Three Weeks to Say Goodbye (9 page)

CODY SAID
, “
LET’S COME
up with a plan.”

We were up until two in the morning. It took an hour for the four of us to strip the rugs and hose them down outside and to clean the bathroom floor. Brian wore a
bandana over his nose and mouth, but we could hear him saying, over and over, “Animals.” Before we started cleaning, Brian took photos of the mess with his digital camera and put the camera in his pocket.

Brian thought we needed a new attorney since I’d fired Dearborn. We needed a bulldog, Brian said, someone who would “go after the Morelands and drop a nuclear bomb on them.”

“We can’t afford someone like that,” I said. “We’re strapped as it is with the house, the adoption. We don’t have Melissa’s income anymore.”

“I was wondering if that would come up,” she said more heatedly than I could have anticipated.

Before I could explain myself, she said, “We can sell the house. I can go back to work. I’ve gotten calls from Marriott and Radisson …”

“I’ll help you out,” offered Brian. “Don’t worry about money. In fact, let me be your advocate in this whole mess.”

He leaned forward, his voice dropped an octave. His business voice. “Since I’ve been in Denver I’ve met a hell of a lot of people, and a bunch of them owe me favors. It’s a big city, yes, and it’s growing like crazy, but that’s at the margins. At its core it’s still a small town run by a cabal of old-timers, developers, and politicians. There are levers of power, and I know how to work them. I’ve been doing it for years. I know city councilmen and media people, and you know I’m familiar with the mayor’s inner circle. If word gets out I’m fronting for you, this changes your problem into an
issue
. That’s the last thing the powers that be want.”

“Thank you, Brian,” Melissa said, her eyes glistening with tears.

I didn’t know what to say. No one in my life had ever said the words
Don’t worry about money
.

“No,” Cody said. “I don’t think it’s the best plan. Even with a loan and a new attorney …”

“I never said ‘loan,’ ” Brian said sharply to Cody.

“…you’re still up against Judge John Moreland,” Cody continued, dismissing Brian just as curtly. “Moreland is a judge, and he’s connected in more ways than you can know. He can hire teams of lawyers to tie you up and drain you for years. Plus, any judge would determine he could provide real well for the baby while you two get deeper and deeper in debt.”

“It’s just not right,” Brian said through clenched teeth.

“No, it ain’t,” Cody said, not without sympathy. “But the fact is Garrett didn’t sign away custody, right? He may be a thieving, humping little scumbag, but he has the law on his side. And lots of luck finding a good lawyer who wants to take on a sitting judge. Particularly this sitting judge.”

Melissa sighed, sat back. Her eyes were rimmed with red. There was a set to her mouth that indicated she was fighting back tears. “It’s so unfair. We don’t deserve this. We did everything right. I’ll fight them to my last breath,” she said, almost spitting the words out. “I’ll do anything, say anything, to keep my daughter. If I need to act like I’m flirting with Garrett—I will.”

I winced.

“Somehow,” she said, “we’ve got to convince him to sign the papers. I can’t believe he has any interest at all in Angelina. He doesn’t want to be a father although I can’t figure out what his game is. Maybe he’s just using this situation to intimidate us.”

“Sounds like he likes
you,
” Brian said to her.

“We can’t confront him,” she said. “We’ve got to find a way to convince him to come around.”

“This is headed the same direction Julie Perala suggested,” I said.

She turned to me. “You can continue to be nice to him, can’t you? At least pretend you don’t hate him until we can figure out how to persuade him?”

“After what he did to night?” I asked, gesturing upstairs. “He’s not just calculating. He’s evil. I looked into his eyes and got chills.”

“That’ll play well in court,” Cody said, rolling his eyes. “Don’t you know there is no such thing as evil in this day and age? In our politically correct city? Man, you’ve got to get out more.”

Brian said to Cody, “Some of us call it tolerance and diversity, Cody. It’s thought of as progress.”

Cody blew out a stream of breath, said, “Progress, my ass.”

“Please,” Brian said, “let’s deal with the issue at hand, okay?”

“It’s not Garrett,” Melissa said, ignoring them. “It’s his father. If we could separate them, and I could just talk with Garrett…”

“No,” I said. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

She said, “Maybe if I talked with him or showed him how much care is required for an infant, it would scare him off. Maybe he needs to see some dirty diapers or throw-up on a bib and he’d realize he’s in way over his head even if his parents are actually raising her.”

“But he didn’t want to see her,” I said. “There’s a reason for that. You’re assuming he’s reasonable. I didn’t see any of that.”

“You think he’s
evil,
” Cody sneered.

“Garrett doesn’t want to confront the situation in real life,” she said. “He wants to avoid her. Maybe if he actually saw her…”

“I don’t know,” Brian said, shaking his head.

I agreed.

Melissa took a moment to look at each of us in turn. “Guys,” she said, “we need to think of Angelina’s best interests most of all here. If the worst possibly happens, she might end up with them. I’m not saying that should happen, but we can’t just dismiss the possibility out of hand. John Moreland seemed pretty determined to me. And if the worst comes about, I don’t want to poison Angelina’s relationship with them.”

There were several beats of silence. I was conflicted.

“You’re amazing,” Brian said to Melissa in a whisper.

She was. I was astonished she was mine.

But a cold fear worked its way through my insides. If the worst-possible scenario came true, if the Morelands somehow got Angelina, I knew it would destroy Melissa. And after all we’d gone through, it would destroy
us
.

“I won’t let it happen,” I said.

She looked at me and smiled sadly.

“I won’t,” I said.

“Jesus,” Cody said, standing, “I need another beer.”

“WHAT MORE DO WE KNOW
about John Moreland?” Melissa asked rhetorically. “He’s the key.”

Cody shifted on the couch as if clearing the space around him before he spoke. Brian cut in.

“I’ve met him a few times. At society functions and charity events. I hate to say it, but he seems like an incredibly normal, nice guy. He’s best buddies with the mayor, and he’s really well connected to both U.S. senators, the attorney general, and even the president. What I’ve heard is he’s on a fast-track to something bigger. U.S. circuit, maybe higher. He just exudes competence and confidence, you know?”

Melissa shook her head. “We know.”

“He’s married to Kellie,” I said. “Garrett referred to Kellie as his stepmom. He said his real mother was dead.”

Brian sat back, screwed up his face. “I’ve seen Kellie. She’s a blond bombshell.”

“I wonder where the Sureños 13 connection comes in?” Cody said.

“Anyway,” Brian said, “I can start asking around in my circles. It’s amazing what you can find out about people at a higher level, you know? At cocktail parties and charity events. Get these people a few drinks in them, and all sorts of deep dark secrets start coming out. It’s no different than Helena, you guys—just bigger. Maybe I can find out that he’s not so perfect after all, and we’ll have a little ammunition to go after him.”

Melissa and I nodded, knowing Brian was an excellent gossip who could dish with anyone on earth. Attractive married women—like Melissa, come to think of it—seemed compelled to spill secrets to him because his delight in hearing them was reward in itself.

“Be careful you don’t ask the wrong people and have it come back on Jack and Melissa,” Cody said, “or me. I work for the city, and occassionally I have to testify in Judge Moreland’s court. I got to know him when he was a U.S. Attorney and I was working joint task forces.”

Cody had complained to me over the years that he was frequently assigned to multi-agency task forces involving the feds, state investigators, and the Denver Police Department. He had a problem with the bureaucracy, procedure, and territoriality of the FBI, and clashed with them. But because Cody was good at his job and didn’t care about making friends, he personally broke cases and let the feds take the credit as long as they left him alone. Cody had never played well with others.

“What’s he like in court?” I asked Cody. “He described himself as tough and fair. And obviously he has a thing about accountability if he’d put his family and ours through this.”

Cody nodded. “All judges describe themselves that way, so don’t put too much stock in it. But I’d say Judge Moreland loves being a judge, maybe too much. He’s a great judge to have if you’ve got a defendant he hates right out of the box because he’ll throw the book at him. We kind of know which way the decision is going to go right off the bat by the procedural moves Moreland makes to get to the outcome he wants to get to. If he thinks the defendant is a scumbag, he’ll make sure there’s federal prison time. If for some reason he thinks we’ve got the wrong guy, there’s nothing we can do to convince him otherwise.

“Judges are supposed to hear the arguments,” Cody continued, “research the law, and make a judgment based on the facts presented. Moreland does that, but he prejudges the case, and most of us think he holds himself above the law. That’s great if he agrees with us, but it sucks when he doesn’t. But most of the time he’s procop, and that’s all we care about.”

Cody said, “I’m testifying in his court tomorrow on the Coates case. You know, the Monster of Desolation Canyon. Maybe you ought to come to the courtroom and see the guy in action. Court’s in session at one.”

“Will I learn anything?” I asked.

“You’ll learn what you’re up against,” Cody said in a way that gave me no confidence.

There were a few uncomfortable beats of silence. Brian broke it, saying, “Garrett is the one, Melissa. Garrett’s got to have some kind of history if he comes off the way you two describe him. I mean, you say he exudes evil, and he shows up to night with a gangbanger. Maybe if we found out more
about Garrett, we could convince a court he’s absolutely not father material, despite what Judge Daddy says.”

Cody nodded. “Might be tough, though. If he’s got a juvie record, it could be sealed.”

“To a detective?” Brian asked, smiling wickedly. “To the star maverick detective who got fed up with working with the feds and finally arrested the Monster? I bet that detective has ways to take a look at the file.”

I cautiously checked Cody out. I didn’t want to pressure him.

“I’ll make some discreet calls,” he said. “But I’ve absolutely got to stay away from any kind of investigation of the judge himself. I’ve got to stay completely clean. Can you imagine what would happen to me and the department if word got out I was investigating a sitting judge on my own? Shit, I’d get sent back to Montana or worse.”

Brian shuddered. The last place he ever wanted to go was home.

“Okay then,” Brian said, a gleam in his eye, slapping his knees. “We have a plan and less than a month to implement it. I’ll find out what I can about the judge, Cody will check on the kid. Jack and Melissa, you keep doing what you’re doing. Hire a good lawyer and fight the bastards as long as you can. In the meanwhile, I think you should swear out a complaint against Garrett and Luis for that stunt they pulled here to night.”

Cody held up his hand. “If you do that, you can’t implicate me in any way. And I think it’s a stupid idea.”

“Why?” Brian said, hurt.

Melissa jumped in. “We don’t want to antagonize Garrett. Not yet. We want to try and win him over first.”

Brian looked at me with a
what-can-you-do?
look.

WHEN BRIAN AND MELISSA
went upstairs to look in on Angelina, Cody came out of the kitchen with another beer.

“You sure you want that?” I asked. “You’ve got to testify tomorrow, right?”

Cody shrugged and popped the top. “We’re going to nail that Coates son of a bitch. We’ve got the Monster of Desolation Canyon dead to rights. I’m not worried, even though the feds are mad at me for breaking it. But I do hope the judge didn’t recognize me in front of your house. If he knows we’re friends …”

“What?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

Cody took a long pull off the beer, and we sat in silence for a few moments. Then he leaned forward and spoke softly to me. “I know Brian means well, but… well, I can see him running his mouth to all his society friends. They’ll eat this up. And if Judge Moreland hears about a concerted effort to dig up dirt on him or his son, he might really lower the boom on you two—and maybe me.”

“Meaning what?” I asked, a little angry.

“Maybe he takes back his offer to get you another baby. That’s a pretty generous offer, Jack.”

“Melissa would never consider it, Cody,” I said. “Neither would I.”

“Sometimes you’ve got to get the best deal you can, is all I’m saying. You know I’ve got a son of my own, right?”