Supreme Justice

Chapter Seventeen

Brad was so exhausted that he overslept, but the policeman who’d relieved Officer Gross drove him to work so he wasn’t too late. Normally, the security guard at the employees’ entrance nodded at Brad when he walked by, but this morning he said, “Good work, Mr. Miller.”

Brad blushed and mumbled something inane before rushing off. The last thing he wanted was for everyone to think he was a hero when he didn’t think of himself like that. He’d read interviews with men who had been awarded the Medal of Honor and citizens who’d rushed into burning buildings or leaped into turbulent rivers to save a life. Many of them were humble and embarrassed at being labeled a hero. Brad could see why. If he’d had time to think, he believed he would have run away from Justice Moss’s assailant as fast as he could. But, like many other real-life heroes, he had acted on instinct, and it bothered him that he would be given credit for saving the judge’s life when he was on automatic pilot when he did it.

“Thank you,” Carrie Harris told Brad when he walked by the door to the judge’s chambers on his way to his office.

“I really didn’t do much, Carrie.”

“Uh huh,” she answered, her voice dripping with skepticism. “Well, whatever you didn’t do kept the boss alive. So I’m still going to thank you. And speaking of Justice Moss, she wants to see you.”

“I’ll be there in a minute. I’m just going to dump my stuff.”

As soon as Brad walked into his office, Harriet jumped to her feet.

“Are you OK?” she asked, examining his taped-up chin.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Did you really have a karate fight with the guy who attacked the boss?”

“Karate fight? I don’t know any karate. Where did you hear that?”

“All of the clerks are talking. I think they heard it from the security guards, but I can’t swear to that.”

“There was karate, but there wasn’t any fight. I was on the floor before I knew what hit me.”

“Then how did you fight him off?”

“I didn’t. Justice Moss knocked the gun out of the guy’s hand with her cane while I distracted him by letting him beat the hell out of me. Then she fired the gun to keep him from killing me. She’s the real hero.”

“I think you’re just being modest.”

“I’m just being honest. Look, Harriet, the judge is waiting for me. Please don’t tell anyone I’m the Bruce Lee of the Supreme Court, because that is absolutely false.”

“Hold my calls and shut the door,” Justice Moss told Carrie Harris when she ushered Brad into chambers.

“How are you feeling?” the judge asked Brad as soon as they were alone.

“Not too bad. A little sore, that’s all.”

“Roy Kineer called me last night,” Moss said when she was satisfied that he wasn’t just being brave. “He heard about the attack on the news. He asked after you. I told him you saved my life.”

“I hope you didn’t exaggerate what I did.”

Justice Moss threw her head back and laughed. “You charged a man with a gun armed only with a legal memo, young man. How do you exaggerate that?”

Brad smiled.

“ Roy wasn’t surprised by what you did. He had some very nice things to say about you, some of which I’d heard before when he recommended that I hire you. You should know that there aren’t many people who impress Roy.”

Brad blushed and looked at his lap. He didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing. The former chief justice had acted as the independent counsel who investigated the charges against President Farrington, and they had met because Brad and Dana Cutler were the key witnesses in the case. Kineer was an icon in the legal community and one of Brad’s heroes. It was hard for him to believe that Justice Kineer thought about him at all, let alone was impressed by him.

Moss stopped smiling. “I have a problem, and you’re the only person I can think of who can help me.”

Brad sat up straight. “Anything I can do, just ask.”

“Don’t commit yourself until you hear what I want you to do. It’s…” Moss paused. “Irregular. No, more than irregular. If someone discovers what we’re up to, it could lead to some very unpleasant consequences for both of us. If you tell me you don’t want to do it, I’ll respect your decision, and I’ll forget this conversation even took place.”

“Now you’re making me nervous,” Brad said.

“When I told the FBI that there was no case I could think of that could have triggered last night’s attack, I wasn’t being completely honest. Millard Price’s reaction in conference to Woodruff v. Oregon was very unusual. And you’ve told me that two of his clerks told you that I upset Millard by the way I acted in conference and tried to pump you for information on how I’m going to vote.” Justice Moss paused. “Brad, I think there’s a possibility that the attack on me and the Woodruff case are connected.”

“You think Justice Price is trying to kill you?” Brad asked incredulously.

“No. But his reactions were so odd that…” Moss shook her head. “There’s something about that case that’s upsetting him, and I can’t understand what it could be.”

“Why didn’t you tell Keith Evans about your suspicions?”

“What goes on in conference is sacrosanct. I would make an exception if I had evidence that the case was the reason I was attacked, but I don’t have one scintilla of proof. I just have a feeling. That’s why I need your help. I need to know if there’s any hard evidence to support my suspicions.”

“I still don’t know what you want me to do,” Brad said.

“We justices are prohibited from going outside the record in a case when we’re deciding the legal issues it presents, but I can’t help thinking that Millard may have some connection to the Woodruff case that he hasn’t disclosed. I need an investigator to find out if such a connection exists and, if it does, what it is.”

Brad frowned. “You want me to go to Oregon and play private eye?”

“No, of course not. You’d be missed instantly. Besides, I can’t afford to be short a clerk. Last night, when I was talking to Roy, he reminded me that your friend, Dana Cutler, was working as a private detective when the Farrington affair broke.”

Even though they were friends, the mention of Dana Cutler made Brad shiver. Brad liked Dana, but he’d led a sheltered life before getting involved in the Farrington affair, and he wasn’t used to associating with people as potentially violent as he knew Dana could be. While working as an associate in an Oregon law firm, Brad had been assigned a hopeless pro bono appeal for a convicted serial killer and had stumbled onto evidence that linked President Farrington to the murder of several women. Simultaneously, in Washington, D.C., Dana had drawn similar conclusions when she discovered a link between the president and a murdered college student. When they’d finally hooked up in Portland, Dana had forced Brad into a situation that almost cost him his life.

“Is Miss Cutler still a private investigator?” Justice Moss asked.

“Yes.”

“Do you think she would look into any possible connection between Millard and the Woodruff case?”

“I can ask.”

“I’ll take care of her fee and expenses, but she can’t tell anyone who is employing her.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem.” Brad paused. “Willie and Kyle told me that you did something specific that upset Justice Price. Do you feel that you can tell me what happened between you two? Dana is going to want to know.”

“As you know, it takes four votes to grant cert. Oliver Bates, Kenneth Mazzorelli, and Millard spoke out against bringing Woodruff up here. Lucius Jackson usually votes with Ken, and Frank Alcott is more conservative than anyone on the Court. Mary David and Warren Martinez made it pretty clear that they want Woodruff heard. I’m leaning their way. Ron Chalmers was going to vote to grant cert. So there were only two sure votes for cert after Ron stepped down, and my vote wouldn’t have been enough.

“As soon as Ron Chalmers left the room after telling us he was going to resign, Millard tried to force a vote on Woodruff. I told him I wasn’t sure how I was going to vote, and I precipitated a vote to defer. I’m responsible for cert still being a possibility in the case. Now it all depends on how Ron’s replacement votes.”

“You told Keith Evans that people don’t kill justices of the Supreme Court to keep cases from being heard.”

“I hope I’m right.”

“And, from what you’re telling me, even if cert was granted, the petitioner would probably lose five to four.”

“That’s true. And all this could be the work of an old woman’s overactive imagination, but it’s the only unusual thing that’s happened in connection with a case, and it’s got me worried.”

“If Dana agrees to help, what do you want her to do?”

“I think she’ll have to go to Oregon and find out as much as she can about what really happened there, and whether Millard had a connection to any of it.”

“I’ll see if Dana can meet with me tonight. Then we-”

A knock on the door startled them. Millard Price walked in. Brad had to struggle to keep his composure.

“Sorry to interrupt, Felicia, but I just heard that you were attacked last night. Are you OK?”

Brad watched Price closely. He seemed genuinely concerned.

“Thanks to Brad’s quick thinking, I’m just fine.”

“Thank God.”

Brad stood up. “I should get hopping on that memo, Judge.”

“Fine. Come in, Millard.”

Brad took one final look at Justice Price before shutting the door. Then he went around the corner to his office. Harriet was working away at her computer, and Brad saw her cast a nervous glance at Keith Evans, who was sitting in Brad’s chair. The FBI agent stood up as soon as Brad walked in.

“I just dropped by to see how you’re doing,” Evans asked.

“I’m fine, just a little sore, that’s all.”

“Good. Is there someplace we can talk? I want to go over what happened yesterday in more detail, now that you’ve had a rest, and I don’t want to disturb Miss Lezak.”

Brad led Evans through the halls until they reached the spacious, elegant, and architecturally identical East and West Conference Rooms, which faced each other across a corridor near the courtroom. Each space was bordered by a courtyard that provided natural light to the interior rooms. No meetings were being held in either place, so Brad led Keith into the East Conference Room. The carpets and drapery were rose colored, and the walls were paneled in American quartered white oak. Crystal chandeliers from Czechoslovakia hung from a ceiling glazed in two tones of gold. Portraits of the first eight chief justices graced the walls. Rows of beautifully carved, straight-backed wooden chairs had been set up for some special occasion that was to take place the next day. Brad took one chair and Evans sat next to him.

“This is some place,” the agent remarked as he took in the stylish setting.

“Working here can be a bit overwhelming at times. Especially if you grew up in a ranch-style tract home on Long Island.”

“I can see what you mean. So,” Evans said, transferring his attention to his friend, “has anything occurred to you since we spoke last night?”

Brad knew he should tell Keith about Justice Moss’s suspicions, but he would never violate her confidence.

“Not a thing, and believe me I’ve given what happened a lot of thought.”

“I bet you have. What about the assailant?”

Brad shook his head. “He was covered from head to toe. I can tell you he was about my height and wiry, but that’s it. I was on the floor most of the time or being dragged across the concrete with my back to the guy when he had me in that choke hold.”

Evans sighed. “I was hoping you could give me something, because we’re coming up empty. The perp vanished without a trace.”

“What about security cameras?”

“They only tracked him so far. He knew areas of the building that weren’t covered, and that’s where we lost him.”

“So he knows the layout of the Court pretty well?”

“That would be my guess,” Evans answered.

“Do you think it’s someone who works here?”

“That’s a definite possibility.”

“Well, I can’t think of where to point you, but I’ll get in touch if I get any ideas.”

“So, are you enjoying yourself?” Keith asked.

“Yeah, this is the best job,” Brad answered with a broad smile. “Except for the part where you get beat up by ninja assassins.”

Keith laughed. “Hopefully, that was a one-off.” He pushed himself to his feet.

“Make sure you’ve got Justice Moss covered, OK?” Brad said. “She’s a great boss and a brilliant justice. The country needs her.”

“We’re beefing up her security. Do you think you need someone watching your back?”

“No. The killer was going after Justice Moss, not me. I wasn’t even supposed to be in the garage. I shouldn’t be in any danger.”