No Time To Run (Legal Thriller Featuring Michael Collins, Book 1) (21 page)

Andie looked away, but the attorney continued.

“
Find out if he took the money. That’s what you have to do.” 

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

The attorney-client meeting room in the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in the Bronx was no different than the meeting rooms at the Singer Center, which were no different than the meeting rooms at the city courthouse. The walls were dirty, and each room was furnished with a set of indestructible furniture.

Andie’s hand ran across her neck as she felt for the necklace that wasn’t there and the key that had represented who she had been for so long. She closed her eyes and thought about the resort, a business that she built from nothing, a place where she was in control. The Sunset was a place where she decided who would stay and who should go, who worked there and who didn’t. It was hers, and, every day she was in jail, her independence slipped away.  Every day, the business took one more step toward bankruptcy and foreclosure, and the government took one more step toward taking her life.

A vision of Agent Vatch laughing and pretending to have electric shocks sent through his body flashed before her eyes.

She needed to live. She needed to survive.

A knock, and the door opened. Michael came inside.

“
Hey.” He walked over to her, kissing Andie on the cheek. He tried to take a step away, but she wouldn’t let go. Andie stood and kissed him long on the lips, their first real kiss since the arrest.

“
I’m sorry I’m late.” Michael stayed close to her, whispering. “There was some trouble at the hotel, and we had to figure out a new place to stay tonight.”

“
What happened?” Andie took a step back.

“
Nothing you need to worry about.” Michael looked down at his briefcase, and changed the subject. “I’ve got something for you.” He took Andie’s hand and led her back over to the small conference table.

They both sat down, and Michael bent over, opened his briefcase, and started to remove his tie.

“
Now hold still.” He wrapped the tie over Andie’s eyes like a blindfold.

Andie laughed, and then said something about “being kinky.”

“
Now listen.” Michael removed his small micro-cassette tape recorder and pressed play.

The sound of waves lapping against the shore filled the room.

“
And how about a little Eau de Tourist.” Michael took out a bottle of Cocoa Butter Sun Tan lotion, unscrewed the top, and waved the open bottle in front of Andie’s nose. Then he squirted a drop in her hands.

“
And then of course, the beach.”

Michael took out a large Ziploc bag filled with white sand, and poured it on the table.

Andie ran her hands through it, and then clapped.

“
More!” she laughed. “I want more. Take me away.” 

###

They sat together on the floor, holding hands, and listening to the waves. Andie refused to remove her blindfold.

“
It’s perfect.” She ran her hand down Michael’s cheek, searching for his lips, and then kissed him again.

“
You know I’ve been getting letters,” she said. “All these people, men mostly, who’ve seen the articles in the newspaper or stories on television.”

“
Anything good?”

“
There are a few hot ones.” Andie smiled. “Probably married.” Andie shrugged. “And then there are some real offers, developers who want to buy the resort, partnerships, stocks.”

“
Do you want me to look at them?”

Andie shook her head.

“
No,” she said, “not now.” Then she kissed him, again. “Do you love me?”

“
I do,” Michael said, without hesitation. “That’s why this is so hard. … I’m sorry, if I’m the reason that – ”

Andie put her hand to Michael’s mouth.

“
We all have secrets.” She kissed him again, and tried to decide who she was, or rather, who she wanted to be.

CHAPTER FORTY

The morning of Andie’s hearing went by in a flash. Michael was busy sending courtesy copies of pleadings to the new judge, researching product liability laws in Kansas for two-person Jumpin’ Jacks, and trying to prepare his oral argument for Andie’s first appearance in federal court that afternoon.

“
No Green Earth Investment, bro.” Kermit handed Michael a copy of his research. “No filings with the IRS, the SEC, Department of Revenue or the Secretary of State.”

“
Phantom company.”

“
A ghoulish ghost of an un-godly sort.” Kermit then noticed a Starbucks receipt on Michael’s desk. “You gonna keep that?”

“
Take it.”

“
Cool.” Kermit picked up the receipt and examined it. “Some nice workable digits in here, no sevens. I hate sevens.”

“
What about Green Earth’s website?”

Kermit snapped his fingers three times.

“
That blew my mind.” He put his index finger to his head, his eyes wide. “Absolutely blew my mind.”

“
What?”

“
ICANN, that’s the International Corporation for Names and Numbers.” Kermit removed a folded piece of paper from his front pocket. “They let you look up the registrations and such for who owns what on the triple-W.” He handed the piece of paper to Michael.

Michael stared down at the sheet of paper.

“
That can’t be right.”

“
That’s what it says,” Kermit said. “The website’s registered and owned by Ms. Andie Larone and the Sunset Resort & Hostel.”

Michael put the piece of paper on his desk.

“
Gadd’s going to love that.”

“
Figure that somebody just registered it in Andie’s name.”

“
Probably.” Michael looked at the clock. “You having lunch with Patty?”

“
Afraid not.” Kermit shook his head. “Been acting weird lately, she won’t return the calls or the e-mails. Maybe she found out about Val, but I figure if I let her wait, let
absence
make the heart grow fungus.”

“
Probably a good idea.” Michael stood, and took the coat off of the back of his chair and slipped it on. “You going back to the hotel before the hearing?”

“
I am.” Kermit looked down at the Starbucks’ receipt. “Got some thinking to do.”

“
I’ll see you out.” Michael walked around the desk, and they entered the hallway. They walked down the hall, through the magnificent foyer, and then to the bank of elevators.

Kermit pressed the down button. “You ridin’ with me?”

“
Just four floors.” A bell rang. They got inside and Michael pressed the button as the elevator briefly descended before stopping again. “You’re on your own. See you tonight.”

“
Then we go out and party.” Kermit flashed the hang-loose sign as the elevator doors closed. “Always got to live it up – ”

“
Always.” Michael turned and walked around the outside ring of attorney offices, looking for Rhonda Kirchner’s nameplate. He walked the entire circle, and ended back at the bank of elevators. He paused, checked the floor number, and then walked the circle again. Still nothing.

###

“
Her nameplate is gone and her office is empty.” Michael switched the cell phone from one hand to the other as he waived down a cab. “Do you know anything?”

There was a pause.

“
Yesterday.” Patty Bernice paused again, and lowered her voice. “Don’t know if she quit or was fired, or if it was one of those, quit-or-you’ll-be-fired sort of things. Why?”

“
She wanted to talk to me about something.” A cab pulled to a stop in front of him, and Michael opened the door. “Do you have her phone number?”

“
I can get it for you. What’s it about?”

“
Maltow
.” Michael covered the phone with his hand and directed the driver to the federal courthouse, then he brought the phone back up to his ear. “Do you know where I can find the file?”

“
Storage, probably,” Patty said. “But I can check on that too.”

“
Thanks. If I can get it right away …”

“
I’ll try.”

CHAPTER FORTY ONE

The federal courthouse in New York was the opposite of the messy world of small-time thugs, prostitutes, crazy landlords, and parking violators over which Judge Baumann ruled. Where the state courthouse was old stone with a permanent patina of dirt, the federal courthouse was glass and iron. It rose high above a cold, granite square with dark, stone barricades disguised as abstract art.

Everything about the federal courthouse was formal. From its procedures to its staff to its extra security, the tone reflected the seriousness of the cases that were filed and adjudicated there each day. So it was a surprise when Michael entered the chambers of Judge Patti Sachs, and found her huddled in the corner with Brenda Gadd sipping tea and gossiping like two sorority girls outside the student center.

“
Mr. Collins.” Judge Sachs straightened, suddenly serious. “I’m glad you could join us.”

Brenda Gadd set down her glass of tea. Her smile also gone.

“
I thought you wanted to see us at one-thirty.” Michael nodded toward Brenda Gadd, and then turned back to Judge Sachs. “I don’t think I’m late.”

“
No you're not late, Mr. Collins. Brenda was a bit early, and so we decided to have a cup of tea and catch up with one another.”

“
Catch up?”

“
Yes.” Judge Sachs grinned. “Brenda was my supervisor when I was just starting out at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.” She looked at Brenda Gadd and smiled. “Haven’t seen her since my son’s wedding.” She paused. “Our knowing each other isn’t a problem, is it? I don’t think it’s a conflict, but I thought you should know.”

Michael looked at Brenda Gadd, who offered only a straight face.

“
It’s fine.” Although Michael did not think it was fine at all, there was little that he could do. According to the rules of civil procedure, a motion to remove Judge Sachs from the case would first be decided by her, and she obviously would rule against him.

With a subtle flick of her hand, Judge Sachs signaled that the issue was resolved.

She stood, walked to her desk, and then sat down.

“
I think we have some motions to deal with.” Judge Sachs picked up a copy of Michael’s memorandum and other pleadings. “I need to issue a scheduling order, but I take it from all this paper that Mr. Collins has more pressing matters.” She looked down at the stack of papers, and back at Michael. “You want to get discovery going, isn’t that right, Mr. Collins?”

“
Correct, Your Honor.”

“
You can sit down by me if you would like.” Brenda Gadd patted the empty seat beside her, and continued in a patronizing tone. “I won’t bite.”

Michael thought of a million smart replies, but kept them to himself. Gadd was baiting him to make another remark like the one he made on the courthouse steps at the original bail hearing. 

He walked over to the open seat and sat down.

“
The government has no problem with discovery, Your Honor, but I believe that Mr. Collins asked for the information in seven days.” Brenda Gadd shook her head. “Maybe Wabash, Kramer & Moore has the staff to put things together that quickly, but we’ll need more time. It was a multi-jurisdictional investigation, and we have to coordinate and make sure we don’t just dump a bunch of paper on young Mr. Collins.”

Judge Sachs tipped her head to the side. Sitting behind her large desk in an even larger leather chair, Judge Sachs looked small, like a girl playing dress up. Her kinky black hair shot to either side. Her large red glasses crept down her nose.

“
How about a month?”

“
A month is very doable, Your Honor,” Brenda Gadd said.

Michael tried to stop the inevitable.

“
I don’t understand why we can’t do a rolling discovery starting in seven days. Certainly the U.S. Attorney’s office has the resources to keep track of what they’ve sent and what they haven’t sent, and I hope they had all the information on hand before they decided to pursue the death penalty.”

“
All right, all right, Mr. Collins.” Judge Sachs raised her hand and leaned back, displeased. “No need to get all fired up just yet, no jury or reporters are present.”

Brenda Gadd smiled, and Judge Sachs continued.

“
I think a month is fine, unless you think these documents contain something that is going to make this case instantly go away.” Judge Sachs waited for Michael to disagree with her, but Michael remained silent. “Good.”