“Mickey, I thank you so much,” she said, her tears smearing my freshly dry-cleaned Canali suit. “I can’t believe this. I really can’t.”
While she held me, Marshal Nate came to the table and unlocked her wrist. He started to remove the cuff.
“Can she leave from here?” I asked. “Or does she have to go through the MDC?”
“No, the judge set her free, man,” Marshal Nate said. “She’s free to go. Unless she left property behind at the jail and wants to get it.”
Lucinda turned from my chest to look up at Marshal Nate.
“No, nothing,” she said. “And thank you for being kind to me.”
“Not a problem,” Marshal Nate said. “Good luck to you.”
He turned and walked back to his desk by the holding cell’s door.
“Lucinda, you heard him,” I said. “You’re free. Why don’t you go see your family now.”
She looked over my shoulder at her family waiting in the gallery — her son with her mother, brother, and several cousins. To a person, they had tears running down their faces, even those whose clothing couldn’t hide the tattoos affirming their allegiance to White Fence.
“I can just go?” she asked.
“You can just go,” I said. “If you want to talk to the media after you see your son and everybody, I’ll tell them they can find you outside the courthouse where they can set up cameras.”
“You think I should?”
“Yes, I think you should. Tell them what you’ve been through these last five and a half years.”
“Okay, Mickey. But first, my family.”
I nodded. She got up, walked through the gate into the gallery, and was soon being hugged by her son and all her family members at once.
I took it all in for a long moment and then I heard my name called from the front row. It was Queally. I walked over to the rail, and the reporters squeezed together to hear me.
“For those of you who need film, my client and I will hold a press conference outside the courthouse on the Spring Street side. Bring your cameras and questions and I’ll see you there.”
I turned to look at the AG’s table and saw that Morris was already gone. He had probably slipped out while Lucinda and I hugged and celebrated our victory and his loss. When I looked at the back of the courtroom, I saw my daughter and ex-wife still seated in the last row. I walked through the gate, went down the center aisle, and slipped into the now-empty row in front of them.
“Congratulations, Dad,” Hayley said. “That was amazing.”
“I call it the resurrection walk,” I said. “You don’t get too many of them. Thanks for coming, Hay.”
“I would have missed it if Mom hadn’t called me,” she said.
I looked at Maggie, unsure how to proceed. Luckily, she took the lead.
“Congratulations,” she said. “I obviously was on the wrong side of this one. Please apologize to Harry for me.”
“Well, he’s around here somewhere,” I said. “Maybe you could say that to his face.”
“Apologize for what?” Hayley asked.
“I’ll tell you in the car,” Maggie said.
I nodded that that was okay with me.
“Now what?” Maggie asked. “Are you going to sue the county for millions?”
“If my client wants me to. I’ll have to talk to her.”
“Come on, you know you’re going to sue and you’re going to win.”
There was an edge to her voice. She still had to bust on me even though I had won the day. I let it go. Maggie didn’t have the same hold over me she’d once had. I had reached the point where her disappointments in me no longer mattered.
“We’ll see,” I said. “It helps when the other side has manufactured evidence.”
Hayley pointed behind me and I turned to see Gian Brown standing at the railing.
“The judge would like to see you in chambers,” he said.
“Right now?” I asked.
He nodded and I realized it had been a dumb question.
“I’ll be right there.”
I turned back to my daughter.
“Can you come out tonight and celebrate with me?” I asked.
“Sure,” she said. “Where are you going to go?”
“I don’t know. Dan Tana’s, Musso’s, Mozza? You pick.”
“No, you pick. Just text me where and when.”
I looked at Maggie.
“You can come too, you know,” I said.
“I think you should celebrate with your daughter,” she said. “Have a great time. You earned it.”
I nodded.
“Well, I guess I should go see what the judge wants,” I said.
“Don’t keep her waiting,” Maggie said.
I walked down the row to the center aisle and got there just as Bosch came through the door from the hall.
“Were you here?” I asked. “We won. Lucinda is free.”
“I saw,” he said. “I was standing in the back.”
“Where’s Shami? Did she see it?”
“She was here but she went back to the hotel. She’s going to try to get a red-eye back to New York tonight. I’ll take her to the airport.”
A sudden involuntary need took over and I reached out and hugged him. He stiffened but didn’t pull away.
“We did it, Harry,” I said. “We did it.”
“You did it,” he said.
“No, it takes a team,” I said. “And an innocent client.”
We awkwardly disengaged and both looked at Lucinda, still surrounded by family, her once-manacled hand grasping her son’s.
“That’s a beautiful thing,” Bosch said.
“It is,” I said.
We watched silently for a moment and then I saw Gian standing and staring at me from his corral. I nodded to him. I was coming.
“I gotta go see the judge, but two things, Harry,” I said. “As soon as I’m finished with her, we’re going to have a press conference outside on the Spring Street side. I know it’s not your thing, but I would like you there if you want to be there.”
“And the second?” he asked.
“Dinner tonight. To celebrate. Hayley’s coming. Bring Maddie if you want.”
“That’s something I’m up for. I’ll check with Maddie. Where? When?”
“I’ll text you.”
I started walking toward the railing.
“Hope to see you downstairs,” I said. “You deserve to be there. Call Shami and see if she’ll come back for the press conference. And for dinner. We’ll get her to the airport afterward.”
“I’ll call her.”
I left him there, went through the gate, and crossed the proving ground to go see the judge.
The door to her chambers was open but I reached in and knocked anyway. She was behind the desk, no longer wearing the black robe.
“Come in, Mr. Haller,” she said. “Have a seat.”
I did as she instructed. She was writing on a legal pad and I said nothing to interrupt. She finally put her pen into the holder of an ornate desk set with her name engraved on a brass plaque and looked up at me.
“Congratulations,” she said. “I believe the petitioner in this case had a formidable advocate at her side.”
I smiled.
“Thank you, Your Honor,” I said. “And thank you for cutting through all the distractions and smoke screens to get to an incisive and just ruling. You know, I rarely venture into federal court, because, well, it’s kind of David versus a bunch of Goliaths most of the time, but after this ex—”
“I know what you did, Mr. Haller,” she said.
I paused. Her tone had grown too serious for a post-hearing meeting between a judge and attorney.
“What I did, Your Honor?” I tried.
“I took the long lunch to review everything that was presented before I made my determination,” she said. “That included my prior rulings and actions. And I realized what you’d done in my courtroom.”