The Amendment Killer (Brooks/Lotello Thriller)

by Ronald S. Barak

  Because of his shoulder, he wouldn’t be able to attend the final Court session. Which meant he also couldn’t retrieve the cell phones he had housed under the Courtroom seats. It wasn’t a matter of fingerprints. He had used only one of the phones; the others were fingerprint free when he’d originally planted them. He had also wiped down the one phone he’d used before reattaching it underneath the seat.

  He enjoyed the thought of keeping them in the dark as to where he’d been when he texted Hirschfeld. That source of amusement would now be lost. Sooner or later, the phones would be found. Not that it would do them any good. Still, it was a loose end. And he hated loose ends. Even harmless ones.

  CHAPTER 113

  Monday, May 12, 7:30 am

  IN SPITE of Cassie’s safe return, and the fact that he was now free to withdraw his painful request of Gaviota and to vote his conscience, Hirschfeld had still spent a restless night. His mind had kept returning to the unfortunate Fortas-Wolfson scandal back in the ‘70s, which had led highly respected Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas to resign from the Court.

  Hirschfeld didn’t see any choice. He would first meet with Gaviota. Better than nothing. He would never be able to erase his original request, but at least he could apologize to him once more.

  He would next meet with Trotter to retroactively recuse himself from Congress v. NoPoli. And resign from the Court. Now that Cassie was safe, he would explain everything to Trotter, and how he had stained the integrity of the Court. He had no assurance that Trotter would hold their meeting in confidence, a cross he would have to bear.

  Just then, his cell was flooded with simultaneous telephone and text alerts. He sighed.

  The text was from Jill, the call from Brooks. Another violation of the no one-sided attorney communication rule? That would hardly matter now. Lost in family celebration the night before, Hirschfeld had overlooked calling Brooks to thank him for designing Cassie’s safe return. His daughter’s text would have to wait a moment.

  * * *

  “Good morning, Cyrus. Sorry for not calling you last night. Still struggling with these damn rules. But not for much longer. My family and I are so indebted to you. Words fail me.”

  “Words aren’t always necessary, Arnold. They aren’t here. At the risk of stretching our rules once more, I do have something I’d like to discuss with you.”

  Not waiting to find out why Brooks was calling, Hirschfeld shared with Brooks what he intended to say to Trotter that morning.

  “Arnold, your wounds are still raw, and will be for some time. I would like to suggest to you another way of looking at all of this. I know you think the integrity of the Court requires you to come clean and resign. I get that. However, I submit to you that the Court’s integrity would be better served by you not doing that.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “What purpose does it serve to emphasize to the world the human frailties of the Court, and to encourage others to employ similar tactics? And deny our country the outstanding scholarship you bring to the Court? In exchange for what? Allowing President Tuttle to nominate your successor? It’s beyond the scope of this call, but trust me Tuttle is the last person who should be permitted to orchestrate the selection of your successor.”

  “Cyrus, I’m no fan of Tuttle. I accept your veiled comments about him. However, there’s no way I can ignore what I’ve done. Besides, there’s no getting around the words I uttered on the record. That TV journalist, Nishimura, is already on it like a bloodhound, and others will certainly follow.”

  “Why don’t you leave Nishimura to me? As for others who might follow the trail, I have a thought or two about that as well.”

  * * *

  Hirschfeld opened Jill’s text.

  Surprise, Poppy! Had to borrow Mom’s phone. Don’t have a new one yet. Really exciting news. You remember my friend Madison. You met her yesterday at our house. We are coming to the Court this morning to watch you—to make up for not coming on Tuesday. Can you take us on the tour you promised? See you soon. Love you! Cassie

  “No, no, no, no, no!” The word kept reverberating over and over somewhere between Hirschfeld’s head and his soul.

  Too much to handle by text. He picked up the phone and called.

  “Hi, Poppy.”

  “Hi, baby. I thought you’d still be sleeping after everything you’ve been through, and all the excitement yesterday.”

  “No way. Too much to do. Anyway, don’t forget I slept through much of what went on yesterday. Courtesy of the creep.”

  “Very funny. Seriously, but aren’t you the least bit tired? Don’t you think you should take it easy for a couple days?”

  “Mom and Dad said the same thing. I wanted to go hit balls this morning before coming to Court. I haven’t swung a club or hit a ball in almost a week. I miss it. I know coming to Court means skipping a little more school, but I studied all week in that dingy basement. I figure I’m way ahead right now.”

  “I don’t know, baby, they say after an ordeal like yours—”

  “I negotiated a deal with Mom and Dad. You would have been proud of me. They wanted to take me to the doctor this morning and then make me go home and rest. I said if they would bring Madison and me to Court this morning, I would skip golf one more day and they could take me to the doctor this afternoon. Then, yeah, I said I would rest. For a day, two at the most. I really want to see you in Court in this case. Remember, I’m now connected to this case forever.”

  Hirschfeld found himself equivocating—disbelief, joy, relief, pride. “It sounds like you worked out a good deal, sweetheart, but I’m still not sure it’s wise for you to come to Court today. We can always do that another time.”

  “Why, Poppy? Don’t you want me to see you finish the case?”

  “Of course I do, but there will be other cases.” Well, maybe not. “I just don’t think it’s such a good idea for you to come to Court with that man still out there running around.”

  “Him? I don’t think so, Poppy. I know it sounds weird, but I don’t think he’d hurt me any longer. Besides, if we have to keep worrying about him, then how can I practice my golf? Or go to the mall with my friends? Or go anywhere else? I think he’s probably the one frightened now, with everyone trying to catch him.”

  Hirschfeld smiled. She just never ceases to amaze.

  “Poppy? Are you still there?”

  “I am, baby. I have to go get ready. I’ll see you and Madison later. I hope the two of you will both have lunch with me afterward in the Courthouse cafeteria. Perhaps Madison’s parents would like to join us. I have something I have to do at the Courthouse afterward, but maybe Madison’s dad can give you a ride home when we finish our tour and lunch.”

  “Great! Thanks, Poppy. Sounds like a plan. Love you.”

  “I love you too, baby.”

  CHAPTER 114

  Monday, May 12, 7:40 am

  JILL WAS GETTING DRESSED to take Cassie and Madison to the Courthouse. They would stop and get her mom on the way. Three generations of Hirschfeld women, that would be nice, but this was all still against Jill’s better judgment. She didn’t want any of them going anywhere near that place.

  Jill had wanted to take Cassie for a complete medical examination this morning, and then bring her straight home, but Cassie was having no part of that. And everyone was siding with Cassie. Even Jill’s own mom. How could they?

  At least Madison’s father had seemed to side with her. Sort of. When he called to say at what time he would drop Madison off to ride with Cassie, he said he was also going to the Courthouse to watch the decision and would be happy to caravan behind them and escort them into the Courtroom.

  The doctor was scheduled to give Cassie a complete checkup that afternoon, but if Cassie thought she was resuming her golf activities tomorrow, she’d have another thought coming. Certainly the doctor will side with me on this.

  * * *

  Out of the corner of her eye, Jill saw Mark staring at her.

 
; “What?”

  “Nothing, really. I was just wondering what you were thinking.”

  “I was wondering if our life will ever be the same. And when? I don’t see how it can.”

  “It will, and soon, because that’s the way things work. They have to. We just can’t live in fear. Besides, do you really think something like this is going to happen again?”

  “It seems to me it could—as long as Dad continues to be a Supreme Court Justice.”

  “So, what do you suggest? Do you want your dad to resign, or retire?”

  “Why not? He doesn’t need it. The money or the stress. Either that, or the government should have to expand the Secret Service and provide us with bodyguards.”

  “Provide who with bodyguards? There are nine Justices. That’s a lot of family members. Would you include brothers and sisters? Nephews and nieces? What about the next-door neighbors? Friends? Everyone whose safety and welfare any of the nine Justices cares about? Where would you draw the line?”

  “I don’t know And I really don’t care. I just want our family to be safe. Let someone else worry about all of your fancy questions.”

  “That’s the problem. No one wants to be bothered having to answer the questions. They want others to do it for them. But to their satisfaction, of course. It would be a terrible precedent for your dad to resign or retire out of fear. And the government isn’t going to provide and pay for all of these bodyguards. Nor do most families have the resources to do so on their own. Life has to go on. We have to responsibly play the odds.”

  “Yes, but because of Dad, we’re high profile. For us, playing the odds responsibly doesn’t work. Why can’t the government provide us with protection? Look at the billions they spend on security at all of the airports across the country.”

  “Exactly. At the airports. And at courthouses. But not on the way to and from.”

  “Unless you’re a political leader. They all have their drivers and security people. All paid for by our tax dollars.”

  “So, you want Cassie to live in a cocoon? No golf? No freedom? No privacy? Possibly no friends? How long do you want her chauffeured around? A year? Two years? Until she goes off to college? Do you really expect her to put up with that?”

  Jill didn’t answer. It just hurt too much. She didn’t know what more to say. What is he doing? Why doesn’t he understand? Take my side for once. Stop talking. Just hold me.

  CHAPTER 115

  Monday, May 12, 8:00 am

  HIRSCHFELD KNOCKED, receiving the usual welcoming response. He entered Gaviota’s chambers and closed the imposing door. A sign of authority. But Hirschfeld no longer felt his own authority.

  Gaviota stood and came around from behind his desk. The awkwardness hanging in the air between these two old friends was obvious. Gaviota skipped his customary bilingual niceties and got right to it, without giving Hirschfeld any opportunity to speak first. “Arnold—”

  “No, Jose, I have to go first, please. Cassie’s back, safe and well.” He quickly summarized what had transpired.

  Gaviota looked like the weight of the world had been lifted off his back. “Arnold, Dios mio. What a relief. I can’t tell you how happy this makes me.”

  “I also want to tell you,” Hirschfeld said, “that I had made the decision before we learned of Cassie’s good fortune to withdraw my request of you. I was not thinking clearly when I asked you what I did. I don’t expect you to believe me, but—”

  “Arnold. No mas. Por favor. Stop. I do believe you. Completely. It’s not necessary for you to explain yourself. Our conversation never happened.”

  “Oh, but it did, Jose. I won’t ever tell anyone because I don’t want you to be compromised, but I’m going from here to prepare my resignation and take it to Trotter.”

  “Pero por qué, Arnold. But why? It’s not necessary.”

  “Thank you, Jose, but I think it is. This morning, I have two reasons. One, I don’t want to bring any more danger to my family. And two, for what I was prepared to do, I’ve dishonored the Court—as I have dishonored you.”

  “Please, stop talking about how I’ve been—”

  Hirschfeld silenced him with a raised hand. “Earlier this morning, Cassie telephoned to tell me her mom is bringing her here this morning to watch the decision in our case. She seemed so excited. In stark contrast, I cringed, arguing that it would be too dangerous for her to be here today. She told me that was no reason for her not to come. Imagine that, Jose. A child grasping the correct perspective quicker than her grandfather. It’s really time for me to leave.”

  “You’re blessed to have such a youngster in your life. And to have her back safely.”

  “Of course, a thousand times. But that doesn’t change my other reason, the shame I have brought to the Court.”

  “Arnold, I think you are perhaps being too hasty. None of your colleagues would think ill of you given the circumstances. I recognize that only you can make this decision. I will of course respect whatever you decide, but please don’t rush yourself. You don’t have to decide today. And I don’t think you should.”

  The two of them were still standing. Gaviota closed the distance between them and embraced his colleague. Hirschfeld struggled to accept Gaviota’s heartfelt gesture. He gently broke away, turned, and walked out of Gaviota’s chambers, closing the door behind him.

  * * *

  Hirschfeld sat and watched Trotter read his resignation. Looking up at him, Trotter took the letter and ran it through the shredder sitting at the side of his desk.

  “Sorry, Arnold, while I understand your reasoning, your decision is not acceptable. And I won’t accept it. Certainly not today. Nor will I permit you to recuse yourself from this case.”

  Trotter glanced at his watch. “I am, however, going to take the liberty of quickly making a few minor changes in the majority decision upholding the 28th Amendment before we have to take the bench in ninety short minutes. Thank goodness my clerk will help because it would take me that much time by myself just to open the two files on my computer.”

  He punctuated his statement with a self-deprecating smile. “I see no need to alter the seven to two vote in favor of standing. Your vote on that was not changed because of the events. However, I am going to change your vote on the amendment from invalidating to upholding. Your vote on that obviously was impacted.

  I am also going to revise the opinion to identify its author as you rather than me. A modest expression to those who would unduly influence this Court that they will never succeed. My apologies for the fact that history will forever attribute to you my inferior writing skills. There’s obviously no time to let you improve upon it with any of your personal touches. You’ll have to live with that ignominy.”

  Hirschfeld started to protest. Trotter cut him off. “We’re out of time. You’re just going to have to trust me on this, scary as I know that is. I guess that’s why they call me Mr. Chief.” Trotter grinned sheepishly, as though to acknowledge his clumsy attempt at humor. “The best I could muster on such short notice. For the good of this noble institution, Arnold, we will get through this. On my watch, my way.”

  CHAPTER 116

  Monday, May 12, 9:25 am

  KESSLER DIDN’T WANT to give her any time to wangle, but he had waited as long as he dared. Their thirty-minute special leading up to the Court’s ten o’clock announcement of its decision would begin shortly.

  “Anne, I know we’re short on time, but we need to talk. It’ll only take a minute.”

  “Make it quick, Steve, I’m kind of busy here.”

  “There’s a rumor floating around that you intend to break a highly inflammatory story about Hirschfeld and his family today. I—”

  “Who told you that?”

  “Like you, Anne, I can’t reveal my sources, but I do know you visited the Webber home, and how out of line you were. And what I will tell you is that if you so much as think about dropping your so-called bomb on the air, I will interrupt you on the spot and tell th
e TV audience that you are mistaken and acting out of some kind of inflated and narcissistic self-aggrandizement.”

  “What are you talking about? How dare you talk to me this way? You’d never have the guts to challenge me on national television. I’d eat you alive.”

  “Anne, for your sake, I really hope you won’t choose to put me to the test. You have more experience in front of a camera than I do, but I’ll muddle through. Keep in mind that I have nothing to lose. I’m retired and financially secure. Can you say the same? Are you ready to gamble your career, and your livelihood? Journalists used to be able to get away with whatever they wanted. Not anymore. Things are changing. As you know better than I, television broadcasters are being fired overnight for far less than what you have in mind.”

  Nishimura didn’t say another word.

  * * *

  Nishimura scowled silently at Kessler. She was incensed. That ungrateful son-of-a-bitch! I prop him up all week long, make him a national figure and this is the way he thanks me? She’d have to hold back during the first piece. But just as soon as the first piece was finished, she’d go straight to the show’s producer and report that Kessler had made a pass at her and touched her inappropriately following the special. The producer understood those things. She’d back Nishimura and have security immediately remove him from the set—before he would have a chance to interfere with the final broadcast.

  Thanks to Kessler, she now realized she couldn’t wait any longer to break her story. She would have to do it in the final coverage immediately following the Supreme Court decision. Kessler would win the first battle, but she’d show him who’d win the war.

  CHAPTER 117

  Monday, May 12, 9:50 am

  THOMAS HADN’T SLEPT VERY WELL. His shoulder had ached throughout the night. He was also anxious for the decision that this morning would bring.

  He had been up early, and had managed to eat something. He was feeling slightly better. He used his cell to double check and confirm his travel arrangements. It was still a matter of being on top of all the details, taking nothing for granted.