The criminal justice system moves slowly most of the time but not when it came to bringing Adam to trial. Even though he had initially waived his rights, he remained adamant about not having a jury trial. However, at his arraignment one week later, a very pretty, 20-ish Asian woman in a gray, two-piece business suit sat next to him and identified herself as his lawyer, Kathryn Yee.
"How does your client (Lewis Farber) plea?" Judge Kimberly Newton asked.
"Not guilty, Your Honor," Kathryn replied, touching her right index finger to the right edge of her black-rimmed eyeglasses.
The plea was entered into the record and they moved on to the issue of bail. Naturally, the prosecutor argued against it citing him as a flight risk because of the several different languages the defendant spoke, his sizable and numerous bank accounts, and that he possessed a valid passport. Kathryn eyed her client and leaned in, whispering if he was sure of his decision not to seek bail.
"As much as it pains me - yes," Adam replied. He had given his word to Henry and he knew that all bets would be off if he tried to get released, if only temporarily, on bail. He didn't relish looking over his shoulder every other moment to see if black-suited government agents were coming after him.
Kathryn reluctantly informed the judge that "My client - against my counsel - chooses not to seek bail."
Judge Newton eyed Adam for just a second and asked, "Mr. Farber, you do understand your rights regarding this matter?" Adam responded that he fully understood. "So be it, then."
She turned her attention to the court reporter. "Let the record show that the defendant willfully and knowingly bars his attorney from seeking bail on his behalf." It was clear that the judge wholeheartedly disagreed with his decision even though it might not have been granted.
While the next court date was announced, both Jo and Henry in the spectator section, entertained their thoughts regarding what had just transpired. On the one hand, they felt that the absence of a jury was best (fewer witnesses) but they had not expected him to have obtained counsel; especially since the law degree he'd earned in the late 1970's from Columbia University would have allowed him to represent himself. He was, surprisingly, still an active member of the NY State Bar. And the fact that he'd elected not to seek bail was gratifying. It meant that he appeared to be keeping his end of the agreement, however begrudgingly. A guilty plea would have been better, they felt. It would have hurried things along a bit better; but most defendants pleaded not guilty, so they just had to roll with it.
Adam was taken out of the courtroom back to his cell with just a passing glance at Henry. Outside the courtroom, the duo caught up with his attorney.
"Ms. Yee," Jo began, "Det. Jo Martinez. Remember me?"
"Yes, Detective," she replied. "Nice to see you again."
Henry could sense the tension of adversarial professionals between the two women, though. He could tell that they had "history" with each other.
"Really?" Jo asked. "Wish I could say the same. The last time we met was during the Schaeffer rape and murder trial. You were part of a team of attorneys back then."
"I'm, uh, no longer with that big outfit," she said. "Started my own firm a little while ago. And by my recollection, you weren't too happy back then."
"Well, that's probably because you helped a violent sex offender get off," Jo told her, unable to hide her contempt. "How long have you been out on your own?"
"Since I got the call from Dr. Farber a week ago," she replied. "I win this case for him and I can write my own ticket from here on." Her cell phone buzzed, and she fished it out of her pocket. "I've gotta take this," she told them and quickly walked away engaged animatedly in the phone conversation.
"Hmmm. Odd that he would seek the services of an untried attorney," Henry said as he watched her board an elevator.
"She's hardly untried, as you say," Jo warned him. "It was because of her contributions to Gabriel Schaeffer's defense that he walked on the rape charge and was able to plead down to involuntary manslaughter on the murder charge." She scoffed and looked disparagingly at the elevator doors as they closed on the young lawyer.
"Ms. Yee sounds a bit more competent and dedicated than we need her to be," Henry reluctantly acknowledged.
"Let's hope that she's not as successful her first time out of the gate alone," Jo replied. "Do you still think that you can trust him to 'stay put' as agreed?"
Henry sighed heavily. "One can only hope, Detective."
vvvv
Luckily, Adam's next day in court went more as Team Morgan had hoped. The State, wishing to focus on only the Glausser murder case, presented a convincing case against him. The prosecutor believed that the DNA in the DeSoto case and the three older cases were too minuscule and circumstantial to be of much use in obtaining a conviction. Once he was convicted, they hoped to present more solid evidence in the other cases later.
Ms. Yee took over for the defense and argued that the evidence in the Glausser case, as well, was circumstantial.
"My client admits to having known the decedent for several years," she stated, "when they worked to return artifacts stolen by the Nazis in World War II to their rightful owners. He also admits to having had a difference of opinion with the decedent from time to time on how to best accomplish that difficult and, might I add, honorable task. But, Your Honor, there is absolutely no evidence connecting him to the actual murder or crime scene."
She explained further that although DNA matching her client's was obtained from the decedent's ring, "After a thorough medical examination, no corresponding injury was found on his body."
Something that Henry had feared would come up since Adam, like himself, retained only their healed original wounds that had taken their lives and transformed them into Immortals.
Opening statements given, the prosecutor, Assistant DA Marvin Belson, took over again. "Your Honor, the State calls as its first witness, Dr. Henry Mor -."
Adam suddenly shot up from his seat and loudly stated, "Your Honor, I'd like to change my plea to Guilty."
Kathryn, alarmed and seemingly caught off guard, pulled at his arm and then stood up as well. "Your Honor, I request a short recess so that I may confer with my client."
"I'm guilty," Adam calmly reiterated. "There is simply no need for a recess."
He ignored his attorney, who talked over him. The judge banged her gavel to regain order then granted a 15-minute recess so that Ms. Yee and her client could "get on the same page, if possible."
Assistant DA Belson scratched the back of his head and turned around to face Jo and Henry as they stood just behind the gallery railing. "Looks like this will be one of the easier wins," he wryly stated. "Maybe I won't need to call you or any other witness at all."
"Let's, ah, hope so," Henry replied and shared a knowing look with Jo.
As the three of them walked out of the courtroom, Jo noted there seemed to be no surviving family members, or co-workers, or friends present who had been associated with Glausser. "Not even a curious neighbor," she noted.
"It would seem that he, like Haas, chose to keep a low profile with most everyone," Henry suggested. "Possibly because of the secretive nature of their endeavors."
"But when greed got the better of him," Jo began, "he was finally ready to pop the cork and party."
"Which proved to be his undoing," Henry stated.
vvvv
In a small room adjacent to the courtroom, an agitated Kathryn questioned her annoyingly calm client.
"Dr. Farber, are you crazy?" she angrily demanded, the blunt edges of her short hairdo grazing her jawlines. "Should I change your plea to Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity?"
Adam kept his head down and followed her with his eyes as she paced in front of him on the other side of the small table. He then raised his head and replied, "I'm merely being truthful, Counselor. You do require the truth from your clients, don't you?" She stopped pacing and frowned at him with her mouth open in disbelief. "And I do appreciate your efforts on my behalf but ... let's not drag this out. Guilty."
She shook her head and sat down next to him. "We can win this," she said in a hoarse, desperate whisper. "Do you really want to go down for this if you don't have to?"
No. He really didn't. But the alternative had been lain out for him and biding his time was the safer choice - for now. There would come a time, though, when it would no longer be possible to maintain his status as a guest of the state. He could wait.
"This isn't about you, Counselor," he chided her. "Guilty; and we can all leave early."
Kathryn said nothing as she sat back in her chair and eyed him up and down. After a few moments, she said, "Alright. But you're making a big mistake."
The trial resumed and the judge announced that she would render her verdict the next day. "I feel we all need a cooling-off period," she said in defense of her decision. "Court is adjourned until tomorrow morning, 10:30 AM."
vvvv
The next morning, a cuffed and shackled Adam was boarded into the back of an SUV headed for a Club Fed destination in upstate New York. Earlier that morning, the judge had rendered a verdict of Guilty and sentenced him to life without the possibility of parole for the murder of Julian Glausser.
"Why does he seem to be getting the VIP treatment?" Prosecutor Belson asked as he watched, along with Jo and Henry, the SUV pull away from the back of the courthouse.
"He's, um, agreed to provide information on another case," Jo told him. "Part of a plea-bargaining agreement," she added, hoping Belson would buy the lie.
"Not any bargain I struck with them," Belson replied. "I'll bet somebody's pocket is getting lined with some of the money from one of his large bank accounts." He sighed and turned to leave. "But … not my concern anymore. A win is a win." He then left.
The lady detective and her ME, likewise, left in her car and headed for the precinct.
Twenty minutes later, the SUV with Adam in the back of it motored along on the freeway. He entertained thoughts of the minimum-security institution's tennis court, beautiful views of the ocean and mountains, and the townhouse-like dwelling he expected to be living in. Heck, he might even participate in the baseball games; he could pitch a pretty fair curveball. But he soon sensed that something was wrong. The driver had missed the turnoff. Not by design, though. It appeared that their vehicle was being attacked. He said nothing as it was jostled on the right side by a pickup truck. The driver cursed and reached for his radio mic. Adam tensed as he listened to him report the problem to dispatch.
"We have a situation," he barked into the mic. "A pickup in the next lane forced me to miss the turnoff." The driver reported their location and described the vehicle. "The windows are tinted. I can't see the driver or if there are any other occupants."
"Hold on everyone," he told Adam and his partner in the front passenger seat. "Looks like we're being forced off the road."
Adam remained calm and alert even though his throat went dry and his heart rate ticked up. He'd been in situations like this before as he immediately assessed that this was an attempted abduction. An escape formulated in his mind in order to avoid that. It was much, much sooner than he had planned but the present situation now dictated what actions he felt he must take.
The truck sideswiped the SUV repeatedly and forced it over to the left and into the wide, grassy median that separated the two directions of traffic.
"Hang on, folks," the driver, Steve MacIntosh, a former Navy Seal, calmly advised his partner and Adam. "I see an opening and I'm gonna take it."
The truck screeched to a halt in front of the SUV and the driver side door swung open. A tank-topped, tattooed young man in jeans with a waist-length, brown ponytail jumped out of the car, pointing his gun at the driver and yelled, "Everybody out! Now! Get out now!"
MacIntosh raised his hands, as did his partner, Rance Barrow. He made eye contact with the gunman and nodded. Although staring down the business end of an AK-47, Macintosh had kept the SUV in drive and his foot on the brake.
"When I say 'Now'," he told Adam and Barrow, duck - NOW!"
He stomped on the accelerator and the SUV lurched forward and piled into the side of the truck, totalling it as it powered forward and away from the gunman. Bullets peppered the SUV but did not penetrate the bullet-proof glass. He uprighted himself and barreled back onto the freeway.
"Stay down, Farber!" he loudly instructed Adam, who needed no prompting.
Flashing red lights were seen and sirens were heard on the other side of the freeway. State police in two cars and on two motorcycles entered the grassy median as the SUV zipped past them. They brought down the gunman when they returned his fire.
"Thank God for the Cavalry," MacIntosh chortled as he slowed the vehicle and brought it to a stop in the emergency zone past the grassy median and next to the center divide. The radio crackled with a voice only vaguely familiar to Adam. MacIntosh picked up the mic and responded.
"Yes, Lt. Reece," MacIntosh replied. "We're unharmed." He looked over his shoulder at a now upright Adam and said, "The prisoner, as well, is unharmed."
Admittedly, there wasn't much anymore that surprised Adam or garnered a smile from him. However, this did. Being kept safe, as promised, by Henry and his law enforcement friends … made him smile. Made him almost wish that … somehow … he was worthy to be protected. His past was his past, though, he resignedly told himself. There was nothing more for him to do now but to keep his part of the bargain for as long as he could and after, let the future unfold as it may.
vvvv
Lt. Reece, having been patched through to MacIntosh through dispatch, ended the call and turned a relieved countenance to her two detectives and their ME.
"What's going to happen now?" Henry asked.
"They've already transferred him to another vehicle and he's on his way to ClubFed with a police escort," Reece replied. A smile curved her lips as a thought crossed her mind. "Do you really think that he believed we were piping his likeness into Times Square on the jumbotron?"
Henry's eyebrows perked up and he chuckled. "It would seem so."
Jo's and Mike's jaws dropped. "You, you mean that was all a hoax?" she asked.
Reece and Henry both grinned and nodded.
"It looked so real," Hanson said, amazed. "Ya had me believin' it!"
"Yes, thanks to Lucas and his knowledge of movie magic," Henry stated with a toothy grin. "The young man just may have a future in cinema one day," he proudly speculated.
"You got him again!" Jo happily exclaimed. Her smile faltered a bit. "Was that attempted abduction and rescue staged, too?"
"Oh, no," Reece replied. "That was real. And you won't believe who was behind the attempted abduction - his attorney, Kathryn Yee. They found her in the pursuit vehicle injured but alive."
The gaiety abruptly left the room.
"You mean sh-she knows about ... Adam?" Jo asked, her voice faltering.
Obviously, she did even though no one offered a response to Jo's question. What troubled them all was the fact that there might be others out there who knew about Adam's condition, as well.
"If she was able to find out about him," Mike began before his voice trailed off as he cast a concerned look at Henry. "Sorry, Doc."
"I appreciate your concern for my safety, Detective," he replied. "But the possibility of someone wishing to abduct or harm me because of my condition is something I realize I have to live with. Every day that I leave my home and venture out could be the day the possibility is realized. However, it is not too dissimilar from what each of you must consider each day you leave your homes to do your jobs. Jobs fraught with danger."
"We have a choice, though, Henry," Jo quietly said to him.
"Granted, I have no choice but to meet each day for as long as fate would have me to," he replied. "But the danger for each of us is still undeniably present."
Wishing to lighten the mood, Hanson turned the conversation back to Lucas. "He was able to pull that hoax off from his sickbed. Great kid." He looked at each one of them and quickly added, "Don't tell 'im I said that! It'll go to his head."
They responded with laughter and then the three of them left Reece's office. Mike sat down at his desk and dove into replying to the few messages and emails he'd received. Jo followed Henry out to the elevators.
"Have we won?" she asked, unable to hide her concern and worry.
"A victory against Adam is only a temporary one at best," Henry reluctantly disclosed. "But for now, I believe we have."
He tilted his head to the side as he studied her with his lips pursed into a slight smile. "The question is - have I won?" She frowned, confused. "Your forgiveness for … for having held the truth from you regarding this matter."
She did. She understood why he had. But it still hurt a bit that he hadn't trusted her at the time. "Well, sort of," she replied, working to keep from smiling. "We can … go somewhere and talk about it."
"It has been a while since we've had time to just … sit and talk," he agreed, working to keep his own smile from growing broader. "Enjoy each other's company. And I'd greatly appreciate the opportunity to try to win your full forgiveness," he added.
Damn! She knew she couldn't say no when he said it with that low, sexy voice and those puppy dog eyes. She looked around to make sure no one was hearing or noticing them or the blush on her cheeks. They agreed to meet in front of the precinct after work.
On the other side of the bullpen, someone had noticed, though surreptitiously, not wanting to embarrass the late-blooming couple. Mike discreetly noted the time and incident on a yellow sticky and then stuck it to the inside bottom at the back of his desk drawer. He shook his head and thought maybe now since Henry's secret had been revealed, the reluctant lovebirds were finally making plans to move their relationship up a notch or two.
VVVVVVVV
Notes:
I apologize for having taken so long to post this newest chapter. You guessed it: Internet problems again. Grrrr! But I hope you like it. Thanks!
Information on minimum-security institutions found at wiki/Club_Fed and a site detailing "summer-camp-like-conditions" at some prisons.