Even if he hadn't the lone figure at the hotel bar, Malinowski would have known the man savoring a gin and tonic at the end of the bar was Jeff Collins. McCoy's directive to look for a 'blonde David Niven, in his fifties' made the the urbane man at the bar easy to identify.
His tweed jacket rested on the chair back. He looked relaxed and confident in an Oxford shirt that was unbuttoned at the collar and a pair of grey worsted slacks. When he abandon his gin and tonic to greet her his embrace was as warm and geniune as his smile.
Malinowski smiled first at the tequila sunrise sitting in front of the empty stool beside him, then back at Collins, and laid the armfill of bags with her, on the opposite stool.
"Looks like Jack's given you a thorough briefing."
"And you as well, I'm sure. Although I must admit, when it comes to the women I know from the Big Apple, their drink of choice is a usually a Cosmopolitan or a dirty martini."
"Do I get points for originality," she asked with a grin. "Going to college on the west coast broadened my tastes a bit. I'm still trying to sell Jack on the idea guacamole is a delicacy, not a substitute for wall paper paste."
Collins lifted his glass in a mock salute before touching his glass to hers.
"If it's not meat and potatoes, our resident Irishman can be a bit rigid in the food department," Collins admitted. "Chinese take out, not with standing. As for your accumulated points thus far; each woman Jack has introduced me to over the years has had her own sense of style and grace. I can see you are no exception. In fact Brooke, not only do you get 'originality' points, you get points for resourcefulness. After his last marriage, I never thought Jack would be calling me to stand up for him a second time. I'm sure from the little he's told you about Denise, you've been able to ascertain that like most institutions other than the justice system, Jack doesn't put much stock into the institution of marriage."
"A woman doesn't have to be resourceful to get Jack McCoy to the altar," she countered with a wink. "All she has to do is run just fast enough to give him the impression he's the one doing the chasing."
Collins gave her an appraising stare before as thoughtful smile played on his lips.
"Seems you might have our Jack figured out, after all. Maybe this marriage has a better chance of standing the test of time than I thought."
Malinowski smiled back as she lifted her glass
"Here's to that, Jeff," she replied as their glasses met. "Being that we are short on time, I wonder if before you get too far into your round of twenty questions, if you can give me any sage advice on the subject of Jack McCoy. The only other person that I know, that's known Jack as long as you have is Paul Kopell. He and Jack haven't spoken to each other since Paul was disbarred."
"Jack's told you about that, has he? Well, I have to admit, that was a real shocker,"Collins replied candidly. "We both knew Paul was ambitious, but knowing about a murder being planned and doing nothing to stop it? That still doesn't seem posible. That event was a major turning point for our friend, Jack. That's when his 'take no prisoner' approach to prosecuting really hit its stride. Finding out how little he really knew someone he had been so close to for so long, that really turned Jack into the skeptic he only pretended to be, before that."
Malinowski nodded. She remembered the weekend McCoy told her about his association with Paul Kopell.He stopped by her office the weekend she decided to clean out her overflowing file cabinet of closed case files. As she ran the last pile of out of date documents through her shredder, the pair were chatting about their weekend plans. When one of the files fell to the floor and McCoy reached for it.
His face paled as he stared down at one of the pages in his hand. Malinowski slipped the documents from his hand and nodded when she looked to see what had catch his attention..
"Paul Kopell, now that's a name I haven't seen in quite awhile. You must have dealt with the Demenici crime family's faithful lap dog too, being that his firm's home office was in Manhattan." she said sarcastically as she placed the items in the shedder.
"Does cramming for finals together count?"
She nodded at Collins as she set her drink on the bar.
"I had read that Jack had prosecuted Paul, but I had no idea they'd been friends, until a few months ago. Even with all the time that's passed since the trial, it's still obvious how much it hurt Jack to see that man for what he is."
"Ah, but Paul wasn't always like that," Collins countered. "When the three of us were chasing undergrads, Paul was as full of idealism and boyish charm as Jack and I were. It wasn't until he met Anna that he started looking for the fastest and easiest way to make a name and a dollar. Even after they married, Jack wrote me many times about Paul doing pro bono work for the occasional defendant that was actually innocent. Usually these were defendants Jack discreetly sent his way. It's hard to believe the way the three of us have ended up."
"I don't understand. Jack tells me you've done quite well in London working for the American consulate."
Collins nodded as he removed his wallet from his pocket.
"If you two had given me more notice about this wedding of yours, I would have brought bags full of mementos from our law school days to amuse you and mortify the new DA," he said leaned closer and offered her a small photo. "As it was, this caught my eye as I was dashing out the door last night."
Malinowski took the tattered snapshot from him and smiled. The three young men featured were surrounded by anti war protesters in various signs and styles of dress, near the Washington Monument. All three were in jeans and tee shirts that bore the Jefferson quote: '…it is not only the right of citizens to protest and unjust government, but their responsibility…'
"That was taken at the end of the first year of law school," Collins explained."Just after Kent State. We all thought we'd open a practice as civil rights attorneys together, then."
Malinowski's laughter made the smile on Collins face deepen.
"I went to law school during the Iran Contra affair and my roommates and I thought we'd be civil rights attorneys. I think it's every first year law students dream….then the student loan payments start and everything changes. Besides, I thought the plan was for Jack to be a judge?"
"Yeah, well McCoy never did get up in the morning to satisfy the demands others made on him...especially when it was his father making the demands."
"Did you meet Jack's family?"
"Briefly, at graduation. You want to know about Jack's old man,don't you" he asked as she nodded. "Well, I'll say this, it's a wonder McCoy doesn't give himself a stroke when he looks in the mirror to shave in the morning now. The resemblance was always there, but now that the grey's come in full force, he's a mirror image of his father."
"Only physically," Malinowski countered.
"Oh, very true," Collins said quickly. "The man I met that day was nothing like the man I'd spent three years rooming with. Jack's father was what you probably would expect: Controlling, hardened, very quick to anger. The moment Jack joined them, McCoy Senior had that degree in his hand as if he was the one that earned it. Spent the next half hour telling anyone that would listen how he would see his son appointed to the Supreme Court before he died. I thought Jack was going to have to punch him to make the man be still or sink into the ground himself, due the embarrassment. It was a hideous display."
"And his mother? Deirdre"
"Not much to tell,' he said solemnly "She hardly said two words. The only one I really had a chance to spend time with was Colleen. She stayed a few days afterwards to help Jack pack for his move out of the dorm. We did a little causal dating back then. When she came to London with a tour group for her high school students, many years later, we spent some time together, as well. Lovely woman. Learned her lessons well from her mother, as far as what not to look for in a man. She doesn't take a thing off of anymore...including Jack," he said glancing at his watch.
Malinowski smiled innocently at him, before starting to gather her bags.
"Oh I say, this is hardly fair,' he said with mock indignation. "The idea was for me to determine whether you were worthy of my oldest and dearest friend, not to spend the whole time giving you more information about his past. You know what this means don't you? No wedding until you answer at least one question for me, as truthfully as you know how."
Malinowski set the packages back down and hgave him an earnest nod.
"I'm an open book, Jeff. What's your question?"
"Do you love him, Brooke," he asked in a tone free of his earlier frivolity."I mean really love him? Enough to put up with not only the long hours and the arrogant self righteousness that he uses as a front when he's about to push the envelope on his own ethics, when a case really gets under his skin; but do you love him enough to try to save him from himself when that damned McCoy guilt creeps into his soul and makes him doubt himself? If you do, being married to Jack still won't bring you a life of luxury and wealth, but you'll never feel more loved and he will be devoted to you always."
