Illusions Complete Series (31 page)

He laughed. “I had no idea.”

“True story. She apparently had some kind of a dental bridge, but she broke it during a girlfight in jail.”

We both laughed at this for awhile.

I continued “It is hard to be fearful of somebody who looks like a backwoods hillbilly.” More laughter.

After a little bit, I continued. “Anyhow, I found out some stuff that makes me feel her humanity. When I was a public defender, I always saw the humanity in my clients. That was how I was able to defend them, no matter what they did. I figured that if I found her humanity it would help me to forgive.”

He had that look on his face, the look that always makes me melt. The look of sheer, unadulterated love.

I drew a breath and went on. “She told me about her abusive husband and her son who won't talk to her. Not that I blame the son. She's pretty wackadoodle.” I looked pensively out the window. “She isn't remorseful for what she did. I think that she justifies it in her cray-cray little head.”

I looked at him. “But I don't hate her. And she now knows that she didn't break me. I made sure that she knew that I was stronger because of what happened. That
we
are stronger because of what happened.”

He grabbed my hand, looking me in the eye. “I love you. I love you more than I ever thought that I could love anyone. And I have never loved you more than I love you right now.”

I smiled. “I love you, too.” It was easier to say those words now, getting easier every day.

After we finished our lunch, I told Ryan that I had one more thing to do while I was downtown.

Go to the prosecutor's office.

“Can I come with?”

“Sure, you can wait outside the office while I talk to Cindy. But I really need to do that alone as well.”

Cindy was Cindy Johnson, the lead prosecutor on Rochelle's case. I needed to have a few words with her.

We made our way to the prosecutor's office. As I entered the main suite, the receptionist greeted me. “Iris, hello!” She came around and gave me a big hug. “We missed you around here. What a pleasant surprise!”

“Hey, Katherine. Is Cindy around?”

“Sure, go on back.” She turned to Ryan, her eyes lighting up. “You must be Ryan. Uh, can I get you anything while you wait?”

“A water would be great!” Ryan said. I turned around and saw Ryan take a seat and start flipping through magazines. He looked at me, giving me the thumbs up and a wink.

I knocked on Cindy's door. She was busy at her computer, files piled up on her desk. I started feeling anxiety, not because of what I had to say to her, but mainly because seeing files piled up made me remember my own law days, not so long ago.

She looked at me, her blue eyes big. “Iris!” She, too, gave me a big hug. “Come in, come in. Have a seat!”

“I hope that I'm not interrupting?”

“Not at all. I mean, I got a PV docket in a couple of hours.” She motioned to her files on the desk. “So I can talk for a little bit.”

PV dockets were probation violation dockets. There were typically about 50 cases on these dockets, but they generally went pretty quickly.

“So, what can I do for you?” She asked, after I sat down.

“Uh, I understand that you have the Rochelle Anderson case?”

She gasped. “Oh, of course! Stupid me, of course that's why you're here.” She looked sheepish. “Uh, I know what happened. How are you, uh, holding up?”

“Fine, fine. I wasn't ok, but I'm better now.”

She nodded. “So, what would you like to talk about?”

“Well, I know that she's charged with various counts of assault one, and kidnapping one.”

Cindy nodded. “That she is.”

“I wanted to let you know how I feel. I know that it is your job to cut deals, but I also know that assault one and kidnapping one are both 85 percenters.” This means that anybody convicted of assault one or kidnapping one are required to serve 85% of their sentence.

I continued. “I don't want you to cut a deal where she pleads down to an offense that is not an 85 percenter. I don't want her being sentenced to 20 years, getting out in three.” This was important, because lesser offenses typically result in the defendant only serving 15% of their sentence.

Cindy spoke. “That's not what I want to do, either. And there isn't a reason to cut a deal like that. I mean, we have her dead to right.”

I nodded. “Who is on the other side?”

“John O'Donnell.”

I groaned. I knew O'Donnell's reputation. He was one of the highest-priced attorneys in the area, and definitely one of the best. His courtroom flourishes and dirty tricks were legendary.

“John O'Donnell. What, Gerry Spence wasn't available?”

Cindy smiled. “I know, I hate going up against him. He could've gotten Ted Bundy off on a technicality.”

“Well, don't succumb to pressure. I need that woman locked up for a long, long time.”

She nodded. “It's good that you're here. I was going to call you when the time was right. I need to prepare you if this thing goes to trial, which, hopefully, it won't.”

“That'll suck, having to tell this story to a jury. But, if it has to happen, it has to happen.”

Cindy hesitated. “So, how are you, really?”

“Fine. Getting stronger every day.”

“I heard that you closed your practice.”

“Yeah, well, that had to happen. I was, uh, not exactly equipped to deal with my clients for a few months.”

She nodded.

“And, besides, I can't go back there. That was where I was, uh, attacked.”

“Are you going to come back? I mean, I understand that you don't want to go back to that particular office, but are you going to get back into law?”

“Not sure. I'm taking a break right now, trying to plot my next move.”

“Yeah. I hear you got a nice boyfriend to help you out, too.”

I nodded. “What do you know about that?”

“Well, the word is that you are dating Benjamin Whitney's gorgeous son.”

“The word is correct. How do you know about his being gorgeous?”

“He was in the society pages a lot. I guess that you don't pay much attention to that.”

“No, never have paid attention to that.”

“He was like our very own JFK Jr. Before the crash, of course.”

“What do you mean?”

“Before he got married, he was considered the most eligible bachelor in the area.”

“Where have I been? I’ve never even heard of the guy before I met him.”

“Living under a rock, I guess.” She paused. “Anyhow, I guess you got set up pretty well, there.”

I wondered if that was a subtle dig. “Yes, well, I'm not going to be a kept woman. I'm just taking a break right now. I need to recover mentally and physically before I decide what my next move is.”

“Of course. That's perfectly understandable.” She smiled. “Well, I have to get ready for my docket. Is there anything else?”

“No. I just want you to keep me in the loop on this case. Please don't cut a deal without notifying me.”

“I promise.”

“Thanks.”

I walked out into the waiting area. Ryan and Katherine were chatting. Katherine was saying “She's such a sleaze. I mean she was married to that guy for like 70 days or something, after having that big televised wedding!” I smiled at Ryan engaging in conversation about Kim Kardashian.

Ryan saw me and stood up. “How did it go?”

“Ok, I guess. Rochelle got a lawyer who would rival Johnnie Cochran himself.”

“I figured as much.”

“I apologize, Ryan. But I now need to make one more visit while I am on a roll right now.”

“Sure. Who you going to see?”

“John O’Donnell.”

“You want me to drive you there?”

“Could you?” I had to admit that I was silly not wanting him along. His presence comforted me, calmed me down. Once I broke down my walls, and admitted that I was in love with him, I found that his presence brought me peace.

And peace was exactly what I needed right now.

We made our way to his Porsche, which was parked in a garage. Ryan asked “Now, what is this guy’s name?”

“John O’Donnell.”

He looked at his iPhone, talking into it for John O’Donnell’s address. Siri spit out the address within a few seconds, and Ryan programmed the address into his GPS.

“Looks like he's in Parkville.”

It figured. Parkville was the area that was up and coming, and it also had some amazing nouveau riche mansions. I guess I figured that a high priced guy like O’Donnell would be located in one of the enormous office suites downtown, but Parkville made sense as well.

“Hold on a sec.” He looked at his iPhone again. “Uh, looks like he also has an office downtown.” At that, he called the downtown office.

“Hello?” The receptionist answered the phone.

“Mr. O’Donnell, please,” Ryan said.

“One moment, please.”

After a few minutes, there was another voice on the phone.

“Mr. O’Donnell is busy right now. Can I help you?”

Ryan looked at me.

I talked into the phone. “Uh, this is Iris Snowe. Could I make an appointment to see him?”

“Could you hold please?”

After a few minutes, the woman came back. “When can you be here?”

“In a half hour?”

“We'll see you then.”

I was more than surprised. I knew how busy this guy is, and he was going to fit me in within a half hour? 

We headed to his downtown office, which was, just as I expected, one of the high rise jobs. The office was on the 55
Floor. Holding Ryan’s hand so tight that I feared cutting off his circulation, we made our way up to O’Donnell’s office.

A busty blonde lady in a low-cut silk blouse and fuck-me pumps, wearing more makeup than Tammy Faye Baker in her prime, greeted us. “Hello. You must be Iris.” She eyed Ryan, making no secret that she was mentally undressing him. I inwardly groaned. “And you are?” she asked Ryan.

“Ryan. Iris’ boyfriend.”

She raised one eyebrow at me.
Lucky girl
her eyes said.

She went back behind the receptionist desk, picked up the phone and called O’Donnell. She looked at me. “He's ready to see you. Let me lead the way.”

“Thanks.” I looked at Ryan. “I won’t be long.” He looked a bit hurt. I guess that he wanted to be in on this meeting.

“Good luck, beautiful,” he said with a smile.

I was led to an exquisite suite with enormous windows that looked out on an expansive view of the city. A 50ish handsome man with greying temples, but a full head of hair, stood up at his desk as I walked in. I admit that I had never actually met this guy before, just knew his reputation. His cases were always out of my league, so we never crossed paths.

“Iris. Come in, come in.”

I sat down.

“What can I do for you?” he asked me.

I took a deep breath. This was my most audacious request, and I knew that I would be turned down. But I had to try.

“You have the Rochelle Anderson case.”

“Yes, about that.” He looked at me sternly. “The reason why I was willing to see you is that I was going to call you anyhow. Then you called me and asked to see me, so it saved me the effort.”

I had a feeling I knew what was coming.

“I understand that you went to see her.”

“Yes, I-“

“And you represented yourself as her attorney.”

“Well, no, I-“

“No? Then how did you get a professional visit with her?”

“Well, I did represent myself as
an
attorney, not
her
attorney.”

He shook his head. “Don't do that anymore. I don’t want to file a bar complaint against you, after what you went through, but, I swear to god, I will do that if you come within a mile of my client again.”

I nodded. I admit that I didn’t think it through when I went down there. But he was absolutely right. I was ethically wrong to do what I did, although I wasn’t quite sure exactly how many rules I broke. Probably several.

“I apologize.”

His face softened. “It’s ok. I really don’t blame you for doing what you did.” He paused. “But that doesn’t mean that I won’t burn your ass if you do it again. Now, that out of the way, what can I do for you?”

“I wanted to make a request.”