“I’d like to proceed with my case,” he said, “as it’s time sensitive.But if you need to consider this matter further, we can take a recess.”
The foreman swiveled in his chair, canvassing the other jurors on whether they were ready to proceed.They all answered “yes.”The foreman rotated back around.“You’ve been nothing but by the book, Attorney Price.Please proceed.We’re eager to hear what you’ve got for us.”
“Thank you.”Standing, he stepped out from behind the witness desk and addressed the bailiff.“Agent Hall should be outside with my first witness, Special Agent Francis Cole.”While the bailiff retrieved Cole, Nic moved to stand behind the prosecutor’s table.
Bowers squirmed beside him.“If you’ve got this under control, then I’ll go.”
Nic lowered his voice for their ears only.“You do that, and I’ll make sure the bailiff blocks your exit.”He turned a shark’s grin on his boss.“Is your house in order as well as mine was, Lou?Or did I just take your house?”
Bowers blanched, sinking down into his chair while Nic remained standing, biting back his smile as the bailiff led in Agent Cole.A half hour later, Bowers was even paler and damn near sweating.Nic had systematically laid out the evidence against Cole—his presence on each compromised op, the mysterious injections of cash into his account, his intense interest in the case against Vaughn, and the calls Lauren had traced between Cole’s FBI-issued phone and another government-issued phone.Another of Vaughn’s moles.
“Who was on the other end of that line, Agent Cole?”
The young agent lowered his chin, eyes downcast, until they rose again and skipped past Nic to the other attorney at the prosecutor’s table.“The calls were with Attorney Bowers.”
Several jurors gasped.While Nic had prepared them for this possibility, it was another thing to have the reality confirmed, especially from someone outside Nic’s circle.
Two someones in fact.
He withdrew the blue folder from the file.“I’ve got another affidavit here.”He passed the folder to the bailiff for delivery to the foreman.“From Rebecca Wright, a cooperating witness in custody, confirming she was contracted through Attorney Bowers to steal evidence from Assistant Director Moore’s private safe.Evidence that incriminated Duncan Vaughn.”
He had Bowers dead to rights.
And the US Attorney knew it.
Bowers shot to his feet, and for a moment Nic thought he was going to make a run for it.The door to the grand jury room was opening, but Bowers would have a hard time getting past him and the bailiff.Once AD Moore and the Deputy AG stepped into the room, however, Bowers knew the game was up.
“I’d like to speak with Attorney Price,” Bowers said to the foreman.“I believe I have information that will be useful to the case.”
So he was going to play it that way, then.Nic wasn’t surprised.Of course Bowers would try to save his own neck.
“Attorney Price?”the foreman asked.
He contemplated refusing—daydreamed for a second of tearing Bowers apart on the stand—but then the image of his sister flashed across his mind.A sister he wanted to get to know better.He had to wrap this up, as soon as possible, so he could get to what was most important.
“If you’ll please excuse us for a few minutes,” he said to the foreman.The jurors filed out, back to their work area, while the bailiff handed Cole off to Lauren at the door.
Once it was only Nic, Jack, and Elton left in the room with him, Bowers lifted his chin, proclaiming, “I want a deal.”
“That depends on what you’ve got,” Jack said.
“Proof that Duncan Vaughn ordered the murder of Curtis Price.I gave him the drugs that killed Curtis Price.”
Nic knew that already from the info and pictures Mel, Jamie, and Lauren had obtained, so the hot, bright flare of anger at hearing Bowers actually admit it—knowing he had a hand in his father’s death—took Nic by surprise.Nic despised his father, but he hadn’t wished him death, hadn’t wished for his heart to be blown up, hadn’t wished for the danger that his murder put him, Lette, and all their loved ones in.And this spiteful, hateful man before Nic, another he’d labored under for years, loved power so much, hated Nic so much, that it was worth compromising his professional and personal ethics to keep his superior position.Fuck him for almost tearing Nic’s life and family apart.He white-knuckled the edge of the witness table behind him, holding himself back from lunging.Noticing, Moore moved half in front of him, and Nic both chafed at and appreciated the protective maneuver.
“Who exactly did you give them to?”Jack asked.
“To one of his associates, at Vaughn’s express request.”
“I’ve got the video of him stealing it.”Nic reached into his pocket and produced the flash drive, handing it to Jack.“And of witness tampering.He paid Vaughn off to influence a witness in one of his cases.”Nic got more than a little thrill at seeing Bowers sweat some more.“He’s had you ever since, hasn’t he?Including requesting Rebecca Wright to steal those flash drives from El?”
Lips thin, eyes narrowed, Bowers nodded grudgingly.
“And you’ll testify to this?”Jack asked.
“For a reduced sentence, to be served at a minimum-security prison.I can’t go to gen pop, not with the same criminals I put away.”
Nic growled from behind Moore.“You’re no better than them.Between this and the file full of complaints Moore’s got on you...”
