Amanda threw curt “no comments” at the reporters who were camped outside the courtroom door as she hustled her client to the relative sanctuary of their counsel table. Charlie had his head down, so he didn’t see the slender African man in the back row of the spectator benches until he turned to watch Karl Burdett and a female district attorney push through the courtroom doors. Charlie experienced a violent urge to rush to the restroom the second he made eye contact with Nathan Tuazama. Then Burdett and his assistant passed between the two men. Charlie turned away quickly and shivered.
“Are you okay?” Amanda asked when she saw Charlie’s ash gray complexion.
“I’m just nervous,” Charlie lied as he imagined Tuazama’s eyes boring through his back into his soul.
“Good morning, Karl,” Amanda said as Burdett tossed his attaché case onto the prosecution table.
Burdett nodded but didn’t return her greeting. Then he turned his back on Amanda and began organizing his papers. Amanda wondered why the DA looked tense when he had the edge at the bail hearing. Before she could puzzle out the problem, the bailiff rapped his gavel and the Honorable Marshall Berkowitz hurried out of chambers to take the bench. The judge, who was short and grossly overweight, wheezed as he waddled to his position on the dais.
“Good morning,” he said with a friendly nod to both parties. If Judge Berkowitz was intimidated by the large contingent of reporters in his courtroom and the publicity his case was receiving, he didn’t show it.
“Good morning, Your Honor,” Burdett said as he rose to address the court. “This is the time set for the bail hearing in State v. Charles Lee Marsh aka the Guru Gabriel Sun. Let the record show that the state is represented by Karl Burdett and Rebecca Cromartie. The defendant is present, represented by his attorney, Amanda Jaffe.”
“Good morning, Your Honor,” Amanda said. “As a preliminary matter, I’d ask the court to strike Mr. Marsh’s aka. He took that name years ago to promote his book and seminars and he hasn’t used it in over a decade.”
“It’s how people know him, Judge,” Burdett countered. “We’ll have witnesses referring to him as Gabriel Sun or the guru. Besides, Miss Jaffe hasn’t given me notice so I’m not prepared to argue this issue, this morning.”
“I’m inclined to agree with Mr. Burdett,” the judge told Amanda, “but you can file a motion with some law if you’re concerned.”
Amanda wasn’t really concerned about the relatively benign aka in the indictment. What did worry her was the possibility that any juror who remembered Charlie’s alias would also remember that the tabloids had started calling her client Satan’s Guru as soon as he was accused of murder. But she decided to fight that battle another day.
“Let’s get to the matter of bail,” the judge said.
“I think I can save the court some time,” Burdett answered before Amanda could get a word out. “If Mr. Marsh surrenders his passport, the state will not oppose bail in light of his voluntary return to face trial.”
Amanda was shocked by Burdett’s concession but she was also surprised by his tone. The DA sounded like he regretted giving Charlie a break. If he felt that way, why was he agreeing to bail?
“That seems to take care of your motion, Miss Jaffe,” Judge Berkowitz said.
“It does, and I want to thank Mr. Burdett for being so reasonable.”
Burdett didn’t respond to Amanda. Instead, he told the judge that Charlie would have to be booked into the jail so he could be fingerprinted and have a mug shot taken. Then the DA suggested a bail amount that was well within Charlie’s means. Amanda agreed to the sum quickly and the judge told his clerk to prepare the paperwork. As soon as Amanda and Burdett agreed on a trial date, the DA and his assistant left the courtroom, followed by a pack of reporters.
“Am I free?” Charlie asked, unsure of what had just happened.
“As soon as we post bail.”
Charlie grinned. Then the grin faded as he remembered Nathan Tuazama. He scanned the crowd but the African was no longer in the courtroom.
“Something wrong?” Amanda asked.
“No, no. I’m just, uh, shocked by how fast everything went.”
“That makes two of us.”
“I bet you didn’t see that coming,” Kate said as she and Dennis joined Amanda and Charlie at counsel table.
“No, I didn’t,” Amanda answered, still confused by Burdett’s concession.
A sheriff’s deputy walked over to escort Charlie to the courthouse jail for booking.
“Kate, can you go with Charlie?”
“No problem.”
“I’ll get up to the jail as soon as I post your bail,” Amanda told her client. “Do not say anything about your case to anyone, understood?”
“Mum’s the word.”
“Good. See you in an hour or so.”
“I take it that this was unexpected?” Dennis Levy said.
“Very. I thought Burdett would fight to the death to keep Charlie in custody.”
“Any idea why he caved?”
“He didn’t cave, Dennis, and don’t you dare put it that way. I don’t want to make Karl sorry he gave us a break by making him look like a coward.”
“No, no, you’re right. I’ll write it up as a magnanimous concession.”
“Good.”
“So, why did he cave?” Levy asked with a grin.
“I have no idea. And now, you have to excuse me. I want Charlie out of custody as soon as possible.”
FIFTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER, Amanda escorted Charlie out of the jail and into the sunlight. He paused in the warm summer air to close his eyes and take a deep breath. Amanda noticed a group of reporters moving toward them. Kate was waiting at the curb to drive Amanda to her car. Amanda grabbed Charlie’s elbow and hustled him toward the street. They were almost there when Kate’s windshield exploded.
Kate threw an arm across her face. Charlie froze. Amanda slammed a shoulder into his back and drove him to the pavement just before another bullet passed through the space where his head had been, before blasting a chunk of concrete from the courthouse facade.
A reporter screamed. Others ducked for cover. A cameraman swung around and foolishly looked for the shooter through his lens. Two sheriff’s deputies crouched at the entrance to the courthouse, guns drawn.
“Keep down,” Amanda shouted as she pushed her client halfway under the car.
“What happened?” Charlie asked.
“Someone shot at you. Stay still. The shots came from the other side of the car. The chassis will block you from view.”
Dennis Levy cowered on the floor in the back of Kate’s car. Kate crawled across the glass littering the front seat. She paused long enough to draw her gun before pushing open the passenger door and rolling to the pavement.
“Are you okay?” Amanda asked.
“Yeah.”
Amanda heard a siren. Kate got to one knee and peeked over the hood. An ambulance was speeding toward them and the cameraman who had tried to locate the shooter was pointing the police toward a row of two-story commercial buildings several blocks away. When Kate was certain they were safe she signaled Amanda and the women helped Charlie to his feet.
“You saved my life,” Charlie told Amanda.
“Jaffe, Katz, Lehane and Brindisi is a full-service law firm,” she joked, trying to keep her tone light while she fought the shakes that grew worse as her adrenaline wore off.
“I’m going to need a statement,” a police officer told Charlie. Charlie looked at Amanda.
“It’s okay,” she said. “You’re the victim here. Did you see who shot at you?”
“No. I was looking at the car door. I was going to get in when the window exploded. Then you pushed me to the ground.”
“I’m afraid I can’t add anything to what Mr. Marsh said. I didn’t see a thing. As soon as the window exploded I knocked him down. After that, the car blocked my view.”