James Sheehan - The Mayor of Lexington Avenue

“You did check with the Del Rio police department, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, they have no record of a letter. The man who would have sent the letter is coming tomorrow. He’s going to say he doesn’t remember sending the letter and it’s not in his files anywhere.”

“All right then, I’ll testify. I don’t have anything to lose, do I?”

Except your life, you idiot , but Jimmy simply said, “Not at this point.”

Dick saw the setup long before it started to unfold. They had already left the ranch and were on the back roads heading towards town. It was almost eight and the sun was up. Jack and Pat were in the back seat, Jack going over his notes, hoping that this was the day he had been waiting for-the day he got to cross-examine both Wesley Brume and Clay Evans.

Dick and Joaquin had planned out three separate routes to town that they alternated taking. Along those routes, they knew every turn in the road, every side road, every leaf that was out of place-every place where an ambush could be possible. When Dick rounded a turn and saw a car protruding from a side road up ahead, he instantly knew something was going down.

“Jack, get the guns.”

“What?”

“Get the guns!” Dick shouted. “They’re going to hit us up here.” Pat had moved and Jack was scrambling to get the AK-47s from under the back seat. “A car is going to pull out in front of me,” Dick told them very calmly but quickly. “As soon as I stop, a car is going to pull in behind us. Jack, stick your gun out that porthole like I showed you and start shooting as soon as they get out of their car. Wait until they get out. You want to hit somebody. I’ll take the front car. I’m going to try and kill a few people and then I’m taking off. So be ready. Pat, you stay down.”

Jack handed Dick a gun and put the nozzle of his gun through the back hole. He waited.

Everything happened in slow motion, and everything happened exactly the way Dick described it. The car he’d seen ahead pulled out, blocking the road. Dick put on the brakes, and another car pulled out from another side road behind them, blocking the rear. Three men got out of the front car, Uzis at the ready, and started shooting. The bullets ricocheted off the Mercedes. Dick returned fire through his front porthole, killing all three men. Meanwhile, two men had gotten out of the back car, firing as they emerged. Jack fired back, hitting one of them. Suddenly, the Mercedes lurched forward as Dick rammed the Cadillac in front of them, moving it just enough so he could maneuver around it. Then he sped away.

“Do you think they’ll follow?” Jack asked, keeping a sharp eye out the back window. Pat was still on the floor.

“No,” Dick replied calmly. “They don’t know what hit ’em. They’ll stay and lick their wounds.”

Jack helped Pat up and they looked at each other with expressions that said, What the hell just happened? It felt like a dream. And here they were, almost as if nothing had happened, continuing their ride to the courthouse.

At around the same time, on the courthouse steps, Jimmy DiCarlo, flanked by his two clients, was wrapping up a half hour impromptu press conference, during which he once again predicted that his clients would be vindicated.

Jimmy had a habit, every morning before the proceedings started, of going to the courthouse men’s room to primp. This morning was no different. Jack had not arrived yet, so he was sure everything had gone as planned. He was combing his hair in front of the mirror when, seemingly out of nowhere, Dick Radek was standing beside him. They were alone.

Dick spoke to the mirror. “If someone even bumps into one of my people from now on, I’m going to kill you.”

Jimmy kept his cool and looked at Dick like he was a piece of dirt in his path.

“Get out of my way,” he said as he started forward, attempting to brush the smaller man out of the way. In an instant he was against the wall, with Dick Radek’s left hand covering his mouth and his right hand holding a pistol to Jimmy’s left temple. It had a silencer attachment. Jimmy had the sudden urge to pee even though he had relieved himself moments before.

“I’m going to kill you, tough guy. Not your clients,” Dick snarled through clenched teeth. “Do you want to be able to spend the money you’ve been making off these assholes?” Jimmy’s eyes were bulging out of his head as he tried to nod his head up and down ever so slowly. “Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to take your cell phone and call whoever you need to call and tell them it’s off.” Dick took his hand off Jimmy’s mouth and moved away, now pointing the gun at Jimmy’s chest.

“Now?” Jimmy asked, almost whining.

“Right now.” Jimmy dialed a number. A few seconds later, he said, “It’s over. Call everybody off.” And hung up the phone.

“I am one of many,” Dick said calmly. “You know how the game works. If something happens to me or to any of my people from this date forward, you are a dead man. You will not be able to run. You will not be able to hide. And you will not be able to spend your money. If you think I’m bullshitting, tough guy, try me.” Dick turned and walked out of the bathroom.

Inside the courtroom, Jack was setting up his table for the day. He noticed that Clay Evans was eyeing him with a surprised look.

“Why, Mr. Evans, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Jack said. Clay Evans looked away.

Just then Jimmy DiCarlo walked in the courtroom. It wasn’t Jimmy’s typical entrance. His face was pale and he looked a little disheveled.

“What the hell’s going on here?” Clay whispered when Jimmy sat down next to him.

“I don’t know. It looks like we’ve had some complications.”

“What about my money?” Clay asked. Jimmy just shrugged.

“Don’t worry. It’s not over,” Jimmy lied. It was over for him. He had his money.

Just then the judge walked into the courtroom. He had wanted to talk to the lawyers alone in open court but he hadn’t gotten the word to the bailiff in time, and the courtroom was now full.

“Counsel, will you approach?” Jimmy and Jack came forward. Jack had to keep himself calm. He didn’t dare look at the man standing next to him, the man he knew had tried to have him murdered that very morning. Instead Jack concentrated on Judge Stanton and listened as he delivered another near-fatal blow to his case. “I’ve been thinking about this all night and I’ve decided to reconsider and grant the defense’s motion for a mistrial.”

Jack immediately concluded that they had somehow gotten to the judge. He wanted to scream but he said nothing. “This record is too much of a mess,” the judge continued. “We’re only three days into this trial. I’ve ordered another panel of potential jurors up this morning and we can start over again in an hour. That should give you time to notify your witnesses. Jack, I know you have Charley Peterson in from out of town-has he left yet?”

“No, Judge.”

“Good. We can go on Saturday if you want. By Saturday evening we should be where we are today. As I said, it’s only a three-day delay. Jack, you don’t call the prosecution’s case a lie in your opening and you make sure Ms. Lopez doesn’t talk about what everybody in the neighborhood knew about Geronimo Cruz. Mr. DiCarlo, you don’t ask Ms. Lopez where she lives and who she lives with-understand?”

“Yes, sir.” Jimmy couldn’t control his enthusiasm. He didn’t notice the judge was calling Jack by his first name.

“Good. I hate to do this, but we need to have a fair trial and we need to have a good record for appellate purposes.” He looked right at Jack as he spoke the words. “And a three-day setback isn’t all that bad when you take everything into consideration.”