Closing Time

Chapter 1

PG-13

I don't own them!  They belong to Tim Kring, Tailwind Productions, and NBC!  :0)  I'm just borrowing them.

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Renee Walcott walked back into her office and squealed with glee.  She couldn't believe it.  After all these years, she was finally going to get Kevin Cahill!  She didn't believe it a few weeks ago when she got a call from Max Cavanaugh offering to tell her everything he knew.

She'd just met with him and his knowledge was damning.  She called the police department and gave them the go-ahead to pick him up.  They'd had a watch on him for months, but never enough evidence to arrest him.  With Max, that had all changed.  All he'd wanted was to get this guy away from him and Jordan.  Apparently they'd both been receiving "anonymous" threats that were easily traced to Kevin Cahill.

Two hours later, the arrest was made and she was on her way to the grand jury.  The indictment went off without a hitch, and the judge agreed to a speedy trial date given the mob affiliation.

A month later, the trial was underway.  Renee presented most of the evidence and then played her trump card, Max.  She'd brought him into the courthouse and hid him away under heavy guard.  She wasn't an idiot.  Mob trials could get ugly.  The new commissioner had insisted on constant protection for everyone involved.

She stood, tall and proud.  "The State calls Max Cavanaugh to the stand."

The look on Cahill's face when Max walked in. . .  If looks could kill, everyone in the courtroom would have been dead.  Taking a deep breath, Renee began her questioning.  It was meticulous.  Max looked at her most of the time.  The rare time his eyes left her face it was to look at Jordan, who was sitting nervously in the spectators area. 

He hated that she was there.  He tried to make her stay away, but Jordan insisted that she wanted to be there for her father, to give him moral support if nothing else.

So effective was Renee's questioning, the defense attorney didn't even bother with a cross-examination.  A good sign for the prosecution if ever there was one.  After Max's testimony, the court recessed for lunch.

Max hugged Jordan and they walked with Renee out of the courthouse.  On the steps, there was the usual press of reporters.  Given the magnitude of this case, she wasn't surprised that the crowd of reporters had grown to enormous proportions.  It was just dawning on her that with that many people, no matter how good their protection was it might not be enough when a gunshot rang out.

There was mass chaos for a moment while the officers worked to see who was hit and who had fired the shot.  The former didn't take long.

"Daddy!"  Jordan screamed as Max slumped to the ground, blood spurting from a wound to his neck.

. . .to be continued. . .

a.n. ~ sorry this is so short.  More will follow soon!!