David Ellis - Jury of One

“He finally figured out a way to get the prosecutor to call him,” Alex continued. “He came to visit me in that interview room and shouted all kinds of bad stuff to me. He was hoping that the government was watching.”

And they were. Dan Morphew had eaten it up. In one fell swoop, Ronnie Masters had gotten himself immunity for any role he played and, more important, had been given the forum he had badly craved to announce the secret to the entire world.

“He’s a smart one,” said Alex. “It must be the good genes.”

“No doubt.”

“That boy would do anything to protect me.”

Shelly thought through the last couple of weeks. “Ronnie went to see Eddie Todavia a few times,” she said. “Why?”

“Same reason.” Alex shook his head, smiling. “Trying to draw someone’s suspicion. Hoping someone, anyone, was watching. I’ll bet he was obvious about it. He was in broad daylight with Eddie, right?”

She recalled the photos Joel Lightner had taken. It was true. Ronnie was walking down the middle of the street with Todavia. She laughed. “He couldn’t have been more obvious.”

Alex tapped his temple. “Smart, I’m telling you.”

“What about this other guy he went to see, Alex? Robert El-something. What was-”

“Robert Eldridge. He went to see him?”

She looked at Alex.

“Robert Eldridge,” Alex explained, “is Dina’s ex-husband. That witness from way back? He was trying to find Dina to help tell the story all over again.”

“Or hoping that we’d follow him and make the connection ourselves.”

“You or anyone else,” Alex said. “If it had come down to it, I’m sure Ronnie would have just marched into the judge’s chambers and spilled the whole thing. But I don’t think he trusted the legal system. He always complained about the rules. If he just went to you, or to the prosecutor, he was afraid that he wouldn’t be allowed to testify. That someone would say that the rules of evidence prevented it or something. Better to make one of you call him, put him on the stand, and then tell a room full of reporters and the jury the truth. Then, nobody could stop him. Any excuse he could come up with, just to get into that courtroom.”

“Right.”

“I pulled all this shit, Shelly, and Ronnie saved me. You got a good kid there.”

She did have a kid. She had always known it, and was even able to put a face and name to the concept over the last few months. Now, for some reason, as things were coming to a close, the notion seemed to have more meaning. Something she couldn’t put her finger on, that stirred her emotions in a way that she had never felt.

The tears surprised her, how quickly they came. She was in a fragile state in every way, but still. She wasn’t a crier. She wiped at her face.

“So-what’s gonna happen now, do you think?” he asked.

She composed herself after a moment. She walked over to him, placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’re not on tomorrow. The prosecutor and I are going to see what can be done.”

“You think they’ll drop the case?”

She sighed. “Honestly?”

“No, lie to me.”

“I don’t think they’ll drop this case, Alex. And I don’t think the judge will throw it out, either. The heat is too great. There’s politics. There’s a dead cop.”

Alex seemed to deflate. He apparently thought that things would change with this revelation.

“Get some sleep,” she told him. “Let me be the lawyer. I’m going to talk to Ronnie, and I’ll come back tomorrow and we’ll get prepared for the rest of this.”

“Okay,” he agreed. “But you’re the one who needs sleep.”

She kissed him on the cheek and left him in the cell. She reached into her bag for her cell phone, which had been turned off. When the screen lit up, it told her she had four messages. She listened to her voice mail as she waited for the elevator to the courthouse lobby. The reception was less than perfect, but she had no trouble making out the callers, because all four messages, spread out over the last hour and a half, were from the same person.

Maribelle Rodriguez, the chief of staff to Governor Langdon Trotter.

She could imagine the chaos in the state capital, or wherever he was. It would have taken the press all of two minutes, after the revelations in court hours ago, to hunt down the governor and ambush him with questions. And she hadn’t called to warn him. Never mind that she had been lying unconscious on a courtroom floor. That was a distinction that would be lost on an elected official, in the heat of a re-election campaign, who suddenly had a great deal of explaining to do. He would want to coordinate his comments with Shelly, and perhaps add a few private comments of his own.

Well, he’ll have to wait, she said to herself.

Shelly walked into the interview room at the county lockup. Ronnie Masters still wore a blue button-down shirt and khaki pants, looked like he was readying himself for church.

He looked different to her, though, more at ease than ever before. All of the calculating was over. He had had a mission all along, and that mission was apparently accomplished.

“How are you doing?” he asked her.

“The bump on my head is fine,” she said. “I’m not sure about the rest of me.”

“What are they gonna do about Alex?”

She sighed. “I don’t know. Probably keep going.”

“But you’ll win now.”

“Probably. You and I need to talk about your testimony. That’s one of the reasons I’m here.”

“What’s the other?”

“The other-” She looked up at the ceiling. She thought of all the times she had spoken with Ronnie about Alex, back when she thought Alex was her son. All of the questions Ronnie had asked. Was she ashamed of her son? Was she mad that her son had come to find her?

She opened her hands. “I’m sorry, Ronnie.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“I’m sorry because-because-”

“Because you gave me up for adoption?” he asked. “That wasn’t such a bad move.”

“Because I didn’t come to find you. Because I didn’t try.”

She felt another shiver run through her. She could never pinpoint exactly why she had never looked up her son. There were plenty of rationalizations. She didn’t want to burst into a happy child’s life and cause chaos. She feared her child’s rejection. She would never know the reasons. Maybe that was no longer the point.

“The whole thing was probably tough on you,” Ronnie said.

“Tough on me. ” She grimaced. “Ronnie, I-” She felt her throat close, the emotion rise. She thought of her own parents, the years lost after Ronnie was conceived.

She walked over and sat next to him. “Listen. I don’t really know what I’m doing. It’s not like there’s a manual or anything.” Her hand lingered in the air.

“A manual for what?”

“I-” She framed her hands in the air. “I-we need to-I want to be a part of things. I don’t know how this is going to work. I just-”

“Just be my friend, Shelly. I already have a mom.” He said it with such simplicity. Shelly was impressed by his strength, grateful for his generosity.

She touched his hand. “I can do that. I want to do that.”

Her cell phone rang. She held her breath. This was the fifth phone call.

“You should answer that,” Ronnie said.

“It can wait. We have to talk about your testimony.”

“Maybe it’s important.”

“It can wait. ” She went to her bag and removed a notepad. Then she put it down. She thought of her father. She thought of family. She looked back at Ronnie.

“I have always loved my child,” she said, surprised at the strength of her voice. “I didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl or anything else. But I have always carried around so much love for that child. I know it’s hard to understand, because I didn’t do anything about-”