“Sir, I have to – ”
“I don’t want anybody calling this who isn’t – ”
“Sir, if I may – ”
“I’m gonna have a little talk with your commanding officer, boy, you better believe it.” Levering waited for an audible show of contrition.
“We found him,” Markey said.
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Elijah. The homeless man who was a witness to what really happened that night with Justice Hollander.”
The steam was coming out of Levering’s nostrils now. “Listen!”
“You’d better listen, Senator. You know this man.”
“I don’t know anything about him. I told you that.”
“We’ve made a positive ID from the prints.”
“I’m hanging up now – ”
“It’s your son, Senator.”
An invisible hand gripped Levering’s throat. He held the phone to his ear, as if pressing it against his flesh would erase what was just said.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Senator,” Markey said. “The body is that of Tad Levering.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
1
“They found him!” Anne squeezed the cell phone like an arm wrestler.
“Whoa,” Ambrosi said. His phone crackled. He was probably between big buildings in the city.
“In the river,” Anne said.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“He was the senator’s own son.”
Pause. “So? What do you want me to do about it now?”
“I don’t know what I want.” And she didn’t. The walls were closing in around her.
“Your boss going mental?” Ambrosi asked.
“Oh, yeah. He was on edge before. But this…”
“Look, maybe I can help. The both of you.”
“Help?”
“I have a sense of pride here.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I did a job for you. You didn’t like the results. Okay. Happens. You got access to fifty thousand?”
The sudden shift to money talk jolted Anne. “Of course. But why?”
“Let me do another job for you. This one will be clean.”
“What sort of job?”
“A biggie.”
He seemed to Anne to be smiling.
“Tell me,” Anne said.
“I been following the whole thing about the justice. What’s her name?”
A prickling came to Anne’s neck. “Hollander.”
“I could take care of that.”
Unthinkable. Absolutely unthinkable. Anne opened her mouth to tell him so. Then stopped. Unthinkable, yes, but in an incredibly exciting way.
“I can’t let you do it,” Anne said.
“Oh, yeah?”
“Too risky. There’s all sorts of security. Especially now.”
“Hey,” Ambrosi said. “You don’t remember what Al Pacino said? Somebody told Al he couldn’t whack this guy. Al says if history teaches us anything, it’s that you can kill anybody. He’s right.”
“Look, we better get off now,” Anne said. “When can I see you?”
“After.”
“After what?”
“I’ll let you know.”
2
In the moonlight, the back acre of Bill Bonassi’s property looked like the realm of a ghost story. There were no colors, only differing shades of light and dark.
Millie and Bonassi sat on the verandah. Millie wondered if this would be the last time she did so as chief justice. Tomorrow, according to new reports, the House committee would release its report, and recommend that the members vote to impeach Millicent Mannings Hollander.
“This is only the beginning of the fight,” Bonassi said, trying as always to encourage her. Usually it worked.
Not tonight. Tonight she felt it all slipping away. As if, out in the shadows of the huge lawn, the forces of darkness were gathered to declare victory.
“But the fight is dirty!” Millie said. “They had someone taking pictures of me at the hospital! While my mother was dying some sleazy photographer was snapping away. And the alcohol story! Bill, is it un-Christian to want to claw their eyes out?”
“Righteous anger is allowable, I should think.”
“How can they do this to the Court?”
“They can because they want to scorch the earth. If the Court gets burned up, so be it. You’re a threat to them now. They’ll say anything, do anything.”
“I want to talk. I can’t stand this. Let’s call a press conference.”
“I’m preparing a statement,” Bonassi said calmly. “It will emphasize that an impeachment is nothing more than an indictment, and that anyone accused in this country is innocent until proven guilty. We seem to forget that sometimes.”
“But when do I get to speak?” Millie asked.
“Right now the dogs are barking. They won’t hear you.”
“But when?”
“We’ll know when.”
Millie let out a labored breath. Her chest was tight. “I wish I had your faith, Bill. I’m still not there.”
“Faith takes time. Instant faith is not very hearty. The Bible says it’s the
“Why?” Millie said. “Why is this happening?”
