date either. I think he still misses his wife.”
“That’s pathetic. You’re both ridiculous. Don’t waste your lives.” Max looked at her mother in frustration.
“Thank you for the free advice.”
“Well, I think he’s very good-looking, and he seems like a good guy. You should ask him for dinner sometime.”
“Max! I’m not going to ask our FBI agent to dinner!”
“Why not?”
“He’ll think I’m putting the make on him, and I’ll look ridiculous.”
“Maybe you should put the make on him,” Max said smugly. And then she looked more serious as she met her mother’s eyes. “How do you think Grampa is doing? He seems a lot weaker than the last time I was home. He doesn’t want to use the walker anymore. He just wants the wheelchair.” Tallie had noticed it too. He was fading.
“He just turned eighty-six, and you’re right. But he seems livelier to me now that you’re here, he loves spending time with you, but I don’t think he feels well a lot of the time.” He was so frail and seemed weaker and more bent every day. Tallie didn’t want to think about it, but she knew that eventually he wouldn’t be able to get out of bed at all. He seemed to be heading in that direction.
They had dinner with him that night, and they were all in good spirits, except Tallie was sad that Max was leaving again. She had to start summer school in two days, and wouldn’t be home again until the end of the summer vacation.
Tallie drove her to the airport at the crack of dawn the next morning, and spent the rest of the weekend doing projects around the house and paying bills. It reminded her of what had happened the last time she paid them, when Brigitte showed up, and then went to kill Hunt. It still made her sad when she thought about him. It was such a waste.
The following week Tallie met with Greg Thomas about the civil suit against Brigitte. She now had a criminal attorney and a civil one, and Tallie had sued her for the million dollars that Victor was sure she had stolen, and he was checking their ledgers more closely for more. Tallie wondered what would happen to all Brigitte’s things when she went to prison. Hers was another wasted life. It all seemed so senseless to Tallie.
And when she wasn’t talking to her lawyer, Tallie was working on finishing the film. She finally wrapped it up, after Max left. And the final edit looked beautiful to Tallie. It was even better than she had hoped, the performances were strong, the cinematography was spectacular, even the score was impressive. She knew that Hunt would have been proud of it, and she was too. She had had them add a memorial line to the credits, in memory of Hunt. It was coming out nationwide on December 15. And the day she left the studio, after she finished, she stopped off to see her father. He was quieter than usual and looked like he was in pain.
“Are you all right, Dad? Is there something I can do? Do you want me to call the doctor?”
“No, I’m fine. My arthritis is bothering me, that’s all.” She tried to get him out of bed to move around a little, but he wouldn’t. And Amelia said he hadn’t eaten. Tallie had been thinking lately that she needed to find someone to spend the nights with him, whether he liked it or not. He was too unsteady on his feet now to leave alone. And she was constantly afraid he would fall and get seriously hurt.
She stayed for dinner with him that night, and Jim called her with an update while she was there.
“Can I call you later? I’m with my dad.”
“Sure. Just call me on my cell. It’s nothing important. I just wanted to tell you that we proposed a deal to Brigitte today. I’ll give you the details later.” What deal could they possibly offer her? Tallie wondered. A hundred years instead of a hundred and fifty? Jim had already told her that she was going to try a temporary insanity defense on the murder one, and Jim said no one was going to buy it. She had been totally sane, just pissed off, which wasn’t a defense.
“Are you happy with your movie?” her father asked her over dinner. He was always interested in her work. Even now, losing strength, he always wanted to know what she was working on and how it was going. And he still enjoyed watching movies on TV.
“Yes, I am. I think it’s one of my best ones. It’s a shame Hunt’s not here to see it.”
“That’s a shame in a lot of ways. I hope that woman goes to prison for a long time.”
“I don’t see how they could do otherwise with her. Between the embezzlement and Hunt’s murder, I think she is totally screwed.”
“She deserves to be,” he said strongly. He had no sympathy for a criminal like her. “Anything new from your attorney or the FBI?”
“The special agent on the case just called me. I told him I’d call when I get home. I’ll let you know.” Her father had given her lots of good advice on the civil suit. He still had a sharp legal mind. And he was always reminding her of things to tell her attorney. Greg Thomas laughed when she relayed messages from her father, and he was surprised by how often he was right. He still read the
Tallie waited until her father was ready for bed that night, and didn’t leave until she had tucked him in. And then she quietly left to go home. He was already dozing. And she called Jim when she got home, and he explained the government’s offer to Brigitte. He was very diligent about keeping her informed.
“If she pleads, they’re willing to cut her time down to five years on the embezzlement. If she doesn’t, it’s up for grabs. They want to put restitution to you in the deal, using the proceeds from a house sale, and the contents of the house, cars, bank accounts, whatever she has. It looks like the state will try her for murder one, and her defense lawyer is trying to work a deal with the state to serve both sentences concurrently, if she’s convicted or she pleads.”
“How much time would that give her?” Tallie asked with a worried look.
“Five or six years, for the embezzlement, maybe eight or ten for the murder. It’s not a lot, but she’s a first-time offender. And the prisons are very crowded. If she’s acquitted of the murder, which she won’t be, she could serve five years for the embezzlement, or the judge could decide to give her more and not honor the deal, if he thinks it’s too light. And don’t forget she’ll have an increase in her time for abuse of trust with you.” Five years seemed very short to Tallie, given what she’d done. Ten for the murder seemed more reasonable, since she had taken a life.
“It’s too bad the electric chair is no longer used, or the guillotine maybe,” Tallie said in a merciless tone. “I don’t see why they should want to plea-bargain with her, given the severity of her crimes.”
“Because it will save the taxpayers money and you a lot of stress if she pleads and we don’t have to go to trial. We’ll do it, of course, if she doesn’t plead, but it just saves everyone’s time.” Tallie had to admit she wasn’t looking forward to the trial, far from it, but she also didn’t think Brigitte should get off too lightly. “We’ll see what her lawyer says tomorrow.”
“If it reduces her time in prison, she’ll be crazy if she doesn’t take the deal.”
“I agree with you,” Jim said firmly. “But you’d be surprised how many defendants want their day in court and to go out in a blaze of glory. They’re much better off making a deal in these instances than going to trial. In this case, that would be an agony for everyone involved, including you. Anyway, we have plenty of time, the trial is still eight months away.” Tallie wished it would hurry up. She felt like she had been dealing with this depressing situation for years. Jim assured her again that they were going to find a compromise that worked for everyone, not just the federal courts in avoiding a trial. And then they talked about Max in summer school in New York, and what ball game his son Bobby was playing that week. Josh, his other son, had gotten a summer job at a law firm, and he was liking it a lot. Jim said that if he didn’t play pro football, he would love him to go to law school, like Max. They talked a lot about their kids, who were the hub of their lives.
“What are you going to do now that you finished the film? Have you got other projects lined up?” Jim asked her with interest.
“Yes,” she said immediately. “Yoga class, shopping, sleeping late, going to movies, reading scripts, reading books. I’m looking for another movie to do,” she said honestly, “but I don’t want to rush into something. I want time to check it out. I need a break anyway. I’m not in any hurry to go back to work, particularly if there’s a trial, or even two or three of them, including the civil trial to recoup the money. I have to be available for that.” It was going to put her life on hold until they knew how the legal situation was going to evolve. It was a long time to sit around waiting, but there was nothing they could do to make it happen more quickly. The government, and to some extent the judge, were in control. Tallie had very little to say about any of it, even though she was the victim. “Are you
