4. The Jury

by Fern Michaels

  Nikki continued to chew on her lower lip as she listened to Jack. She hated Judge Robert Krackhoff. Every case she’d ever tried before him, she’d lost because he hated Myra.

  “What are the chances on appeal, Jack?”

  “Damn good, in my opinion. Tell me why Kracker hates Myra.”

  “Because Myra blocked his application to join the Equestrian Society the same way she blocked the Barringtons’ application. They don’t care about the horses. They just buy and sell them. Kracker boarded two of his horses at the Barringtons’ farm, and they were among those that were starved to death. So, you see, he had his own agenda. Having said that, you would think he would have been on the prosecution’s side. But he owed the Barringtons a lot of money for board.”

  “According to Ted, there is no paper trail; this is all speculation on his part. Kracker doesn’t come from money. All he has is his bench salary. He linked up early on with the Barringtons, but as Ted said, he backed the wrong horse since the equestrian set didn’t take to them socially. Speculation, Nik. Ted is on it, and that’s the best I can tell you.”

  Nikki jumped when one of the logs in the fireplace toppled, sending a shower of sparks upward. “That’s a really good fire, Jack.”

  “It’s the Boy Scout in me.”

  Nikki smiled. “Myra told me there’s a new herd of horses in the Barringtons’ pasture. I want to know who in their right mind would sell those people more animals after what they did. You know what, Jack, the judicial system sucks.”

  Aha! “The state didn’t prove its case. It all comes down to dollars, supply and demand. The Barringtons were out of town. The blame falls on their manager, who hightailed it out of town. He’s the one who left the animals to starve. The law’s the law. You know that.”

  “Yeah, well, it still sucks.”

  Jack jiggled around, propping his elbow against the hearth. His eyes narrowed slightly. “Well, until things change, it’s all we have.”

  “Are you looking forward to going back to the DA’s office?” Nikki asked abruptly.

  “Yes and no. It’s a nice promotion. Is that all you wanted to talk to me about?”

  Nikki wiggled around and propped herself on her elbow so that they were facing one another. She responded in kind. “Yes and no. I needed to tell someone what I did back there in the office. For some crazy reason I thought you would understand. Sometimes I don’t know myself, Jack. Sometimes I do things I don’t think I’m capable of doing, and yet I do them. Sometimes I think I made a mistake going to law school. Sometimes I hate the law.”

  Jack listened to her words. For some reason everything Nikki said sounded more like questions than statements. “Is that why you and the others took the law into your own hands, Nik?” he asked quietly.

  Nikki closed her eyes. Her response was little more than a hushed whisper. “Yes.”

  “Is that what this talk is all about?”

  “Yes. But it’s more about us.” Nikki fished in her pocket for the dollar Jack had given her. “Do you want it back?”

  Stunned, Jack fell back on the floor. This was what he wanted. He’d just heard the words he’d hungered for these last couple of years. If he took the dollar back, he would have to make decisions. If he didn’t take it back, Nikki’s secrets were locked inside his head and heart forever and ever. No matter what she told him, no matter what she confessed to, he would have to respect the attorney-client privilege. She was giving him a choice, knowing the consequences that would follow.

  Jack sat up, the love he felt for her written all over his face. Her gaze was clear and bright as she stared into his eyes, knowing full well what she’d just done. He grinned.

  “Not much you can do with a dollar these days. Put it back in your pocket, Nik.”

  “Do you mean it, Jack?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh, Jack.”

  “Now can we talk, Nik?”

  “Yes, now we can talk.’

  Five

  Myra Rutledge paced the fragrant kitchen, oblivious to the fact that she was getting in Charles’s way as he tried to prepare one of his famous gourmet meals for their guests. Normally a patient man, Charles finally swung around, a pair of tongs in his hand, and said, “Enough, Myra. Please, dear, sit down. Let me fix you a cup of tea.”

  Myra looked down at what was left of a square of paper towel in her hands. She’d shredded it to thin strips and was now picking at the edges. “I don’t want any tea, Charles. Sometimes tea is not the answer to life’s problems. And don’t give me a lecture on how many cups of tea the Queen Mum drank in a day. I’m worried about our girl, Charles. I don’t understand how you can be so…so…calm about it. All you’re doing is cooking! Nikki isn’t answering her phone. She always answers her phone. It’s been a day and a half and she hasn’t returned one of my messages. Something must have happened to her. I think one of us should drive into the District and see if she’s all right. She is all right, isn’t she, Charles?”

  “Of course Nikki is all right. Otherwise we would have heard something to the contrary. I’m sure she had a lot of things to catch up on. After all, she was gone for over three months. I grant you, it is unlike her not to respond to your phone messages, but she isn’t a child anymore, Myra. She’s all grown up and in charge of her own life. She’ll call, and she’ll be here to greet the girls. Now, if you don’t want tea, how about a little snort of brandy? You could use some color in those beautiful cheeks of yours.”

  Myra looked around the kitchen. “If it will make you happy to pour me some brandy then by all means pour me a…snort. Julia is going to be so pleased when she sees her plant. It’s growing better than a weed, and you know how fast weeds grow.”

  “Myra, please stop agonizing over this. Take a deep breath and relax. Nikki is fine. When she’s ready to come out here to the farm, she’ll come out here and not one minute before, no matter how much you wish for it.”

  Myra wiped at her eyes. “I know, Charles. It’s the mother in me. It’s a mother’s lot in life to worry about her children, you know that. I worry that something…I lost Barbara and I don’t want…All right, Charles, I’ll put on my happy face. I’m even going to drink this brandy. Now, tell me again what you’re making for dinner.”

  “Everyone’s favorites. Rack of lamb with mint jelly for Kathryn; buttered parsley potatoes for Alexis; yeast rolls for Yoko; baby carrots in a brown sugar and honey sauce for Isabelle; artichokes stuffed with crabmeat for Nikki; and pecan cream praline pie for Julia. For you, dear, a garden salad. As you know, I can eat anything.”

  “It sounds wonderful. The dear girls just love your cooking. I can’t wait to see them. Oh, look, Charles,” Myra said, pointing to the security monitor positioned over the kitchen door. “It’s Alexis, and it looks like Isabelle is right behind her. Our chicks are returning.”

  The phone on the kitchen counter rang. Charles reached for it before Myra could cross the kitchen. His greeting was quiet. When he heard the voice on the other end of the phone, he shook his head at Myra to indicate that it wasn’t Nikki on the other end. Myra barely listened as she rushed to the kitchen door. Grady, Alexis’s dog, rushed toward her. Myra hugged him as he lathered her with affectionate kisses.

  The women’s greetings were exuberant as always. Inside, with the door closed against the brisk, chilly wind, Myra let her gaze go to Charles, who was now sitting down with the phone still in his hand.

  Panic ricocheted among the women. “What’s wrong, Charles?” Myra shrilled, her hands going to her heart. Alexis and Isabelle clutched at each other, their eyes full of fear. Grady whined at Alexis’s feet. “Say something, Charles!”

  Charles looked at the phone in his hand. “That was Julia’s doctor. Julia…Julia suffered a stroke. She’s resting comfortably.”

  The kitchen door opened to admit Kathryn and her dog Murphy. Kathryn looked around at the stunned expressions on everyone’s faces. Her jaw clenched but somehow she managed to ask what was wrong.


  Still clutching her chest, Myra told Kathryn what had happened.

  “How can that be? She was doing so well. She was supposed to arrive tomorrow, or was it tonight? Look at her plant. It’s thriving! We can’t let her go through this alone. We have to go there to be with her. What do they mean, she’s resting comfortably? Is she going to die? I thought you said those doctors over there were the best of the best. Well?” she demanded tearfully.

  Charles stood up and squared his shoulders. His words were cool and clipped. “Resting comfortably means just that. The doctors are the best of the best. It’s the treatment that is experimental. Obviously, Julia will not be joining us tomorrow. We will soldier on because that’s what Julia would want. No, we are not going to Switzerland. To do so would only alarm Julia. She’s getting the best care possible. Will she die? I don’t know. I certainly hope not. As to Julia’s plant, there are some things beyond explanation and this is one of those things. Julia’s doctor has promised to call hourly to keep us updated. For what it’s worth, he sounded optimistic.”

  Kathryn bristled. Her words spewed out like shards of ice. “Don’t talk to me about optimistic doctors, Charles. Been there, done that. When that doctor calls back, will you please ask him for explicit details? One more thing. Don’t tell me I can or can’t go to Switzerland to see Julia. She has no one but us. She needs us. If you can’t understand that, then I’m outta here.”

  The kitchen door blew open to admit Yoko. Grady and Murphy barked half-heartedly as she removed her coat and took a moment to pet each of them. “What’s wrong?”

  Kathryn explained the situation in the same cold voice. Yoko started to cry. The dogs whined. Myra paced and Charles fussed at the stove.

  “Where’s Nikki?” Isabelle asked.

  “We don’t know where Nikki is at the moment. We expect her shortly,” Myra said as she continued to pace around the kitchen table.

  Murphy and Grady moved to the kitchen door and barked. Alexis opened the door and both dogs rushed outside. When she closed the door, she leaned against it as her gaze swept around the kitchen to settle on her fellow sisters. She tilted her head to the side, a signal that they should all go upstairs. Myra watched them, a troubled look on her face.

  “I seriously doubt if anyone is going to eat anything tonight,” Charles said.

  “I agree, but you prepared it so we’ll serve it. It looks delicious, dear. I think I might have just a tad more of that brandy.”

  “I’ll join you, Myra. I wasn’t expecting this,” Charles said quietly as he poured brandy into two heirloom snifters. “I don’t know what to think. Let’s go out on the terrace. Do you need a sweater?”

  “I’m fine,” Myra said, pointing to the long sleeves of her plum-colored knit dress. “Yes, let’s go outside.”

  Myra and Charles both leaned against the railing on the terrace, their eyes on the dogs racing about the lawn. The guard dogs stayed in the barn and didn’t bother them. From time to time they sipped on the fiery brandy. “Kathryn was drawn to Julia from the beginning. She means it when she says she will go to Switzerland. When Julia came here at the start of her mission with that straggly plant, Kathryn literally breathed life into it. Right or wrong, Kathryn equates the plant’s health with Julia’s health. Julia feels the same way.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  Myra touched Charles’s arm. He turned to face her. “I think Nikki is with Jack,” she said.

  “Yes, I know.”

  “You know! Why didn’t you say something?”

  “It was just a thought, Myra, nothing more. If I shared every thought that runs through my head, I would drive you insane. Our girl has been through a lot these past months, and she’s going to go through a lot more. It’s natural for her to seek out…comfort. The kind of comfort only Jack can give her. Her love for him has never waned. We can’t blame her if that’s what she needs.”

  Myra drained the rest of the brandy and set the empty glass on the railing. “It’s not Nikki I’m worried about. It’s him.”

  “What’s that American saying that gamblers use in Las Vegas?”

  Myra smiled wanly. “You play the cards you’re dealt. Something like that.”

  Charles changed the subject, hoping to drive the look of worry off Myra’s face. “We should call the hospital to see if Jenny had her baby.”

  “Cornelia said she would call the moment Jenny delivers. I do so hope it’s a little girl. They make the prettiest things for little girls. Nikki is going to be the godmother. I wonder if she knows she has to provide the christening outfit.”

  “Didn’t you tell me Jack is to be the godfather?”

  “Yes, that was the original plan. I don’t know if that’s going to happen now, though. Jenny, Nikki and Barbara were such good friends. I would hate to see that friendship disintegrate. Cornelia adores Jack. She said he gives the law a whole new meaning. She called him an entertaining prosecutor.”

  “We should probably go back inside so I can check on our dinner. I didn’t mean for us to harp on about Jack.”

  “He’s front and center, dear. We can’t ignore what’s right in front of our noses, now can we?”

  “No, dear, we can’t,” Charles said as he opened the kitchen door. The dogs raced inside and then bounded upstairs.

  Nikki rolled over and stretched her arms and legs at the same time. A long, contented sigh escaped her lips. She didn’t open her eyes until Jack spoke to her, even though she was aware of his body pressed against hers.

  “I didn’t think you were ever going to wake up,” he said, his voice husky with emotion.

  Nikki rolled back over. She reached up to touch Jack’s face. “I missed you,” she whispered.

  “Not as much as I missed you. Where do we go from here, Nik? I don’t think I can bear to lose you again. I don’t know about the —”

  “Jack, I told you everything because I love you. I didn’t ask you to join the Sisterhood. I just couldn’t lie to you anymore. I know it’s wrong. I know I’m breaking the law, but I can’t stop. The truth is, I don’t want to stop. But I can’t juggle everything anymore with you breathing down my neck. You gave us all a run for our money, I can tell you that.”

  Jack made a sound that resembled a laugh. “You didn’t tell me anything I didn’t know. I just couldn’t prove it. All you did was fill in the details. Just think, I might never have known Senator Webster has the American flag tattooed on his ass if you hadn’t fessed up. Imagine going through life not knowing a detail like that.”

  In spite of herself, Nikki laughed as she tweaked Jack’s nose.

  Jack’s voice turned solemn. “You’re all going to get caught sooner or later. How’s Myra going to handle jail time?”

  “I know. Déjà vu and all that. Myra says she is OK with it, so I have to believe her. She’s never lied to me. We all knew — know there’s a possibility we’ll slip up along the way, make a fatal mistake and get caught. We’re all willing to take that chance. From here on in, I’ll console myself with the fact that if we do get caught, Aunt Cornelia will be the presiding judge and you’ll prosecute us and do a lousy job.”

  Jack’s head snapped upward. “Judge Nellie is going to retire soon — six months or so. I heard that last week. I assume it’s true. She wants to spend time with her new grandchild. I meant to call Jenny and ask, but I forgot. She did call me a few weeks ago to see if I was still willing to be the baby’s godfather. I said yes.”

  “No, I didn’t know that. The part about Aunt Cornelia retiring. Myra didn’t see fit to tell me. Oh well, she’s not without influence. I can’t worry about it. I committed to the Sisterhood and have to see it through to its conclusion. I’m glad you agreed to be the godfather. I mean that, Jack.”

  Jack worked his fingers through Nikki’s curly hair. “How are we going to handle this? Are you going to tell them you confessed to me? I need to know, Nik. Aren’t they going to be suspicious when I stop dogging all of you? I can’t tell Mark. However, I did confide in T
ed Robinson, so he’s going to be snooping around. He and Mark will eventually team up at some point along the way. I can’t do anything about that now except plead overload at the DA’s office. The whole world knows we’re overworked and underpaid. They’ll buy it for a while but there are no guarantees. You need to know that, Nik.”

  “I do know it. I’ll deal with it. You didn’t catch us and I consider you to be the best. I want the truth — would you have turned me and the others in if you had come up with your proof?”

  Jack didn’t stop to think about his response. “Back then, yes. I couldn’t believe you turned on me like that. I felt like you ripped my heart out and all I wanted to do was get back at you for hurting me. Every hour of every day I asked myself how I could have loved someone like you. I blamed myself for being so damn stupid.

  “Last week I drove Jenny to her prenatal class and stood in for Brad because he worked late. It was an experience. When the class was over, Jenny insisted we go to the nursery to see the new babies. I watched the new parents with their brand-new babies. I heard those same parents make promises to those babies about safeguarding them always, loving them with all their hearts. I…I had a hard time with what I was seeing. I got a better understanding of what Myra must have felt when Barb died and why she couldn’t let it go.