Chapter 5
Jodie Marshall
Jodie sat behind her desk wondering what her next move should be on the Larson case. Finally she decided she should talk to the officers and emergency personnel who arrived on the scene after the robbery. She hoped they might shed some light on the subject. Unfortunately, the only way she could find out who was there, was to get the police report from the Plano Police Department. As she was leaving she told Maria where she was going, didn’t know when she’d be back but that she’d call in for messages. When she got to the Plano Police Station the dispatcher told her to take a seat and someone would be out soon to take care of her. A few moments later an attractive male officer with a name tag identifying him as Ross came out with some papers.
“Ms. Marshall?”
Jodie stood up. “Here.”
Ross came over to her and smiled. “I believe you wanted this.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“What’s your interest in the Plano Jewelry Mart robbery?” Ross asked.
“Is Ross your first name or last?” Jodie asked.
“Last. You can call me Carl.”
“Okay, Carl. I’m an attorney with Turner and Waters and I represent Mr. Larson.”
“Oh, the MP.”
“Right. I wanted to interview all of the police and emergency personnel who came out to the crime scene.”
“Well, their names are all in there. Do you want to talk to the perp?”
Jodie thought about that. “You mean Michael Mahoney?”
“Uh huh. The reason I ask is he happens to be here in lockup right now. Don’t tell Detective Morgan I told you, but it would save you having to go all the way up to McKinney later or to Huntsville when he is sent down there.”
“Sure. That would be great. Thank you.”
“No problem. I’ll go tell the detective you’d like to see him.”
“Great,” Jodie said.
“Do you have a card I can give Morgan?”
“Oh, sure,” Jodie replied and dug a card out of her purse.
Carl gave her a big smile then went back in the direction he came from. Jodie admired his backside as he walked away. She hadn’t been with a man in quite a while and was surprised to be sexually stirred again. Perhaps she was getting over her last boyfriend who’d been murdered right in front of her eyes. Jodie hadn’t had much luck with men. She married her high school sweetheart and thought she’d live in marital bliss for the rest of her life, but when she unexpectedly got pregnant he decided he wasn’t ready for fatherhood. The pregnancy ended in an abortion. Jodie just couldn’t face raising a child as a single mother without a dime to her name and no expectation of getting any child support. She’d regretted doing it almost immediately and still was plagued with guilt every time she saw an infant or a small child. She used that guilt to motivate herself to go to college and law school, so when she did decide to have a child she could afford it whether there was a man in the picture or not.
Carl stepped out and waved for her to follow him. She did and he led her to a small interrogation room. “Morgan says you can have ten minutes, then he has to get him back to the Sheriff’s office in McKinney.”
“Alright,” Jodie said and stepped inside the room. Mahoney looked at her warily as she sat down. He was a small, deeply tanned man in bad need of a haircut. “Mr. Mahoney. I’m Paula Waters. I represent Bob Larson.”
“You mean the asshole who screwed up my heist?”
Jodie stifled a laugh. “Yes, that’s the one.”
“Why does he need a lawyer? They charging him with something?”
“No. He’s being sued by Herbert Stein.”
Mahoney laughed hard. “That’s perfect. Serves the bastard right.”
Jodie smiled. “I thought you’d be pleased to hear that.”
“So, why should I talk to you? I hope Herb gets a shit load of cash from your client.”
“Well, you don’t have to talk to me right now, but if you don’t then I’d have to subpoena you and eventually the judge would force you to talk. So, I figured we’re both here, so why not get it over with.”
Mahoney shook his head. “Oh, what the hell. What do you want to know?”
“Well, actually I would like you first to tell me exactly what happened when my client entered the scene. I could ask you questions, but it would be better to hear it straight from your mouth.”
Mahoney tilted his head as if he were trying to remember it. “Ah. Well, I had gotten the drop on Herb and he was cooperating just fine. I told him to go back into the vault room and open it.”
“Okay.”
“So, he goes back there and starts to put in the combination, you know, and suddenly this asshole is all over me. I didn’t even hear him coming. I just felt him grab for the gun with one hand and put me in a choke hold with the other.”
“So, is that when the gun went off?”
“Right. He tries to take it away from me and we struggled and it goes off and hits Herb right in the leg.”
“How bad was the wound?”
“Ah, it was nothing–just a flesh wound but Herb went crazy, yelling and screaming. I was so distracted the next thing I know I’m on my ass with a phone cord tied around my wrists.”
Jodie imagined the scene in her mind and had trouble keeping a straight face. “What was in the safe?”
Mahoney gave Jodie a puzzled look. “I don’t know. I just figured the valuable stuff would be in the safe. You know, cash, loose diamonds, drugs, who knows.”
“So, you had no idea what was in the vault when you had Herb open it?”
“No.”
“And he never actually got into the safe, so you don’t know even now what was in it?”
Mahoney nodded. “That’s right.”
“Wasn’t the jewelry in the cases out front worth a lot?”
“Yeah. I suppose. I was going to get that on the way out, if I had the time.”
The door opened and Detective Morgan stuck his head in the room. “Times up. Got to take the prisoner back to his cell.”
Jodie sighed. “Alright. Thank you Mr. Mahoney. You’ve been very helpful.”
“We aim to please,” Mahoney said as Detective Morgan escorted him out of the room.
“Oh, Ms. Marshall. Can I get one of your cards,” Detective Morgan said. “I’ve got to report this interrogation to the Sheriff. He needs to put it in the file.”
Jodie squinted. “Didn’t—” she started to say then she realized Carl Ross had wanted her card for himself. She almost laughed. “Sure,” she said and dug another card out of her purse and handed it to the detective. “Can I get one of yours?”
“Sure,” Detective Morgan said digging one out of his shirt pocket.
Jodie read the name: Detective Vince Morgan. “Thanks, again.”
Detective Morgan nodded and left with the prisoner. On the way out Jodie looked around for Carl but didn’t see him. As she went out the front door he suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
“Hey, I was just getting off my shift. Can I buy you a drink?”
Jodie smiled and contemplated the question. Carl was a pleasant looking man and quite charming, she thought. “Sure, why not. It will be time to go home by the time I get back to the office anyway.”
“Good. They have a bar at Outback down the street. Then I’ll buy you dinner.”
“Dinner too. Wow. It’s my lucky night.”
“I’ve got to change,” Carl said. “I’ll meet you there in ten minutes.”
“Good. I need a few minutes to freshen up.”
“Alright then,” Carl said as he headed back into the police station.
Jodie laughed to herself as she walked to her car. She suddenly felt uplifted–actually happy for a change. She hadn’t realized how down she’d been until that moment. She hoped Carl wouldn’t be a disappointment once she got to know him.
Five minutes later she was pulling into the Outback parking lot. When she got inside she went directly to the ladies’ room
. She wanted to make sure she looked her best. It had been eight hours since she’d last looked at herself in the mirror and she could imagine what a mess she was. She cringed when she saw herself up close and immediately got to work making herself presentable for her date. When she was reasonably satisfied with her appearance she walked out to the bar. Carl was just coming in. He’d changed into jeans, t-shirt, boots and a cowboy hat. He saw her and walked over.
“Perfect timing,” he said.
“Yes,” Jodie agreed. “Wow. I didn’t realize you were a cowboy.”
“Are you disappointed?”
She shook her head. “No. I like cowboys. I’m just surprised by the transformation.”
“Well, it’s hard to make a living herding cows these days.”
Jodie laughed. “Yeah, I bet. Are you on the rodeo circuit?”
“No. Just a little polo on the weekends.”
“Oh, I see. That must be fun.”
“It is. You should come watch me, sometime.”
“Watch. I’d prefer to play actually.”
“You ride?”
“Absolutely. I love horseback riding. Unfortunately, I don’t have much time for it anymore.”
“That’s too bad. We’ve got plenty of horses out at my Dad’s ranch. Any time you want to ride, just let me know.”
“I will,” Jodie agreed.
They took a seat at the bar and the waitress took their orders, a beer for Carl and a glass of wine for Jodie.
“So, how did you come to be a cop?” Jodie asked.
Carl shrugged. “Just by accident. I was needing a job so I looked through the Dallas Morning News classifieds and saw that the Plano Police Department was looking for recruits. It seemed like a good opportunity so I applied.”
“I became an attorney kind of the same way. I was just out of high school and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life but I needed a job so I looked in the classifieds just like you did and found an ad for a legal secretary, no experience necessary.”
The waitress delivered their drinks and Carl gave her a ten dollar bill.
“So, did you learn anything from Mahoney?” Carl asked.
“I don’t know. I’m going to have to digest the conversation a bit. He claims he didn’t know what was in the safe, but I’m having a hard time swallowing that.”
“Well, have you looked at the video?”
“Video? What video?”
Carl frowned. “You didn’t know the entire robbery was caught on tape?”
“No. I’ve just been on the case two days. Nobody told me anything about a video tape.”
“Yeah. Stein has surveillance cameras all over the place. You should be able to see exactly what came down.”
“That’s good to know.”
After dinner Carl invited Jodie over to his place to see his apartment. It was a ruse, of course, but Jodie didn’t care. The moment they were in the front door they were in each other’s arms kissing and ripping off each other’s clothes. They didn’t make it to the bedroom and barely made it to the living room sofa before he was inside her and they were both panting desperately. After forty-five minutes they took a break and watched TV for a while. For round two they did make it to the bedroom and after another hour of hard sex fell asleep in each other’s arms.
The next morning when Jodie woke up she was surprised to be in Carl’s bed. She sat up with a start and then regretted it as her head felt like it was going to split down the middle. Carl looked over at her amused.
“What’s wrong? You need some aspirin?”
“Oh, God. How much did we drink last night?”
Carl laughed. “Hell, I don’t remember. Last night is a blur.”
Jodie looked at the bedside clock. “Oh, shit. I’ve got to get to work.”
“Okay,” Carl said. “You go take some aspirin and I’ll round up your clothes.”
“Thanks,” Jodie replied and rushed to the bathroom. After she’d taken some aspirin and put on a little make up she returned to the bedroom. She found her clothes neatly laid out on Carl’s bed that had miraculously been made while she was gone.
“Wow! You’ve already made the bed,” Jodie said in a loud voice.
“I like a little order in my life. I’ve got coffee for you.”
“Great. I’ll be right there,” she replied as she quickly got dressed. When she made it into the kitchen she was happy to see a steaming cup of coffee in a paper cup. She picked it up and took a sip.
“Thank you, Carl. It’s been fun, but I’ve got to run.”
“I know. I had a great time. We should do it again soon.”
“Well, you’ve got my card,” Jodie teased.
Carl blushed. “Yeah, I do, don’t I?”
Even though she hadn’t got a lot of sleep Jodie was feeling better than she had in a long time. She pondered stopping by her apartment but she remembered she had a 9:00 a.m. appointment at the office with Bob Larson to work on his case. When she walked in the door Maria smiled and then frowned.
“Didn’t you wear that outfit yesterday?” Maria asked.
Jodie blushed and put her finger to her lips. “Don’t tell Stan. Paula would notice but I didn’t see her yesterday.”
Maria smiled broadly. “My lips are sealed.”
At nine Maria announced on the intercom that Bob Larson was there. Jodie thanked her and came out to greet him.
“Mr. Larson. Come on back.”
Bob followed her back to her small office and sat in a side chair across from her. “Can Maria get you a cup of coffee?”
“Sure, black.”
Jodie asked Maria to bring Bob some coffee and then gave him a good look. He was tall, lean, and muscular. With his blue eyes and blond hair she could see him as a California surfer. “So, I’ve been doing a preliminary investigation and talked to several witnesses. So far, I haven’t found out anything startling, but I did learn there are videos of the entire incident.”
“Really?” Larson said.
“Yes. Apparently Mr. Stein is a little paranoid. He had cameras everywhere.”
Larson nodded. “Then that should help our case, right?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen them yet, but I did talk to Michael Mahoney and he confirms your story. He also said Stein’s wounds weren’t that serious.”
“No. It was just a flesh wound. That’s why this whole lawsuit is ridiculous.”
“True, but in reading his original petition his main damage allegation is that he suffered severe and debilitating mental anguish. A jury would certainly come to the conclusion that witnessing you assault Mr. Mahoney and subsequent fight over a gun could cause him extreme mental anguish. Since he was actually shot, even though it wasn’t a serious wound, it does legitimize his claim. You can bet he’ll have a slew of experts explaining how he’ll be traumatized now for the rest of his life.”
“But he was being robbed for godsakes! That’s what was causing him extreme mental anguish.”
“You’re right and we’ll certainly argue that Michael Mahoney was the cause of his mental anguish, but you never know how a jury will see it. We need to come up with an additional defense, something clear and convincing.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know yet. That’s what I’ll be looking for during the discovery stage of the lawsuit.”
“I have a contract here for you to sign and you can pay your retainer to Maria when you leave. We’ll draw on the retainer as the case progresses and when the retainer runs out will send you a request for a fee advance.”
Larson nodded. “I can’t believe I’m having to go through this crap. I wish the bullet would have creased his forehead instead of his leg.”
Jodie took a deep breath. “It’s important that you not lose your temper during deposition or at trial. We are going to paint you as a hero who risked his life to save Mr. Stein from suffering a huge financial loss. And we’re going to paint Mr. Stein as a greedy ingrate who will do anything to make a buc
k, no matter how reprehensible it might be. But if you lose your temper and get on the wrong side of the jury our defense won’t work.”
Larson sighed. “Okay. I’ll try to keep cool.”
“It’s okay to express your feelings of betrayal, but don’t threaten him and don’t say you wish you had killed him.”
“Got it,” Larson said.
“Now tell me exactly what happened on May 7, 1997 from the moment you left your house or apartment.”
“Apartment. Well, I’ve been going out with a woman, Sally Marrs, for about a year now. She’s a brown-eyed brunette and a real looker. We fell in love almost immediately and I would have asked her to marry me sooner, but I just started my security business and I wasn’t sure if it was going to make it or not. Lately business has been good, so I made a decision to ask her to marry me and I decided to go find her an engagement ring that afternoon.”
“Right.”
“So, after I had breakfast at Chubby’s just down the road from the Jewelry Mart, I decided to stop in and see what they had.”
“So, you hadn’t ever been in the Jewelry Mart before?”
“No. I’ve driven past it, but never gone in.”
“Alright. Go on.”
“Well, when I stepped inside I got an ominous feeling. Being trained as an MP I could sense that something was wrong. A proprietor would never leave a showroom without a salesman present at all times. If a customer came in he could go behind the counter and help himself.”
“Aren’t the display cabinets locked?”
“Yes, usually, but in this case I saw one wide-open. Hell, I could have stolen an engagement ring and Stein wouldn’t have known the difference, particularly if he were dead.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you didn’t do that, since there were video cameras running.”
“Shit. That never crossed my mind. I just knew something was coming down so I went into the backroom to see what it was. But, the backroom was empty too, so I was about to call 9-1-1 when I heard voices. I looked in the direction of the voices and saw there was another door, which I suspected led into a vault room, so I went over to it and looked inside.
“Michael Mahoney was standing with his back to me pointing a gun at Stein’s back while he opened the vault. I knew if I could distract him, so he’d point the gun away from Stein, I could wrestle it away. I’m trained to disarm people. I know how to do it, so seeing a box cutter on the counter next to me, I picked it up carefully and tossed it to the other side of the room. When it hit the ground Mahoney turned away from Stein and that’s when I made my move. We struggled a moment for the gun and had Stein stood still he wouldn’t have been hit, but he panicked and tried to get by us about the same time as the gun went off.
“When I finally got the gun loose, I put it in Mahoney’s face and told him to lie on the ground. Then I disconnected the phone cable and used it to tie his hands behind his back. When I had him secured I called 9-1-1. The police showed up first and then the ambulance. They took Stein away in the ambulance, arrested Mahoney, and interviewed me. When they saw I’d been an MP they thanked me and said to keep in touch because they might need me to testify before a grand jury if Mahoney didn’t admit to the heist.”
“So, you had military credentials with you?”
“Yes, I’m still in the reserves. I have to serve six weeks each summer.”
“Well, that’s good. That puts you in the class of an off duty officer. That might provide some statutory protection for you. I did some research on that, but hadn’t realized you were still in the army.”
“I should think so.”
“So, did you ever get your ring?”
“Yes, I went to Collin Creek Mall as soon as the police let me go and found one there that afternoon.”
“So, did Sally say yes?”
Larson smiled. “Yes, she did. We’re getting married in September.”
“Congratulations!”
“Thank you.”
After Larson had left, Jodie went to see Stan to update him on the case. He was on the phone so Jodie decided to wait outside the door until he was finished. It wasn’t her intent to eavesdrop but she couldn’t help but hear his side of the conversation.
“Yes, I can’t wait to do it either. I’m aching to be inside you.”
Jodie’s eyes widened now focusing on the conversation intently.
“Yes. I like the school girl outfit. You look so sexy in that. . . . Right. . . . I know. . . .” He laughed. “Don’t worry, nobody will miss me. I’ll tell them I’m having lunch with a client. . . . Don’t talk like that, you’re getting me hard. . . . I won’t be late. . . . Bye.”
Jodie waited a minute before going in. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard—Stan Turner cheating on Rebekah? She wasn’t just shocked. She was stunned. She walked in and smiled as if she’d heard nothing.
“Hey. I just wanted to update you on my case.”
Stan was looking out the window and didn’t respond immediately.
“Stan?”
Stan blinked and then turned to Jodie. “Oh. Hi, Jodie.”
“What’s up?”
“Ah. I just met with Larson and I wanted to update you on the case.”
“Right,” Stan said with a big smile. “How’s it going?”
“Very well. Larson is very credible and comes off as a nice guy. I think the jury will like him.”
“Well, that’s the key. Make the jury like him.”
Jodie brought him up to date on the other things she had done on the case.
“Well, I’m glad you have it under control. This new Chapter 11 for Ram Bakira is going to take a lot of time. Not to mention Paula is going to need our help with her new murder cases.”
“Well, I should have plenty of time to help her.”
“Good.”
After updating Stan, Jodie went to her apartment to take a shower and put on a clean outfit. As the steaming hot water massaged her shoulders she thought of Carl and wished he were there to wash her back. She hoped his promise of another date would materialize soon, as now she was longing for his touch and to feel him inside her.