Victim of the Defense

by Marianne Woolbert-Maxwell

  “I’ve got to get in the building. I need to see Lucy,” she told him.

  McKinley looked confused. “You want in there?” he said, jabbing his thumb toward the building. “Everybody wants in there.”

  “I’m her attorney.” Megan could see McKinley’s expression change. He motioned her to come forward and opened the door to let her in.

  “That’s her attorney,” someone yelled out. The crush of people started pushing toward Megan, yelling questions. McKinley grabbed Megan by the arm, shoved her inside, and pulled the door shut behind her.

  Megan ran to the elevator as fast as she could. She punched the button for the 7th floor and slowly the elevator doors slid shut. She leaned back against the wall, her heart pounding in her chest like a piston.

  Lucy was a wreck. In addition to everything else, Lauren had come down with a cold a couple of days earlier. It had turned into pneumonia and Lucy had taken her to the emergency room early yesterday morning and spent all day, all night, and all day today in the hospital with her. She had just come home to change her clothes and take a shower when the news broke. Megan could see the strain in her face.

  “I barely got in the door when the reporters started showing up and calling.” Lucy turned, walked over to the window, and looked down at the large crowd. “I can’t believe this.”

  Megan sat on the couch and cast a glance at the clock. It was after midnight.

  “Arthur Tarkington is a Supreme Court justice,” Megan said. “This is big news. Even bigger than I thought it would be.”

  Lucy sat in the chair across from Megan and looked her straight in the eye. Megan could sense a difference in her. Something had shifted. She could tell Lucy was still upset, but despite all the chaos she seemed to have changed now that the charges had been filed and Craig Tarkington had been arrested. There was a resolve about her that Megan hadn’t seen before.

  “I can’t say I’m not terrified,” Lucy said. “But somehow when I saw him in handcuffs on the news I felt sort of glad he’s being forced to face what he did, even though I know it’s going to be awful for me in court. And having your help… well, that makes a big difference.”

  “And I’ll be with you to the very end.”

  The women sat in silence for several moments.

  Lucy shook her head. “I don’t like Windfield. There’s just something about him. I felt it the first time I met him.” Lucy got up and went into the kitchen. She came back with two cans of Le Croix and placed them on the coffee table.

  “He’s a top notch prosecutor. One of the best.” Megan picked up a can and popped the tab.

  “Maybe, but there’s something. I just can’t put my finger on it.” Lucy leaned back in the chair, ran her hands through her hair and let out a sigh. “I don’t want to deal with Windfield. He’d be representing me during the trial, right?”

  Megan’s expression changed to concern. “Yes. There’s no choice on that. He’s the prosecutor for the case.”

  “I don’t feel good about it.” Lucy stared across the room and Megan could see she was deep in thought. Lucy got up and walked over to the window. The crowd of reporters was still down there. She stood silently looking out at the inky blackness and the people in front of the building. “I think a woman needs to be involved in prosecuting Tarkington. A woman needs to be the one to take him down.” She turned and looked at Megan.

  “It might be a good move in front of the jury to have a woman involved,” Megan agreed. “Windfield has some women prosecutors who work for him. Maybe he would consider having one of them be co-counsel with him.”

  Lucy looked at Megan. “I don’t know them. I want you to be co-counsel.”

  Megan felt her breath catch. “I’m not a prosecutor, Lucy.”

  “But you were.” Lucy looked straight at her.

  Megan nodded. “That was more than ten years ago. I quit.”

  “I know Windfield is up for reelection. I’m not going to be made a sacrificial lamb for anyone’s reelection campaign. If I’m going to go out on a limb and do this trial I want to nail the bastard.” She paused. “I know that you’ll see to it that everything is done to win—and protect me. I’m not sure Windfield will. And besides, I really feel like a woman needs to play a big part in this case. I don’t want it to be some woman I don’t know and trust.”

  Megan didn’t know what to say. People didn’t get to pick and choose their prosecutors or how the case would be handled. She leaned forward, rested her elbows on her knees, and steepled her fingers.

  Lucy sat down and picked up her can of Le Croix. “Megan, I’ve seen how political the legal system can be. I’ve seen women get shredded by defense lawyers. Humiliated—regretting they ever came forward in the first place.”

  Megan looked at her. She knew Lucy was right. Too many times the victim of a rape was attacked and treated like the criminal.

  Lucy shifted in her chair. “I’m trying to be strong through all this. I need someone I trust and know will be there fighting for me. Otherwise… I just can’t do it. I won’t. I don’t know how to get out of this nightmare. But I will.”

  Megan sighed. “Lucy, we’ve been over this before. There’s no way to get out of this. If you don’t cooperate you’re facing criminal charges. The only way out is through.”

  “I’m not going to fight this battle alone. The only way I can get through all this is if someone I trust has my back. I can’t handle Lauren and… “ Lucy paused. Megan saw a single tear trail down her face. Lucy wiped it away with the back of her hand.

  The room was so quiet Megan could hear Lucy breathing.

  Lucy leaned forward in her chair. “Will you help me, Megan?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  Megan looked around the room. Jackson Bar and Grill was packed. It looked more like a Friday night than five o’clock on a Tuesday. She glanced at the door just in time to see Steve Windfield walk in. Always the consummate politician, he immediately saw someone he knew and struck up a back-slapping conversation. The primary was more than a year away and he still worked his way toward the bar pressing flesh and politicking, already campaigning. Megan waved at him. He nodded and slowly threaded his way to where she was seated.

  “Have you been here long?” he asked, sliding into the booth.

  Megan shook her head. “I just got here. Glad I came when I did. The bus must have unloaded outside. It’s been an endless stream of people since I sat down.”

  Windfield caught the eye of a waitress and mouthed the words “Scotch and water on the rocks.” He looked down at Megan’s drink. “Do you need anything?”

  “I’m fine, thanks.”

  Megan looked around the room. “Wasn’t that Fred Johnson you were talking to when you came in?” Megan nodded in the direction of a short bald man seated at the bar.

  Windfield nodded. “I heard he wants to run for county assessor. He’s been calling me wanting some advice on how to handle his campaign.” Windfield leaned back in the booth and looked at Megan. “How did I get so lucky to be invited by you for a drink, Ms. O”Reilly?”

  Megan watched as the waitress set down the scotch and water. Windfield picked it up and the ice cubes clinked against the glass.

  “I need to talk to you.”

  Windfield rolled his eyes. “Everyone needs to talk to me,” he said laughing. “The office wasn’t good enough to meet with me? Hell, I thought you were going to ask me to run off to Paris or something.” He took a sip. “You’re buying, right?” A smile appeared on his face.

  “Yes,” Megan said, feigning exasperation. She reached over and took a handful of peanuts in the shell out of a small silver bucket in the center of the table.

  Steve leaned forward. “Can you believe the publicity this Tarkington case is getting? My phone hasn’t stopped ringing. I’ve had calls from all over the country. Everyone’s all excited because the grandfather’s a Supreme Court justice.” He paused and looked around the room. “Some Me-Too group called and left a voicemail about ma
king sure women are taken seriously and that I don’t sell out.” He shrugged. “Even USA Today called wanting an interview.”

  Megan could see he was thrilled with all the attention, thrilled to be involved in something involving a Supreme Court justice even though he was on the other side, and he had forgotten for the moment how brutal rape trials could be and how hard they were to win.

  “I want to talk to you about Lucy,” she said as she took a sip of Perrier.

  “What about her?” Windfield dumped some peanuts onto the table and cracked one open.

  “The other night, right after you filed the charges, Lucy and I had a long talk. She’s really uncomfortable with doing this.”

  Windfield’s expression changed. He jerked forward and slapped his hands on the table. “She’s not wanting to drop it all again, is she?” He shook his head. “That ain’t happening. You need to help her get real clear on that, Megan.”

  Megan shook her head. She picked up a peanut and cracked it open. “No. She understands your position.” She could see Windfield’s expression brighten. “She’s just very uncomfortable. She hasn’t been through anything like this before and she’s terrified. She knows what a circus it will be, how Tarkington’s lawyers will turn it into a witch hunt with her in the role of witch.”

  Windfield raised his glass and caught the waitress’s eye. “Most people haven’t been through something like this before.” He crossed his arms. “I want her to understand that she is not to talk to anyone or do any interviews without my prior knowledge and approval.”

  Megan brushed some of the peanut shells off the table and into another small bucket. “She won’t. Believe me, this is tearing her up.”

  The waitress appeared and placed a fresh drink in front of Windfield.

  “She feels like it would be a good idea, and it would make her more comfortable, if a woman prosecutor could be co-counsel.”

  “Since when did Lucy become a trial strategist?” Windfield cast a glance across the room.

  “With a case like this and with all the recent media attention on women being assaulted, I don’t think having a woman as co-counsel would be a bad idea.”

  Windfield didn’t say a word. Megan could see the wheels turning in his head. “I think a man going after another man for assaulting a woman is more powerful,” he said.

  “Speaking as a woman, I’d rather see a woman take down a man like Tarkington.” Megan could see Windfield was losing interest. “I think women on the jury, as well as women in general, would really respond to a woman prosecutor.” Megan leaned back in the booth and cast a glance at her phone laying on the seat beside her. They had been talking for a little over twenty minutes and it felt like hours. She could tell that Windfield wasn’t buying the idea.

  “Where is this all going, Megan?” Windfield asked with an air of impatience. “Cut to the chase.”

  “Lucy wants me to be co-counsel.”

  She had given Lucy’s idea a lot of thought. After all, she did have a background in prosecuting sex offense cases and had been very successful doing so; she’d had the highest conviction rate in the prosecutor’s office. From her years of experience she also knew that a victim needed someone to have their back throughout the whole process. Someone who believed in them and would help them through one of the toughest experiences of their lives. After much thought she’d come to the conclusion that, for Lucy, she was this person. Still, everything in her rebelled against going to court to prosecute a rape trial. The very thought of it had been keeping her awake at night. Finally she’d decided it was the right thing to do no matter what her personal feelings were. There might even be something she could learn from it.

  She raised her glass and took a sip.

  Windfield looked stunned. “What?”

  “She said she knows I’ll have her back and that’s important to her.”

  “And I won’t?” Windfield shot back.

  “It’s different. No disrespect to you.” Megan paused and gathered her thoughts. “Look, you need Lucy to cooperate and be a good witness. To do that you need to help her with this whole process.”

  “And I need to hire another prosecutor to do that? One who’s not on the payroll now? Wouldn’t the county council love me? I have floors full of prosecutors already on the payroll but I want special funding to hire another one?” He looked incredulous.

  “Who has the experience I do of trying sexual assault cases?” Megan shifted into her lawyer mode. Windfield said nothing. She leaned in toward him. “You know my work ethic and skill. Didn’t you tell me I was the best prosecutor you ever had?”

  Windfield looked away.

  “This is a case that’s receiving national attention. You need to handle it with that in mind. Women need to be taken seriously. They want to be respected. What better way than to have a woman play a key role in the prosecution? And don’t you think women would love to see you show confidence in women by bringing a super-qualified woman on board to help convict Tarkington?” She paused. “I think nothing would make women voters happier than to see a woman like me nail a guy like Tarkington. It would be a smart choice. “

  For several moments Windfield sat lost in thought. “I wonder if there would be a conflict because you’ve worked at the firm. Hell, you even have a lawsuit against them in progress.”

  For a moment Megan thought all bets were off. She felt a stab of relief at the thought of telling Lucy she’d tried her best with Windfield but there was no way he was going to let her prosecute the trial. Then he rubbed his face and let out a sigh. “Oh well. Maybe there’s some way we can make that work in our favor.” Slowly, he picked up his glass, drank the last of the scotch, and looked at Megan. “You’re hired.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  Megan watched Eric Covington lay a picture on the table. He had called earlier in the day and wanted to meet. They chose Ricardo’s, a casual steakhouse on the outskirts of D.C. It had great food and was off the beaten path.

  Megan glanced at the picture. The photo showed a young woman with auburn hair, fair skin and bright blue eyes smiling into the camera. After weeks of searching, Eric had managed to locate a good lead on her, one of Tarkington’s assault victims. Katie Menifee had been a friend of Tarkington’s and served on the student government board with him in college. From what Eric could uncover, she had suddenly dropped out of school and moved. With much elbow grease and a series of bad leads, Eric had discovered her in a small town in New Mexico.

  “Truth or Consequences, New Mexico,” Megan said with a laugh. “How appropriate.”

  Eric smiled, and Megan felt a spark pass between them. Once again she found herself wondering briefly how Eric felt about her. It had been years since she had dated and she suddenly found herself wondering if she might be almost ready for that again.

  “Yeah, what a name, right? It really is a town of around six thousand people. It’s a nice place—and far from the east coast and the Tarkington’s.” Eric took his knife and cut into his huge steak sandwich. Ricardo’s was known for great food and huge servings.

  “Do you believe she’s there?”

  Eric nodded. “She’s teaching at a small school outside of town. High school literature.”

  “What’s your game plan?” Megan took a sip of her iced tea. “You heard about another possible victim too, didn’t you?”

  Eric wiped his mouth with his napkin. “I want to do some more research into the other victim and see if I can locate her. I would like to go see them both at the same time if possible.”

  “Any information on the other woman?’

  Eric shook his head. “Some leads but nothing concrete yet. Last information I received was that she was in Oregon.”

  Megan looked around the room. Ricardo’s was beginning to fill up with the early dinner crowd.

  Eric cleared his throat. “Did you talk to Lucy about her polygraph results? Not retaking the bar exam for so long after she failed it the first time?”

  Megan t
old Eric about her meeting with Lucy, how Lucy said she wasn’t sure she wanted to be a lawyer and it took her four years to figure it out. “It makes sense to me,” she said. “These jobs are no picnic.” She told Eric that the worst thing Lucy confessed to was an affair with a married man.

  “Did she tell you his name?” Eric stopped eating and stared at Megan.

  Megan shook her head. “It was some guy she knew when she was in law school. I don’t know anything else. She played it down as a bad mistake on her part.”

  Eric was silent for a moment, lost in thought.

  Megan could see the wheels turning. “Did you find something?”

  “In my poking around I received some information from a woman who went to law school with Lucy. They had been friends. She knew a little about Lucy’s personal life. For the most part she said Lucy kept to herself. “ He paused and took a sip of his drink.

  Megan leaned over. “And?”

  “She said that she knew Lucy had had an affair with a guy who had a government job. He was an older guy. Brilliant computer type. He was the person who took care of all the computer programming for the D.C. licensing agencies. She said he helped write the testing software and maintained the computers.” Eric leaned back in the booth. “He was the IT man who took care of all that.”

  Megan took a bite of her salad. “Does he still work there?”

  Eric shook his head. “From what this woman knew he left the job. She didn’t know why. Maybe he just wanted to move on.”

  Megan crossed her arms.” I know agencies pay real well for people who do that type of work. I’ve heard that people would kill to have that job. Really great money and great benefits.”

  Eric pushed his plate to the side. “He worked there for quite some time. I think eight years or so. He was the guy to go to. At the time he left the Federal courts were using him too. Sounded like he had a really bright future. A lot to lose by leaving. But he may have been vested in his retirement or very close. “