I saw that she had some documents spread out on the table in front of her.
“How long have you been here?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I got work done.”
“Did you see Hayley today?”
“Yes, we ate lunch at Moreton Fig. It was nice.”
“Love that place. Miss it. Miss being with her.”
“You’re going to get out of here, Mickey. We have a strong case.”
I just nodded to that. I wished that I could see her whole face so I could read her better. Was she just giving me a pep talk, or did she really believe what she was saying?
“You know, I don’t have it, whatever it is,” I said. “The virus. You don’t need to wear the mask.”
“You might not know if you have it,” she said. “Anyway, it’s not you I’m worried about. It’s the air recirculation in this place. They’re saying the jails and prisons are going to be vulnerable. At least you’re not on those buses going back and forth from court anymore.”
I nodded again, studying her. The mask accentuated her dark, intense eyes. Those eyes had been what first pulled me toward her twenty-five years ago.
“Which way do you think Hayley’s going to go?” I asked. “Prosecution or defense?”
“Hard to say,” she said. “I don’t know, actually. She’ll make her own decision. She did say she’s not going to classes this week. She wants to watch the trial full-time.”
“She shouldn’t. She’ll fall too far behind.”
“I know. But there’s too much at stake for her. I couldn’t talk her out of it.”
“Hardheaded. I know where she gets that.”
“Me too.”
I thought I detected a smile behind the mask.
“Maybe she’ll go into criminal defense and we could have a family law firm,” I said. “Haller, Haller, and McFierce, Attorneys-at-Law.”
“Funny,” she said. “Maybe.”
“Do you really think they’re going to take you back after this? You’ve betrayed the tribe, crossed to the dark side, all of that. I’m not sure they let you do that on a temporary basis.”
“Who knows? And who’s to say that I want to go back? I see Dana in that courtroom and I really ask myself, do I want that anymore? I don’t know. Once they moved me out of Major Crimes to make room for the young hard chargers like her, I knew my career... it wasn’t exactly over but it had... plateaued. It wasn’t important anymore.”
“Oh, come on. Environmental protection? What you do is still important.”
“If I have to go after one more dry cleaner for dumping chemicals down the storm sewer, I think I’ll just kill myself.”
“Don’t kill yourself. Come partner with me.”
“Funny.”
“I mean it.”
“That’s okay.”
I took that as a hit. Her quick no reminded me of what had gotten between us and ended things, despite our daughter inextricably binding us together for life.
“You always thought I was dirty because of what I do,” I said. “Like it rubbed off on me somehow. I’m not dirty, Mags.”
“Well, you know the saying,” she said. “Lie down with dogs...”
“Then what are you doing here?”
“I told you. No matter what I think about what you do, I know you and I know you didn’t do this. You couldn’t have. And, besides, Hayley came to me. She asked me to help you. No, she told me. She said you needed me.”
I hadn’t known any of that. That stuff about Hayley was new and it cut me to the bone.
“Wow,” I said. “Hayley never said anything to me.”
“The truth is, she didn’t have to tell me,” Maggie said. “I wanted to do it, Mickey. I mean that.”
A silence followed that. I nodded my thanks. When I looked up, Maggie was pulling the elastic straps off her ears and removing the mask.
“Should we get down to business?” she said. “They only gave us an hour.”
“Sure,” I said. “Anything back yet on Milton’s phone?”
“They’re stringing that out but I’ll go to the judge if I have to.”
“Good. I want to burn that guy’s ass.”
“We will.”
“Sanctions?”
She wore no lipstick and I guessed that she had wanted to keep the makeup off her mask. Seeing her face now, I got that pang in my chest. She had been the only one who ever did that to me. Mask or no mask, makeup or no makeup, she was beautiful to me.
“I say we go big or go home,” she said. “We tell the judge to put bail back on the table.”
I snapped out of my reverie.
“As a sanction?” I said. “I doubt Warfield would go for that. The trial will be over by the end of this week. She won’t let me out just to possibly yank me back in if there’s a guilty verdict. And then I don’t think I want to put up a bond for what might amount to just four or five days of freedom.”
“I know,” Maggie said. “The judge won’t go for it and it’s a losing argument, but that’s just it. It’s an argument and we start the week with it and Dana has to expend all her Monday-morning energy on it.”
“Takes some of the wind out of her sails,” I said.
“Exactly. It’s a big distraction from her trial plan.”
I nodded. I liked it.
“Smart,” I said. “Let’s do it.”
“Okay,” Maggie said. “I’ll write it up and get it to all parties before six. Tomorrow I’ll handle the argument too.”
I had to smile. I admired how Maggie was justifying her McFierce reputation on both sides of the aisle and for my benefit.
“Perfect,” I said. “What do we ask for when Warfield shuts us down?”
“Nothing,” she said. “We just bank it.”
“Okay.”
She seemed pleased that I did not push back on her plan.
“So, where are we on everything else?” I asked.
“Opparizio,” Maggie said. “He knows something is up and left town yesterday. By car. Cisco had his guys on him.”
“Don’t tell me he left the state. Vegas?”
“No, he probably thought he’d be tracked there easy. He drove to Arizona. Scottsdale. He checked into a resort out there called the Phoenician. Cisco will go out tomorrow and hit him with the subpoena.”
“What if he knows that he doesn’t need to respond to a subpoena from another state? It’s probably the reason he left.”
“Something tells me he doesn’t and he left town because he was feeling the heat. He’s gotta know there’s a trial in the murder he’s responsible for. Best to get out of town till it’s over. Anyway, Cisco said they’ll video the whole thing, make it an airtight service looking totally legit. The question is, what day do you want him here?”
We had to think about that. We had Dana Berg’s witness list and from that could extrapolate how long her case might take to put before the jury. We had already delayed things Friday with Drucker, but before that, the prosecutor had been stringing out his testimony in an attempt to run it up to the weekend. Berg would likely shift strategy now and move more quickly with him, trying to build momentum. She then had a deputy coroner on her wit list, the lead crime scene investigator, and then a few ancillary witnesses to follow.
“I’m thinking Dana has two days left at the max,” I said.
“I’m thinking the same,” Maggie said. “So we go with Opparizio on Wednesday?”
“Yeah, Wednesday. Good. Means I’ll be telling my side of this in less than seventy-two hours. Can’t wait.”
“Me neither.”
“And our other witnesses are set?”
“They’re all good to go. I have the retired EPA guy — Art Schultz — flying in Wednesday morning. The rest are all local. So we should have everybody on hand, and you can put them on in whatever order we decide works best.”
“Perfect.”
“Depending on what we get on the phone records, you can slip Milton in anywhere or make him the grand finale. Have Moira from the bar and then him as a one-two punch at the end.”
I nodded. It was good to set up witnesses so that we could handle any surprises or no-shows. Nothing would annoy Warfield or any judge more than having the jury ready but no witnesses to present to them. We needed to avoid that at all costs.
“What’s our contingency if Opparizio doesn’t come back or sends a lawyer to quash?” I asked.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Maggie said. “We could go to Warfield for a bench warrant. That’ll work across state lines. We’ll just have to get the locals out there to scoop him up.”
“That could delay things for days.”
“That’s why we play to Warfield. No one wants this trial over with more than you. But she’s second on that list, and we’ll make her see that she’s got to use her power to bring Opparizio in. He’s the centerpiece of the defense case. This could be reversed if we don’t get the opportunity to put him on the stand.”
“Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
There was a pause in the conversation and then I pointed it down another difficult track.
“What about the FBI?” I asked. “Have we given up on that?”
“No, not yet,” Maggie said. “I’ve talked to some people over there — sneaking into my office and using the phone. It helps to have the D.A.’s Office come up on their caller ID — they actually take the calls. I’m just trying to get an off-the-record sit-down with Agent Ruth.”
“That’s a long shot.”
“I know but I think if I can just talk to her, I can work something out. I know she’ll never get permission to testify, but if she would agree to just come and sit in court when it’s our turn to tell the story, we might win her over.”
“To do what, testify without the bureau’s permission?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
“That would be fantastic. But no way.”
“You never know. She’s already helped you once. Maybe she’ll do it again. We just need to find a way for her to do it. I think she might come to court anyway to see what comes out about Opparizio and BioGreen.”
“Well, send her an embossed invitation. We’ll save her a front-row seat. But I think it’ll be a seat that doesn’t get used.”
It appeared we had covered everything. The week ahead would determine the future of my life. I felt confident in Maggie and myself and our case. But the dread was still there. It never went away. Anything could happen in court.
Maggie picked up her mask and started looping the straps behind her ears. Even with the elastic the loops were too tight and pulled her ears slightly forward. In that moment I saw our daughter when she was younger and her ears were one of her most pronounced features.
“What?” Maggie asked.
“What?” I said.
“What are you smiling at?”
“Oh, nothing. Your mask sort of pulls your ears out. It reminded me of Hay. Remember when we used to say she had to grow into her ears?”
“I do. And she did.”
I nodded at the memory and watched Maggie cover her smile.
“So,” I said. “Who are you dating these days?”
“Uh, that’s none of your business,” she said.
“True. But I want to ask you out. I don’t want it to be a problem.”
“Really? Why? Ask me out where?”
“Next Sunday — one week from tonight. We go out and celebrate the big NG. I’ll take you to Mozza.”
“You’re certainly confident.”
“I have to be. It’s the only way to go. You in or out?”
“What about Hayley?”
“Hayley too. The whole firm — Haller, Haller, and McFierce, bringing new meaning to family law.”
Maggie laughed.
“Okay, you’re on.”
She gathered the paperwork and got up. She knocked on the steel door and then turned back to me.
“Stay safe, Mickey.”
“That’s the plan. You, too.”
The door was opened by a deputy, this one without a mask, and I watched her go. I realized after the door closed that I was falling in love again with Maggie McFierce.