The Gods of Guilt(97)

“And you got that on tape, too?”

“Got it. We got it all. Do you want us to break it all down now? Pull out the cameras?”

I thought for a moment before answering.

“No,” I finally said. “I want it to stay. We paid Sterghos for two weeks. Let’s keep it all there. You never know.”

“You sure? Do we have the money for that?”

“Yes, I’m sure. No, we don’t have the money.”

“Well, you don’t want to stiff these guys.”

I almost made a joke about how we had been stiffing the Indians since Columbus got here, but decided it was not the time for an attempt at humor.

“I’ll figure something out.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll see you in the morning. Will there be something I can see?”

“Yeah, I’ll download it all to Lorna’s iPad. You can watch on your way in.”

“Okay, good.”

After we disconnected, I checked my text file to see if I’d gotten anything from my daughter. I had been sending trial updates each night, telling her how things were going and the major highlight of each day. They had mostly been negative reports until the defense phase began. Now the highlights would be my highlights. The dispatch I had sent her while riding over the hill in the taxi had been about the points I’d scored with Valenzuela and Fulgoni on the stand.

But as usual there was no return text or acknowledgment of any kind from her. I put the phone down on the bedside table and laid my head back down on the pillow. Kendall’s arm came around my chest from behind.

“Who was that?”

“Cisco. He got some good stuff tonight.”

“Good for him.”

“No, good for me.”

She squeezed me and I felt how strong she was after many years of yoga.

“Go to sleep now,” she said.

“I don’t think I can,” I said.

But I tried. I closed my eyes and tried to avoid returning to the dream I’d just come out of. I didn’t want that. I tried to think about my daughter riding a black horse with a lightning bolt running down its nose. In the vision she wore no helmet and her hair was flowing behind her as the horse she rode galloped across an unfenced field of tall grass. I realized just before drifting off that the girl in the vision was my daughter of a year earlier, at a time when we still spoke regularly and saw each other on weekends. My last thought before succumbing to exhaustion and sleep was to wonder if she would always be frozen at that age in my dreams. Or if I would get experiences with her upon which I could build new dreams.

Two hours later the phone buzzed again. Kendall groaned as I quickly grabbed it off the bedside table and answered without looking at the screen.

“What now?”

“What now? What the hell you think you’re doing treating my son like that in open court?”

It wasn’t Cisco. It was Sly Fulgoni Sr.

“Sly? Look, hold on.”

I got up and walked out of the room. I didn’t want to disturb Kendall any further than I already had. I sat at the counter in the kitchen and spoke in a low voice into the phone.

“Sly, I did what I had to do for my client, and now’s not the time to talk about it. Fact is, he got what was coming to him, and it’s too late and I’m too tired to talk about it.”

There was silence for a long moment.

“Did you put me on the list?” he finally asked.

That was what he was really calling about. Himself. Sly needed a vacation from federal prison, so he demanded that his name be put on the amended witness list. He had decided that he wanted to take the bus ride down from Victorville and spend a day or two in L.A. County Jail just for the change of pace and scenery. It didn’t matter that there was no need for testimony from him in the La Cosse trial. He wanted me to manufacture an argument for his inclusion on the list and transfer down. If I succeeded, I could then always tell the judge I changed my mind and strategy and no longer needed him. He’d be sent back to Victorville after his little vacation.

“Yes,” I said. “You’re on the list. But it has not been accepted yet. It comes up first thing today, and it doesn’t help you waking me up like this. I need my sleep, Sly, so I can be sharp and win the argument.”

“Okay, I got it. You get your beauty sleep, Haller. I’ll wait to hear from you and you better not fuck me over on this. My son doesn’t know any better. He got a good lesson today. Me, I don’t need any lessons. You get me down there.”

“I’ll do my best. Good night.”

I disconnected before he could respond and went back into the bedroom. I was going to apologize to Kendall for the second intrusion but she had already fallen back asleep.