Chapter 15
Over the next three months, John, Anne, Bryan, Marco, and Angela continued moving around the nation. From the state of Florida and the tourist attractions there through to the forests and fall colors in Maine and Vermont, to the Badlands of the Dakotas and the wide open prairies of the central United States, they crisscrossed the country. They continued visiting children’s hospitals and looking for other people and organizations who needed extra help. Although the travelling was interesting, they sometimes longed to have a base of operations and a network of friends they could call or visit with.
As John had promised, he kept in close contact with Joe about the investigation and progress of the court cases. One evening when John talked to Joe, he learned that he was needed to make depositions for the defense attorneys before the trials could begin. Reluctantly, he agreed to return to California and get prepared for the many trials that had been set. After much talking and praying, John and Anne decided to go back to the Resort and settle there. It was close enough to make necessary trips to Los Angeles, but far enough away to be somewhat sheltered from the publicity and pressure of the legal proceedings. After nearly eight months on the road in the Motorhome, they turned around and headed back to the Resort. After pulling in late one night, they moved back into the suites that Marco had turned over to them.
The next morning, John called a meeting of all staff for the following afternoon. It was the first time he had spoken to them since Marco’s death. When the time for the meeting came, John, Anne, Bryan, and the twins entered the conference room.
“Thank you for coming to this meeting. It is good and yet very sad for us to be back here at the resort. The last time we stayed here, Marco was still alive. Our babies were newborn infants. We had been living here with Marco and had been working closely with you for several months. I want to explain some things to all of you that I could not tell you about before. I want to clear up any confusion or misunderstandings you might have about Marco and our relationship with him. When I first came up to meet with Marco, I was an undercover policeman trying to get incriminating information about Marco and his operations. That same day, I bumped into Anne who was stranded here because of car trouble. We had met at a children’s hospital in Los Angeles where she was working as a nurse, We had talked several times there before losing contact with each other. That chance meeting here changed all of our lives, although we did not realize that until weeks and months later. Because of several strange and amazing events our lives became intertwined.”
John continued, “At the meeting in the Lounge that first night, Anne discovered there were three men from Chicago who had been hired to come to kill Marco when the bar closed that night. Anne is an expert lip reader and observer. She happened to notice them. She read their lips and learned about their plot. I told Marco about their plan. He stopped them, investigated. and discovered it was true. What we didn’t learn until much later was that Marco had just been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and had been told he had only a few months to live. He was amazed by Anne’s ability, and he took her under his wing. I didn’t know anything about their growing friendship until much later. Marco had been thinking a lot about his wife Sophia and his young daughter Angela who had been killed senselessly in a bank robbery many years before. He later told me it was that event that pushed him into the mob seeking revenge for their death. Something about Anne reminded him of his daughter. When he learned her father had died recently, he became like a second father to her. In the meantime, she had fallen in love with me, but she didn’t know I was a policeman.”
“Marco called me and asked me to come up and see him about a job. What I didn’t know was that he was really checking me out for Anne. He was touched by her sweet innocence and wanted to make sure she wasn’t making a mistake. He also wanted to make amends for the evil he had done in his past. He told me he knew I was a cop, and that I was trying to get information on him. When he said that, I thought I was a dead man. Instead, he helped Anne and me get together, and he planned and arranged our wedding. He asked me to come and work for him so he could give me information on the crime bosses and corruption he had been part of. I never lied to him, tricked him, or collected any information that he did not give to me voluntarily. As you know, Anne became pregnant and had our twins just before Marco died from the cancer.
“After Marco died, we packed up the information and turned it over to the LA District Attorney’s office. A few months ago, the police acted on the information and made numerous arrests. Since that time, we have been travelling and trying to stay out of sight. Another thing neither Anne or I knew about was that he had changed his will and left everything to her and our children. We did not ask for or expect any money from him. Knowing that much of his money had not been earned legally, we decided to honor his desire to make amends for his past actions by creating MSA Foundation, a charitable organization, to help people, charities, and especially critically hurt or ill children. Since travelling, we have made donations in excess of $15,000,000 to help various hospitals, charities, and individuals. He also left us this property. That brings us to where we are right now. Marco and Anne both loved this place. In the past, it has not been a safe or legitimate place for families or other honest people to stay. We want to change that. With your help, we want to make this resort a place where honest, hardworking people can come with their families. We are thinking about opening a children’s hospital nearby where critically ill children can come and be treated. The Resort will offer reasonably priced housing for the families of the patients. No one will be turned away for lack of payment. This is our dream for this beautiful place.”
“I know a lot of you worked for Marco for many years and are very loyal to him. Anne and I both loved him very much. We miss him and are trying to do what we believe would please him. Because we loved him, our twins are named for Marco and his wife Sophia and his daughter Angela. We hope you will want to stay on here and make this dream come true. If you want to stay on and help us create that kind of place, we would be honored to have you work with us. If you decide you don’t want to stay on here, we will do all that we can to help you find good jobs elsewhere. Take some time and think about this. Let us know what you want to do,” John finished.
Anne stood up and added, “Marco cared about each of you personally. You were like family to him. I know he helped some of you in the past when you were having problems. I remember how kindly you accepted me and John. We came to care about each of you also. We want what is best for each of you. Thank you for all you’ve done to help us in the past. I am very happy to be back here now, but I also feel very sad because Marco isn’t here to share the good times with us. I hope you will want to stay, but we wish you well whatever you choose to do.”
After a short time of questions and answers, the meeting ended, and the employees left. As time went on most of the employees decided to stay. A few of Marco’s ‘muscle men’ decided to stay to help protect Anne while John was in Los Angeles, but a few others decided to move on. Anne and John gave each of them generous severance pay to help them get settled elsewhere.
After settling in at the resort, John called Joe and told him that he was ready to come back and be interviewed for the depositions. Just as he expected, he had been subpoenaed to appear as a witness in most of the cases already set for trial. Within the week, he returned to Los Angeles and began giving depositions. He answered truthfully and carefully about how he had received the evidence and information that Marco had revealed to him. Having been personally involved in every aspect of the case, he was a strong, clear witness for the total prosecution case. When questions were raised about Anne and her connection with Marco, he answered carefully and truthfully that she had not been a part of any of the investigation and had no direct knowledge about what Marco revealed.
As expected, the first trials began with a lot of high priced attorneys defending
their indicted defendants. John was one of the first witnesses the Prosecution called. He had frequently testified in other cases and was used to appearing in court. No matter how hard the Defense attorneys attacked his testimony and tried to confuse him or break him down, he answered clearly and with strong conviction. The jurors responded very well to his testimony, and all of the main defendants in the first series of trials were convicted.
After the attorneys saw he was too strong a witness and couldn’t be rattled, they subpoenaed Anne to testify also. They hoped, because she was a woman and not used to appearing in court that they could get her upset, flustered, and rattled. They hoped to discredit the reliability and motives behind the investigation. They also hoped it would make John angry enough to react and make him look vindictive, biased, and unreliable.
Anne called John from the resort after receiving her first subpoena to appear as a defense witness. Although she had expected to be called sooner or later, it still upset her. “John,” she said after he answered the phone, “I finally got subpoenaed to appear in the next trial. I don’t know why or what they expect to gain, but I guess I have to appear.”
“I was afraid they might go after you to discredit me and the investigation. They may be rough on you, but you have the truth on your side. I’ll be coming home tomorrow evening. Try not to worry about it. I’ll give you some pointers about how to be a strong witness. I know you will do fine. I wish I could shield you from this, but I can’t stop this from happening. I love you, honey. We will get through all of this together,” he added using their favorite saying.
“Thanks for the encouragement. I’ve missed you so much. Be careful driving home. I want to feel your arms around me. I know you’ve had to stay down there for the trials, but we’ve all missed you. You won’t believe how much the twins have grown and changed since we got back to the resort. I think they’ll be walking soon. Hurry home to us. I want to spend some quality time with you,” Anne murmured.
“I know what you mean. I hate having to be away from you and our kids. Give Bryan a big hug for me and kiss the twins. I’ll be home as soon as I can get there,” John answered.
After getting off the phone, John turned to Joe and spat out angrily, “Well, they’ve finally summoned Anne into this mess! I hate thinking about how they will treat her on the witness stand. I know she’s done nothing wrong, but I know how nasty some of these attorneys and newsmen can be when they ask questions. This is the one thing I have really been worried about. I knew what I was getting into when I took on the assignment, but Anne is so sweet and innocent; I hate her being drug through all this filth!” he snarled.
“I know. The best thing is that she really wasn’t involved in any of the gory details. There isn’t much she could tell that could hurt the cases or make her look bad, is there?” he asked.
“No, Marco and I were always very careful to keep Anne out of the investigation. We never discussed any people or details about his testimony when she was around. Marco loved her and didn’t want her involved any more than I did. I just know they will try to make her look like a scheming, money-hungry woman with bad moral character. I remember how they insinuated that Marco and she were lovers, even hinting the twins were his. Of course, that was nonsense, but you know how some people love scandals and enjoy believing the worst about people. They’ll accuse her of things that may cause her great embarrassment, not because it is true, but because it will be broadcast in the news on TV and in the papers. She is the most loving, innocent, and gentlest woman I have ever known. I hate having her and my kids drug through the mud because some slime-ball wants to worm his way out of a conviction,” John ranted angrily.
Joe put his hand on John’s shoulder and advised, “Calm down, John. She needs you now to be her calm rock to steady her. If you lose it now, you can’t help her. You need to help her understand what she may be facing. We know she didn’t do anything but care for a sick old man who changed because of her influence. If you want me to come up and help coach her and get her ready to face the reality of these trials and attorneys, I’ll come with you.”
“Thanks, Joe. I know I can count on you. You saw her from the beginning at the resort, and you know she is innocent of anything. You’re right. I need to make her understand how they will try to break her down. I don’t want to cause her any pain, but she does need to understand how ugly and personal some of the questioning may become. The attorney on this next case is one of the worst, sleaziest kind. Just keep us in prayer. We are going to need all the help we can get. Sometimes I wish I had never gotten involved in any of this. Of course, without Marco’s ‘matchmaking’ and helping us get together in the first place, Anne and I might never have met again, fallen in love, and been married. I really owe a lot to Marco. I know some people think we were in it for the money, but money never even entered our thoughts. Hearing the reading of his will was the biggest shock of our lives. It has never been used to help us live a rich lifestyle, but who is going to believe that? Thanks to his bequest, we’ve been able to help a lot of people, charities, and medical institutions. We never really believed Marco’s money was meant for us. We believe it was his way of helping make amends for what he did in the past. That’s why we set up the MSA Foundation and, since receiving it, we have only used it to help others.” John said.
“That’s what you need to stress. Good is coming out of the evil past and is affecting many people in positive ways. That might be something to have the Prosecution bring out in testimony. I know you aren’t looking for praise, but it would help people understand that Marco had really changed, and his money is doing good things now. It is being spent on others now and really hasn’t changed either of you,” Joe explained.
John shook his head and said, “I never thought about that. I’m sure they will try to make her appear to be a gold digger after his money. He did give her some fairly expensive gifts—including the car after she saved his life and paying for our wedding. He was always trying to give her gifts. She was very careful not to mention anything she liked or wanted. He had a desire to give her everything. She finally told him to stop. He still always made sure she had fresh flowers, just because he liked to see her smile. That loving, giving side of Marco is something very few people would believe or understand, but he was always generous to his employees and friends. After his death, we found out from many people how Marco had helped them when they had family, medical, or money problems. That’s something good that people will never know about Marco based on the evidence he gave. He didn’t pull any punches and admitted so much that he had done that was wrong. He certainly wasn’t a saint, but he changed more than anyone will ever know; and, I believe, it was all due to Anne’s influence.”
“I know what you mean. I still remember how her ability to read lips thwarted the attempt on his life. She was amazing. I remember how scared she had been and yet so strong also. People who have met her or just talked to her will know she is innocent. My family and I will pray for her to be protected and led by God during this. Everyone she has touched—from her young patients to the ones who have been helped by her charities--will know and support her,” Joe added as they walked out to their cars.
“I’ll call you if I think of anything I need. I appreciate your support, Joe. You’ve been a good friend and a loyal partner! It really means a lot to me,” John said as he drove out of the parking lot.