Corrupted (14 page)

“Little bit. Go ahead.”

“I'll make it fast.” Bennie wondered if Declan had somebody in custody or was even in danger. She felt a twinge of concern, but dismissed the thought. “I lost my petition and I'm filing an appeal. I'm on the way to Wilkes-Barre and Harrisburg. Anything new on hiring a lawyer for Richie?”

“I'll fill you in later.”

“Declan, we're shifting into a higher gear. If you don't have a lawyer yet, you should get one with appellate experience.”

“So you're coming this way?”

“Yes.” Bennie detected a change in his voice, and it wasn't her imagination, but she stayed in work mode. “I'm staying in Harrisburg tonight and maybe the next day. The Superior Court can grant me oral argument at any time, and I have to be ready when they call. There won't be time to drive from Philly.”

“So you're free tonight?”

“Well, yes.” Bennie blinked. Bear looked over. They both thought,
Huh?

“I have a better idea.”

“What?” Bennie asked, knowing that whatever it was, she wasn't dressed for it. She had on her crummy jeans with an old blue sweater, and she'd packed a bag full of court clothes. Not that any of that mattered. It was a reflexive thought.

“Ever hear of Jim Thorpe?”

“No, who's he?”

Declan chuckled softly. “I'll text you, Philly.”

 

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Bennie traveled until about five o'clock, and the wintry sky was graying by the time she reached Jim Thorpe, a town nestled in a valley between snowy mountains. She steered onto its main street, lined with cute boutiques, quaint restaurants, and antique stores, most of them two stories of red brick, with tall shuttered windows. Holiday lights twinkled in the trees, and couples, families, and tourists strolled along the sidewalks.

Bennie perked up at the picturesque scene, a welcome sight after a tiresome day of highway driving interrupted by courthouses and gas-station bathrooms. She drove uphill until she found the address that Declan had texted her, which was an inn. She had no idea what he was up to, but she presumed she'd find out, soon enough. She felt confused but vaguely excited, even though she hated to admit as much.

She steered into the parking lot, pulled into a space, and cut the ignition, checking her reflection in the rearview mirror. She looked predictably tired, her hair a mess, and a mustard stain from a road pretzel encrusted her sweater. Bear started barking, and she turned to see Declan coming toward the car. She opened the car door, whereupon the golden lurched out and jumped on him, tail awag.

“Sorry, this is Bear.” Bennie grabbed her purse and the dog's leash, then closed and locked the car.

“He's cute. Good to see you.” Declan looked tense, his forehead buckled. His broad shoulders were hunched, and he seemed buried in his green parka. If he'd been in a good mood on the phone, it had vanished.

“So what's up?” Bennie asked, concerned.

“It's a long story. I just pulled up, myself.” Declan gestured to the back of the lot, where his pickup was parked. “You want to take a walk through town? Stretch your legs before dinner?”

“Okay. So, dinner? Is that your better idea?” Bennie fell into step with him, and they left the lot, joining the others on the sidewalk, with the dog tugging ahead.

“Partly. The inn has a nice restaurant. I made a reservation at eight. I also got you a room. The inn is a helluva lot nicer than anything in Harrisburg. Jim Thorpe's close enough to get to Harrisburg fast.”

“Wow, okay.” Bennie liked the idea, but it was a surprise. “I'll cancel the hotel in Harrisburg.”

“Do. You're helping my family. I wanted you to know, I appreciate it.”

“Well, thanks.” Bennie felt uncertain. “You're not paying.”

“I already did. Whatever progress you make will help Richie, too. I insist.”

“I can't accept it.”

“You have to.” Declan paused. “Please.”

“Okay, you're welcome.”

“I got a room, too.”

“Really.” Bennie tried not to react.

“It's not what you're thinking.” Declan managed a smile, his dark eyes shifting sideways to her. “I thought it would be a nice break. I come here all the time. I ski nearby.”

“Oh.” Bennie noticed a woman checking Declan out as they walked by. Glass storefronts cast lighted oblongs on their path, as they passed a funky store with handmade silver jewelry. Bracelets and earrings gleamed in the last light of the day, and a silver bracelet caught her eye, in passing. It was what she should've bought Mary, instead of the dog toy. “That's pretty.”

“I'm not a big shopper.”

“Me, neither.”

“Anyway, I need time to deal with Richie.” Declan's lips went tight, and he looked ahead as they walked along. “I got a referral of another lawyer from the Juvenile Law Center. They gave me the name of somebody in Kingston. He practices family law and he's branching out into juvenile law.”

“What happened?”

“He didn't have time to meet with Doreen, but he agreed to give her a call today and they spoke.” Declan appeared to be watching Bear, who trotted happily along, his tail pumping. The street climbed gently upward, revealing a darkening sky over the top of the mountain, with the stars waiting to shine.

“And?”

“She doesn't want to hire him.”

“Why not?”

“She thinks he doesn't have enough experience in juvenile law.”

“He couldn't have less experience than I do.”

“It's her call.” Declan's mouth formed an unhappy dash, and Bennie wondered if Doreen wanted to keep Richie in jail for Christmas, because by insisting on an unavailable lawyer, she was virtually guaranteeing that result. But that a mother would want her son imprisoned was too awful to contemplate, much less say.

“So now what?”

“I had one other referral. I called him and he's going to meet with Doreen tomorrow morning.”

“So maybe that will pan out.”

“We can only hope.”

“Right.” Bennie noticed an unusual building at the top of the hill, which looked like a medieval castle, surrounded by a tall stone wall made from gray and black fieldstones. A single tower pierced the darkening sky. “What's that building?”

“The Carbon County jail.”

“Right in town?” Bennie asked, taken aback.

“It's closed now. It's a museum. See that?” Declan pointed to a rampart in front of the building. “The Molly Maguires were hanged there.”

“The what?”

“This was a coal-mining region. Hard coal. Anthracite. It was dirty work, and a lot of the miners were Irish. The Molly Maguires were a group of miners, Irish immigrants. They were fighting the company for better working conditions. Four of them were accused of murdering company officials. They were convicted and hanged in public, right on that rampart.”

“A
public
execution.” Bennie recoiled.

“Yes. But it was controversial. The murders were investigated by private police hired by the mining company. Pinkertons. The prosecutor had ties to the mining company, too.”

Bennie looked over. “So it was a way for the company to get rid of labor agitators.”

“That's what some people say.”

“Law doesn't always lead to justice, does it?” Bennie eyed the grim rampart.

“If you ask me, law leads to order. Not necessarily justice.”

“Why do you say that?” Bennie had never thought of it that way before.

“I arrest people every day. But somebody else decides if they get charged and prosecuted. That's the only part of my job that I don't like. I don't have any say in what comes after. Any idiot can see the relationship between the number of arrests and the quality of life.”

“For the people who don't get arrested.”

“Right, for them.” Declan nodded again. “It's like Judge Zero Tolerance. If you lock up the bad kids, you'll never have another Columbine. Nobody has to worry. The parents are happy. The teachers are happy. You'll have complete order.”

“But you won't have justice.”

“Right.”

“Well, that's why God made appeals courts, and the Pennsylvania Superior Court is an excellent court.”

“So you're optimistic?”

“Cautiously.”

“Good.” Declan stopped, turning to face her, his eyes newly troubled. “I went to see Richie after work. Something was off, I could tell as soon as he came into the room. He would barely talk to me. He was keeping me at a distance.”

“Why?”

“The word's out that I'm a cop, after I visited him yesterday. A couple of thugs were giving him a hard time. They assumed I'm his father. He tried to set them right, but it doesn't matter. A cop uncle is as bad as a cop father, inside.”

“Oh no.” Bennie felt terrible.

“I should've seen this coming.” Declan frowned. “It happened to a buddy of mine. His brother got locked up in Graterford, down your way. It's tough inside for anybody with family in law enforcement.”

“Do they think Richie's a snitch or something?”

“No.” Declan shook his head. “It's not that rational. Anybody related to cops bears the brunt of the hate against cops.”

“Even if you had seen it coming, what would you do about it?” Bennie realized that Richie would be bullied the way he had been bullying Jason. Still, she wouldn't have wished it on him, especially since she could see how much pain it caused Declan.

“There's nothing to do. The cat's already out of the bag. It's a no-win situation.” Declan squared his shoulders. “That's why I want him out of there, ASAP. It's driving me crazy. I don't know why it's not driving Doreen crazy, too.”

Bennie hesitated. “I'm sure it is. She's his mother.”

“If Richie were my son, I'd take any damn lawyer. I'd do anything, so he knew I was fighting for him. Like you are, for Jason.”

Bennie didn't reply, and Declan continued, speaking from the heart.

“Doreen hasn't even gone to visit him yet. She says she's busy with the twins, and I know she is. But he matters, too.” Declan shook his head, plunging his hands into his pockets. “His father checked out on him. Now she is, too. I almost said it to her on the phone. I wanted to ask her, ‘what the hell are you thinking?'”

“What would she do if you said that?” Bennie could see the emotion etching fine lines into Declan's handsome face. Maybe he didn't always get everything he wanted. Maybe nobody did.

“Probably throw a fit. She doesn't like it when I play big brother. She thinks I judge her.”

“Maybe if you say it in a way that's not judgmental?”

“I don't know how to be judgmental in a nonjudgmental way.” Declan met her eye with an ironic smile, his crow's-feet wrinkling.

“Me neither.” Bennie's heart went out to him, and she found herself feeling closer to him, in a real way. “I feel the same way about Jason. Both of these kids are in a terrible bind. In fact, the one thing I don't like about
my
job is that I can't always help the people I need to. I can't always win. I can't always get justice, and it never felt worse to me than it does in this case, with that little boy in that hellhole.”

“But he's not even your family.” Declan blinked. “You're his lawyer, not his mother.”

“He feels like family to me. It's not abstract or intellectual, and you can't parse or analyze it. It's an emotion.”

“I get that.” Declan nodded sadly. “I swear to God, until Richie got locked up, I didn't even know how much I loved him. He's not an easy kid to love. But he's blood.
My
blood. I taught him to ride and fish. I was there when he was a
baby
. Now he's sitting in jail with gangbangers who hate him because I'm a cop. He could be in danger because of
me
.”

Bennie saw the anguish in Declan's eyes and she could feel his need for comfort, almost palpably. She wanted to hug him, but stopped herself. She didn't know where the impulse came from, and she didn't want it to be misinterpreted. Instead, she flashed him a professional smile.

“Let's get you a drink,” she said.

 

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Bennie let herself into her room, and Bear trotted ahead, trailing his leash while she closed the door behind her. Two lamps with cut-crystal bases flanked a lovely bed cloaked in dotted-Swiss bedcovers, with a filmy matching canopy. An antique bureau sat opposite windows covered with pink-and-red toile curtains, coordinating with rose walls. The total effect was overwhelmingly lovely, until Bear bounced onto the bed and started digging at the bedclothes with his front paws, making himself a doggie nest.

“Bear, no!” Bennie put her belongings on the floor, took off her coat, and headed for the bathroom to get ready for dinner. She went to the sink, washed her face, then dried off. She eyed her reflection, looking different to herself, somehow. Something was happening, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She didn't feel like herself. She was off the reservation. She was about to have dinner-that-might-be-a-date with an interesting, intelligent, and sexy man. Anything could happen, anything was possible, and nobody had to know. She was
free
.

She turned out the light, left the bathroom, and patted Bear good-bye. She grabbed her room key and slid it in her back pocket, leaving her purse behind. She reached the lobby buzzing with guests and hotel staff in Santa hats. She walked to the restaurant in the back where she spotted Declan already sitting at a table for two, wearing a work shirt and dark corduroy sport jacket, his perfect features illuminated by a flickering candle. Bennie felt a palpitation in her chest, but prayed she was just having a heart attack.

“Hi.” Declan stood up and came around the table.