he won, Carl and I discussed the fight and I asked him how he thought he would do if he went up against Torrance. It was a casual conversation, and I didn’t think anything of it until several weeks later when I received an envelope in the mail. There was no name on it and no return address. There was no letter inside either, only a newspaper clipping about Torrance. Someone had broken into his karate studio and beaten him almost to death. I was certain that Carl was the assailant and had sent me the clipping to impress me. It didn’t. I felt terrible that I might have inadvertently caused Carl to attack Torrance, and I was deeply concerned that someone this unbalanced was close to my daughter. But there was no way I could talk Vanessa into breaking up with Carl. By her senior year in high school our relationship was very strained. If I’d even suggested that she stop seeing Carl, she would have intensified the relationship just to spite me.”
“What did you do?” Brendan asked.
“I thought about calling the police, but I had no proof that Carl was involved. Besides, he had a scholarship to an Ivy League school by this time and I knew that an arrest would ruin his chances of going to college. And, as I’ve said, I felt terribly guilty about what had happened. Then fate intervened. Carl received a draft notice, and he came to me for advice.”
“Did you have anything to do with his being drafted?”
“I did not. This is another one of Vanessa’s delusions.”
“Go on.”
“Carl wanted to know if I thought that he should serve or get a student deferment. I should have helped him go to college, but I wanted to get Carl as far from Vanessa as possible, so I persuaded him to go into the army. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of the fact that he saw me as a father figure, but I did it to protect my daughter. I also thought that spending time in the military might help Carl mature.
“When Carl saw Vanessa again in 1985, he knew that she hated me. I think he made up this story about a secret army so she would take him back. He may still have been in love with her.”
“Did you ever meet with Mr. Rice between his senior year in high school and this year when he invaded your home?”
“No, we had nothing to do with each other.”
“You did not have him come to your town house in Virginia soon after his first combat mission so that you could recruit him into this secret army?”
“No. He was never at my town house in Virginia, and, as I’ve testified, there was no secret army.”
“And you did not meet him in a motel in Maryland and order him to torture Congressman Eric Glass to death?”
“Certainly not.”
“Okay, let’s move forward to more recent events. Please tell the judge how the defendant came to be at your home after she helped Mr. Rice break out of the county hospital.”
“You have to remember that Carl had murdered Congressman Glass in 1985, and was also the main suspect in the murder of an army general named Peter Rivera around the same time. Then there were the two men he nearly killed at that Little League game. Needless to say, I was horrified that Vanessa was on the run with someone that dangerous. So I instructed some of my people at Computex…”
“This is your company?”
“Yes. We have a highly trained security force of former Green Berets, Delta Force, and Rangers, who I used to rescue my employees in Afghanistan. I sent them after Vanessa because I knew how dangerous Carl could be. They were lucky enough to find her before Carl hurt her. My men were under orders to bring Vanessa to me. I was planning to call the authorities after I arranged for legal representation and psychiatric care.”
Wingate paused. He looked pensive. “Maybe I should have had my men take Vanessa directly to the police, but I have been able to do so little for her since her mother died and I…Well, I may have used poor judgment, but I would probably do the same thing if I had a second chance. Honestly, I just wanted my daughter safe and with me.”
“What happened after you learned that Vanessa had been rescued?” Kirkpatrick asked.
“I was in Cleveland making a campaign speech. I flew directly home.”
“Tell the court what Carl Rice did when he learned that your daughter was in your home.”
“Soon after I arrived, Carl invaded my house.”
“Was anyone hurt during this invasion?”
“Yes. Several of my guards were either killed or injured.”
“Once inside, what did Mr. Rice do?”
“He broke into the room where Vanessa was staying. I was talking to her when Carl attacked. One of my men distracted Carl, and I escaped and summoned the guards. We kept him pinned down until the police arrived. My daughter had called an FBI man named Victor Hobson, and he negotiated their surrender. I’m very grateful to him because Vanessa was not harmed.”
“I have no further questions for General Wingate,” the DA said.
The judge nodded to Ami. “Mrs. Vergano,” he said, “your witness.”
Ami slid a list of ten names out of her file. “Thank you, Your Honor,” she said, rising to her feet. “General Wingate,” Ami said, “who is Arthur Dombrowski?”
“I have no idea.”
“Who is Fredrick Skaarstad?”
“I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of him.”
Ami read seven more names. The General denied knowing all of them.
“But you do know Carl Rice?” she asked after glancing up from the last name on the list.
“Yes.”
“Would it surprise you to know that I’ve just read you a list of the ten men whose records your daughter took from the safe in your home in California and gave to Congressman Glass?”
“Mrs. Vergano, those records never existed except in my daughter’s imagination. I assume she gave you those names, but I have no idea where she got them.”
Ami stared intently at the General, who braced himself for more cross-examination. After a moment, however, she shook her head.
“No further questions, Your Honor.”
The General looked surprised. He cast a quick glance at Kirkpatrick, who shrugged.
“Do you have any more witnesses, Mr. Kirkpatrick?” Judge Velasco asked.
“I may have one more. Can we recess so I can speak with him?”
“How long will you need?”
“Twenty minutes, half an hour.”
“Very well. We’ll adjourn for half an hour.”
As Wingate and Kirkpatrick walked up the aisle toward the courtroom doors, two Secret Service men and the General’s bodyguard formed a protective circle around him. More members of the General’s security force waited outside the courtroom. Kirkpatrick pushed through the doors, and the television lights flashed on as the reporters began firing questions at the candidate.
“The General will hold a press conference in an hour at his hotel,” Bryce McDermott said loudly enough to be heard over the din. “He won’t take any questions until then.”
“Let’s get you upstairs and away from this mob,” Brendan said.
They double-timed it up the marble staircase to the district attorney’s office, and Kirkpatrick led the General back to the conference room.
“Before you leave, there’s someone who wants to meet with you,” Brendan told Wingate.
“We don’t have much time,” McDermott said. “The General has to be in Pittsburgh tomorrow, and we still have the press conference.”
“I’m afraid this is important,” Brendan insisted as he opened the conference room door.
“Good afternoon, General,” said Ted Schoonover, President Jennings’s chief troubleshooter. He was seated at the conference table with Victor Hobson. “You know the assistant director, don’t you?”
McDermott pointed at Schoonover. “What’s he doing here?” he asked Brendan angrily.
“Mr. Kirkpatrick has no idea why I’m here, Bryce,” Schoonover said. “And the reason for our meeting is something I can discuss only with General Wingate. So, everyone but General Wingate and Director Hobson will
