Free Legal Thriller: Michael Gresham: Secrets Girls Keep: A Courtroom Drama (Michael Gresham Legal Thriller Series Book 2) by John Ellsworth

anything to help him. So I bring her with me and we walk up the sidewalk and climb the outside staircase.
    When we arrive inside, the Leighton Criminal Court is crammed with media; the mayor's daughter has been murdered and everyone wants the story. WGN is there, as well as CNN. I haven't yet entered my appearance in Jana's case so no one is interested in me when I enter.
    We are able to squeeze Danny in-between two fortyish white women who are drinking from 30 ounce Styrofoam cups. They call to Danny and make room in the pew. I squeeze her shoulder once she is settled in and then I make my way to the front of the courtroom and take a seat in the jury box with twenty other lawyers. We'll wait here for our cases to be called, which could happen right at the start of the calendar call or which might not happen until noon. You never know when you come here just what kind of free-for-all you're in for. But one thing’s for sure: it's never dull. Decked out in signal orange jumpsuits, the prisoner dock is crawling with humanity in its basest form for everyone to see. Court is like turning over rocks; you never know what's going to turn up. Jana isn't among them, which tells me the first-call calendar doesn't include him and I'll be here for a while this morning.
    I hear a familiar voice stage-whisper my name and turn around. Father Bjorn has seen me and is making his way through the bar toward the jury box. I stand and shake his hand and pull him off to the side.
    "Jana called me last night," he says.
    "There's a breakthrough. Good for you!"
    "He wanted to know if I'm going to be able to get him out on bail today. I didn't know but said you'd be there and you'd do everything you could."
    "There won't be bail, Father. This is the mayor's daughter we're talking about here. Too much pressure."
    "What if you agree to take him in, Michael? You're an officer of the court. Wouldn't that carry some weight?"
    "Unknown. Maybe, maybe not." I add, "If you want, I can try."
    "Please. He says he's dying in here. Plus, he says the Aryan Brotherhood is going to move against him. Jana evidently told them he's not interested. I guess that didn't go over so well."
    "Not good. I hate hearing that," I say. The kid's definitely got big problems if those guys are upset with him. I take a deep breath and consider. Will Dania go off the deep end if I manage to bring him into our house? Or will her feelings for Father Bjorn make her want to help out by taking in his kid? I decide I'll go for it.
    "All right, I'll do it. I'll ask that he be released into my custody."
    "What are his chances?"
    "Totally unknown. At this stage we don't know why he's been arrested, meaning what the cops think his connection is to the girl's death. But the law says that only where the proof is evident and the presumption is great should bail be denied. All else being equal, we just might luck out and get bail set even though it's the mayor's kid who died. It's a judgment call, Father. It depends on the size of the judge's cojones, among other things."
    Father Bjorn nods solemnly.
    "Tell the judge that I'm the boy's father. That I will be closely involved as well."
    "Seriously? You want that on the record that the head of All Saints has a son?"
    "It's time for me to step up, Michael. Put it out there."
    "Well, that changes the picture dramatically. I'm sure the judge will know who you are."
    "Just do it, Michael. It's my kid and that's the bottom line for me."
    "Whatever you say. That will go a long way, Father."
    "Here's hoping."
    I can already hear the newscasts and see the headlines.
    All Saints is going to be the scene of a huge outpouring of prayer after we're done here today.
    For the sake of all involved, I can only hope the Vatican’s grace comes close to God’s own.

13
    J udge Winifred Lancer -Burgess takes the bench ten minutes later. She shakes out the billowy sleeves of her black robe and sweeps her reading glasses onto her face. Without looking over, she asks the