“A lot,” Jason said, and laughed as he refilled his mug and grabbed a cookie to eat. He ate it as he walked back to the white board he had been taking notes on. He looked directly at Staci. “You applied for, and received a government military grant based onyourinformation. You received it. It was determined at your first trial that the professors had no bearing on your research, or your work. That’s whyyou won. However, this new evidence they say they have for this case is bogus. I knew it the second I read it, but like the excellent lawyer I am, I need to verify it.”
“What new evidence?” Tony asked, reaching out to take Staci’s hand in his.
“The professors say that they had the right to Staci’s grant because it was promised to them. They have documentation, and video recordings of the person that said the grant was theirs.” He shook his head and held up his hand. “I have yet to see it, but it’s all written down. I needed to talk with Marcia and Tony, and I will be contacting Ethan Lyons from JAG to get a copy of that court case.”
“Why?” Staci asked.
“Because the person that quote, unquote, promised the professors the grant is none other than Caleb Burrows, Sr.”
“The senator?” Marcia and Tony asked in shock, then Tony looked around wildly. “But wasn’t he already in jail by the time Staci’s first case went to trial?”
“Yes. But like I said, I need to verify the information from Marcia’s trial.” He looked between the two of them. “After your trial, Marcia, was there a trial for you, Tony?”
“No. I was a material witness in her case, and JAG used both my testimony and my own injuries for putting the final nail in the former senator’s coffin. Iwas named in the lawsuit, but I took a back seat because of my surgeries.”
“Question,” Jake spoke for the first time since the discussion began. “How long from when the two of you were hurt to the trial?”
“Three years,” Marcia and Tony said together. “After we were rescued and arrived at the hospital, I was rushed into surgery after the testing was done. You know, MRIs, CT Scans, X-rays. Some of my broken bones had punctured my lungs and I had to have a chest tube on each side. The breaks had to be surgically repaired. Once I was out of surgery, they put me in a drug induced coma. After six months, they wanted to make sure I was completely healed, they weaned me off the medicine, but I continued in a natural coma for another six weeks or so, before I came out of it. After being released from the hospital, I had to have extensive physical therapy.”
“Where did you live at that time?” Jake asked.
“The local VA hospital. This was in Pennsylvania. I lost consciousness seconds after making contact with that mountain, not waking until months later.”
“Why did it take so long to go to court?” Staci asked.
“The military works in mysterious ways,” Jason said with a shake of his head. “Sometimes they work fast, sometimes they don’t.”
“I was told,” Marcia said as she looked at everyone. “That during my recovery, I was in that VAhospital for two years going through extensive physical therapy. I was told by my JAG lawyer that it took so long for Senator Burrows to take me to court because he was dealing with the death of his son, and his divorce. This is all hearsay, but his wife blamed him for their son’s death. Something along the lines that if he hadn’t meddled in his military career, he would still be alive. Again, hearsay here, but the divorce was ugly. I’m sure you can look on-line and see the headlines, it was all over the papers.”
“Why was it ugly?” Ilsa asked.
“The money aspect of their marriage was hers. There was a prenuptial agreement and well, it got ugly. At the end, Mrs. Burrows was awarded everything. The judge upheld the prenuptial, that was the biggest thing the Senator was fighting, saying that it shouldn’t matter after being married for as long as they were. I’m talking about their four houses, one there in DC, which was actually in Virginia, one in Florida, one in The Hamptons, and the brand-new mansion that took five years and millions of dollars to build in Arizona. That was their winter residence. Along with the homes, she got all the cars, and the bank accounts, leaving Senior destitute. Again, hearsay here, but whatever he purchased using her family money, she was able to recoup. He was able to keep the small apartment he kept on the side for his affairs.” She shrugged when everyone in the room whistled. “That was the only piece of property in hisname and there was proof that he used his money for it, not hers. During this time, I don’t know how this works, but he was either fired, or asked to step down, or suspended from being a Senator until the investigation was completed about his interference in threatening the United States Army.”
“Why the Army?” Staci asked.
“The National Guard is an extension of the Army.”
At her frown, Lloyd explained, “The same as the SEALs are a team of Navy personnel.”
“Ah, got it. I won’t get into it, but I’m sure all branches of the military have these special or elite groups?”
“Yes.”
“Got it,” she said as she turned back to Jason. “So, the professors are saying that this disgraced senator is their source of new information? Are they saying that they received this man’s approval while he was sitting in jail?”
“Yes, but I don’t know about the jail part, at least not yet. I called this meeting today in order to learn from the horse’s mouth what happened. Our defense will be that they are lying through their teeth, and if they want to kill us with paperwork, like they did in your previous case, then I can do the same thing. However, my evidence will be former cases brought before a judge. Marcia’s case, the divorce of the Senator, his case where he wasthrown in jail after physically and verbally attacking Marcia at the court house, his arrest, statements from the Warden, as well as his prison records proving when he arrived.”
Staci sat back with a grin on her face. “Damn, I like how you think.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll testify,” Jake said into the silence.
“Why?” Jason asked with a scowl.
“Staci made a new leg for me. I can testify when I saw her, where I saw her, and our correspondence about her working on my leg.”
“Before I confirm or deny, where were you when you talked to her initially?”
