatever deal Ortiz offered you?”

Gloria waved her gun at Alex again. “That waddn’t right, you killin’ Dwayne just cause he called you a dyke. You shoulda let him bone you like he said he was gonna do. Might’ve changed your mind about eatin’ pussy instead of suckin’ dick.”

Alex shuddered. “How could you—”

“’Cause I was there, bitch! Bringin’ that fuckin’ bat back to Dwayne ’cause he wanted it for a souvenir. I seen how you tol’ Dwayne to come on and do it so he’d put his gun down just so you could shoot him, and I seen how you put his gun in his hand like he was the one that pulled the trigger.”

Alex clutched her bloody shirt, Gloria’s accusation stunning her. “You were there.”

“Damn straight I was there.”

“He’d killed all those people. He was going to rape and probably kill my girlfriend. I couldn’t let him do that.”

“Like I give a shit ‘bout them people. I only cared ‘bout Dwayne and you killed him. I’d of killed you right them ‘cept that cop came runnin’ in so I went runnin’ out. Packed a bag. Left the bat in the closet at the house where I stayed ’cause I figured the cops didn’t know nuthin’ ’bout me and wouldn’t know to look for it there. Stashed the gun here in case I ever came back and needed it. Now, I would’na minded seein’ you go down for killin’ Dwayne, but Ortiz must be a fool to think I gonna spend the rest of my life in prison.”

“But—but—”

“Quit stutterin’, girl! I ain’t gonna testify.”

Alex breathed deep and let it out. “So what now?”

Gloria furrowed her brow. “What now? For real? I’m gonna kill you. What the hell you think?”

Her lighter gave out as she spoke, the sudden darkness giving Alex a chance she took, her survival instinct taking over. She threw herself at Gloria, both of them screaming and tumbling across the floor, Gloria pulling the trigger, the bullet whistling past Alex’s ear.

Alex clamped her hands around the gun, shaking it loose from Gloria’s hand. Gloria grabbed a fistful of Alex’s hair, banging her head against the floor, kicking Alex out of her way, and scrambling for her gun; then a powerful beam of light swept across the room, blinding Alex for an instant.

“Police!” Rossi shouted, aiming the light first at Alex and then at Gloria.

“She’s got a gun!” Alex cried.

Shots rang out. Alex covered her ears and shut her eyes, not opening them until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s over,” Rossi said.

Chapter Fifty-Four

“NOW, LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT,” Judge West said.

Alex watched from the defense counsel table alongside Lou Mason. Claire and Ortiz were standing center stage. The bailiff had yet to bring the jury into the courtroom.

“Mr. Ortiz, you are asking for a continuance because your last witness, this Gloria Temple, was killed by Detective Rossi last night.”

“That’s correct, Your Honor.”

“And, you, Ms. Mason, are asking for a directed verdict on the grounds that the prosecution has failed to carry its burden of proof in its case in chief.”

“Yes, Your Honor. Gloria Temple isn’t going to testify no matter how long a continuance you might grant. Mr. Ortiz said on the record yesterday that she was his last witness. Since she’s no longer available, he has no choice but to rest his case, and that means you can rule on my motion to direct a verdict in favor of the defendant.”

“Mr. Ortiz,” Judge West said, “do you have another witness?”

“Not at the moment. But if you’ll give us sixty days—”

“To do what, Counsel? Start over? Do a better job preparing your case the second time around? Hold on to your star witness instead of letting her escape, attempt to murder the defendant, and shoot it out with a homicide detective?”

“If the court please—,” Ortiz began.

“I’ll make this simple, Counsel. Do you have any other witnesses or evidence to offer at this time?”

Ortiz shook his head. “No, Your Honor, I don’t.”

“Request for continuance denied. Does the state rest?”

“We do.”

“If I may speak to my motion for directed verdict,” Claire said.

Judge West held up his hand. “Not necessary. This one’s easy, even for me. I find that the state has failed to meet its burden of proof on the charge of murder in the first degree or any other criminal count. I hereby enter a verdict of not guilty. The defendant is discharged. We are adjourned.”

Lou put his arm around Alex, squeezing her shoulders. Alex stood, and Claire embraced her and then held her by the arms, looking square into her eyes.

“You realize you did everything wrong from start to finish.”

Alex’s heart sank. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that lawyers make the worst clients. They never take advice. They always think they’re smarter than the lawyer they hired. You could have just as easily been convicted or killed. You do understand that, don’t you?”

Alex’s eyes watered as she nodded. “I do, and I’m very grateful for everything you and Lou and Blues and Kate did for me.”

Claire stroked her cheek. “You’ve been given a second chance. Make the most of it.”

Alex took her hand. “I will. I promise.”

Grace Canfield had watched the proceedings from the gallery. She made her way to Alex and gave her a long hug.

“Good for you, girl. Good for you,” Grace said.

“I guess I’ll see you at the office in the morning,” Alex said.

“Not tomorrow, but soon, I hope.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m supposed to tell you that the bosses are talking about if and when you can come back. For now, take it easy. You’ve earned some time off.”

Alex nodded, swallowing hard. It was too much to hope that her life would suddenly go back to normal, that things would be as they always had been. She had won, but she still didn’t know at what cost. If she lost her job, she’d find another. If she lost Bonnie, she’d just be lost. They had a lot of ground to cover.

She didn’t notice Rossi until the courtroom was almost empty. He was standing against the back wall, hands in his pockets. He’d been suspended with pay pending a review of the Gloria Temple shooting, though Alex had no doubt Tommy Bradshaw would declare that it was justified. As the last few people passed through the doors he walked toward her, stopping at the rail.

“So,” he said.

Alex dipped her head and then met his gaze, smiling. “Yeah. So.” She ran her fingers through her hair. “I’m pretty sure I thanked you last night, but everything was so crazy, I’m may not have. So, thanks - again. You saved my life.”

Rossi chewed his lip. “What you did was pretty stupid, going into that house. You do know that, don’t you?”

“Would you believe me if I told you it seemed like a good idea at the time?”

“Does it matter?”

“No, I guess not.”

“You’re lucky I found the picture on Gloria’s phone of her in Donaire’s backyard and figured that’s where she was hiding.”

“I know,” Alex said. “Lucky and stupid, some combination, huh?”

Rossi tilted his head and stroked his chin. “What I don’t get is why you went looking for Gloria in the first place.”

Alex stiffened. It was the same question Rossi had asked her last night. Judge West had found her not guilty. Double jeopardy prevented her from being charged with murdering Dwayne even if she admitted it. So why was Rossi asking her again?

“Like I told you, when I heard what she was going to say, I couldn’t believe it. I had to find out why she’d do that. Lou Mason had given me a flash drive with everything on Gloria’s cellphone. After I heard she’d skipped out, I found the picture of her in Donaire’s backyard and I thought I might find her at his house. Same as you.” She shook her head. “I went a little crazy. I should have let Claire handle it but I guess I proved why lawyers are such lousy clients.”

“Yeah, well just don’t make a habit of it.”

“Don’t worry. That’s the last basement window I’ll ever climb through. Believe me.”

“That’s not what I was talking about,” Rossi said.

“What, then?”

“Killing your clients.”

Alex didn’t know what to say. She just looked at him, her mouth half-open, searching his face for any hidden meaning. His expression was flat but his eyes were alive, boring in on her as if to say he wasn’t letting her off as easily as Judge West had. In that moment, she realized they both had their own system of justice and she wondered how far he would go with his. Last night he’d told her it was over. She wasn’t sure he meant it.

“Right. Bad for business,” she said, forcing a laugh.

“See you around, Counselor.”

She lingered in the courtroom after he left doing what she always did when a case was over: gaze at the judge’s bench, the jury box, the counsel tables, and the gallery, soaking in the somber majesty of her surroundings. Only this time, it was different. This time she saw it as a stage on which there was more than one way to make certain justice was done.

Claire was right in one sense. She had done everything wrong. But she was right to have done it and she would use her second chance to do it again if she had to, even with Rossi watching and waiting for her to slip up. Only next time she’d do it Judge West’s way, in the courtroom, not with a gun.

Judge West opened the door from his chambers. They stood for a moment, reaching their own verdicts about each other.

“You’re welcome in my courtroom anytime, Counselor.”

“I look forward to it,” Alex said.

Bonnie had left as soon as the hearing concluded to bring her car around to the courthouse. She was standing outside her car waiting for Alex, who took her time going down the steps, enjoying how Bonnie’s grin grew longer and wider with every step she took. When they were within arm’s reach, Bonnie grabbed her and snatched her close, avoiding Alex’s broken nose, kissing her until Alex pulled back, breathless, her bruised and swollen lips throbbing. It was a good start.

“Save a little something for later,” she told Bonnie, smiling.

“Hey, it’s not every day that your girlfriend kills someone to protect you.”

“True love, babe. Let’s go home.”

THANKS

Thank you for adding
Stone Cold
to your library. This is an exciting time to be a writer and a reader because our shared experience is no longer limited to the written word. I look forward to connecting with you. You can find me….

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www.joelgoldman.com

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A number of people were instrumental in creating
Stone Cold
. Carie Allen is an outstanding Public Defender who patiently answered all my questions about criminal law and procedure. Any mistakes on these matters are all mine.

My editor, Kristen Weber,
www.kristenweber.com
, and my copyeditor, Eileen Chetti,
[email protected]
, gave me invaluable feedback and advice and made
Stone Cold
a better book.