In The Defendant's Chair

by Lynn Moon

“Will you give it a break?” Lacey whispered, pushing Carrie away.

  “Fine,” Carrie replied as she pulled out her cell phone to check for messages.

  Chapter 19

  SPANGLEHOLTZ CHECKED HIS ticket and frowned when he realized he had some spare time before his flight. Get here several hours early… huh? He said to himself. What a joke.

  He found an empty seating area and selected a chair next to a window. Spangleholtz preferred solitude, prying and meddlesome people bothered him. After pulling out his tablet, he looked around to make sure he was alone. When his email popped up from the secure line, he scrolled through the long list searching for a certain message. He found it and read a few lines before he hit reply. He spoke slowly into the small device:

  Mother and children need not be eliminated. But must be removed to a secured place. They have too many relatives and friends. TOO RISKY! Make sure their deaths look natural and leave replacements in normal body positions. I’d wait until mother returns home from hospital to make swap. A house fire would be a good front. Let me know as soon as they arrive. Take special care, baby has difficulty eating and breathing. We want nothing to happen to our new member. And I mean nothing. Father out of picture, labeled as suicide. Good job. But get going. I can’t believe we allowed a delivery in a regular hospital. Someone will answer to this. We need to cover our tracks before the press gets a hold of it.

  Spangleholtz read over the message before hitting the send button. He then checked through a few other emails, but when nothing important jumped out he decided to walk around the terminal. After tucking his tablet back into his jacket pocket, he stood and stretched. A plane was landing in the distance and he watched as it made a smooth touchdown. His stomach growled announcing that a quick breakfast before departure wouldn’t be such a bad idea. As he passed a newsstand the front page of the New York Times hit him like a Mack Truck from out of nowhere.

  HUMAN HORSE CROSSBREED WEIGHS IN AT

  A LITTLE OVER TWELVE POUNDS AT MERCY

  MEDICAL CENTER

  “What the…” he almost said before he stopped himself. There it was right in front of him, little Lizzie’s picture as plain as the nose on his face and in full color. He grabbed the paper from the stand and read the article. With his blood pressure rising, he wasn’t sure if he could hold back his anger. After throwing down a five-dollar bill on the counter, Spangleholtz walked away with the paper and yanked out his cell phone. This had to be squelched immediately before it went any further. How in the hell did this get out? Someone was going to pay and pay dearly, and it wouldn’t be with money.

  Chapter 20

  DRAKE WAS IN such a hurry to get into his office he stumbled through the door. As usual, Shelby was waiting for him smiling proudly from her desk.

  “Hey cowboy,” she smirked. “Just left the saloon?”

  “Very funny. Did you find anything?”

  “Yep. All five of them,” she replied, waving a piece of paper in the air. “Seems they all want media attention—unlike you.”

  “Look I told you, the less press the better for my client,” Drake defended.

  “Well, I don’t think you can keep her in the dark any longer my friend,” she replied. “The press will be all over her now there’s others just like her.”

  “Terrific, just terrific.”

  Drake read down the list and realized most were on the other side of the country from him. The only one he would be able to reach this morning would be the one in Florida. He dialed the number and was happy to discover the attorney was in his office.

  “Look,” the attorney demanded, “if you’re with the tabloids or something I’m not interested. My client’s a real person and I’m…”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Kranton, but I represent Early Sutton.”

  “Holy shit, for real? I’ve been trying to find you. Seems like your number’s classified information.”

  “I’m right here, I’m not exactly hiding,” Drake interjected.

  “I would love to meet with you if that would be all right. I’m having a hell of a time with my case and yours isn’t helping.”

  “What would my case have to do with yours?” Drake asked.

  “Copycat,” Kranton explained. “Everyone is saying copycat murders.”

  “I don’t believe that for one second,” Drake added.

  “Me either. I’m telling you, something very strange is going on and I want to get to the bottom of it.”

  “I plan on contacting the lawyers involved in the other cases, would you be interested in a meeting of the minds?” Drake asked.

  “Absolutely. The more the better. I’m sure a group meeting would be beneficial to everyone. When… where?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m thinking. Let me see if I can get a hold of the others and I’ll schedule a mutual time and place. This is exciting,” Drake said with his hands shaking. “Hold on, I’ll transfer you to my assistant and she’ll take your availability.”

  “Hey man, I really appreciate this. I’m telling you, my little lady could not have done what they’re claiming she did. My God, there’s nothing left of her family. Nothing.”

  “No problem,” Drake replied. “Believe me… I know the feeling. Hold on, I’ll transfer you now.”

  * * * * * *

  Drake stared at the dark phone number on the stark white paper. It required more than his courage to dial. Although a long shot, he knew he had no other choice. As the tone rang through his ears, Drake’s whole body shook with anticipation.

  “Hello?” a young voice echoed.

  “Yes, may I speak with Ms. Paula Cornwell please,” he asked.

  “Speaking.”

  Now what should he say? In all honesty, Drake did not believe anyone would answer.

  “Ma’am, my name’s Drake Anderson. I’m Ms. Early Sutton’s attorney.”

  “Okay and you’re calling because?” the young woman replied.

  “Yes ma’am. I understand you work at the hospital where Ms. Starling gave birth and I was given your name. I need some information on Marty Starling and her baby. She was a patient of Ms. Sutton’s husband.”

  “I don’t wish to talk about it.” Suddenly the woman’s voice became aloof and distant. It was obvious she had no intention of continuing the conversation. “I need to go.”

  “No please,” Drake pleaded. “I beg you.”

  “How do I know you’re who you say you are?” she asked.

  “You can come to my office if you wish. Or you can call me back,” he suggested.

  “What do you want?”

  “I need to find her.”

  “You’re too late, she’s dead. They’re all dead,” the woman said before the connection was cut.

  Chapter 21

  THE TRAIN PULLED away leaving the three standing alone at a deserted station in Prestonia, West Virginia. The slight breeze and the rustling of trees was the only sound.

  “That was weird,” Carrie said as she looked around. “Let’s just pretend we’re the only ones onboard and check out that hole.”

  Carrie walked away toward the dirt road just past the small deserted train station.

  “Whatever,” Skyler and Lacey said at the same time.

  “Jinks,” Carrie yelled from up ahead. “Okay, it’s a hole.”

  “Yep, it’s a hole,” Skyler added.

  “A big hole,” Lacey mumbled.

  The three stood in front of the crater that was so large they could not see the other side. It was vast and the trees for miles laid flat to the ground.

  “Well, it only took half a day to get out here, so now what?” Skyler asked.

  “Lunch,” Carrie declared as she dropped her backpack onto the ground.

  The three chose a semi-clean spot and sat on some logs to eat and drink and revive themselves. It was obvious the hot sun was not going to give them any breaks, and they sweated as they rested in the sunlight. With all the trees either gone or down, shade was not an option.

  “
I think a night here might be a little more informative,” Carrie stated between bites.

  “A what?” Skyler asked with a mouth full of peanut butter and bread.

  “How can you eat that stuff?” Carrie asked.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Skyler defended. “Let’s go back to the night thing.”

  “Well, as you can see, all’s quiet. Except for us three sightseers and those photographers up there. So obviously nothing is going on during the day.” Carrie took a drink from her water and stuffed the wrappers from her sandwich back into her pack.

  “What photographers?” Lacey asked.

  “Behind you,” Carrie said as she pulled out some cookies.

  Lacey and Skyler froze in place. They thought they were the only ones stupid enough to be out here.

  “Hello,” Carrie yelled with a wave.

  “Don’t do that,” Skyler said with soda dripping down her chin.

  “You’re leaking,” Carrie laughed.

  “Shhhh,” Lacey whispered.

  Carrie smiled and continued to wave. “Too late,” Carrie sang.

  Chapter 22

  EARLY PACED BACK and forth across her cell not once raising her head. It had been a couple of days since she heard from her lawyer and now she was getting nervous.

  Where is he?

  “Hey Baby Killer,” a voice echoed from down the corridor.

  “We don’t like people who kill babies,” another voice yelled from the other direction.

  Early’s pacing increased. Back and forth from the wall to the bars, from the bars to the wall.

  “Hey baby killer we have a surprise for you.”

  “Come down here you coward.”

  “Yeah, come down here.”

  I didn’t do it. Early cried. I didn’t do it.

  “B-A-B-Y killer,” someone sang. “We have a present for you…”

  I didn’t do it. I didn’t do it. I didn’t do it.

  The ranting continued as the speed in Early’s stride increased. She was bouncing off the wall and then, off the bars. Blood was running down her face from where she was hitting the cell’s parameters. But still the chanting continued from outside, Baby killer! Baby killer! Baby killer!

  “I DIDN’T DO IT… I DIDN’T DO IT!” Early yelled as loud as she could over and over again. “I DIDN’T DO IT!”

  But the chanting continued. Now someone was dragging something along the bars and the noise was even louder. Screams, rants and raves, and banging were chaotic and uncontrollable. But through it all Early continued to proclaim her innocence.

  “ENOUGH!” a woman’s voice echoed from up the corridor.

  All became quiet except for Early’s screaming declarations of innocence.

  “I said that was ENOUGH!” the guard ordered as she headed for Early’s cell.

  “Yeah, you tell baby killer that,” a voice yelled from above.

  “Martha, I’m warning you. SHUT UP,” the guard ordered.

  As the guard approached Early’s cell she saw the blood on the bars first, then she pulled out her walkie-talkie. “EMERGENCY IN CELL 142, EMERGENCY… CELL 142.”

  “Emergency Cell 142,” a high-pitched voice mocked from a few cells down. “Baby killers have NO emergencies.”

  “ENOUGH,” the guard yelled again. “SHUT UP!”

  Early continued to bounce off the cell’s wall and scream out her innocence. The blood was everywhere, down her face, her shirt, on the wall, the bars…

  “Ahh SHIT,” the guard yelled as she swiped her badge against the locking device.

  There was a large clank as the doors on Early’s cell slid opened. Other help was just entering the lockdown as the woman guard grabbed Early and pulled her to the floor. Early continued to scream although her voice was almost gone.

  “Ah, Sweetie, calm down,” the guard said.

  “Ah sweetie,” the high-pitched mocking echoed from outside. The back-up guards pulled out their sticks and banged on the cells.

  “That is quite enough,” a deep voice demanded and everything went dead. “What in the hell is going on in here!”

  “Sir, she’s hurt,” the guard pleaded.

  “No shit Sherlock. Call the medics,” he ordered. “And shut these others up.”

  “I didn’t do it,” Early whispered over and over again. “I didn’t do it.”

  Chapter 23

  STRICKLAND’S PALMS WERE sweaty as she looked at her overly quiet cabinet members. She wiped them on her hips before she picked up her notes. For some strange reason her hands sweated absurdly when she was under pressure. It was the only thing she hated about her body. “Good afternoon,” Strickland began.

  Jumping from vice president to president during the first year of her first term was scandalous enough, but when she won the election three years later on her own, the tabloids had a field day.

  She had served as vice president to Alfred Lloyd, an entrepreneur who made millions in the health insurance and scientific research business. He and his female running mate ran as reform candidates, promising to advance medical research and fix the broken healthcare system. But news journalists linked him to companies committing healthcare fraud and discovered prior to his election he took kickbacks for helping private research companies secure government grants.

  The vice president publically admonished Lloyd and even pushed Congress to investigate. She had committed political treason and was condemn by her party and political pundits as a traitor. She quickly turned to hero when the truth about Lloyd and his connections and kickbacks emerged.

  Lloyd was impeached and, under threat of indictment, he resigned. Now president, Strickland was seen as the true reformer and easily won her own term in office.

  Acknowledging heads nodded as Strickland stood in front of her audience. With a strong grasp of her notes in her left hand, she used her right hand to steady herself against the podium.

  “As you should know, there was a rather large explosion in a small town in West Virginia. I asked for Dr. Greghardt, our Subject Matter Expert, to discuss any details he may have concerning this explosion. Dr. Greghardt?”

  Strickland stood aside and held out her hand as a signal for Greghardt to take over. As he passed, he patted Strickland on her shoulder.

  “Good afternoon,” Greghardt said. “I have satellite surveillance of before and after the incident.”

  The first picture that flashed up on the screen was of a heavily wooded area. He clicked the remote and a view of a massive crater displayed.

  “I know that was a little fast, but please study the two pictures as I continue to alternate between them.”

  After a few seconds he paused, then flashed up another picture of a heavily wooded area. “This photo was taken about ten years ago. I would like for you to concentrate between this photo and the one just before the explosion.”

  After about two minutes, Katrina from the Department of Agriculture pointed her finger at the large pictures.

  “You see something, Kate?” Strickland asked.

  Kate had a bewildering look on her face as she spoke, “There! There in the middle of the screen,” she was talking excitedly. “A building or something’s in one picture but not in the other.”

  “You are exactly right, very good… very good indeed,” Greghardt praised.

  “I don’t see anything,” David from Homeland Security snapped.

  “Let me zoom into the area of the picture Kate’s referring to.” Greghardt winked at Kate before he turned his attention back to the pictures.

  The trees became crisper as he zoomed in. It was then the green metal roof of a large structure gradually emerged before their eyes. Although the trees seemed to grow strategically over the roof to conceal most of it, there was still just enough open space to make out an enormous-sized building.

  “What is that?” Colonel Jenkins asked studying the screen.

  “Now that is the one question we have no answer for and were hoping someone in here would,�
� Strickland replied, rubbing her hands against the sides of her pants.

  Chapter 24

  THE GIRLS NERVOUSLY sat as the two men approached from the tree line. One man was short and could not have been much over five foot. His red ball cap covered the top of his long dark hair that was pulled into a ponytail. The other man was not much taller than the first, perhaps five four standing perfectly straight. He wore a long sleeved, bright red T-shirt and faded jeans. His quilted black vest and black boots reminded Carrie of an L.L.Bean catalogue. Both men toted several cameras hung from their necks as well as a large bulky bag that probably housed their zoom lenses and other needed supplies. The second man had blonde hair and a bushy blonde beard. Carrie smiled as they approached, but her two comrades remained fixed and rigid.

  “Good day to you,” the short man greeted with a Wales accent. “My name is Mick Yorkshire and this is my partner Zack Lankensmith. We work for National Geographic.”

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Carrie and these are my friends, Skyler and Lacey. We just wanted to see the big hole.”

  “And it’s a hole,” Lacey laughed.

  Skyler simply nodded.

  “Mind if we shoot a couple pictures of you three eating lunch in front of the crater? It would make a great black-and-white,” Zack added.

  “Sure,” Carrie replied smiling. “Why not?”

  Skyler and Lacey gave Carrie an exasperated gaze as they continued to sit rather oddly on their fallen logs.

  “This is pretty weird isn’t it?” Mick asked looking at the large crater.

  Carrie stared into the vastness with him. “It sure is. I wonder what caused it.”

  Zack backed up and began snapping away at the small group standing in front of the rather large void.

  “I could have sworn this is where the old hospital was,” Mick added. “I had a cousin that grew up not far from here and I remember the talks about the crazies. I could have sworn it was right here.”

  “Crazies?” Carrie asked.