Unintended Consequences - By Marti Green

Chapter

35





Thirteen Hours


Ten minutes after Tommy’s call, Melanie stood in front of the address she had for Sunshine Harrington Bergman. She rang the buzzer for her apartment but was met with silence. She waited outside for someone to leave the building, and when a man finally opened the locked door to the lobby, Melanie slipped inside. She took the elevator to the eighth floor and walked down the hallway to apartment 8-C. She pressed her thumb against the ringer and held it for two seconds. Still no response.

Melanie didn’t know whether Sunshine hadn’t heard the bell or was away. She didn’t have time to wait for the answer. Instead, she rang the bell at 8-D. For a long time she heard no response. Just as she was about to leave, she heard some shuffling inside and then the turning of several locks. A man standing at least six-four and weighing well over 250 pounds opened the door. “I know this sounds corny, but it really is a matter of life and death. Do you know if your neighbor next door is away from home?”

“You’re f*cking waking me up to find some guy?”

Melanie looked at her watch. It was almost 11:40. “I’m sorry I disturbed you. And it’s not what you think. A man is hours away from execution and she’s the only person who can stop it.”

“Listen, lady. I just got to sleep two hours ago. I don’t care if it’s the f*cking Queen of England that’s gonna die.” He slammed the door shut.

Melanie didn’t care if she woke up more people. She continued to knock on doors, beginning with 8-A, and worked her way down the row.

When she reached 8-F, a teenage girl with long brown hair and longer legs below her shorts opened the door. Melanie went into her standard opening, rote by now. “Sorry to bother you, miss, but I’m looking for Sunshine Bergman, who lives in 8-C.”

“Oh, sure. Sunny. I baby-sit Rachel sometimes.”

“You don’t happen to know where she might be, do you?”

“The whole family went away for the weekend. They might be back tonight, I think.”

Melanie stopped in her tracks. Each step of the way in this case, they seemed to come so close only to butt up against an obstacle. She turned back to the girl. “Do you have a cell-phone number for her? Or her husband?”

“Sure. I need it for when I baby-sit. You know, in case something happens.”

“Can you give it to me? It’s urgent that I reach her.”

The girl thought for a moment. “I … I don’t think I should. In fact, I’m not sure I should even be talking to you.”

As she started to close the door, Melanie stuck her foot inside to block it. She took out her HIPP identification and showed it to the girl. “What’s your name?”

“Leanne.”

“Okay, Leanne. There’s a man who’s going to be executed in thirteen hours for a crime he didn’t commit. I don’t know if Sunny Bergman here is the woman I’m looking for, but if she is, she’s the only one who can save his life. I’ve got to speak to her immediately.”

Leanne looked Melanie over. “I don’t know. I keep hearing about all these scams. How do I know you’re not some con artist? Or some kind of freak?”

Melanie’s heart did flip-flops in her chest. “Please, give me her phone number, I’m begging you.”

“I don’t know what to do. My mom would be furious for me to even be talking to you.”

Melanie kept her foot in the doorway. “How about this. Would you call her for me?”

Leanne hesitated. “Okay, I guess I can do that. Wait here while I get my phone.”

Moments later she came back holding a hot-pink cordless phone. She punched in some numbers and Melanie could hear the phone ring. When it was answered, Melanie heard static on the line.

“Sunny, it’s Leanne. There’s a woman here who says it’s urgent that she speak to you. Can I put her on the phone?”

Leanne handed the phone to Melanie. “Ms. Bergman, I’m with the Help Innocent Prisoners Project, and right now there’s a man who’s going to be executed in a few hours who’s innocent. We need your help.”

Through thick static, Melanie thought she heard her say, “Why me?”

“It’s too complicated for the phone. Where are you?”

Melanie could make out the words Long Island Expressway, traffic and accident.

“How long do you think it’ll take you to get back home?”

More static, then, “Three more hours.”

“I’ll be waiting here for you.”

Why did good news and bad news always come together? It seemed miraculous that Tommy had found Sunshine Harrington, but now she had to wait three precious hours for a DNA sample.

She thanked Leanne and headed back to the HIPP office, stopping along the way at the corner delicatessen to pick up a coffee and a Danish. She went into Bruce’s office and sat down.

“Tommy found Sunshine Harrington.”

Bruce’s face broke out into a wide grin. “Did she give him a swab for DNA?”

“Let me rephrase. He found where she lives. I just got back from there. Tommy’s on his way back from Minnesota.”

“Minnesota? When did he go out there?”

“I don’t know the details. He called earlier and gave me her address. I haven’t made contact yet. Sunshine’s on her way back from a vacation. And naturally stuck in traffic on the LIE. She doesn’t expect to be back here for another three hours.” A seventy-one-mile highway between Manhattan and Riverhead, the gateway to the Hamptons, the Long Island Expressway was often referred to as “the Long Island Distressway.” Bumper stickers attesting to the travails of traveling the roadway were rampant. Melanie’s favorite was “I drive the LIE. Please pray for me.”

“Will it be enough for the governor if we produce Sunshine without DNA proof that she’s Angelina?” Bruce asked.

“Dani has an affidavit from Jody, the nurse who put us on to her, and another from Dr. Jeffreys saying their medical histories match. Maybe that’ll be enough.”

“Does Dani know about Sunshine?”

“I don’t know. Tommy called me right away so I could get over to her apartment.”

“Call Dani. She needs to get in touch with the governor’s chief of staff and give him a heads-up on our progress, smooth the way for at least postponing the execution until the testing comes back. I’ll call the lab and make sure they’ll stay late for us.”

It took twenty minutes for Dani to reach the phone. Once again, Coates sent a guard to bring her from George Calhoun’s cell to the warden’s office.

“Dani, have you spoken to Tommy today?” Melanie asked when she picked up the phone.

“No. Did he learn anything? Did the mailman come through?”

“I don’t know how he got it, but Tommy called me this morning with Sunshine’s address and I’ve been to her apartment. She’s right here in Manhattan. The bad news is she’s not at home. But I talked to her and she’ll be back around 2:30. And get this—she lives just a few blocks from HIPP.”

“No! Are you serious? She was right in our backyard all along?”

“Yep.”

“I think I’m numb from shock.”

“Listen, will producing her be enough for the governor? I don’t think it’s possible to run DNA before midnight.”

The lab had already run a DNA swab from Calhoun. Now they just needed a sample from Sunshine to confirm she was his daughter. Because of backlogs, DNA testing in a crime lab could take anywhere from weeks to months, but the process itself was quick. Depending on the equipment, preliminary results could be gotten in as little as twelve hours or as much as thirty-six. HIPP had an arrangement with a private lab. If results needed to be expedited, the lab accommodated.

“All Guidry said to me was they need a body. I’ll give him a call right now. And, Melanie?”

“Yes?”

“When you meet with Sunshine, be gentle. This has got to be a shock for her.”

“I think it’s going to be a shock for a lot of people.”