Redeeming Justice_A Legal Thriller

by Peter O'Mahoney

  “Sure.”

  “Good.” Bill closes the file in front of him. “We’re done for now, but I don’t want any more lies.”

  “Yes, sir.” Carlos bows his head like a schoolboy after getting in trouble, and then leaves the room. “When will I hear from you again?”

  “Within the week. Kate will call you and set up a time to meet. But remember, stay away from Lewis.”

  After Carlos has closed the door behind him, Bill paces the floor in his office, reflecting on the two cases before him. Hardgrave had mentioned his daughter and her addiction. He blamed himself for it, and it seemed, rightly so.

  On a rare night when Judge Hardgrave had consumed too much fine whiskey, he opened up about his troubled past.

  He had been beaten weekly by his drunken father as a child, and he carried that pain into his first marriage. Despite the joy of having a loving wife, a beautiful daughter and a great career, he would come home drunk most nights of the week and beat his wife, often in full view of a young Michelle.

  After years of torment, Hardgrave’s first wife died a lonely death after a short battle with cancer.

  At the time of her mother’s death, Michelle was a troubled sixteen-year-old, and she left the family home, wrongly blaming her father for her mother’s death. She found comfort in the highs that drugs provided. That’s when her path crossed with Juan Lewis. She knew if she were close to him, she wouldn’t have to buy drugs. She could provide him the comfort that he needed, and he would give her the highs that she desperately craved.

  The remorse that Andrew Hardgrave suffered was clear. He acknowledged that it was all his fault and that he had ruined Michelle’s young life. When at his worst, he turned to AA for help. He went to rehab and came out wanting to redeem himself.

  It took years, but he started to turn his life around.

  He volunteered at schools, he donated a lot of his wealth to the disadvantaged, and he mentored people to do positive things in the world. When Andrew Hardgrave and Bill Harvey first met, they felt like kindred spirits. They wanted to make a difference. They wanted to leave the world a better one than the one they were born into.

  The Harvey family was no stranger to drug addiction, either. Bill’s younger brother, Jonathon, went missing twenty years ago, after becoming addicted to heroin. It was a painful journey. Jonathon stole from his family, lashed out at his parents, and constantly swore at everyone. His descent into addiction almost tore the family apart.

  When Jonathon lashed out and hit his mother, Bill took matters into his own hands. He beat Jonathon, brutally, and told him never to return.

  That was twenty years ago, and nobody has seen him since.

  It’s still Bill’s greatest heartache.

  He understands the pain that Hardgrave felt when watching his daughter wither away – he has the same pain with his brother.

  He searched for his lost brother for many years, but never found a trace of him. He thought he had a lead in Florida, but that turned out to be a dead end. Now, all he hopes is that his brother is well, and has won the battle against addiction.

  Ever since that night many years ago, it tears Bill up that he pushed his brother away. If he could see his brother one more time, just for a moment, he would say everything that was left unsaid and ask for forgiveness.

  Things that Andrew Hardgrave will never hear from his daughter.

  Chapter 8

  Roberto Miles walks out of his Montebello house just past seven.

  He looks like the wealthy man he is. Rolex watch. Ralph Lauren shirt. Armani slacks. Ferragamo shoes. He walks with his head held high, full of confidence and bravo. He doesn’t go far.

  His black Audi is parked on the sidewalk near his house. Perfectly matching his outfit.

  Despite the obvious trimmings of excess wealth, Roberto Miles is a man with a long criminal record. Whereas Juan Lewis escaped the clutches of the law, Roberto knew police officers by their first name. If the police printed his rap sheet, they would need to change the paper roll on the printer halfway through.

  Bill Harvey doesn’t have much to go on. Nobody on the streets talks about these men. Those that know who Roberto Miles and Juan Lewis, also know what they can do. Their digital footprint is as non-existent as the word on the street. They aren’t interested in splashing themselves in the pages of social media. They have no need to tell everyone how rich they are – everyone already knows that.

  There is no easy method for gathering information on Miles or Lewis. Finding information about them involves old-fashioned investigative work. The hard yards.

  Bill follows the Audi as it drives for an hour, staying two to three cars behind, trying to go unnoticed.

  The Audi parks on Rodeo Drive, double-parked outside one of the new bars, the sort of place where old rich men buy drinks for beautiful young women.

  Bill Harvey finds a spot further down the street to park his sedan and makes his way back to the bar. He has no idea what he’s going to find. More than likely, Miles is just meeting someone for a drink and looking to have his ego boosted by an attractive, young, gold-digging, woman. Still, it’s worth a shot to see the sort of circles that Miles floats in.

  The bar is packed, the crowd mingling freely with each other, making it hard to spot Miles and who he’s meeting.

  Bill pulls out his phone for two reasons. One, if he needs to duck his head to avoid detection, he can look down at his phone quickly, and two, the camera on the smartphone makes it easier to snap a quick picture.

  He looks through the crowd from just inside the door, and can’t see Miles on the first pass.

  Looking back down at his phone, he pretends to read an email, pretending to wait for a friend as he leans against one of the walls. Nothing unusual.

  When he gazes up from his phone, he catches sight of the tall Mexican seated at the opposite end of the bar.

  He’s talking to someone. Quietly. Tactfully.

  This isn’t a loud conversation that he wants people to hear.

  This is discreet and deliberate.

  Nobody from his East L.A. drug operation would find themselves here. This is a secret meeting in public. Bill moves between two other businessmen, trying to get a better vantage point to view who Miles is talking to.

  He moves to his left to get a better angle, to get a clear view of the person.

  Moving smoothly, he shoots a glance at the end of the bar.

  What?

  He looks again.

  Bill’s heart kicks into overdrive. He can’t believe what he has just seen.

  Maybe it’s the dim lighting. Maybe he’s mistaken.

  He looks again, holding the stare.

  Dim lighting, crowded or not, he hasn’t made a mistake.

  Roberto Miles is quietly swapping information with a detective.

  A detective Bill knows very well.

  Chapter 9

  “Pitt,” Bill mumbles under his breath.

  He works his way through the crowd, past the throng of people desperate to get noticed. He steps out into the bright sunshine, shocking his vision, taking a few moments for his eyes to adapt.

  The question buzzes through his head.

  What was Pitt doing? That wasn’t a formal meeting. Not a police interview.

  It was a quiet discussion with a possible suspect in the unsolved Judge Hardgrave murder case. Is Pitt an inside man for Miles, screwing the force? Screwing justice?

  Surely not. Not his friend. Bill knows how to read people and nobody can play him that well. If Pitt were dirty, he would know. Wouldn’t he?

  The doubt grows easily in his mind. What has he missed? What has he not seen?

  Bill walks to his car in a fog of thoughts, sits in the driver’s seat, and draws a long deep breath.

  Is this why Hardgrave’s killer hasn’t been charged?

  Is there a dirty cop protecting them all?

  This is the biggest murder case of the year, and the LAPD hasn’t even made an arrest. They haven�
�t even presented a suspect to the public.

  Something in the murder case isn’t right. Something is wrong.

  Bill has known Pitt for many years. Their friendship is strong, and their trust is stronger.

  But Pitt has just bought a new house. Larger. Newer. A nicer suburb. “My share investments came good,” he said. He has just returned from a luxury cruise through parts of Europe. “I sold some shares,” he said.

  And maybe that was true.

  Or maybe he was taking payments from somewhere else.

  Despite Bill’s great respect for the men and women in blue, most of the force hates Bill Harvey. That’s understandable. His job is to make their arrests look invalid, their evidence look shoddy, or their paperwork look incomplete. While they risk their lives to protect justice on a small wage, he argues in a courtroom for a nice pay packet. He understands their resentment.

  But Pitt is different.

  He has a bond with Pitt; one that goes beyond their jobs.

  He had first met Pitt when he graduated as a lawyer – a chance meeting in a L.A. bar. Pitt was fascinated by Bill’s previous job as a hypnotherapist, and their bond was instant. They joked, they laughed, and they drank. The perfect male companions.

  Even as their careers progressed, they joined each other every week for a Tuesday after-work drink.

  But maybe it wasn’t a coincidence.

  Maybe Pitt has played him from the start. Maybe Pitt had heard of Bill’s skills and sought to exploit them. There have certainly been occasions where Bill has shared more than what is needed.

  But the exchange generally goes both ways.

  Pitt shares information that Bill requires. Nothing unlawful, just a gentle nudge in the right direction. It’s a good professional partnership, as much as it’s an escape from their jobs.

  And it’s more than that.

  It’s a genuine bond. A real connection. Two men trying to do their best, for themselves and their community.

  But now Bill Harvey has to test that bond, and find out how close Pitt is playing to the line.

  Chapter 10

  The evening sun sneaks through a small gap in the blinds, trying to poke its way in to wake up the hardy souls who were drinking since the place opened.

  Bill Harvey stares into his whiskey, the thoughts of the case making his mind travel to places it hasn’t in a long time.

  The deeper he digs into the case, the deeper he digs into his own past. He doesn’t like that. Not one bit.

  But as he does with all his strong emotions, he’s trying to drink them away until they disappear.

  It’s only once the soft touch of Kate’s hand touches his shoulder that he’s brought back to reality.

  “Kate?” he asks in slight surprise. “How did you know I was here?”

  “You had that look in your eyes when you left the office. The last time I saw that look, you stumbled back into the office six hours later stinking of whiskey.”

  He remembers that moment. He had been told that one of his former clients had committed suicide – too ashamed that they had been tarnished with the guilty brush. He had told his client, Jessica Tate Wilson, to take a deal, even though she was protesting her innocence. The deal involved a fine for minor theft, but no criminal record. He thought the deal was the best option. If the case had gone to court, Jessica would have been charged. There was evidence that she stole from Walmart, but she claimed it was all a mistake. She took the deal, but her very religious family found out. They didn’t want to be associated with a criminal. They abandoned her.

  He felt responsible for the woman’s fate. He felt it was his fault that her life fell apart. When he returned to the office, he was drunk, vulnerable, and alone.

  That was almost the moment when he almost told Kate how he felt about her.

  Almost.

  “What’s up, big guy?” Kate playfully punches him in the arm, like a little sister teasing her tough brother.

  “Jonathon.” Bill stares into his glass. The name came out of his mouth before he had the chance to think about what he was saying.

  “Your brother?” Her voice inflects surprise.

  This isn’t the first time that he has mentioned his brother to Kate, but she hasn’t heard his name in a long time. Jonathon has played on Bill’s mind his whole life, and he doesn’t know how to fix it.

  It’s the train of thought that doesn’t have a station to stop at.

  Bill Harvey knows how to fix most things, but there is one thing he can’t fix, one thing that’s beyond his capability: his family.

  That’s the reason he isn’t driven to have one of his own; all he knows is the pain from his late childhood. His late wife had talked about having children in the future, but he had balked at the conversations.

  When she was first diagnosed with cancer five years ago, he felt guilty for not giving her the family she wanted. A year later, he was burying the only family he ever felt really comfortable with.

  Although his early childhood in a small farming community in California was pleasant, the years since have brought him nothing but heartache. His brother, Jonathon, younger by eight years, became addicted to drugs in his late teens. It was a rollercoaster ride, and not a fun one. His entire family was devastated as they watched the high school quarterback slowly fall into a world of pain and anguish.

  It tore them apart.

  They tried everything. Everything.

  Counselors. Friends. Psychologists. Locking him in his room. Moving towns. Nothing stopped Jonathon’s need for heroin. Nothing stopped his need for another high.

  It hit his father the hardest. It was his greatest failing as a man.

  His distant father, who Bill adored, decided one morning to eat a bullet for breakfast, and his dear mother never recovered. That was when Bill first became fond of the taste of whiskey. That’s when he really needed to keep those emotions compressed.

  “Michelle Hardgrave, the judge’s daughter, was estranged from her father for many years. She was battling a drug addiction. That triggered memories of Jonathon for me.” Bill swirls the whiskey in his glass, the ice clinking on the sides. “And the further I go into this case, the more I think about him. The more I find out about these people, the more these questions continue to bubble away in my mind. I hate it, Kate. I hate it. This is my head, and I should be able to control the thoughts in there. But with Jonathon, I can’t. I can’t switch it off.”

  “And so you thought you would suppress those thoughts with whiskey?”

  “That usually works.”

  “It’s not healthy, Bill. You have to face your emotions. You have to acknowledge what they are and face them head-on. Otherwise, they’ll just keep coming back, worse and worse each time. It’s time for you to face these feelings. If you don’t want to talk to me about it, then I know a really good psychologist that you can talk to. He’ll help you process these demons.”

  Bill shrugs his shoulders. Like a stone wall, he refuses to get drawn into an emotional conversation.

  “We all have our past. Even Judge Hardgrave made a lot of mistakes.”

  “Don’t change the subject, Bill,” Kate replies. “This is about you, not Hardgrave.”

  He shakes his head, whispering quietly to his glass. “I’m not ready.”

  In silence, they sit at the bar, the thoughts racing through each of their heads.

  When many minutes of hush have passed, Kate redirects the conversation back to work, back to the place where Bill feels most comfortable.

  “Hardgrave didn’t seem like the type of person that would be estranged from his daughter,” Kate adds. “He seemed like such a nice guy. He was always so lovely to me when he came into the office. Very charming and sweet for an old man.”

  “That’s the Hardgrave we knew, but it’s not the same man of the past. He spent the last ten years of his life working for redemption, and he genuinely wanted to do better in the world. He wanted to make a difference. But he was another man once.”
r />   “How so?”

  “He used to beat his first wife. Regularly.” Bill sighs at the secret. “Michelle saw that and left him after her mother died of cancer. Hardgrave and his daughter didn’t speak for another five years.”

  “Oh.” Kate points at the beer tap when the bartender raises his eyebrows at her. “I wouldn’t have known that, Bill. I wouldn’t have been able to see that. He seemed like such a calm soul, but I guess you never know what happens behind closed doors.”

  “He meditated a lot in his later years. That’s why he seemed so calm. I guess his first wife would have loved to have seen him meditating years ago. People change, Kate. Times change. Hardgrave certainly changed. But Michelle never saw the change in her father. She only remembered the mean, violent, abusive man that he once was. She only remembers the man that would come home drunk and abuse his wife and child.”

  “And that’s fair. You can’t just swipe a slate clean when it has been severely stained. Some stains are so deep, so ingrained, that no amount of scrubbing can get rid of them. Michelle’s formative years were spent with a violent man; she couldn’t forget that. I understand that. I guess some people can’t find redemption in others, no matter how hard they try.”

  Bill wants to argue with Kate, but he knows she’s probably right. She always is. Instead of arguing, he stares into the glass, tilting it until the large block of ice moves from the side.

  The bartender places a pint of pale ale in front of Kate, and she smiles joyfully. She slurps the head of the beer, like a kid with a thick shake from Wendy’s.

  “Remind me not to invite you to the pub again.” Bill chuckles as she licks her foam mustache away with her tongue.