The pedestrian-only bridge just west of the famous Ha’penny Bridge was only a short walk from the hotel. Jay had left Sherry at the door to her room just half an hour before, his mind consumed with conflicting thoughts – including the need to finish a heartfelt letter to Linda he had begun to write that afternoon.
He hated the pain he’d caused Linda, and hated the abrupt way he’d slapped her with the news that he was leaving Laramie. She was right, he thought, about Karen’s memory holding him away from life and commitment, and he would change all that. Maybe it had been the near-death experience getting to Denver that had suddenly jarred him from the grip of Karen’s memory, or maybe time was finally dulling the intense pain. He could actually think of her now with more sadness than grief, and that was amazing.
Thinking of Linda, however, triggered nothing but guilt. He should have told her months ago that love wasn’t growing like it should, but it was easier to submerge in her love night after night, just taking the moment. He hoped they could remain friends, hoped she’d forgive him, but time would tell.
I’ll finish the letter as soon as I get back, Jay thought, wondering again why he’d agreed to this meeting.
He reached the metal bridge and walked to mid-span before turning to watch the light show of nighttime Dublin reflect on the dark silver of the river’s surface. He enjoyed the light breeze at his back and the constant passage across the bridge of individuals and strolling couples who formed a pleasant crosscurrent to the water below.
Jay saw someone lean on the railing to his right, and he looked over, instantly recognizing the man before he spoke.
“Thank you for meeting me here, Mr. Reinhart,” Stuart Campbell’s resonant voice announced as the senior attorney leaned forward, breathing deeply and examining the night.
“You understand that I’m still John Harris’s lawyer,” Jay said, his curiosity still overriding the caution of being asked by opposing counsel for a private meeting in the dead of night.
“Of course. I just wanted you to know that you fought an excellent battle today.”
“Thank you, Sir William,” Jay said hesitantly, wondering what would follow.
Campbell remained quiet as he leaned on the railing, scanning the dark water below.
Jay broke the silence. “May I ask you a question?”
“By all means.”
“Why did you do it?”
Stuart Campbell glanced at him again with an even expression. “Not object to your motion for adjournment, you mean?”
“Exactly. We had nothing but verbal representations about a phone call to Washington. You could have easily overridden it.”
“Yes, but I had no choice,” Stuart said.
“I don’t understand.”
“I already knew Peru’s record on prisoner abuse. You’d found the key, and one way or another you would prevail against extradition when you obtained proof of the U.N.’s actions. Why prolong the agony?”
“I see, I guess.”
Stuart Campbell looked at him again. “That ploy of yours was brilliant, you know.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Doing the alternative audio track to demonstrate that the tape could have been staged. Impeccable logic.”
“Thank you.”
“So, where are you going professionally, former District Judge Jay Reinhart? As you see, I know your history.”
Jay shook his head. “I don’t know, really. Probably back to Wyoming.” He began to smile skeptically and turned to look at Campbell. “Why? Are you offering me a job or something?”
“Good heavens, no!” Campbell laughed, falling silent just as rapidly. “But, on the other hand, you never know. If you start practicing over here, I might just have to hire you to keep from having to meet you on the battlefield.”
Jay snorted. “Yeah, as if I’m a threat to Sir William Stuart Campbell.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Mr. Reinhart. Were I your senior partner, I would be heaping praise and reward on your shoulders this minute for your handling of this matter.”
Jay pushed away from the railing and turned toward the senior lawyer.
“Well, you know something, Sir William? This may all be a game to you, but to me the law is a very serious thing, especially when someone’s life hangs in the balance. It matters a lot to me. So I’m very thankful I’m not your partner. Now, what’s the real reason you asked me to meet you here?”
Stuart Campbell smiled and reached in his inside coat pocket to pull out a small audiocassette tape.
“What’s that?” Jay asked.
“The openly taped record of a phone call between myself and President Miraflores several weeks ago. I thought you might like to have it.”
“What’s… on it?” Jay asked.
“President Miraflores’s angry voice as he quakes with anticipation of John Harris’s handcuffed arrival in Lima and makes plans for trying, convicting, sentencing… and burning John Harris alive. You see, one of Miraflores’s brothers was a drug dealer, and the brother’s death in that raid was the main source of his fury against John Harris. The stated intentions on this tape would have instantly prevented extradition, if needed.”
“You held that tape back!”
“Of course I did. I assumed it was protected under attorney-client privilege.”
“Okay, but then… then it’s still privileged…”
Stuart smiled and shook his head, his eyebrows flaring in mock surprise. “Apparently I was wrong. I checked my phone log and discovered this conversation predated my taking the case. So you’re welcome to use it anyway you see fit. Mr. Miraflores is no longer my client.”
Jay took the offered tape and balanced it in his hand. “Why now, Sir William?”
Stuart Campbell chuckled and stood away from the railing, ready to depart. “Because, Mr. Reinhart, the law and justice matter a lot to me, too. They always have.”
Jay watched in mild shock as the big lawyer turned and walked away.
So, Sir William Stuart Campbell had controlled it all from the beginning, Jay thought. Even Campbell’s defeat before Mr. Justice O’Connell had been consonant with his plan to drag an ex-President to the brink and yank him to safety just in time. He’d been John Harris’s prosecutor and savior rolled into one, and, as always, master of the game.
Jay quietly slipped the audiocassette into his pocket and turned back toward the river to lean on the railing, his mind furiously working on the question Campbell had asked him.
So where am I going professionally? Where should I go? He thought about Sherry and the trip they’d be taking together the next day if her schedule worked out.
Something else Sir William had said flashed across his mind, a comment about legal battlefields with Jay on the front lines.
Maybe I should think about resuming an international practice, Jay thought. It was a possibility he’d have to explore, and Ireland might just be a pretty good place to start.
Acknowledgments
While the world of aviation is my domain, I am also a lawyer, and Headwind gave me an extraordinary opportunity to meld both the aeronautical and legal worlds together in an exciting romp that has many dimensions, all of them needing the research help of numerous people in Europe and the Americas, some of whom I’d like to thank publically and specifically.
First, as always, the evolution of this story was helped immensely by the constant and patient editorial and developmental assistance of my wife, Bunny Nance.
I want to express my appreciation to my prime advocate at Putnam, Senior Editor David Highfill, whose top-flight abilities at fine-tuning the manuscript always make a good story even better. And my thanks, as well, to my Publisher, Leslie Gelbman, and to my long-time agent and friend Olga Wieser of the Wieser and Wieser Literary Agency in New York.