d.: Cal.E. is traveling to the airport in Denver to catch a redeye flight back to Houston so that she will have enough time to complete her paperwork before Monday morning (and after she contacts her (dead) mother to wish her a happy Mother's day. HOrace, Eudora, Hortense and I are going on the fishing trip that we missed a couple of weeks ago. It got cancelled because of bad weather. That should be no problem this weekend.
In our absence, please enjoy a chapter out of "The Magruder Mysteries' The Inert Ingredient entitled "Code X."
CHAPTER NINETEEN; CODE X
As Jay and Alice were working the day before the night he told his wife his horrible truth, Linda Moore settled into her easy chair on her only day off in a series of nine days. She had worked four straight twelve-hour shifts. It was only because she had asked (urgently) for a day off during the two-week stretch that she was working that she was given one day off before she started another series of four straight twelve-hour shifts.
Linda’s facility was working shorthanded, due to summer vacations and the like. Linda did not have children, so she had seen an opportunity to make some extra money, as well as comp. time. Working extra shifts gave her the opportunity to watch over her new best friend, Alice Jones Magruder as well. Linda was more than a little worried that her pseudo “little sister” was involved with a man or a situation that she could not get away from. Alice had intimated as much on many occasions.
This was also a good time for Linda to work overtime because her husband was working on a complicated pro bono case. Jack had volunteered his services as a trial lawyer to a prisoner whom he felt had been the victim of falsified records.
Jack volunteered his services because this prisoner’s case was reminiscent of an earlier case in which he was involved. In that case, Jack had been employed by a young man’s family to prove his innocence. He had successfully gotten the inmate out of a twenty-five-year sentence when he pointed out a technicality. The state had failed to follow proper procedures..
The chain of custody of the items that were presented as evidence had not been followed properly, resulting in the state’s case being severely compromised. The state had then offered the young man a deal. If he would plead guilty to a minor offense-possession of a small amount of narcotics (and therefore be subject to life-long parole) the state would not seek a prison sentence for the young man. The client and his family refused. Jack advised the alleged offender to take the deal, because this would be his third felony offense. Because he was being tried in Texas, this could result in a twenty-five-year sentence for the client. The young man did not think that he could live the rest of his life without making a mistake that would result in a long prison term. As he pointed out to his lawyer, he (and many others) believed that law enforcement officers will often target parolees, hoping that s/he will make a mistake. This would allow the cop to make an arrest of an alleged “dangerous criminal,” earning the cop both respect and status with his fellow law enforcement officers.
Although the client was probably guilty of distributing narcotics, as the state of Texas charged; Jack pointed out that the evidence had been tampered with by someone. He had taken pictures with his phone when the evidence was first presented. The pill count of the evidence presented in court was higher than the original picture showed, creating obvious doubt with the jury that the evidence was accurately displayed. If the state would add pills to the evidence, Jack pointed out, what would stop them from planting the pills on the defendant in the first place? The case was dismissed by the judge before the jury could render a decision. It was as good of a decision as the young man and his family could ask.
This case was similar to that case. The difference was that this young man’s family could not afford a high-priced lawyer such as Jack Moore. They were familiar with the previous case, though, and asked Jack to represent them on a pro bono basis. Jack agreed to do this because he thought that the state was trying to make an example of the defendant. He had no prior offenses, but the state was asking for the maximum penalty. The state’s reasoning was, according to them, trafficking narcotics was a large problem in the Third Ward of Houston. The state wanted the trafficking stopped as soon as possible. That was an admirable goal, Jack thought, but he did not agree with the way the state had chosen to do this.
Jack believed that law enforcement had been targeting certain minority groups. Although Texas’ prison population accurately reflects the overall population of Texas, those who are in prison for minor offenses are usually of minority descent. That is largely because these men and women cannot afford adequate representation in court. Although they are entitled to legal counsel, the public defenders that are assigned to them are often so overworked that they convince their clients to settle for the first deal that is offered by the state. Those that can afford a good lawyer are often the ones who serve little, if any, prison time for those offenses. Jack Moore sought to even those odds. It was for this reason that the best lawyer in the Greater Houston area decided to return to the courtroom.
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Because Jack was working at the county jail (where his client was housed until his trial) he left his cell phone at home. The county jail, like every prison, requires one to have special clearance to take a cell phone into the facility. It is a large headache with a lot of red tape. One can only carry the cell phone into the facility if s/he has a valid reason to do so, such as a terminally ill relative who is not expected to live much longer (even then the red tape is required to take a cell phone into a correctional facility). Jack did not have a good enough reason to take his cell phone into the facility.
Because county jails are usually not in the nicest areas of town, Jack did not want to leave his cell phone in his vehicle. It was a better than average chance that someone would break into his vehicle and steal his cell phone. He would need to be careful; even though this offense, in the twenty-first century, is comparable to the crime of horse thievery a century or two ago.
Jack had left the cell phone on the bar in the kitchen. Beside it, he left the main number of the jail that he was visiting, in case Linda needed him for any reason. He hoped that she would not, but one never knows about such things. It was this number that Linda called after her husband received a disturbing text from an unfamiliar number.
The text bore only four words. It was still very disturbing to the veteran floor nurse. Even stranger was that the area code was that of another country. Linda discovered, after researching area codes, that the phone had been purchased in South America, somewhere around Bogota, Colombia.
Linda could tell when one of her charges was sick enough that she needed to call his or her parents to come to visit before the child passed. She, unfortunately, had a lot of experience in this area, working on the eighth floor at M.D. Anderson Hospital. She worked exclusively with terminally ill children. It was her calm demeanor and her kind heart that led her to be picked for this difficult job. This text, though, was something that she could neither ignore nor begin to imagine what it meant (or even who had sent it). The text simply read: CODE X: NIKO; 911.
When someone leaves the numerals 911 behind a text, it usually means that the text requires immediate attention. It implies a sense of urgency. Linda was, therefore, both shocked and surprised at her husband’s reaction to the text when she had him paged from the main number at the jail. She relayed what the phone read to her life partner.
“Okay, thank you,” was all Jack said. Linda worried that her husband had not understood her. She was tempted to call the number back after Jack hung up the phone. It would have been futile to do this. Jack had no desire to discuss the situation on any phone, and especially not this one. The state, as well as the county, records every conversation that is transmitted on its phones. What he had to say could not be relayed on a phone that was sure to be bugged. Linda trusted Jack’s judgment, though. She decided to wait until he came home to ask about the message. It was a long wait.
Linda had expected Jack to rush home and discuss the situation. He did not. She had thought about waiting to have her lunch until her husband came home, but decided against it. This was a wise decision because Jack barely made it home before she decided to eat her dinner.
“Jack,” The usually unflappable Linda Moore was very concerned. Her voice showed it. “What was that text about? And who was it from? It is bad enough that I must worry about one of my coworker’s problems, but you obviously have one that requires immediate attention. What DOES the test mean, Jack?”
As his wife waited for his answer, Jack Moore weighed in his mind how much he should disclose to the love of his life. He finally decided that the text would affect both of them equally, so he decided to tell his wife the whole truth. It would be a long story. “Sit down, Linda. This will take a while to explain. But if Alice needs help, maybe I should ask my brother to get involved.”
Linda took her seat. The one thing that she knew about the man that she had married was that he was an honest man. He, however, was obviously hiding something from her. He had been doing this for a long time. This did not sit well with her. Additionally she thought that her husband was not oriented to the situation very well. She sought to remedy the situation, as she found she often must with her patients. “Jack, You don’t HAVE a brother,” Linda said, as gently as she knew how. What Jack told her next almost took her breath away.
“Niko,” Jack began, “is my brother.”
Linda leaned forward as if to hear the story better. She then broke her silence. “I thought that your parents could not have any more children after you were born. That is why I always assumed that you were an only child. Did your dad have an affair-”
Jack shook his head and interrupted his wife. “No, it’s nothing like that. ‘Niko’ is my adopted brother. That is not his real name. We use it as a code name for him because it is the Japanese word for three trees growing together. We selected the name because my brother has gone by three names in his life.” The usually unflappable Linda was reeling. She had never heard about any of this before. It was a part of her husband’s life that he had hidden from her. She was not happy about this turn of events. What Jack said next made her head spin.
“‘Niko’ was born Jonathan Peter McCafferty. I do not know if he is the biological son of one of the sitting junior state representatives to Houston of the Texas House of Representatives. McCafferty is a fairly common name. It may have been wishful thinking on the part of his mother. If he is, that politician will never admit it. He has designs on both the governorship of Texas as well as the presidency, according to the political analysts. At any rate; his mom did not want to keep him. She put ‘Niko’ up for adoption.”
“My parents, as you know, suffered secondary infertility after I was born. Even though they both wanted more children, they never were able to get pregnant again. Their doctor finally suggested that they look into adoption. This happened when I was twelve. Jonathan’s mom said that she could not keep the baby because the father would neither acknowledge nor help her with the baby. Since she was only seventeen (and did not possess a high school diploma), she could not support her baby and herself. Her parents had no idea where she was or how to contact her. She could not contact them. I do not know the reason for this. I only know that she was willing to put the baby up for adoption.”
“My parents did not want the biological mom to come looking for her baby after they had adopted him. She may have decided to raise him herself, after reconsidering the situation. Some courts will side with the biological mom when that happens, even after the child has been with his or her adoptive parents for several years. My parents wanted a baby so badly that they were not willing to take that chance. They renamed the baby Robert Leonard Moore. They decided to call him ‘Bobby.’ It is mainly because there are literally thousands of ‘Bobby Moores’ in the world that they did this. My parents also had his birth certificate changed to list them as the biological mom and dad.”
“‘Bobby’s’ mom never came looking for him. My parents never told ‘Bobby’ that he was adopted. He was the same race as we were, and he looked very much like a younger version of me when he was a toddler. Not telling my brother about his beginnings was a mistake, though, I think. His life has not been pleasant, and that is part of the reason.”
“Our dad died when I was fourteen, but Bobby was only two. He did not remember Dad very well. He became attached to Mom easily because she brought him home with her from the hospital when he was two days old. She was the only mother he could ever remember taking care of him. Mom probably spoiled my brother because she wanted a baby so badly for so long.”
“I went to college and law school, leaving Mom and Bobby alone. They became even closer. Unfortunately, my mother passed away of multiple myeloma when I was fresh out of law school. My brother was only sixteen, though. He was devastated when she died.”
“What disturbed ‘Bobby’ even more than Mom’s death, however, was the fact that she had never told him that he was adopted. He was devastated by the information that she shared with him on her deathbed. He ran away from home after this information was revealed to him, joining a gang. I could not find him. I could not, therefore, have the paperwork drawn up to make me his legal guardian. The law requires a signature from each party involved if both parties are sixteen or older.”
“Being part of a gang made my brother feel as if he had a family. He was confused about his origin. I think he did not think of me as his brother at that time. Not until he needed my help, that is.”
“Gangs have unusual (and sometimes cruel) initiation rituals. The gang that ‘Bobby’ joined made him rob someone at gunpoint to get into the gang. The initiation fee, from the victim’s possessions, was one dollar. The new gang member could keep the rest of the loot. This made him or her feel as if the gang was trying to help that person financially. It also encourages that person to rob the richest person he or she can find.”
“‘Bobby’ wanted to fulfill his obligation. Unfortunately, the man that he chose to target was an undercover cop. Because of this, Bobby was thrown in jail for armed robbery. He was sure that the gang would help him ‘beat the rap.’ They did not. They had plenty of money from dealing drugs and robbing houses and people at gunpoint. Even though the gang could afford an excellent lawyer for my brother, they did not offer this service to him.”
“My brother was assigned a public defender. However, she was working on three other cases and could not be bothered to help a ‘gang banger.’ My brother’s case was her lowest priority. She advised my brother to take the deal the state was offering. It was the maximum sentence for armed robbery (twenty years in prison). She said he could get out in fifteen years with good behavior. That is when ‘Bobby’ remembered that his brother had finished law school.”
“My brother called me and asked me to defend him. I was reluctant, but I agreed. I did not want my brother to go to prison. I had not tried many cases as a first-chair lawyer (this would only be my third), so I had little experience dealing with juries. That made me very nervous. When the state offered a deal, I encouraged my brother to take it. The deal that the state offered was that ‘Bobby’ would testify against the gang, giving whatever information he had about them. This would be after he was let out of jail. He told the gang members that he got out on a technicality. They were suspicious, so he did some things to convince the gang members that he was legitimate. I will not discuss those things with you or anyone else. They are too disturbing.”
“In return for his testimony, ‘Bobby’ would not go to prison. He would go into the witness protection program instead. His cover would be as armed service personnel. He told his gang that he wanted a different life. He joined the U.S. Army right after he gave the information he had gathered to his handler. He was then given a new name. One that I was never told.” Jack stopped and headed for the bathroom.
Linda was thoroughly confused. She confronted her husband when he sat back down. “What did the text mean, Jack?!”
“My brother broke his back climbing out of a sniper stand.” Jack continued his commentary, ignoring his wife’s question. “Before his accident, he was an extraordinary shot, as well as a very good athlete. The Army wanted him to be a sniper in the Rangers. He excelled at that until he broke his back in the accident that I just told you about. He took a job training other snipers in the Army. They employ him to train snipers in both the FBI and the CIA. They think that traveling around the world is a good way to keep him safe. It also helps that he is surrounded by well-trained soldiers with guns! Unfortunately, my brother does not care if he lives or dies. He only cares about doing his job and protecting others from a fate worse than his.”
“‘Bobby’ and I came up with the name ‘Niko’ for him so that I would know who is calling from an unknown number. He is allowed to do that once a month. I guess today was the day. He has already destroyed that burner phone that he texted me from. I cannot contact him, because he does not want to be traced.”
“We made up code words so that he could let me know how he is doing. That was so that, in case the burner phone (or my phone) is bugged, the person that is listening in will not know what we are talking about.”
“‘Code Green’ means everything is fine. Yellow means that he may be in some danger, but will probably be able to handle it. He has better than a 50/50 chance of survival. Red means that he is in a very dangerous situation, but expects to survive. It is a 75% possibility, though, that he will be killed. My brother has survived numerous ‘Code Red’ situations, however. Thirty-six at last count.”
“‘Code X’ means that he is in a dangerous situation and the outcome is unknown. We chose the letter X because it represents an unknown in mathematical equations. He does not know if he will accomplish the mission or survive it, either.”
“‘Niko’ is 98% effective in his missions that fall into the first three categories. He is the best that ever lived when it comes to missions that offer little hope of survival. However, my brother probably will not survive this mission, although the outcome is unknown. He has never been in this situation before. He has a 98% chance of NOT surviving this mission, as well as failing at it. In other words, it is a virtual guarantee that he will not only not survive the mission, but he will also probably not succeed in accomplishing what he set out to do. He is in an unfamiliar position, since he usually succeeds when others fail.”
“The 911 meant that the situation was either imminent, or was already happening. There is nothing that I (or anyone else) can do about it. He just wanted me to know.” Jack stated, grimly, and undressed to shower, leaving Linda alone with her thoughts.
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