'Thanks for coming,' he said, trying to grin. 'I'm sorry you had to find me like this.'
'You look great,' she said.
'Don't start lying, Carmen,' Adam said, breaking the ice. 'And let's stop the crying before it gets outta hand.'
'Sit down,' Sam said to her, pointing to a chair. He sat next to her, holding her hand.
'Business first, Sam,' Adam said as he leaned on the desk. 'Fifth Circuit turned us down early this morning. So we're off to greener pastures.'
'Your brother here is quite a lawyer,' Sam said to Carmen. 'He gives me this same news every day.'
'Of course, I don't have much to work with,' Adam said.
'How's your mother?' Sam asked her.
'She's fine.'
'Tell her I asked about her. I remember her as a fine person.'
'I will.'
'Any word on Lee?' Sam asked him.
'No. Do you want to see her?'
'I think so. But if she can't make it, I'll understand.'
'I'll see what I can do,' Adam said confidently. His last two phone calls to Phelps had not been returned. Frankly, he didn't have time at the moment to look for Lee.
Sam leaned closer to her. 'Adam tells me you're studying psychology.'
'That's right. I'm in grad school at Cal Berkeley. I'll - '
A sharp knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Adam opened it slightly, and saw the anxious face of Lucas Mann. 'Excuse me for a minute,' he said to Sam and Carmen, and stepped into the hall.
'What's up?' he asked.
'Garner Goodman's looking for you,' Mann said, almost in a whisper. 'He wants you in Jackson immediately.'
'Why? What's going on?'
'Looks like one of your claims has found its mark'
Adam's heart stopped. 'Which one?'
'Judge Slattery wants to talk about the mental incompetence. He's scheduled a hearing for five this afternoon. Don't say anything to me, because I might be a witness for the state.'
Adam closed his eyes and gently tapped his head against the wall. A thousand thoughts
694
swirled wildly through his brain. 'Five this afternoon. Slattery?'
'Hard to believe. Look, you need to move fast.'
'I need a phone.'
'There's one in there,' Mann said, nodding to the door behind Adam. 'Look, Adam, it's none of my business, but I wouldn't tell Sam. This is still a long shot, and there's no sense getting his hopes up. If it was my decision, I'd wait until the hearing is over.'
'You're right. Thanks, Lucas.'
'Sure. I'll see you in Jackson.'
Adam returned to the room, where the
3cussion had drifted to life in the Bay Area. 'It's nothing,' Adam said with a frown and went casually to the phone. He ignored their quiet talk as he punched the numbers.
'Garner, it's Adam. I'm here with Sam. What's up?'
'Get your ass down here, old boy,' Goodman said calmly. 'Things are moving.'
'I'm listening.' Sam was describing his first and only trip to San Francisco, decades ago.
'First, the governor wants to talk privately with you. He seems to be suffering. We're wearing his ass out with the phones, and he's feeling the heat. More importantly, Slattery, of all people, is hung up on the mental claim. I talked with him thirty minutes ago, and he's just thoroughly confused. I didn't help matters. He wants a hearing at five this afternoon. I've already talked to Dr. Swinn, and he's on standby. He'll land in Jackson at three-thirty and be ready to testify.'
'I'm on my way,' Adam said with his back to Sam and Carmen.
'Meet me at the governor's office.'
Adam hung up. 'Just getting the appeals filed,' he explained to Sam, who at the moment was totally indifferent. 'I need to get to Jackson.'
'What's the hurry?' Sam asked, like a man with years to live and nothing to do.
'Hurry? Did you say hurry? It's ten o'clock, Sam, on Monday. We have exactly thirty-eight hours to find a miracle.'
'There won't be any miracles, Adam.' He turned to Carmen, still holding her hand. 'Don't get your hopes up, dear.'
'Maybe - '
'No. It's my time, okay. And I'm very ready. I don't want you to be sad when it's over.'
'We need to go, Sam,' Adam said, touching his shoulder. 'I'll be back either late tonight or early in the morning.'
Carmen leaned over and kissed Sam on the cheek. 'My heart is with you, Sam,' she whispered.
He hugged her for a second, then stood by the desk. 'You take care, kid. Study hard and all that. And don't think badly of me, okay? I'm here for a reason. It's nobody's fault but mine. There's a better life waiting on me outside this place.'
Carmen stood and hugged him again. She was crying as they left the room.
46
BY noon judge Slattery had fully embraced the gravity of the moment, and though he tried hard to conceal it, he was enjoying immensely this brief interval in the center of the storm. First, he had dismissed the jury and lawyers in the civil trial pending before him. He had twice talked to the clerk of the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, then to justice McNeely himself. The big moment had come a few minutes after eleven when Supreme Court Justice Edward F. Allbright called fromWashington to get an update. Allbright was monitoring the case by the hour. They talked law and theory. Neither man was opposed to the death penalty, and both had particular problems with the Mississippi statute in question. They were concerned that it could be abused by any death row inmate who could pretend to be insane and find a wacky doctor to play along.
The reporters quickly learned that a hearing of some type was scheduled, and they not only flooded Slattery's office with calls, but parked themselves in his receptionist's office. The U.S. marshall was called to disperse the reporters.
The secretary brought messages by the minute. Breck Jefferson dug through countless law books and scattered research over the long conference table. Slattery talked to the governor, the Attorney General, Garner Goodman, dozens of others. His shoes were under his massive desk. He walked around it, holding the receiver with a long cord, thoroughly enjoying the madness.
If Slattery's office was hectic, then the Attorney General's was pure chaos. Roxburgh had gone ballistic with the news that one of Cayhall's shots in the dark had hit a target. You fight these bears for ten years, up and down the appellate ladders, out of one courtroom and into another, battling the creative legal minds of the ACLU and similar outfits, producing along the way enough paperwork to destroy a rain forest, and right when you've got him in your sights, he files a ton of gangplank appeals and one of them gets noticed by a judge somewhere who just happens to be in a tender mood.
He had stormed down the hall to the office of Morris Henry, Dr. Death himself, and together they hastily had assembled a team of their best criminal boys. They met in a large library with rows and stacks of the latest books. They reviewed the Cayhall petition and the applicable law, and they plotted strategy. Witnesses were needed. Who had seen Cayhall in the last month? Who could testify about the things he said and did? There was no time for one of their doctors to examine him. He had a doctor, but they didn't. This was a significant problem. To get their hands on him with a reputable doctor, the state would be forced to ask for time. And time meant a stay of execution. A stay was out of the question.
The guards saw him every day. Who else? Roxburgh called Lucas Mann, who suggested that he talk to
