“Is that a threat?” I asked.
“No, that’s the reality of where we’re at,” he said.
“You can tell Lankford that I don’t react to threats well. He should know that from the last time we crossed paths on a case.”
“This isn’t coming from Lankford. This is coming from me.”
I glanced at him.
“Oh, then I guess I should just shut everything down, have my client plead open to the charges, and beg the court for mercy. Is that what you think? Because that’s not going to happen, Forsythe, and if you think you can scare me off, then you didn’t ask enough of your colleagues about me before we started down this path.”
Forsythe picked up speed and left me behind as we pushed through the door into the courtroom. There was nothing else to say.
I scanned the courtroom and saw Lorna sitting alone in the front row. I knew that Kendall would not be in court because of at least one of the witnesses I planned to call. It was five minutes before ten, according to the clock on the rear wall of the courtroom. I walked up to the rail to talk to Lorna.
“Have you seen Cisco yet?”
“Yes, he’s out in the hallway with the witness.”
I looked back at the judge’s bench. It was still empty and they hadn’t brought La Cosse in from the lockup. I knew that with Jennifer at the defense table, things could start without me. I looked back at Lorna.
“Will you come get me in the hall when the judge comes out?”
“Sure.”
I went through the gate and walked quickly out to the hallway. Cisco was there, sitting next to Trina Rafferty. She was dressed much more conservatively than the last time I had seen her. The hem of her dress even came down over her knees and she had taken my advice to wear a sweater to keep her warm in the courtroom because Judge Leggoe had a habit of keeping the temperature down so jurors would stay awake and alert.
Costume-wise Trina Trixxx would be no problem. But I picked up the first inkling of an issue when she pointedly didn’t look at me when I approached and spoke to her.
“Trina, thank you for being here today.”
“I said I would. I’m here.”
“Well, I am going to try to make this as easy as possible for you. I don’t know how much the prosecution will have for you, but I won’t take long myself.”
She didn’t respond or look at me. I looked at Cisco and raised my eyebrows. Problem? He shrugged like he didn’t know.
“Trina,” I said, “I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to take Cisco down the hall a bit so we can talk about private matters. We won’t be long.”
Cisco walked with me over to the elevator alcove. From there we could keep Trina in sight while we talked.
“So what’s going on with her?” I asked.
“I don’t know. She seems spooked about something but she isn’t saying. I asked.”
“Great, that’s all I need. Do you know if she talked to anybody last night? Somebody from the other side?”
“If she did, she isn’t saying. She might just be nervous about coming to court.”
Over his shoulder I saw Lorna waving to me from the courtroom door. The judge was on the bench.
“Well, whatever it is, she’d better get over it quick. She’ll be on in five minutes. I gotta go.”
I started to make a move to go around him, then remembered something and stepped back.
“Great work last night.”
“Thanks. You looked at the tape, right?”
“Yeah, on the way in. How much did they plant in the pizza box?”
“About three ounces of black-tar heroin.”
I whistled the way Cisco usually whistled.
“You took it out of there, right?”
“Yep. But what do I do with it? If I give it to the Indians, they’ll sell it or use it themselves.”
“Then don’t give it to them.”
“But I don’t like having it in my possession.”
It was a dilemma but the one thing I knew for sure was that we couldn’t get rid of it. I might need it as part of my presentation of the video that went with it.
“Okay, then I’ll take it. Bring it by the house tonight and I’ll put it in the safe.”
“You sure you want that kind of risk?”
“This will all be over in a few days. I’ll risk it.”
I clapped him on the shoulder and moved off toward the courtroom door.
“Hey,” he called after me.
I turned and walked back to him.
“Did you pick up on how Lankford was acting in the video?”
I nodded.
“Yeah, like he was taking orders from Marco.”
“Exactly. Marco is the alpha.”
“Right.”