AN: I need to go on record here to thank NCCJFAN for her guidance through out this. I've been spoiled by having her (and the other Nina heads) as a writing partner(s) and it's intimidating to venture out on my own sometimes. Thanky, thanky, my dear.
Chapter 11: Relevance
They made it back to Boston with little over an hour to spare. Settling Jordan in his apartment would have to wait until later. They orchestrated a quick round of showers and made it to the courthouse just as the gallery was being seated.
It was a closed hearing. The press was barred. Only a handful of observers were allowed in. Woody made sure he was one of them. He was sitting by Jordan's side when Santos was led into the room.
The question remained unvoiced but both Jordan and Woody were thinking the same thing. In a normal grand jury hearing the defendant and his representation were not present. The proceedings were engineered for the prosecution to present their case to a panel of jurors, not as a trial, but to decide whether there exists reasonable doubt or probable cause.
Renee shot them a look that said her hands were tied. Unconsciously, Jordan reached for Woody's hand. He was only to willing to wrap his fingers around hers and whisper in her ear the same reassuring words he told her in the rest area parking lot...even if he wasn't as confident.
The courtroom was called to order, the legalities read and the judge and jury seated. Jordan's name was the first to be called. Woody gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before he let her go. Jordan smoothed her damp hands nervously down the front of her skirt and stiffly walked past Santos to the witness box.
It was far from the first occasion Jordan had faced Renee Walcott in a court room. Other times she could fall back on her role as an expert witness, not in this case. This time she was on her own. In a role she wasn't as familiar with. Jordan took a deep breath as the bailiff approached. Raising her right hand, Jordan was sworn in. Renee stepped forward.
"Dr. Cavanaugh...Good morning."
Renee's questions were right to the point. The same questions she asked in her office. Jordan gave her initial testimony. Straight forward: No more, no less.
"Thank you Dr. Cavanaugh." Renee gave Jordan a reassuring nod before she turned the questioning over to Santos' attorney.
"Miss Cavanaugh..." he said casually tucking his tie inside the lapel of his suit coat. His tone, careless, to the point of being arrogant.
"I understand you are familiar with the proceedings of a grand jury."
"Relevance, Your Honor," Renee injected. She had a very good feeling what was ahead and wanted to stem it off as soon as possible.
The attorney held his hand up "I assure you it does, Your Honor."
"Proceed."
Walcott took her seat.
"It's a matter of public record that you once held the position in the State Medical Examiners office...is that true Miss Cavanaugh?"
"Yes," she said meeting his eye. Jordan was so intent on getting through this that she didn't notice the door to the courtroom silently open and close again.
"Is it true that you are on administrative leave in connection with the same crimes my client is being suspected in."
"...I'm on a leave of absence," Jordan said in her own defense.
"Semantics," he said with a dismissing wave of the hand. "Is it true that you were arrested and subsequently charged with the crimes in question?"
"Objection, Your Honor!" Walcott sprang back up. "All charges against Dr. Cavanaugh have been dropped. She has been cleared of any wrong doing."
"I'm establishing creditability Your Honor."
"Sustained," the judge droned. "Please continue, but keep your questions relevant sir."
"Yes, your Honor. Miss Cavanaugh...in your testimony you stated that you traveled to Washington D.C. to personally investigate the murders of John Douglas Pollack, and one Lance Cooke. Is that correct?"
Jordan twisted her hands in her lap. "Yes."
"Is it also true that you started this investigation without authority?"
Jordan opened her mouth to say something but she was cut off in mid-breath by Renee.
"We have already established that Dr. Cavanaugh was residing out-of-state on a revoked bail. In lieu if the situation, the District Attorney's Office has chosen not to press charges. I want to go on record reminding this jury that Dr. Cavanaugh is not the subject of this hearing..."
The judge held up his hand. Renee stopped. "You are coming dangerously close to wasting this court's time Mr. Knox. Please make your point."
"Let's not beat around the bush anymore, Miss Cavanaugh. Is it true that you taped my client's so-called confession without his knowledge?"
Uncharacteristically, Jordan looked at Renee for guidance. The DA's nod was barely discernible.
"Yes, that is true."
"Is it also true that you that you did so while conducting a crime punishable as a misdemeanor in 48 of 50 States...oh, and the District of Colombia also?"
"Irrelevant, your Honor! Dr. Cavanaugh's alleged activities are not in question here."
"This is very relevant," Knox piped in. "My client was pried with alcohol and then propositioned by the witness in an act of criminal solicitation. Is this not the fact, Miss Cavanaugh?"
Jordan sat there. It was happening. For the first time since he stepped foot in the courtroom, Jordan looked at Santos. His smirk made her skin crawl.
"Answer the question Dr. Cavanaugh," the judge said.
"Let me rephrase it your Honor," Knox said, his chest puffed out with his posturing. "Miss Cavanaugh is it true that you had sexual contact with men for money? And during a number of such encounters with my client, you coerced him in to confessing to the same murders you were being charged with?"
Before Renee could object, Jordan bit out her answer venomously. "He killed them. The...executions were ordered by his boss. Marcus Santos put a gun to JD's head an pulled the trigger after he drugged me and set me to take the fall. All because JD was coming too close to uncovering Gordon's business relationship with the mob."
Jordan's outburst had little or no affect on the defending attorney. In fact, he gave her a little smile that said 'thank you' for making his job that much easier.
"At this conjuncture I would like to call for any and all charges against my client to be dropped due to the lack of integrity of my client's alleged confession not to mention the witness's own creditability. In an act of good faith we are willing to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge of patronizing a known prostitute."
"Your Honor!"
Renee's rebuttal barely registered. Like the night she looked out into that dark, smoky lounge and found Woody looking at her with a look of shock and disillusionment, Jordan looked across the courtroom to see Lily and Garret, tucked in the back row...their reactions eerily similar.
Woody opened his eyes. He was instantly awake.
That sound. It came again. The one that woke him up.
She was crying. The sound was thick, as if she was trying to muffle it. No doubt, she'd think of those tears as a sign of weakness. She would hate it that he heard her. He closed his eyes and tried to block out sound.
He couldn't.
She sounded so lost and hopeless. No doubt she'd take it as some kind of threat if he went in and checked on her. She'd hate that he heard her.
He rolled over on the all too narrow sofa and looked at the LED display in his microwave.
2:13...AM.
It seems like an eternity since they walked out of that court room. Actually it was just over thirty-six hours ago. And he still couldn't make sense out of what happened next.
He understood when Renee tried to reassure Jordan that they weren't done. The case may have hit a roadblock but she wasn't ready to give up. Far from it. Santos would walk for now, but not for long. What he couldn't comprehend was Jordan's reaction to Garret and Lily.
He had to admit he wasn't surprised when they slipped in the door just as the proceedings started. It wasn't as if the hearing schedule was a secret. Still, Jordan asked them to stay away. It was all Woody could do to convince her he should be there.
Still, her response was uncalled for.
"What are you doing here?"
"We came to support you Jordan."
Lily's voice was profound in its sincerity. He could only assume Jordan thought it sounded like something else.
"Thanks but no thanks. Did you get a good show? How many times did you tell me I'd ended up getting in over my head Garret? What was it you used to quote? 'Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences'? I'm sure there is an 'I-told-you-so' sitting right on the tip of your tongue."
To Garret's good common sense, he held any comment he wanted to make. Woody was impressed enough to make note.
"Jordan, you heard Renee. It's not over..."
"For me it is. I fucked up...literally...and I have to pay the cost."
Lily reached out to her, but Jordan pushed past them and down the hallway. Woody was left making a quick apology before following her. By the time they get to his car, Woody knew she needed some time to come to grips with what transpired and he gave her some breathing room.
They returned to the apartment and Jordan simply stated she wanted to get some sleep and shut herself in the bedroom. That was over a day ago.
The few minutes she would venture out she was sullen. If she spoke it was only because it was necessary. When he asked her if she wanted to talk to someone...on the outside...like Dr. Stiles. She only shook her head.
Lily called a number of times and stopped by once. Jordan steadfastly refused to talk to her. Lily told him she understood. That after all Jordan had been forced to endure she couldn't take what she said or did personally. Woody wondered where Lily's calm voice of wisdom was when he was sitting in a trashed hotel room with his imagination eating him alive, waiting for Jordan to come back from that final night at the club.
Lily left flowers. The last time Woody had flowers in his apartment was after he was hospitalized. He took them as a show of pity...just like Jordan did these. He was understanding and left them on the kitchen counter.
The muffled sobs gave way to the springs of his bed creaking as she restlessly tossed and turned. Woody rolled on to his back and threw his arm over his head. He wanted to reach out to her. He jumped when the door opened.
"I...I, ah, didn't mean to wake you." Her voice was harsh, like she had been crying for much longer that he heard.
He swung his legs around to the floor and sat up. "No problem, I was awake anyway."
Jordan rocked back and forth on her heals. She didn't know why she was out there...but she knew if she spent one more minute alone in that bed she'd go crazy.
Woody studied her for a full minute before he spoke. When he did, he had to clear his throat to keep his tone neutral. "Are you alright? Do you need me to turn up the AC?"
"No, I'm fine." She wrapped her arms around her waist.
In the dim light he could see she was wearing an oversized t-shirt and not much else.
"I'm sorry. Go back to sleep Woody."
She was about as fine as his five and dime china. She needed something. Maybe for him to reach out to her. Give her some reassurance she'd been sadly lacking lately. He wasn't Garret. He wasn't her father. He was the man that loved her and never seemed to have the ability to find the perfect words that could make everything go away.
"Are you hungry?"
Jordan stood in the doorway, rubbing her big toe over the edge of where the carpeting in the bedroom started and the hardwoods of the living room ended. She hasn't hungry. She just needed company. Dare she say...support. Even if that support came in the form of a refrigerator raiding buddy.
"...sure."
Woody rearranged the sheet around his waist and pointed his thumb back at the kitchen table. "Meet me in two minutes."