Dodging the Bullet
"They didn't take my license," the younger man explained as the two men waited for the elevator. His tone and facial expression reflected his relief at the outcome of his earlier meeting with members of the New York Bar Associations Discipline Committee. "It looks like I dodged the bullet."
The older man abruptly turned his attention from the double doors just as they began to open. The look of defiance that accompanied his penetrating gaze instantly jarred the younger man confidence.
"You think so?"
Without further explanation, New York County District Attorney Jack McCoy entered the empty car and swiftly pressed the button marked 'basement'. Inwardly, McCoy's enthusiasm at hearing the committee's decision was every bit as strong as that of the young man he'd just left looking as if he'd just received an unexpected punch in the gut. Equally strong was McCoy's annoyance upon learning that the attorney he'd chosen to act as his right hand man had made such an ill thought out decision; a decision that could have not only ended Michael Cutter's own career, but that had the potential to give the DA's office a black eye, mere months after McCoy had won election to the office.
How many years has he been practicing? Years that he could have easily taken care of those missing units and avoided the public humiliation… of himself, as well as this office…of having his credentials called into question in the middle of a murder trial…
McCoy impatiently shook his head in an effort to clear his thoughts while he dashed from the warmth of the idling elevator car into the freezer-like temperatures of the basement garage.
McCoy nodded his thanks to the driver who stood beside the open passenger's side back door and slipped into the waiting town car.
"We need to make a stop at Manhattan General before we get on the Express Way," McCoy informed the driver before closing the door and reminding himself that bigger things than the two units Mike Cutter had failed to complete for his bachelor's degree needed his attention.
With a heavy sigh, McCoy pulled his cell phone from the pocket of the dark wool coat, after his eyes had fallen on the on the dashboard and the bright green numbers that told him he was already late for the celebration marking his first year of marriage to the current Mrs. John James McCoy.
The hospital was just coming into view when the phone stopped ringing and the greeting for Brooke McCoy's voicemail began to play. McCoy's lips turned upward. The fact his wife hadn't answered her phone told McCoy that odds were better than fifty-fifty he wasn't the only one running behind schedule that night.
"No, not here," McCoy quickly remarked as the driver's and moved to flip on the turn signal. "Keep going. The next driveway will take us to the emergency entrance."
"I think my pride hurts more than my butt does. It still burns me that a parasite like Dale Stuckey found a way to outsmart me in my own home."The relief McCoy felt at hearing the barely audible response rivaled, if not outweighed, that of the subordinate he'd abandoned at the elevator a quarter of an hour before. "Jack, relax and take a breath before our daughter ends up with two parents in the hospital."
McCoy smiled at his ex-wife's sardonic response before sliding a rollaway stool from the foot of the bed to its head. As he sat down, he reached for her hand and made enough of a show of complying with her request that her deceptively stern expression couldn't help but soften.
"I'm going to be fine," Judge Elizabeth Donnelly continued as she attempted to give his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Stabler must have broken every traffic law on the books. But he got me here before the affects of that drug became fatal. The doctors are talking about moving me upstairs for the night…just to be safe… if there aren't any surprises during the night, Don should be able to take me home tomorrow."
The moment he'd entered the room filled with monitors and IV's his heart seemed to stop. In the almost thirty years he'd known Elizabeth Donnelly, McCoy had never seen her look so fragile. Not even after giving birth to their daughter…not even after the miscarriage that had cost them their second child… had she appeared to be as close to death's door as she did now.
"I checked with Cabot before I left the office," he told her as he silently noted the trembling of her icy hand. "Walter Bradley has the lunatic that did this to you locked up in Bellevue. Emil Skoda will be doing the 730 exam first thing in the morning."
"Alex called Don as soon as the arraignment was over," she as she gingerly moved her head up and down. "You just missed him. He left a few minutes ago so he could catch Elliot to be sure there aren't any loose ends that that douche bag's lawyer could use to get the case thrown out at trial."
As uncomfortable as he was with his ex-wife's habit using verbiage that had the potential to be caustic enough to cause a sailor to blush, the spark of defiance that fluttered in Donnelly's eyes was enough to silence any protest McCoy might have been considering.
"Not likely to happen. Based on the information Alex gave me, the case against Dale Stuckey is rock solid. Even if it wasn't, there isn't a decent defense attorney in this town that's willing to touch the case. After going after three public servants, Stuckey is lucky the PD's office was willing to send anyone down to represent him at arraignment."
Donnelly nodded at the words that McCoy had hoped would reassure her. His head told him the logic of his statement was solid. But, given his knowledge of the cowboy antics that periodically found their way into the methods used by certain members of Manhattan's Special Victims Unit, McCoy's gut told him Captain Donald Cragen was being more than prudent by personally verifying the actions of his squad members would not result in calling the facts of the case against Stuckey into question.
"Looks like I'm going to miss the social event of the season," Donnelly said with a weak smile as she stole a glance at the watch on his wrist. "Congratulations, Jack. If the first year is really the hardest, from now on, it should be downhill all the way for you and Brooke. That is unless you don't get a move on and end up missing your own anniversary party."