Off the Beaten Path (28 page)

Becca turned and went back to Kristin's room and plopped herself down in the closest chair and closed her eyes. Sometime during the night the nurse that had heard the coffee table go flying came in and laid a blanket over Becca.

The following day when Kristin was discharged from the hospital Becca was still in her room waiting to take her directly to a divorce attorney and file for divorce, Kristin did not argue and Becca being the true friend she was did not say, “I told you so.”

Kristin strolled into the packed courtroom like she had just stepped off the cover of Vogue Magazine. She looked calm and very confident like she was walking into one of her staff meetings. Her brown eyes sparkled with anticipation and everything about her manner suggested that nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Her dark brown hair spilled over her partially exposed shoulders and down the back of her dress. A dress that had been designed by an up and coming fashion designer just for her, just for this day and just for this trial. The dress was not loud or flashy it had an air of elegance to it like something Kate Middleton might wear while attending the dedication of a new library or the christening of the Royal Navy’s latest battleship.

Kristin's designer buddy had referred to the dress by a term she had never heard before, “Business Sexy.”

Her confident and elegant entrance into the courtroom was a public and very deliberate declaration of how she viewed her roll in these proceedings. It was an open challenge to Clarence and his gang of legal lackeys, a dare,

“It's my money, my life, and my right to by happy just try and take it.”

Clarence could sense the exact moment Kristin entered the courtroom. He could feel every head turn and every eye watching Kristin. He could tell by the momentary hush in the dull chatter from the crowd behind him that his drop dead gorgeous ex-wife had entered the packed courtroom. Clarence could see the collective
bodies in the gallery shift in his peripheral vision as she made her way to the front of the courtroom.

Clarence was the only member of his legal team that had turned to watch Kristin walk down the aisle. There she was, looking more beautiful than he had ever seen her, even more stunning than any of her cover shots. And despite his well-rehearsed courtroom deportment he suddenly realized that his lower jaw had come unhinged from the rest of his face, he was staring at her like a sixteen year old boy starring at a naked women.

Apparently his face had also taken on the expression of the village idiot. Clarence could tell all of this by the murmurs and giggles that were coming from the crowd of people that had turned back in his direction to watch his reaction to her entrance. He quickly snapped his mouth shut and spun around in his chair. He hoped before Kristin noticed, but it was too late, she had caught a glimpse of the effect she had had on him. Much to his embarrassment Clarence was sure that he had seen the slightest trace of a wink from Kristin before he had turned around.

Most of the laughter directed at Clarence came from the first five rows just behind the defense table. Those rows were filled with Kristin's friends and supporters which included most of the staff from the Palmer agency and any of her clients that were within a thousand miles of Seattle and could make it to the trial.

The court reporter glanced up at the bailiff, she had never seen the stoic ex-cop with such a pleasant smile spread across his face and his chest seemed to be stuck out and his middle aged belly sucked in just a little further than normal. The bailiff had never seen such a collection of beauty in one place, he was going to have a very hard time keeping his focus on his duties during this trial.

Becca had positioned herself on the front row of the spectators in the seat closest to the aisle right behind the defense table. She was a solid ten feet away from where Clarence was seated at the Plaintiff’s table, it
seemed to Clarence that Becca was almost breathing down his neck, again. The presence of Becca in his peripheral vision over his left shoulder made him very nervous.

Kristin's attorney, Robert Anderson, was right behind her as she walked down the aisle toward the defense table. Clarence watched out of the corner of his eye as Kristin stepped through the polished oak gate that separated the gallery form the front of the courtroom. She turned left and sat down in the middle of the three chairs at the defense table. When her attorney crossed behind her and sat down in the chair at the far end of the defense table Clarence smiled. He smiled for two reasons, the first reason was legal logistics. The attorney sitting at the far end of the defense table was a sign of weakness to Clarence. Kristin's wimpy attorney was scared of Clarence. The second reason was very personal, Kristin sitting in the middle chair gave would give him an unobstructed view of Kristin whenever he wanted to glance over in her direction.

Twenty minutes later the bailiff called the court into session with the standard retort to step forth and be heard. Everyone stood as Judge Richard Castiano stepped through the doors of his chambers and took his place at the bench. He banged his gavel down hard on the bench and called the court into session. He surveyed the courtroom and took special notice of the abundance of beautiful women now sitting in his courtroom. Judge Castiano was a wily old character with a quick wit and a devious sense of humor.

The judge looked over at his bailiff and asked with a familiar tone,

“Mr. Turner,”

“Yes your honor.”' The Bailiff replied a little startled.

“How long have we been working together?” asked the Judge?

“Almost twenty years, you’re Honor.” The Bailiff replied.

“In all that time have you ever seen a more beautiful courtroom?”

The Bailiff smiled broadly and flushed a little red as he responded,

“No Sir. Not to my recollection.” There was a wave of laughter in the courtroom and it was Clarence's turn to flush red.

In the packed courtroom there was one thing that slightly disturbed Clarence. There was an empty chair right next to where Becca was sitting on the aisle. Clarence scanned the courtroom for someone that might be missing. He racked his brain. It looked like everyone that should be there already was. He even noticed his ex-employee, Howard Sands, who had turned in his resignation the day after he delivered the legal papers to Kristin. His gaze drifted back to the empty chair. There was just something about the vacant chair in such a prominent place in the courtroom that was very unsettling.

The next time Clarence casually glanced back over his left shoulder there was someone sitting in the mystery chair. Becca had moved over into the chair that had been vacant two minutes ago and Jack Evans was now sitting in her chair. Jack was staring at him with a satirical smile that slapped him harder in the face than the punch that had knocked him out cold. The problem was, Clarence was still fully conscious and his head was spinning like the moment he had recovered from that shot to the face.

Clarence starred back at Jack in total disbelief, he blinked feverishly trying to refocus his eyes on a man that he knew should be dead. He could not take his eyes off of Jack, no matter how hard he tried. Tumblers clicked in his mind like the inner workings of a very expensive bank safe. He thought back to the moment that Kristin had walked into the courtroom as if nothing was out of the ordinary, the first tumbler clicked into place. He thought about not hearing from Gerard in over three weeks, the second tumbler fell. Clarence thought about the initial story in the local newspaper in Montana and the subsequent stories, none of them had ever fully divulged the name of the victim or any details surrounding the murder that had taken place in Montana. The last tumbler slammed into place with painful clarity and the giant chrome handle of the safe started to spin.

Movement in the back of the courtroom caught Clarence’s attention. He glanced up to see two men coming down the aisle. The two men were dressed in off the rack suits, J.C. Penny wing tips, and plane white
shirts with dull blue neck-ties. Clarence could also see that each one of the men had a small white wire protruding from his right ear, they had Federal Marshal written all over them. He knew that the two men were not there to watch a high profile civil suit.

Clarence began to sweat as he scanned the room for a way out, there was none. There were only three ways out of the courtroom, through the judge’s chambers, through the door that led to the prisoner entrance, and finally, back up the aisle which was currently blocked by two rather serious looking federal law enforcement officers.

When the two men reached the waist high gate that separated the gallery from the front of the courtroom they stopped and addressed the Judge, “Judge Castiano, may we approach the bench.” The judge granted them permission and they stepped through the gate. Even though the older man had said we, only the more senior man stepped forward to speak to the judge, the younger agent stopped just past the gate. He positioned himself between the two opposing tables noticeably closer to the table where Clarence was sitting. Even though it didn’t appear

Clarence elbowed his lead attorney and snarled at him in a low guttural voice,

“Get up there and find out what the hell is going on.”

The lawyer leaped to his feet and slipped around behind Clarence in a hurry to not miss out on the conversation between the Judge and the man currently leaning over the bench. Just as the lawyer moved behind Clarence and turned toward the bench Clarence saw the man leaning across the bench nod his head in Clarence’s direction. At that exact moment the judge’s eyes moved over the man’s right shoulder and also nodded in his direction. Clarence’s realized that it was now or never. His lawyer was in between him and the young federal agent, blocking the view of the agent. As Clarence came up out of his chair he pushed his lawyer as hard as he could into the agent, sending both men crashing to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs. The other agent
still had his back to the courtroom as Clarence bolted through the gate and headed up the aisle.

Unlike everyone else in the courtroom Jack had been watching Clarence, not the conversation going on at the front of the courtroom between the Judge and the Federal agent. Jack could sense what Clarence was going to do before the lawyer made it out of his chair. Jack recognized desperation when he saw it and he had seen desperation in Clarence’s face when he had starred at Jack. Clarence was not looking at anything but the two big double doors at the back of the courtroom. He couldn’t hear the gasps of the spectators when he shoved his attorney into the man standing guard just inside the gate. He couldn’t feel the shock of the crowd as he bolted for the back of the courtroom and he damn sure didn’t see Jack come out of his aisle chair with his right hand cocked and ready. However, Clarence did feel the big right hand hit him right between the eyes and send him back over the gate without touching the smooth oak finish.

Jack sat back down in his chair with a lot less force than he had come out of it. He was already resting comfortably back in his seat by the time Clarence hit the floor. Kristin looked back at Jack as Clarence slid across floor toward the senior agent. She pointed an accusing finger at him and smiled sweetly. A one word question escaped her lips, “You?”

Jack smiled and shrugged his shoulders with a look of childlike innocence. She gave him a stern reproachful look just before she winked at him and mouthed, “Nice work.”

Clarence landed flat on his back and slid across the floor to where the older agent had turned around and was looking down at his broken nose and the blood pouring out of his upper lip. The agent squatted down next to Clarence as he brought his hands up in a feeble attempt to stop both the bleeding and the pain. The older agent said in an official tone,

“Clarence Palmer, You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder.” Clarence groaned in pain as he continued, “You have the right to remain silent…..

The judge brought down his gavel down hard on the bench and announced with finality,

“Case Dismissed.” Apparently the judge did not see any reason for the civil suit to continue, especially since the plaintiff was being helped to his feet and handcuffed.

The two federal agents flanked Clarence and escorted him back up the aisle out the doors of the courtroom in full view of every reporter, client, and spectator that had showed up to watch the proceedings. There was even a crowd of local reporters that had gathered outside the courtroom to report on the high profile case. The people closest to the perp-walk procession swear that they had heard whimpering coming from Clarence as he was led out of the courthouse and into the waiting fed-mobile.

Kristin stood at the window of the courtroom looking down at the street where the two federal agents were placing Clarence Palmer in the back of a pale blue Crown Victoria. She had seen the shattered look in his eyes and heard the moans of pain and fear as the Federal Marshals had marched him out of the courtroom. She looked down at Clarence as one of the agents placed a hand on the top of his head to keep him from hitting his head as he climbed into the Marshal's car. Just before he was completely inside the car Clarence tilted his head back and looked up. A shutter ran up her spine, it was as if he was looking at her. She folded her arms across her chest as Jack came up behind her and slid his arm around her waist. The shutter turned into a feeling of warmth and love.

She thought to herself as the Marshals car pulled away from the curb, was Clarence looking up at me, did he know that I would be looking down at him? Or had he been looking up at the courthouse knowing that from this point forward any time he spent in a courtroom would be to defend himself rather than a well to do client. Kristin remembered that Clarence used to joke to his lawyer buddies, “I have never lost a case, now my clients have lost a few.” They would all burst out laughing knowing how true the statement was. The irony was that Clarence would now be involved in the most important case he had ever been connected with, his own defense.