Always Watching Read Free Page A

before,
there wouldn’t have been a wedding.  If you need someone to
testify that I was targeted for marriage as a potential insurance
policy, contact David Levine.  They concealed that family
relationship so well that not even the FBI uncovered the truth when
I was vetted for employment.”
    “ I already know they’re
going to try to drag your father’s criminal history into this to
impugn you, Helen,” he said.
    “ Oh, so now I’m
responsible for what my father did when I was a child?”
    “ Of course not,” Zack
said.  “But on the other hand, you know as well as I do how
juries eat this stuff up.”
    “ Then you need to focus on
a few facts to bring them back to reality.  For instance, when
David Ireland was murdered sixteen years ago, I was twenty-two,
unmarried and had never heard of Rick Hamilton or Danny Datello and
Sullivan Marcos.  I was fresh out of undergraduate school,
working on my master’s degree in psychology.”
    “ I know that,
Helen.”
    “ There wasn’t a damn thing
even remotely related to these men in my life.  As for my
father, I hadn’t seen him since his arraignment hearing three years
earlier.  It’s been almost twenty years since I’ve seen or
spoken to him.”
    “ I know, but –”
    “ Then it’s your job to
make the jury see that, to make sure they don’t forget that I
devoted my life to stopping men like my father, like Datello and
Marcos.  For heaven’s sake, Zack.  Look at what we’ve
accomplished in less than a year in Darkwater Bay.”
    “ Unfortunately, there are
still pockets of citizens who think Datello was good for Darkwater
Bay.”
    “ You were supposed to
minimize their presence on this jury, Zack.” Devlin said. 
“And while I realize that there are bound to be some union guys on
the jury, they need to understand in no uncertain terms that his
arrest hasn’t had the negative impact on jobs in this city that
Datello’s lawyer would have everyone believe.”
    “ I have concerns that this
isn’t going to be the slam dunk we hoped it would be,” Zack
said.  “If I can keep the jury focused on the evidence and
make them ignore Stefano’s distraction tactics, we should be
fine.  This alleged death threat business has me
concerned.”
    I understood why without a single word
spoken.  “You’re right Zack.  I’d suggest getting a 
pair of officers guarding Celeste Datello as soon as possible.”
    “ You believe this bullshit
is for real?” Devlin couldn’t hide his shock.
    “ I believe that Danny
Datello would kill his pregnant wife if it created reasonable doubt
in this trial,” I said.  “Remember, family doesn’t mean the
same thing to these guys as it does to normal people.  If
Celeste dies, he’s got a shitload of built-in sympathy.  The
cops didn’t protect her.  We didn’t believe them when they
pled to the court to intervene and protect his family.  You
get the picture.”
    “ Shit,” Devlin said. 
“I guess I do.”
    My cell phone rang.
    “ You’re not supposed to
have those on in here,” Zack grinned.
    I smirked and answered the phone. 
“Hello?”
    “ Hi.”
    “ Well that was fast. 
Miss me already?”  I turned away from two men trying hard not
to eavesdrop. 
    “ Are you at the
courthouse?”
    “ Yes.  Datello’s
lawyer got another continuance – a week reprieve, or so it would
appear.  He convinced Judge Gates that Datello’s wife is
receiving death threats.  Then she went into labor or
something,” I said.  “Don’t you wish you were here for the
fun?”
    “ Doc, I’m not so sure
there isn’t some kind of credible threat here.”
    “ Seriously?”
    “ Chris Darnell called me
about two minutes ago.  Stefano had the evidence messengered
to OSI while they were still in court.”
    I squeezed through the crowd and found a
quiet corridor, the one used to usher defendants into and out of
court.  “Talk to me.”
    “ I guess I have a huge
favor to ask.  You know I wouldn’t do this