DECEPTIONS
By Spense
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The small court room contained all the players in the case of Alan Shepard Tracy except the teenager himself. Jeff and Schaeffer were at one table, and CPS was represented by the four individuals working on the case; Sylvia Wager, Bennett Andres, Carolyn Young and Melinda Mathews. In addition, Trevor Jorgenson was present.
Schaeffer pointed Trevor out to Jeff Tracy. Jeff looked him over carefully, not really sure about what he felt about the man. This was the man his son was living with, his substitute father, so to speak. That right there was enough to set Jeff's teeth on edge. In addition, he was one of the doctors who had examined Alan at the request of the courts. After what John had told him about Alan's reactions, that made Jeff want to hate him even more. But Schaeffer had told him, as had John and Gordon, how well suited the situation at the Jorgenson's was for Alan, and how good they were to him. Jeff just didn't know what to feel.
Feeling the eyes on him, Trevor Jorgenson turned to meet Jeff Tracy's eyes. He nodded to Alan's father. Still hard eyed, Jeff nodded back, the air force steel in him showing. Trevor smiled faintly and looked back towards the bailiff who had just entered the court room. Trevor didn't blame Jeff for his carefully masked hostility at all. He knew how he'd feel if he were in his shoes.
All the individuals rose as the Judge Tanner entered the chambers, then sat as he indicated.
"This had better be good," the judge growled. He was well know to be a judge who did not suffer fools gladly. "So, Mr. Bradley, what's so important that couldn't wait? And you Dr. Jorgenson, why on earth are you petitioning the court to drop the charges?"
Jeff looked over, startled, to Dr. Jorgenson. Trevor met his eyes with a slight smile.
"Mr. Bradley, you start. You called first – at six in the morning. Let's hear it."
Schaeffer stood up. He was in his element. Jeff would have been grinning had the situation not been so serious. His friend was never so alive as when he was in a courtroom about to argue a case. No matter that there was no jury – Schaeffer was just as furious about the whole situation as Jeff was.
"Yes, your honor. We are asking the court to drop the charges of child abuse against Jeff Tracy and his family due to lack of grounds, and conflict of interest from a CPS worker. In addition, we are charging the CPS office with fraud, perjury and slander."
There was a slight gasp from the CPS side of the room.
"Speak English for the rest of us, and spell it out, Mr. Bradley," the judge said, impatient.
"Yes, your honor. We've had several individuals working on this case. One has uncovered a major conflict of interest. The social worker, Melinda Mathews, who investigated the routine call from Alan Tracy's school, and who began the proceedings, is sister to Mr. Will Adams, former lead design engineer of Tracy Aircraft Design. As most are aware, there was a high profile case in which Mr. Adams was fired from his position four years ago for serious design flaws and cost cutting, putting thousands of lives at risk. He was also imprisoned for fraud."
The other three CPS workers looked askance at Melinda, who covered her face.
"In checking CPS's own records, they did not perform the usual mandatory backgrounds checks upon hiring Ms. Mathews three years ago, therefore were unaware of the relationship. Ms. Mathews also did not disclose that relationship. That was their first error. She should never have been sent on this call."
"Secondly, we have copies from CPS's own e-mail system, both too and from Ms. Mathews and her brother. The first is Ms. Mathews just informing her brother about the routine call from Alan's school. It was evident that she thought he would be interested because of the involvement of the Tracy family. This is a breach of confidentiality. Ms. Mathews signed an agreement upon hire to conform with the federal privacy laws. She had no business discussing any of her cases with anybody, much less with somebody with a vested interest. It is apparent that she began the filing of charges after a return e-mail from her brother encouraging her to do so, in which he spelled out his desire for revenge, and a recipe on how to proceed."
He paused for a moment, then lifted a stack of papers. "I have all the information here, your honor, and it is damming. It is all from CPS's own computer systems, which were upgraded two years ago, and will not allow items to be deleted, but rather date stamps them and stores the documents. The system is impervious to added information after the fact as well, as has been proven many times in court, as you are no doubt aware."
"To continue, the trail of e-mails show the correspondence of Ms. Mathews and Mr. Adams, and clearly record that Mr. Adams was the person responsible for the direction of the investigation."
"Melinda!" Sylvia looked at her in shock.
Melinda was crying silently, tears streaming down her face.
"In Ms. Mathews defense," Schaeffer continued, "We do not believe that she has ever done anything like this before, and up until this point has been a competent representative for the state. However, given the gravity of this situation, and the damage done to Alan Tracy and his family, as well as Mr. Jefferson Tracy's reputation, we will be pressing charges to the full extent of the law. Hopefully this will encourage CPS to be more diligent in the future in how it governs its associates and investigative direction."
Judge Tanner listened gravely, then asked for the documents. As he looked through them the whispering started at the tables. Schaeffer and Jeff looked on in grim amusement as the three other CPS workers spoke to each other, shocked, obviously trying to reconcile the situation.
"Before I go on, Dr. Jorgenson, you had also petitioned the court to drop these charges. Had you discovered the same thing?"
Trevor stood up. "No, your honor," he stated. "My wife, Tina, a well respected child psychologist, and I, as foster parents, have determined that no abuse of Alan Tracy has ever taken place. I cannot state that fact emphatically enough. Any abuse has been at the hands of this court and the CPS system itself, which in our opinion has acted inappropriately in this case. Child Protective Services has always been dedicated to acting in the best interests of the child in question, and in this case, returning Alan Tracy to his father is the correct measure. This cannot be stated strongly enough. Further separation could cause serious psychological issues that could carry well into the future. The reports I brought are already in your possession."
"Thank you, Dr. Jorgenson."
Trevor sat down. Feeling Jeff's eyes on him, he looked over once more, this time grinning. Jeff smiled back in amazement. Their attention was directed once again to the judge as he spoke.
"Simply put, I am disgusted. Looking through this evidence I see a damming trail. Mr. Tracy, you and your son have been put through a series of events that should never taken place. All charges are summarily dismissed. Charges as requested by Mr. Bradley will be filed against Ms. Mathews. The court owes you and your family an apology."
Judge Tanner pounded the gavel on the bench. "Case Dismissed."
Jeff stood up. "Judge Tanner?"
"Yes, Mr. Tracy?"
"When may I see my son?"
The judge smiled for the first time that afternoon. "Right away. I would suggest that you accompany Dr. Jorgenson back to his home and collect your son."
Jeff sighed in relief. "Thank you, Sir."
There was one more surprise in store for Jeff Tracy that afternoon. After he had watched Melinda escorted away in handcuffs by a bailiff, he, Schaeffer and Trevor began to discuss arrangements. Sylvia Wagner came up to speak with him.
"Mr. Tracy," she began hesitantly. "I am so sorry. I followed what I believed to be correct information in forming the direction of my investigation," she began.
Jeff smiled with a politeness he didn't feel. He really just wanted to strangle her for not only what her actions had put Alan through, but also for what she had subjected his other sons to.
"And I really believed that your sons were lying during the hearings," she said sadly. "Apparently, you just have a son who manages to get into trouble."
"Correction, Ms. Wagner," Jeff said, "I have five athletic sons who are intelligent, physically active, and willing to push the envelope. Unfortunately, because of that, accidents can and have happened. And those accidents can appear to be something other than what they are when twisted out of context. Please remember that in the future."
He could feel Schaeffer invisible amusement next to him at his doublespeak. He didn't lie per say, but he did put all the censure back on Sylvia.
"I will remember that in the future, Mr. Tracy. Please except my apologies."
"Accepted," Jeff said graciously.
"You should have been an attorney," Schaeffer muttered under his breath.
"Why? And deny you all the fun?" He mouthed back.
Turning to Trevor Jorgenson, he said in anticipation, "Now, lets go get Alan."
TB TB TB TB TB
Tina was at home beginning the preparations for dinner when she received the call from Trevor. He gave her a quick sketch of what had happened, and said he was on his way via Tracy helijet to the farm. Tina grinned as he finished talking. This was going to be something she really enjoyed.
She looked over at Alan, sitting on the couch reading. He hadn't been doing very well all day. Well, it was over now. "Alan?"
He looked up inquiringly, if a shade grudgingly. But as usual, he was unfailingly polite. "Yes?"
Tina smiled, like a cat who had a canary. "I have somebody here who would like to talk to you," she said, moving over to him, carrying the portable vidphone.
He looked at her quizzically as he took it, then looked at it. His "DAD!" clashed with Jeff's "Alan!"
Alan was at a complete loss for words. He'd been chewing over the fact all day that he might possibly not see his father again for a long time, and been having a hard time dealing with it. Now here he was.
Jeff smiled at his youngest son's look of astonishment. "I'm on my way, Alan. We're coming by helijet, and should be there in about twenty minutes. Get your things packed. We're going home!"
Alan found his voice and whooped. "What happened? What changed? Are any of the guys with you?"
Jeff laughed. "Later with the questions, Alan. We'll have lots of time. Get your things together. I've missed you son. I can't wait to see you."
"I've missed you too Dad," Alan swallowed hard.
"Just a few minutes more. I promise."
Alan just nodded. He couldn't speak.
"See you then," Jeff smiled compassionately as he signed off.
Alan just stared in astonishment at the blank vidphone for a moment until Tina took it from him. "Well," she said laughing at him. "Aren't you going to get your things packed?"
He looked at her blankly for a moment, then gave her a huge grin. "Yeah!" He said, and raced for his room, going up the stairs two at a time.