Chapter 11

Heath suddenly got up from the chair he was sitting in, saying, "Jarrod, could I have a word with you in the library?"

Surprised, not knowing what Heath would want to talk to him privately about, Jarrod just said, "Sure," and followed Heath to the library.

"I wonder what that's about," Audra said.

Nick looked firmly, worriedly, at his mother. They were both thinking that they knew, and that this time they would leave the talk to Heath.

Heath closed the door behind them when he and Jarrod entered the library, and he immediately asked, "You been drinking much today, Jarrod?"

"What?" Jarrod said. "No, just a beer at lunch. Why are you asking?"

"Because you look like a sick man and you've lost track of a piece of your day," Heath said. "Look, I don't want to add to your list of worried relatives, but Mother and Nick are both concerned about you. I thought Nick working with you yesterday had calmed him down, but when you walked in that door looking like an orphan boy at a picnic with your hand shaking like a leaf, I saw his worry level shoot right up. Are you all right?"

Jarrod sighed. "Just frustrated that I can't get Davison to drop the charges on Stuart."

"That alone wouldn't have caused you to misplace part of a day."

Now Jarrod's frustration level was rising again. "What are you getting at, Heath?"

"That maybe Mother and Nick are right to be worried about you," Heath said plainly. "Maybe you ought to consider that this case is tying you up more than you realize."

"Oh, Heath, come on, not you too," Jarrod said. "I just got to thinking too hard and lost track of time. That doesn't mean I'm losing track of myself."

"You're sweating and you're shaking. I'm the judge, Jarrod. Convince me you're all right."

Jarrod's eyes darkened with what was turning into anger, to have another one of his family think he was going off the rails because of this case. But abruptly, he tamped it down. The lost time today did worry him. Maybe they were right to be concerned about him. But - "I can't run out on the boy, Heath," Jarrod said quietly and put his drink down on the desk. "He's got nobody else looking out for him, and I'm afraid they might just hang him to get the crazy man out of the way."

"It's not gonna help if you turn yourself into a crazy man trying to help him," Heath said.

Jarrod glared at him. "I'm not a crazy man, and I'm not turning into one."

Heath nodded solemnly. "All right. You be the judge. Convince yourself of that."

They stood looking at each other. Heath saw the glare in Jarrod's eyes fade. It reminded him of that moment on the street in Rimfire when he realized he was holding a gun on his brothers and the recognition and sense came back into him.

Jarrod knew what Heath was seeing. He nodded slowly. "All right, Heath. I'll see Davison tomorrow, and if I can't talk him into dropping the charges against Stuart, I'll see if there's some kind of plea deal we can work out to keep the boy alive. One way or another, I'll get myself out of this case tomorrow - but I can't - "

Jarrod stuttered. Heath was afraid the man was going to start crying.

"I can't just let the boy die, Heath," Jarrod said, his eyes pleading for Heath to understand, even if it seemed like nobody else in the house did.

Heath understood, and he nodded, but he said, "You can't just let yourself fall apart either. Do that, and nobody wins. And Stuart still dies."

Jarrod nodded.

Heath thought he'd best leave Jarrod alone for a bit, to get himself back together before facing the family again. He gave his brother a clap on the arm, saying, "Come back in soon, or Mother will be in here."

Jarrod nodded again as Heath left.

"Is he all right?" Victoria asked as soon as Heath came back into the living room.

Heath nodded. "He will be. It was just a rough day."

Victoria and Nick exchanged looks, and at that point, Jarrod came back into the living room, his drink in his hand, saying, "Tomorrow will tell the tale, one way or another, so now let's put my day to rest and move on to a happier subject."

Audra said, "We have a new litter of puppies in the barn."

Jarrod smiled. "How many?"

"Six," Audra said. "Every one a squealer."

Jarrod thought that the last thing he needed to hear was squealing, but on the other hand the first things he needed to see were puppies. He smiled and reached a hand out to his sister. "Let's go."

XXXXXXXX

Jarrod went to Davison's office the very first thing in the morning, still not sure about how he was going to approach things but knowing that for the sake of his family and his own mental health, he was going to have to do something today. Davison was not remotely surprised to see him. He invited Jarrod to sit down, but Jarrod shook his head.

"Sam," he said, "I've got to have an answer today. You know you've got no reason to take that boy to trial except the word of two men who couldn't keep their stories straight yesterday. There's no reason to put him through another day of fear and uncertainty - and don't tell me he's too sick to feel fear or uncertainty, because I've sat with him day after day, and he is scared. He belongs back in a regular room with regular treatment, because there is a boy there who is lucid and sensible. I've seen him. He deserves a chance to get well, not get hanged. You've got to see that, Sam."

Davison listened, then looked down at his hands.

"Come on, Sam, you know I'm right," Jarrod said, leaning down on Davison's desk in front of him. "I've offered you a couple plea ideas, and I'm willing to talk some more about this, but damn it, your witnesses' testimonies just don't stand up. If the defendant were anybody but an inmate in the asylum, you'd have him cut loose already."

Davison took a deep breath.

Davison might have said something, but Jarrod kept on going. "What do I have to do to convince you? You've never been like this before. Just treat the boy like you would treat any other defendant. Cut him loose. He won't be going back out on the street. He'll be going back to a regular room at the asylum. The public is not gonna go after you for that."

Davison suddenly said, "Are you finished?"

"I don't know yet," Jarrod said. "What are you going to do?"

"I've already done it. I got Caycee and Powell back in here last night and had at them and they're both under arrest."

Jarrod felt a flutter of hope. "What charge did you arrest them on?"

"Murder," Davison said. "Powell caved. He said Caycee did the killing while he kept Stuart aside. Turns out Stuart tried to save Ambrose, not kill him."

Jarrod couldn't believe it. This had all happened so fast it made him stop cold while it tried to dig its way into his frozen mind. Finally it did. Jarrod wanted to kiss Davison, he was so happy. "So you're dropping the charges against Stuart."

"Already done, this morning. Stuart will be back in a regular room any time now, and even Superintendent Latimer is all right with it."

Jarrod slumped into a chair in front of Davison's desk, breathing hard but just about ready to jump back up and cheer. "What made Powell cave?" He asked.

"I told him I was gonna charge him with murder and he'd hang. He blurted out that all he did was hold Stuart aside and Caycee did the killing. You were right all along, Jarrod, and somewhere along the way I did believe you. I just needed more against Caycee and Powell than I had. Your depositions knocked everything loose."

"Thank you, Sam," Jarrod said. "The boy may not be able to tell us, but he will be relieved, and maybe he'll even get a chance to get some kind of normalcy in his life."

"I don't know about that, but maybe you'll be able to get some kind of normalcy in yours. You've spent way too much time in that asylum, Jarrod. I was afraid your brother was going to come after me."

Jarrod looked a little surprised. He didn't know Nick had talked to Davison about this.

"Yeah, when Nick was in town the other day and hauled me off to the sheriff's office, he told me I was being more stubborn than you were, and that worried me. To be more stubborn than a Barkley is a scary proposition."

Jarrod stood up. "I need to go spend a little more time in that asylum. Thank you, Sam." He reached out a hand and Davison shook it.

When Jarrod got back to the asylum, they were actually in the process of moving Stuart to his old regular room. He found the boy in the care of two attendants and Superintendent Latimer, in the hall near his room. Latimer saw Jarrod and told the attendants to hold up.

Stuart looked up at his attorney, and Jarrod locked gazes with him. "Do you understand what's happening, Leo?" Jarrod asked.

Stuart nodded. "I'm not gonna hang."

"The charges have been dropped," Jarrod said. "The prosecutor agrees, you didn't kill Mr. Ambrose."

Stuart actually smiled.

Latimer looked a little startled. "All right, Leo. Let's put this all behind us and get you settled back into your room."

Stuart abruptly held his hand out to Jarrod. "Thank you, Mr. Barkley."

Jarrod shook his hand. "You're welcome, Mr. Stuart," Jarrod said.

XXXXXXX

Victoria was heading for the kitchen from the stairs when the front door opened and Jarrod came in. Startled at the early hour he was home, and afraid of what it might mean, she blurted, "Jarrod, what - "

Before she could get anything else out, he had plopped his hat on the table in the foyer and was grabbing her up into his arms. He swung her around, saying, "Your worries are over, Lovely Lady! The Stuart case is over, Davison has dropped the charges and my client is back in his regular room and under regular treatment!"

"Oh, Jarrod," Victoria said in genuine relief as her son put her down, laughing. "I can't tell you how happy that makes me!"

Jarrod kissed her. "You don't have to tell me. I know."

"Whatever made Sam change his mind?"

"Nick telling him he was being more stubborn than I was. And my brilliant depositions, and Davison got a confession out of one of the attendants," Jarrod said.

"So it's done now," Victoria said. "You won't be going back to the asylum."

"I won't be going back," Jarrod said, "except to just check in on Stuart once in a while. I actually have hopes for him, Mother. He might actually get well one of these days. At least, I hope so." He took her by the hand and led her to the settee in the parlor. "I know how worried you were about me, but it's all done now and I'm as fit as a fiddle. How about you?"

"Much better now that I know you won't be spending so much time in that place," Victoria said.

Jarrod squeezed her hand. "Forgive me for not thinking more of your feelings before I even took the case."

Victoria shook her head. "You're a lawyer. You should take the cases you think are right, and obviously, you were right to take this one. A lesser man would have given up or not taken the case at all. You are not that man."

"I'm a sucker for the man who can't defend himself, I guess. Thank you for sticking with me."

"I wasn't very good at that, I'm afraid."

"No, you were perfect. Reminding me what kind of place I was spending my time in helped keep me on an even keel. You and Nick were right to worry about me. But it's over now. Everything is as it should be."

"You should thank Nick a little bit, too."

"I know, and I will. In fact, I think I'll thank him by changing my clothes and going out to help him set those bear traps he's been grumbling about."

Jarrod got up, kissed his mother, and dashed off up the stairs. Victoria was left at the settee, smiling, happy to see her son with a kick in his step again. And proud of him for not giving up when everyone was telling him he should.

"Including me," Victoria said to herself with a sigh, and then with a little laugh at herself, she got up and headed for the kitchen.

The End