Chapter 12
Kate and Tom found themselves in the office of Patrick Jenkins of the law firm Jenkins, Collins & Associates. Mr. Jenkins had been hired by Jack on the recommendation of the family attorney. He came with a highly regarded reputation in criminal defense and an office to match. Tom explained that Mr. Jenkins had been intrigued by the complexity of Kate's case and was anxious to take it on. He felt that they had a good case not only because of the mitigating circumstances but because of the initial public interest in the survivors and their story.
Kate and Jack arrived at the office first and checked in with the receptionist before being led into Mr. Jenkins office. A stocky middle aged man with a flicker of gray in his hair dressed in a well tailored suit greeted them cheerfully.
"Good Morning you two." He shook hands with each and gestured to the small conference table in the corner. "Help yourself to some coffee and have a seat. We're just waiting for Detective Silverman."
Jack poured himself a cup of coffee but Kate declined – she was too nervous and her stomach had been queasy all morning. The last thing she wanted to do was to get sick to her stomach in her lawyer's office. As Jack sat down next to her he placed a glass of water in front of her. "In case you get thirsty." He smiled.
A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and Mark walked in. "Sorry I'm late." He apologized, "I got called out early this morning on an armed robbery." He greeted each of them before pouring a cup of coffee and sitting down across from Jack.
"Trip good?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, New Mexico has some pretty country this time of the year." Mark replied pulling a folder out of his briefcase.
Patrick Jenkins sat down with his file. "I've filed a change of venue for these proceedings to have them moved here and I've looked into meeting with the prosecutors to see about working out some sort of plea agreement. If that's not a go then I've got a couple of very solid good psychiatrists that can examine you and help me set up a defense." He explained to Kate. "I trust you don't have a problem with doctors?" he joked.
Kate smiled weakly and glanced over at Jack, "No problem" she replied.
"Good. Now, Det. Silverman, I understand from Jack that you went to New Mexico to look further into the bank robbery and the 3 aggravated assault charges stemming from that incident."
"Yes, sir" Mark nodded. "I contacted a detective that I met previously at a training seminar who hooked me up with the riding detective, Ted Cramer, on that case. He was kind enough to give me access to the case file. The three counts of agg assault are for shooting the other three robbers involved – a Tyler Lewis, Stan Murphy and Jason Richards. The bank manager, Mark Hutton, told police that you did it because one of them threatened to kill him after he saw his face."
"Yeah, that was Jason." Kate replied. "He had pointed the gun at the man and we had agreed before that no one was going to get hurt. I took the gun away and stopped him."
"That could be favorable to our defense." Patrick spoke up. "We can use the fact that you were trying to protect the bank manager."
"Actually, we may not need that. Det. Cramer and I did some checking. It seems that two of the three guys are dead."
"What?" Kate asked surprised.
"Not from the shooting?" Jack replied.
Mark looked up and shook his head before returning his notes. "No, no. Lewis was killed last year in prison after he pissed off another inmate. They found him in the laundry room behind a dryer with a makeshift knife in his side."
"Shit." Jack cursed. Kate remained silent and took a sip of her water.
"The other guy, Murphy, was killed in a car accident before he could be sentenced for his part in the robbery."
"What about Jason?" Kate asked softly remembering the handsome man she had enlisted in helping her.
"Mr. Richards is still in prison and facing additional charges of trying to smuggle drug paraphernalia in. He was selling drugs in prison." Mark continued. "Det. Cramer and I went and had a little 'chat' with Jason. I explained to him that I wanted him to agree to having the assault charged dropped against you."
"Can he do that?" Kate asked confused.
"Yes. Basically, if the victim is unwilling to prosecute then there is no crime. The other two charges can be dismissed since the vics are dead, but with Jason alive…"
"He has to agree to drop the charges." Jack finished Mark's sentence.
"But Mark, Jason hates me." Kate pointed out. "I think he'd take great pleasure in knowing I would be going to jail."
"He did mention something to that effect." The young man replied. "Of course guys like Jason are two bit criminals that end up in more hot water then they can handle. And that's where he is right now in the middle of some very hot water. We offered him a small life preserve."
"As in…?" Patrick asked.
"Did I mention that Det. Cramer has been an officer for about 25 years with almost 18 of those years a detective? He's made a lot of connections on both sides. He essentially gave Jason a little deal, agree to refuse to prosecute and Cramer would help him out with the guards and maybe put in a word with the prosecutor about his new charges."
"Did he go for it?" Kate was almost afraid to hear the answer. She remember how pissed off and hurt Jason was when she shot him – when he realized she was using him.
"Eventually, after a little more coaxing from Cramer, it was cool to watch that man work, he signed the victim release form." Mark handed the document to Patrick. "I assume you will take care of filing this?"
"Of course." Patrick smiled at the young man." Good work."
"It was really all Det. Cramer. After he heard some of Kate's story he wanted to try and help. He read about what you guys when through on the island." Mark explained. "And he also told me that at this point the bank has no desire to pursue prosecution on the robbery either. Given the time frame and the fact that no money was taken they felt it would be in their best interest to just let it go away."
Jack smiled and turned and looked at Kate who was starting to look a little flushed. He reached over and took her hand in his. "This is good news." She nodded slowly feeling her stomach jump a little. She took in a small breath trying to calm it down.
"Do we have anything from the bank indicating that?" Patrick asked as he jotted down some notes.
"Cramer will get that faxed over to me and I'll get it to you." Mark replied.
"Well, looks like you had a successful trip, Det. Silverman." Patrick stood up and closed the file. "I'll wait for that paperwork and in the meantime look into the defense angle of the first shooting."
Mark and Jack stood as well. "Think this guy Payton going to be interested in pursuing this if he realizes the allegations that will come out about him? And he's not going to make for a very sympathetic victim; I can't see the Iowa prosecutor wanting to take this to trial" Mark commented.
"That's what I'm counting on. A young traumatized teen age girl being pushed into protecting her younger sister from the same abuse."
They looked over at Kate who was still sitting at the table, her face looking pale. Jack bent down and looked at her closer. "You okay, Kate? You look a little pale."
"I think I may be sick." She replied standing up all of a sudden. That was a mistake, now she knew she was going to be sick. She rushed out of the office and ran into the bathroom.
Mark looked over at Jack. "She okay?"
"Nerves." Jack replied. "I think all this stress is just getting to her. The quicker we get this finished the better she'll be."
A short time later Jack and Kate arrived back at the house with Jack leading Kate straight to the couch. "Go ahead and lay down. I'm going to get a cool cloth for your head." He said using his doctor take charge tone.
"Jack, I'm okay." Kate replied. "Really my stomach's just been a little crazy lately with everything going on, that all."
"You haven't been eating much the last couple of days either." Jack placed his palm on Kate's forehead. For a second she leaned into this cool hand. "You're probably wearing yourself out with worry."
Kate let herself be pushed back against the couch closing her eyes. A few seconds later she felt her shoes being removed. When she opened her eyes again she saw Jack kneeling down next to her. She reached out and caressed his cheek. "I'm fine. You don't need to fuss."
"Fussing is part of my nature." He joked. "I can't help it."
"Well, I'm fine really. I'm just tired and I just wish all of this would just go away." She pulled back her hand and started to sit up.
"Kate…"
"Stop it!" she spit out before she knew what she was saying. "Just drop it. I'm fine, okay. I'll be better when this is over. I'm just tired of this whole thing hanging over my head. I'm tired of having to relieve my past for all these strangers and I'm…I'm…tired of this stupid ankle bracelet! I might as well be in jail! I can't go anywhere without you and if I do go anywhere I have to call and ask permission!" she said the frustration spilling out along with tears.
Jack stared at her for a moment before deciding if he should try and reach out to her. When she put her hands over her face and wiped her tears he reached over and took her in his arms. At first he felt her tense up but as he gently pulled her to him and made soothing noises she let go putting her hands down and burying her face in his shoulder for a moment.
"I'm sorry, Jack. I don't know what's wrong with me." She sniffled.
"It's okay, Kate. Don't worry about it. You're entitled to feel all this." He said tenderly. "You don't need to apologize."
"I'm just tired. I want it to be over." She laid her head on his shoulder enjoying his warm embrace. "I'm just being a little dramatic."
Jack pulled away from her for a second. "You're not being dramatic." Then he smiled. "Okay, maybe you're being a little of a drama queen…."
Returning his smile she swatted him on the shoulder, "That's not funny." But did chuckle. "Did I embarrass myself back there?" she asked suddenly.
"What'd you mean? At Jenkins office?"
She nodded and bit her bottom lip.
"No, they understood. You've been through a lot and with what Mark was telling us it's understandable that you might get a little overwhelmed." He soothed. "You've got nothing to be embarrassed about."
With that he stood up. "I'll get that cloth for you and I'm going to fix some lunch before I take off for the hospital. You're not hungry by chance, are you?"
Holding her stomach she shook her head and scrunched her nose. "Not really."
He laughed "Didn't think so. How about I leave you a sandwich for later?" he offered "And in the meantime why don't you take a nap?"
She nodded suddenly warming up to the idea of a nap. "I think I'll go lay down on my bed though." She and Jack stood up.
"Good idea." He reached up and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "I'll call and check on you later."
"Jack…" she started to say.
"Just to see what you want for dinner." He added.
Kate looked over at Tom and smiled. "He can be a little over protective." She commented.
"Most men are when they care about a woman." Tom replied.
"So where do we go from here? I mean did this whole legal maneuvering that that guy Jenkins is doing work?"
Upcoming Chapter – Kate gets an answer to her question and a visit from a friend.