Leapholes

Chapter 17

Ryan and Hezekiah left the courtroom together. On the first floor of the courthouse was a noisy cafeteria with booths and counter space. They found a booth in the back where they could talk privately over french fries and chocolate milkshakes.

"You were fantastic, Ryan. Even the judge thought so."

Ryan chuckled. "Yeah, what did he call me? A real Legal Eagle."

"That was quite a compliment," Hezekiah said in a serious tone. "What he was really saying is that you are definitely a potential candidate for the Society."

"The Society?"

"The Society of Legal Eagles, of course. I'm a member. That old judge is a member. You have to be a member in order to earn leapholes."

Ryan plunged an extra straw into his thick milkshake and took a double-barreled mouthful. "Society of Legal Eagles, huh? Sounds kind of goofy to me."

"Sure it's goofy. On the laugh-out-loud meter, it's right up there with the Mouseketeers. But it shows we have a sense of humor. Believe me, Ryan: You don't ever want to meet a lawyer who takes himself or herself too seriously."

"Like the prosecutor in my dad's case. Boy, was that guy ever full of-"

"Watch your language, young man."

"HimselfI was going to say he was full of himself."

"Oh, of course. A lawyer like him would never be invited into the Society."

"He still won the case. He got my father to confess. Dad's in jail now."

"I'm sorry about that."

Ryan waited for him to say more, hoping that perhaps Hezekiah would continue the discussion they'd started in the hallway before trial. But the old lawyer was stone silent. Ryan said, "Why would my father have confessed if he wasn't guilty?"

Hezekiah selected a french fry from the plate, but he didn't eat it. He just wagged it like an extra finger as he spoke. "My guess is that this is something very hard for him to explain."

"I'd love to hear him try."

"Have you told him that?"

Ryan shrugged. "Yeah, sort of."

"I'm serious, Ryan. Have you sat down with your father and told him you want to understand what he did? Have you given him that chance?"

Ryan was silent, staring down into his milkshake.

Hezekiah said, "Or have you been too angry to even listen?"

"I just can't understand why he would have done that. People don't confess to things they didn't do."

"It's not unheard of, Ryan."

"It just doesn't make sense."

"The system isn't perfect. You proved that today. You showed the judge that the William Brown was a bad decision. Just because a case went one way or the other doesn't always mean it went the right way. There are bad decisions handed down every day."

"How does that happen?"

"Sometimes mistakes are made. Those are bad, but those aren't the ones that worry me the most."

"What do you worry about?" asked Ryan.

The old man's eyes seemed to glisten like two burning embers. "What I'm about to tell you is very important. It's something you must never forget. My friends and I may kid around a little, give ourselves a corny name like the Society of Legal Eagles. But the other side is no laughing matter."

"What other side?"

"Just as sure as there are Legal Eagles in the world, there is also Legal Evil. That's where the worst decisions come from."

"Are there worse decisions than the William Brown?

"Oh, yes," said Hezekiah. "Much, much worse."

"Like what?" asked Ryan.

Hezekiah said, "Perhaps your father's case. If he's telling you the truth, perhaps his case was worse."

"Do you think he was innocent?"

"I have no way of knowing for certain. I wasn't there when the crime was committed."

"But he must have said something to you."

"Like I told you before, I couldn't share that with you even if I did know. The point is, your father wants to talk to you, not to me. Only you can find out the truth."

"I want to know more about this Legal Evil."

"Oh, this is far too happy an occasion to dwell on Legal Evil. We should be celebrating your victory."

"I want to know," said Ryan. "What's the worst, most awful decision out there?"

Hezekiah's face turned very serious. "The worst decision ever.. . this is just my opinion. The worst decision ever is where Legal Evil lives."

"Where is that?"

Hezekiah was clearly reluctant to say more. Finally, he seemed to conjure up a satisfactory answer. "Legal Evil lives where the brood follows the dam."

"Huh?" said Ryan. "Sounds like some kind of riddle. Where is that?"

"It is the most horrible, dark place in legal history."

"Can I see it?"

"Not now," said Hezekiah. "Like I said. We must celebrate. You have passed the test."

Ryan suddenly had brain-freeze from his milkshake. Or was it something that Hezekiah had just said? A test-is that what he said? "What test are you talking about?" asked Ryan.

"Oh, me and my slippery old silver tongue. But you were bound to find out sooner or later anyway." Hezekiah leaned closer. It was clear from the expression on his face that he was dying to share a secret with Ryan. "Do you ever wonder how you ended up in the hospital in the first place?"

"Of course I do. I wonder about a lot of things. Mostly what I think about are those poor people who died of the BODS virus."

Hezekiah narrowed his eyes and said, "No one actually died."

"Say what?"

"We sort of placed you in that whole situation. Kaylee was in on it as well. So was everyone else you met there. As a matter of fact, Kaylee is one of the newest members of the Society of Legal Eagles. She's going to be a real firecracker."

Ryan could barely speak. "Why would you do that to me? Is that how you get your kicks?"

"Look at me," said Hezekiah. "I'm very old. It's time for me to retire. In order to retire from the Society of Legal Eagles, a member must find a younger replacement. I've chosen you as my replacement."

"So you decided to torture me?"

"Not torture you. Test you. I had to make sure you have what it takes to be a loophole closer. As a matter of fact, you were in a leaphole from the minute you were knocked off your bicycle and hit the pavement."

"You mean the whole fire at the hospital-that was from an actual legal case?"

"Stacy versus Truman Medical Center. Missouri Supreme Court, 1992. We brought you out of the leaphole when you were swinging through the elevator shaft at the end of that rope you and Kaylee made."

"Is that why all that wind was blowing up through the shaft and into the hallway?"

"That's right. There was no leaphole to the Infectious Disease Control Center. The Society had to stage that part of the test on its own."

"And the trip to the prison, the night in the dungeon?"

"We staged that, too. Sorry about leaving you and Kaylee in those dark cells all night. With our latest budget cuts, an old fort with no electricity was all we could afford to rent."

"You could have afforded a stinking candle."

"You're right. All I can say is that the Society takes its tests very seriously. Sometimes our members go a little overboard."

"What were you testing?"

"Character, of course. And courage. Each step presented a different question. First: would you run out of the hospital when you saw Kaylee running the wrong way, or would you go back to save her? You went back. Second: would you share the vaccine with others, putting your own life at risk in the hope of saving all? You did. Third: were you willing to travel back to the William Brown to discover bad precedent? You were. Finally: did you learn how to abandon bad precedents, to make the jury see through the eyes of the victim? You did."

"I don't like being tested," said Ryan.

"But you passed, boy. You have what it takes to become a Legal Eagle."

"Who says I want to be one?"

Hezekiah was taken aback. "What did you say?"

"You think this is all a big joke, the way you tricked me?"

"It wasn't a trick, Ryan."

"Of course it was. It was you and Kaylee and the judge and probably even all those jurors who made themselves look like the passengers on the William Brown. You all got together and decided to make me run through this maze like a rat after cheese."

"Don't be angry."

"I have a right to be angry. Sure, it's nice to know that no one actually died in the hospital because of a lack of vaccine. It was all just a test. But that doesn't excuse what you did. You just jerked me around."

"I did nothing of the sort. This is an honor. I chose you."

"Well, maybe I choose not to be chosen."

"You must accept, Ryan. Not everyone is given the opportunity to become a Legal Eagle."

"Maybe you should rethink the way you deliver your invitations."

"Please, Ryan. I'm old, and my skills are fading. I don't have the time or the energy to scout out a new candidate. Don't do this to me."

"So, it's all about you. Is that it?"

"No. It's about the future of our Society. It's about the battle against Legal Evil."

His repeated mention of the battle against Legal Evil set Ryan to thinking. From the day his father was taken away to jail, Ryan had thought his father was nothing but a liar. He'd lied to Ryan's mother when he said everything was going to be all right. He'd lied to Ryan and his sister when he said they had nothing to be ashamed of. He'd lied again when he said he was innocent. Ryan wasn't so sure anymore. Maybe those weren't lies. But he was dead certain of one thing: Hezekiah had lied to him. Ryan didn't like being tricked. He didn't like being lied to or deceived. The fact that Hezekiah said it was all for a good cause didn't make Ryan feel any better.

"I want to go home," said Ryan.

"But you're so close to becoming a member. Just a few more-"

"I don't want to be a member. My mom must be really worried about me. I just want to go home."

Ryan pushed away from the table and started toward the cafeteria exit. Hezekiah hurried after him. "You're making a terrible mistake, Ryan."

Ryan kept walking down a long corridor that led to the main lobby of the courthouse. On either side of him were two rows of towering columns, each one easily four stories in height. They made him feel so small, like a tiny ant among a forest of redwoods.

"Do you hear me, Ryan? I say, you're making a mistake!"

"I can live with it," said Ryan. He was headed toward a set of massive wood doors. His heels clicked against the polished marble with each footfall. As he neared the exit, it suddenly occurred to him that he didn't know where the courthouse was located. He didn't know the street, the city, the state. He didn't even know what country he was in. But it didn't matter. He'd had enough of this legal fantasy land. He wanted out. He wanted to go home.

"Ryan, don't open that door!"

Ryan ignored him and pushed on the handle.

"Ryan, don't!"

He pushed once more, but to no avail. Then he pulled- and it was as if he'd unleashed a hurricane. The door flew open with so much force that it was nearly ripped from its hinges. It slammed against the wall, and a tremendous wind rushed in. Ryan was swept from his feet and thrown back into the lobby. Somewhere in the background he heard Hezekiah calling to him, but it sounded as if he were a mile underwater. Ryan tried to move forward, toward the door, but the screaming wind was too strong. He turned to find another way out of the building, and what he saw stunned him.

The columns were moving.

Massive pillars of stone were on the verge of teetering back and forth. It was just a few inches of movement, but they were indeed moving, he was sure of it. It was a side-to-side motion, like that finger wagging in his face when that man with the flat face had carried him to his ambulance. The courthouse lobby was a wind tunnel, and the only things in it were Ryan and two rows of columns. Everything was a blur. The courthouse itself had seemed to fade from existence. Back and forth, back and forth the columns swayed.

Then Ryan left his feet, and everything went black.