James Patterson - Judge & Jury

I finally walked across the street. Another tenant stepped out, and I fumbled in my pockets for a second, as if I'd lost my keys, catching the door before it closed.

Her apartment was 2B, on the second floor, facing the street. I climbed the stairs. I remembered the night we took the jury in. For a few seconds, I just stood in front of her door. What was I here to say? I had started to knock when it hit me, the feeling of total foolishness, stupidity.

I backed away quickly, heading to the stairs.

That's when the door opened. And I was facing Andie.

SHE WAS STANDING THERE in a powder-blue sweater over jeans, barefoot, holding a black trash bag in her hand. When she saw me she did a double take." Hey. "

I tried to act just as surprised-because I was. "I was dropping something off," I said, holding out the book I'd brought along."I read this book. I was going to give it to you. I mean, I am giving it to you."

" The Four Agreements." She removed it from the manila envelope, nodding."‘Don't take anything personally,' ‘be impeccable with your word.' My sister gave it to me. Good choice, Agent Pellisante."

"I'm evolving. And it's Nick." I shrugged.

"Which is it?" she asked."Evolving, or Nick?"

I smiled."So, how's it going?"

"I went to an audition today. A Cialis commercial. You know, when the moment hits."

"And how'd it go?"

She smiled."Dunno, exactly. All I had to do was look fortyish and sexy. Right up my alley, right? But I read the part. It's the first time… Have to pay the bills, right?"

I gave her a knowing look. Sometimes, I just wanted to reach out and hold her, hoping she would rest her head on my chest awhile. I just wanted to show I cared.

"I don't know-for forty, I think you look great. Honestly."

"Forty- ish. " She raised an eye with a sharp smile."Come back in eight years and I'll give you credit for a compliment. In the meantime…" Andie leaned against the door frame."So how's the class you're teaching?"

A couple months back, I had written to her to let her know I'd left the Bureau and started teaching again. I just stood there with my hands in my coat and shrugged."The highs aren't quite the same as my old job. So far, no one's shooting at me, though."

Andie smiled again."How about I give you a choice, Nick? You can take the trash down behind the staircase on your way out. Or, if you want, you can come in."

"I'd like to," I said.

"You'd like to which? "

I stayed where I was."You know, the retrial's starting. Jury selection's coming up. Next week."

"I read the papers," Andie said.

"I'm still a witness. The case is strong. They're going to put him away this time."

She stared at me awhile. Her mouth was full and her eyes sharp. Brown."That's what you came by to tell me?"

"No." What promises could I make that I hadn't already broken? We'd never caught the men who killed her son. We had nothing to tie it to Cavello."I thought maybe you'd want to come to the trial with me."

She took a step back."I don't know. I don't know if I can be close to that man."

"I understand." I lifted the trash bag out of her hand. I guess that was a decision. She smiled as if she could see right through me.

"Still the public servant, huh, Nick?"

I gave her a self-deprecating smile."Evolving."

She smiled.

"Hey, Pellisante," she called, catching me halfway down the stairs."Next time, you really should think about coming in."

THE FOLLOWING MORNING I was at my desk. In my office. At home.

I was doing what I always did on the days I didn't teach. What I'd been doing every free day for the past five months: sifting through every piece of information I could find on the case. Every document. Every sliver of evidence.

Looking for some way I could tie the bus blast to Dominic Cavello.

If anyone saw my study, my disheveled desk, they'd probably think they'd stepped into the lair of some obsessive, pathological nutcase. Good God, I had photos taped everywhere. The blast site. The van. The juror bus. Thick binders of FBI reports on the explosive device stacked high. Interviews with people on the street who might've seen the two men in work clothes running away.

More than once I thought I had caught a break. Like when the stolen New Jersey plates led back to some horse trainer in Freehold who had links to the Lucchese crime family. But that turned out to be coincidence. None of it led anywhere. None of it directly tied to Dominic Cavello or his people.

I was sipping my morning coffee, having to admit that my mind was drifting back to Andie DeGrasse, when the phone rang.

"Pellisante," I answered.

It was Ray Hughes, the agent who'd taken my place at C-10."Nick"-he sounded happy to catch me-“any chance you're free?"

Sometimes we'd have lunch, and Ray would pick my brain, or I'd pick his. I figured all he wanted was to go over my testimony for the upcoming trial."I'd hate to miss out on Ellen, Ray, but I think I could find my way down to see you."

"Not here. There's a government jet waiting for us. At Teterboro."

If Ray wanted to grab my interest, he had it. The offer of a crummy sandwich at his desk in the Javits Building would have done the trick, too.

"A plane to take us where, Ray?"

The acting head of the Organized Crime Unit paused." Marion."

I stood up quickly from my desk, coffee spilling over my work notes.

Marion was the federal prison where Cavello was being held.

ABOUT FOUR HOURS LATER, the government Lockheed touched down at the airport in Carbondale, Illinois. A car was waiting for us and drove us to Marion Federal Prison. Marion was a vast, depressing-looking redbrick fortress stuck in the middle of a marshland in rural southern Illinois. It was also one of the most secure federal prisons in the United States. Although Cavello had yet to be convicted, after what happened in New York, the government wasn't taking any chances.

Warden Richard Bennifer was waiting for us. He escorted us out to the special control units, where Cavello was being held. The only visiting station was a glass-paneled room, with a guard standing by with a Taser and a surveillance camera running at all times. The prisoners here were lifers, level sixes, lost to the outside world for all time. I rejoiced. I was looking forward to seeing Cavello spend the rest of his life in a place like this.

Ray Hughes and Joel Goldenberger remained outside and watched through the one-way glass.

Cavello was already sitting there when I came in. He was dressed in an orange jumpsuit, his feet chained together. He was gaunter and older than when I'd seen him last, and a thin, gray growth clung to his jawline.

He'd been informed the government was here to see him, but the government was here to see him a lot. When he saw it was me he did a double take. Then came a wistful smile, as if he had just found an old friend.

"Nicky!" He tilted back his chair."Is it a holiday or something? Who's minding the class?"

I sat down across from him, behind the protected glass, and didn't laugh."Hi, Dom. How's the jaw?"

"Still hurts." He laughed."Still think of you every time I brush my teeth."

Then he twisted around to the guard behind him."You watch this guy. Last time he came to see me in jail, I had to take my meals through a straw for months." He wheezed a laugh."This is the guy that should be in here, not me. Anyway, you're lookin' fit, Nicky. Playin' any golf? Retirement looks like it agrees with you."

"They let me come back, Dom, just for a day." I smiled thinly."To deliver some news."

"News, huh? Good, I don't get much news in here. Jeez, Nick, they got some special downward career spiral planned out for you. You're a messenger boy now. Anyway, I'm glad you're here. I like the company. It's just that, you look a little peaked, eh? Must be that kid, huh? Tell me, how're you sleeping these days?"