Inside, he went straight to the kitchen for a glass of water. He took a handful of pain pills, gulped them down, and wiped his mouth with a forearm. He made it to the sofa where he collapsed. His leg felt like red-hot spears were jabbing into his flesh and muscles.
After a few moments, the pain began to subside and he could breathe normally for the first time in hours. He had replayed his mistakes a thousand times in the hospital and didn’t want to go there again. He considered himself extremely lucky to have escaped with so many cops around.
What a bunch of morons down there.
* * *
Late Tuesday afternoon, Keith and Tim drove to the firm’s office downtown. They admired the incredible collection of flower arrangements that completely covered the porch and most of the small front lawn. They walked a few blocks to the barricades and checked on the courthouse. Keith spoke to a Biloxi policeman he knew and thanked him for his condolences. Back at the firm, they entered Jesse’s office, and for a long moment stood in the center of it, taking in their father’s life. On the Ego Wall were diplomas, awards, photos, and newspaper clippings from the Camille days. On his credenza were a dozen photos of Agnes and the children at various ages. The desk, seldom used for the past five years, was in perfect order, with gifts the children had given: a silver letter opener, fancy quill pens he never used, a bronze clock, a magnifying glass he didn’t need, and a baseball signed by Jackie Robinson. Jesse had seen him play in an exhibition game in 1942.
Their sense of loss was unfathomable. The emotional devastation was overwhelming; the physical pain, after five days, was numbing. A man they had worshipped because of his unabashed love for his family, his integrity, courage, grit, intelligence, and affability, was gone, taken from them in his prime. They and their sisters had never for once given thought to losing their father. He was an enormous presence in their lives, and he would always be there for them. He couldn’t be dead at the age of fifty-two.
Tim, the most emotional of the four, stretched out on the sofa and covered his eyes. Keith, the most stoic, sat at his father’s desk for a long time with his eyes closed and tried to hear Jesse’s voice.
Instead, he heard a faint tapping at the front door. He glanced at his watch and jumped to his feet. He had forgotten the five o’clock appointment.
He greeted Judge Oliphant warmly and led him to the conference room on the first floor. He was in his late seventies and had always been sharp and spry, but at that moment he looked as though he had aged. He moved with a slight limp, and said no to coffee. His close friendship with Jesse Rudy had begun during the Camille litigation and only grown deeper when the new DA assumed an office just down the hall. They were so close that the judge fretted over the issue of impartiality. Jesse often grumbled that Oliphant was so concerned about being fair that he went out of his way to make it hard for the State. They yielded no ground to each other in open court, then laughed about their theatrics over drinks and cigars.
The judge was devastated by Jesse’s death and was obviously grieving. They commiserated for a while, but Keith soon grew weary of it. To keep traffic away from the house and Agnes, he was meeting friends at the office. Each visit began with the usual round of tears and condolences, and they were taking a toll.
“Not only was it a cold-blooded murder,” Oliphant was saying, “but it was an attack on our judicial system. They bombed the courthouse, Keith, the very place where justice is pursued. I suppose they could’ve killed Jesse in any number of places, they seem adept at these matters, but they chose the courthouse.”
“And who are ‘they’？”
“The same people Jesse went after. The same people he indicted, dragged into court, my courtroom, and frightened them so much they pled guilty.”
“Malco?”
“Of course it’s Malco, Keith. Jesse’s put away more than his share of criminals in five years, same as any other DA, I guess. That’s what the job entails. But Lance Malco was the big fish, and he left behind a criminal syndicate that is still operating and capable of getting revenge.”