Perri O'Shaughnessy - Unfit to Practice

Kevin’s eyes followed his wife. He turned back to Nina. “You did it,” he said. He didn’t smile.

“I’m sorry,” Nina said. “It had to be done.” And she was sorry, too. Lisa may have had a foul mouth and some weaknesses as a parent, but Nina sensed the depth of the love she felt for her children in every intense word. She was fighting for her life.

“She’s going to have a rough night. You hit hard.”

“Kevin,” Nina said, “something’s going on here. Why was she attacking me? Is this something about her father?”

D URING THE BREAK, Nina tried to get Kevin to talk, but he needed to make a nervous trip to the rest room. On her way to the ladies’ room, she ran into Stamp, a senior partner in Riesner’s firm. A tanned, fit, superb-athlete type, a man who would always be more comfortable with a tennis racket or golf club in his hand than a briefcase, he did not brush past her in his usual fashion. “Hey,” he said, coming to a dead halt. “Nina Reilly. It’s been a while. Haven’t seen you since that casino-gambling case.” He pushed a hand into hers for a firm handshake.

“Well, hello!” The artificial enthusiasm she rallied was designed to obscure the fact that she wasn’t entirely certain of his first name and wasn’t about to call him Mr. Stamp. Wasn’t his name Michael?

“Yeah, you banged us up good in that one. Rumor is, Steve Rossmoor was impressed, so impressed he approached you to represent his casino. Rumor is, others might follow.”

“You know better than to listen to rumors.”

He liked her answer, but wasn’t ready to let go yet. “You’d have to pass the Nevada bar,” he said thoughtfully. “But I venture to guess you’re too busy for that, trying to keep a solo practice afloat.”

“That’s so true,” she said. So Stamp was worried she wanted the casino business. That would cut him where it hurt, right in the wallet. Might as well put him out of his misery. “ California ’s big enough for me at the moment.”

He had his hands in his pockets, and seemed ready to settle in for a nice chat.

“Listen, I’m sorry,” Nina said. “I’ve got to run.”

“Sure. Good to see you. Give me a call sometime when you’re not so rushed.” She felt his eyes crawling over her back as she continued down the stairs. In the bathroom, she looked in the mirror for any signs of femme-fatality and found none. So, take the man at face value. He was worried she was after the casino business. She wasn’t. Now he knew, which was the purpose of their conversation. She decided to like him for having the character to compliment her for winning against his firm, and for flattering her by worrying about rumors that reflected well on her. Riesner certainly never would.

After the break, Riesner took a crack at rehabilitating Lisa Cruz, who apologized to Judge Milne for her outburst and regained her poise, but the damage was done. He was brief, then returned to his table. Riesner, who did not like watching his nicely crafted case sink to the bottom of the ocean, stared down at the table in front of him. This time, when he finally looked toward Nina, fury glistened in his eyes like oil slick.

Nina had really worried about Kevin, who had temper problems of his own. But Lisa’s example had taught him something. When he finally took the stand, he made an excellent witness. Nina had hoped he would have the advantage of plenty of experience testifying because of his work as a police officer, and it seemed he did. He looked relaxed and low-key up there, a nice guy, his legs splayed comfortably, his big body relaxed. Handsome, clean-shaven, with fuzz for hair and even white teeth that he used to good advantage, he spoke warmly about his children, his job, what fatherhood meant to him.

He told Judge Milne that he loved his children. His changing schedule wouldn’t create problems because he had a good support system of local family and friends. He loved to cook, was a methodical person who was trying to teach his kids organizational skills. He had coached his son’s soccer team until Lisa made Joey quit, saying he did not have enough time to finish homework.

“Did you agree with your wife?” Nina asked.

“Sure sounded like he had a lot of work, and she really talked it up. On the nights he was with me, I didn’t see so much, but she told me it was much worse the nights he was with her. Made me wonder what the world is coming to, when a seven-year-old has too much homework to play sports.”

He netted several sympathetic looks at that.

“I wanted to talk to Joey’s teacher, but Lisa asked me not to.”

“Why?”

“She admitted the homework wasn’t as bad as she made out. She doesn’t really like Joey playing soccer anyway, or any sport. She’s afraid he’ll get hurt, and doesn’t want the extra driving. I offered to do more of the chauffeuring, but she didn’t want that either.”

Although he was not a churchgoer himself, he wanted the children to go to Sunday school at his church instead of Lisa’s. “They ought to know what’s right and wrong, and the Bible’s a great resource and comfort to some people. What I don’t like is too much talk of hell and damnation. That just scares kids, does them no good.”

He knew every subject his children were taking in school, knew their teachers well, and could quote from their report cards. He showed pride, pleasure, and a caring attitude.

When Nina finished with Kevin, Riesner got up and brushed off his lapels, as if he’d already started the dirty work.

“You’re a police officer, aren’t you, Mr. Cruz?”

“Yes.”

“A risky job.”

“It can be, but I’m well trained in my work, Mr. Riesner. I work hard at defusing potentially dangerous situations before they get serious.”

“Uh huh. Yet this is your third position as a police officer, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you leave those other two positions?”

“The first one up in Seattle -I was fired. I was young, we had two little kids, I felt pushed and pulled in a lot of directions. There were family demands, and my family came first.”

“And then there was that little trouble about an old man who ended up in the hospital after you beat him and left him in the gutter?”

Kevin looked at him calmly. “You make it sound like I put him in the hospital. I didn’t. I also didn’t beat him. And I left him propped against a building in a seated position, to set the record straight.”

“You were accused of using excessive force while attempting to arrest a known, chronic alcoholic who was seventy-two years old.”

“He was belligerent. I used the force I needed to use to stop him from attacking me. Then I left without arresting him because I felt sorry for him. He ended up in the hospital because he was drunk and fell down after I left him.”

“You were fired for that?”

“Mr. Riesner, I did nothing wrong. An internal investigation exonerated me but the damage was done to my reputation. Every time I came in late, it was noted. I was held to higher standards than the other officers, and because of the demands I had on me, with two young children and a wife that was having some emotional problems at the time, I couldn’t keep up. It was decided that I should go.”

Very respectable, the way he didn’t blame Lisa for his problems. Nina liked that, and she thought Judge Milne would, too.

“Records show that the internal investigation did not exonerate you. They merely did not find enough evidence to prove the charge,” Riesner went on.

“That’s right,” Kevin said. “It was never proven because there was nothing to prove.”

“So you went to work in Marin County.”

“Right.”

“It says here”-Riesner waved a paper-“you signed on for a permanent job but only lasted six months.”