Plea of Insanity (34 page)

‘Yes,’ she said softly.

‘Look, Idon’t know if you’ve turned the news on yet,’ he finally said with what sounded like an angry, exasperated sigh, ‘but you better. Something’s happened. Ivonne Ledo called – Farley’s JA. The judge wants everyone in chambers asap.’

73

‘This is outrageous, Judge! Twenty minutes before we’re set to pick a jury and
this
is the story the whole damn pool is reading downstairs!’ Mel Levenson bellowed, waving a copy of the
Miami Herald
about in his balloon hands. He looked like he’d just been boiled: his face was as red as a lobster, large beads of sweat dripped from his hook nose and off unruly, gray Elvis sideburns.

‘You may be giving some of that pool way too much credit,’ Farley replied with a dry chuckle, looking around at the crowd in his chambers from his throne at the head of a long conference table. ‘So don’t get yourself all worked up now, Mel. But Ido agree that it’s rather interesting this breaks today.’ He looked at John Latarrino for an answer, his eyes narrowing. ‘Detective? What’s the story here? Is he a suspect in these killings?’

‘He has not been named a suspect,’ Lat replied carefully. Across from him, Bellido leaned casually back in his chair, almost removing himself from the conversation, long fingers thoughtfully stroking his chin, probably covering up a toothy, smug smile, Lat thought. The longer this case went on, the more intolerable he was finding Ricardo Alejandro Bellido, the name the guy now made sure the press addressed him by. The thought of the man becoming the next State Attorney was enough to make Lat seriously consider moving departments north and over the county line to Broward. ‘At this point, I’d have to say he’s just a person of interest, Judge. There are certain similarities between the crimes, which, obviously, I’m not at liberty to discuss. We’re working with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the local authorities in both Wakulla and Santa Rosa counties.’

At the far end of the table he watched as Julia settled into a seat with her coffee, but he noticed she wasn’t looking over at him. And she wasn’t looking over at him on purpose, he figured. She was probably a little embarrassed about last night’s late-night phone call and North Beach rescue mission, which was definitely a little weird, but then again, he’d had his share of weird nights himself over the years. A lot of regrets swallowed along with his morning coffee. Everybody had. And the pressure of this case was sure to get to people in different ways, especially the major players. He just hoped she wasn’t worried he’d hold it against her. Whatever she had going on in her life – whoever she had it going on with – he knew she’d figure it out. She was a smart woman.

‘There you have it, Mr Levenson,’ said Farley with a shrug. ‘He’s not really a suspect. No harm intended, says the detective.’

‘This is bullshit, Your Honor!’ Mel yelled, leveling a fat fist on the table. ‘The prosecutors and detectives here are just not happy that on the eve of trial, public opinion in this case is not in their favor. They’re not happy that their attempts to prosecute and execute a clearly insane man – who, by the way, is being
forced
to take psychotropic meds by this court so he can
stay
sane in front of a jury – have ignited worldwide outrage, and so they will do anything and say anything to change their bloodthirsty image.’ He leaned on the table and looked directly at Rick, his eyes narrowing. ‘Especially our future State Attorney here, who apparently will be making a permanent run at the job come November. I’m guessing congratulations are in order.’

Rick didn’t even blink.

Mel turned back to the judge. ‘And that “do anything and say anything” mentality includes making my client look like a psychopathic
serial killer
in the public eye! All it takes is the
allegation
he’s involved in another couple of murder investigations to taint the whole pool downstairs. Just the allegation, and Mr Bellido knows it. I’m telling you, Judge, you won’t find one prospective juror in that courtroom this morning who hasn’t heard this story already and formed an opinion – and if you do, I’m removing him for cause, because he’s lying. Ican’t even move this mess to another county now – hell, even to another
country
– because it’s world news.
World
news. And these detectives – and Mr Bellido here, with his hidden smirk – sure as hell know it! The news hounds have up and done it again, Your Honor.’

Lat sat straight up in his chair, his blood boiling, while Brill pushed his back hard from the table.

‘Alright. Enough with the name-calling,’ the judge said with a sigh, holding up his hands as if to separate the two sides. Mel plunked back down in his seat, breathing heavy, pulling his shirt cuffs back down and out his sleeves. Rick maintained the disinterested stare.

‘Well, you just said it, Mel,’ Farley continued. ‘He’s tainted the world. So don’t bother asking for a change of venue now to Martin County. I’ll be sure to give the pool a curative instruction when they get up here.’ The judge turned to Rick. ‘While Iwas very happy to hear on
The Today Show
that you’ll have Jerry Tigler’s endorsement on county bus benches across Miami-Dade come September, this isn’t how we’re gonna try this case.’ His icy stare drifted back and forth between Rick and Julia now. ‘Do you both understand me? Nice try.’ He sat back and perused the entire table. ‘You’ve all been gagged. And that includes your detectives and your private investigators. Your mothers and your grandmothers, too. Idon’t want to hear about another suspected leak unless it’s coming from underneath someone’s kitchen sink. Got it?’

‘Fair enough, Your Honor,’ said Rick, rising. He smoothly buttoned his jacket. ‘I don’t know how the press got a hold of this information, but Icertainly won’t mention another word about it.’

‘Including, I’m sure, the fact that David Marquette is
not
actually a suspect. How convenient,’ scoffed Mel, grabbing his file from Stan Grossbach’s hands. ‘Your Honor, if I’m not going to get a venue change, I think I should at the very least get a continuance charged to the State. We should wait until the press dies down on this and people at least forget what they heard this morning on CNN.’

Farley actually laughed. ‘Have you been looking out your window for the past few months, Mr Levenson? The press is going
nowhere
. If anything, a continuance will just encourage a few more diehards to pick up a camera and cross the pond. Or even worse for you, your client could actually be charged as a defendant in the North Florida murders. You want a continuance, it’s a defense continuance, so say goodbye to speedies. And you can try this case maybe next March, because I’m sure my docket is pretty full till then.’ He shot a look over at the court reporter, who obediently stopped typing. ‘And, let’s be honest here, Mel, Ijust don’t think your client’s daddy is gonna be too happy to hear that. Especially with Junior enjoying the luxurious accommodations of Hotel DCJ across the street. ’Cause that’s where he’ll sit till we try this thing.’

Mel shook his head. ‘I’m between a rock and a hard place on this, Lenny,’ he said between gritted teeth.

‘Then let me make it easy for you. I’m not giving you a continuance anyway, even if you want it. There. Ijust handed you your first issue on appeal.’ The judge turned to Jefferson, who stood by the door, fidgeting with his glasses. ‘Jefferson!’ he said, making the bailiff jump in his skin and drop them to the floor. ‘Go bring up the first fifty from downstairs. We’re picking this jury in an hour.’

74

‘How could Inot have known this?’ Julia demanded once they were all across the street in Rick’s office and away from the boom mikes. Her voice was shaking with anger.

‘You did know,’ Rick said quietly.

‘Bullshit. Iknew there were some unsolved homicides that Lat and Brill had looked at a while back, but there’s no link here.’

‘Apparently Marquette was within a thirty-mile radius on the night each family was murdered, attending medical conferences in Tallahassee and Pensacola Beach,’ Rick said with a shrug.

‘Jesus Christ, so were a million other people,’ she said, looking around the room.

‘There was no forced entry in the homes. Mom is raped and killed, posed in a prone sexual position; kids are killed in their beds. A knife from the kitchen cutlery set and a baseball bat are the weapons of choice. There are definitely similarities.’

‘You just vaguely described most sexually violent crime scenes. I’m sure there are another fifty unsolved homicides just like this across the country.’

‘Perhaps, but
these
two unsolved homicides happen to be in Florida, just a few miles down the road from where our psychopathic defendant was left all alone in some hotel brushing his teeth in the middle of the night.’

‘But there’s no physical evidence linking him to those murders! No DNA, no semen, no hair, no ID. Nothing.’

‘Which is why they’re unsolved, Julia. I think there are enough similarities that it’s worth looking into,’ Rick said slowly, restraint obviously tempering his words.

‘Maybe looking into, but the press now thinks it’s a hell of a lot more than that.’ Julia felt like the only one in the room not in on the joke. She felt them all watching her and it made her angry. ‘Mel Levenson is right. All we’re doing now is tossing out a frightening serial-killer angle to taint the pool and tip the scales of public opinion back in our favor. We all know that there’s nothing to make these murders stick on Marquette, save for him being within a thirty-mile radius when they were committed. So let’s not kid ourselves why it is the press even found out about them today.’ She turned back and looked at Lat for the first time that morning. ‘I want to know, did you leak it?’

‘No,’ said Lat with a slow shake of his head. ‘I didn’t leak it, Julia.’ And she knew he didn’t.

Brill held his hands up. ‘Don’t look at me, Jules. Idon’t even watch the news.’

She turned to Rick. ‘I don’t need to leak anything, Julia,’ he said before the question was even asked, his dark eyes narrowing. ‘I’ve got a great case and I know it.’

‘Look, you don’t need the two of us for jury selection,’ Lat finally said when the silence in the room had lasted too long. He tapped Brill on the shoulder and the two of them headed for the door. Lat looked at Julia as he walked past. ‘Why don’t you give me a call when you’re done today?’

She said nothing. The cold silence remained in the room even after the door closed behind them.

‘What happened to you last night?’ Rick asked coolly.

‘I went for a jog.’

‘A jog?’ He shook his head in disbelief. ‘You left clothes at my house.’

‘I’ll have to pick them up.’

‘And your purse.’ He opened up his desk drawer and handed her pocketbook to her. ‘You still have a couple of things at my apartment.’

‘He’s never been linked to those cases, Rick,’ she insisted again. The thought came out before she could stop it. ‘Was all the bad press and The Hague complaint going to hurt your run at State Attorney? Or is convicting Marquette going to give you the winning vote? By the way, Iguess congratulations are in order.’

He stared at her for a long time. His dark eyes were cold and indifferent, as if he didn’t even know her. As if she were just some stranger standing in his office. A horrible chill ran through her and she wondered if he even remembered that just last night – only hours ago – he’d made love to her in his bed. ‘Julia, if you can’t handle this, then I think maybe now’s the time to get out.’

She said nothing for a long moment, wondering just how he meant that statement and just how she should take it. Thoughts rushed in from every direction, threatening to collide like a dozen freight trains.

Maybe he was right. Maybe now was the time to get out of this case. Head back up to New York and find herself a new profession, a new life. Maybe change focus in her career and do tax work or civil litigation. Or do nothing with the law anymore. She could just waitress if she had to, like she had in college. A nice, stress-free, simple life. She could be near Andy when he went to Rockland. Maybe get a life ready there to bring him home to one day.

She looked past Rick at the skyline behind him, the mirrored windows on the high-rises twinkling like diamonds in the brilliant sunshine. Maybe there was nothing for her in Miami anymore, anyway. She knew Nora and Jimmy could never accept Andrew in their lives, or accept the fact that she’d welcomed him back into hers. Even though Jimmy had promised he’d work on getting Nora to pick up the phone, she still hadn’t. Everything was so different now. It would be impossible to get back to the comfort and familiarity of the way things used to be, wouldn’t it? There were too many secrets to navigate through. Too many lies to forget. And forgive. And, of course, there was Andy. She couldn’t desert him again; she owed him that as his sister. But, for Nora, there could be no future with Andy in it. And while Jimmy might be the calming voice of reason, at the end of the day, it was Nora who he went to bed with. It was Nora who he would grow old with. It was Nora who he’d ultimately have to side with if sides were drawn and ultimatums declared.

Julia stared at the brass nameplate on Rick’s desk.
Ricardo A. Bellido, Esq.
In a fleeting moment of happiness weeks back, she’d once actually said the name Bellido aloud after her own, just to hear how it sounded. God, how life could do a complete 360 on you in just the blink of an eye. Again.

She knew in her heart that their relationship was dead. But it was so hard to walk away from something she thought she could’ve made work, even though right now, with the way he was looking at her, she felt dirty and small and stupid for ever having thought that. The failure of her relationship with her aunt and uncle already rested squarely on her shoulders and she didn’t think she could also carry the weight of a failed romance as well right now. She wasn’t ready to hear the news yet.

And then there was the one final thought that made it impossible for her to run and hide somewhere. If nothing else, today had proved that.

What if he really was insane? What if they were wrong about him?

Although it certainly wasn’t her job to play defense attorney, she couldn’t subscribe to the ‘win at any cost’ mindset of her own teammates. She’d seen even Mel Levenson compromise his arguments to keep his membership in the Good Ol’ Boys Club. This case was getting so out of control. No one played by the rules anymore, and she was the only one who could see that. The vice squeezed tighter and tighter.

The choice was hers and she knew it. Her abrupt departure would raise questions that they both knew Rick would not want to have to answer in an election year. Any dissension in the ranks would be a PR nightmare that Mel would be sure to exploit in the press. Office policy sexual harassment violations would be political suicide.

She shook her head and wiped the defiant tears from her eyes before they even fell. She didn’t look at him. ‘No. Ican handle it just fine,’ she said, not sure what question she’d answered.

Then she walked out of his office and headed back over to court.