At three o’clock the next day, Jackie pulls her car into Jonathan’s driveway. His Bentley, which has been a fixture since she’s met Jonathan, is not there, and Jackie wonders for a moment whether she’s mistaken about the time they had agreed to meet to go to the city.
A moment later, Jonathan exits the house. He jogs over to her car and climbs into the passenger seat.
“Would you mind driving?” he asks.
“Sure. Where’s your car?”
“It was in my driveway when I went to sleep, and when I woke up there was a certified letter from Harper Sawyer on my doorstep that repeated the word repossessed several times.”
“I thought it was a prepaid lease?”
“Apparently Harper Sawyer believed it was their prepaid lease,” he says.
“I’m sorry,” Jackie says. “I know you loved that car.”
Jonathan shrugs. “I did once . . . just like I loved my penthouse and the East Hampton oceanfront house I was going to buy. But it was all in the same kind of way. I loved what I thought they said about me. That I was successful, I guess. That I mattered.”
“You matter, Jonathan. You matter to me.”
He looks into Jackie’s face. He’s still not sure what’s going through her mind. Does she love him, or is he being played for a fool? The one thing he does know is that he certainly loves her. And that is enough for him to take a leap of faith.
* * *
Jackie stares up at the skyscrapers like the tourist she is as they walk the few blocks from the parking garage on Williams Street to Peikes Selva & Schwarz. Upon entering the firm, Jonathan says hello to the receptionist and introduces her to Jackie. Alex Miller comes out a minute later, with another man following close behind.
“This is Mark Gershien,” Alex says. “He’s a friend of mine from law school, and a top-rate criminal defense attorney.”
Even though Mark Gershien was Alex’s classmate from law school, Gershien looks a good ten years older. He’s a handsome man, with kind eyes and a strong chin, but there’s a weathered quality about him that’s more in keeping with someone who has already crossed fifty.
“Very nice to meet you,” Mark says, shaking Jackie’s hand, and then Jonathan’s. “Although I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.”
“I’ve given Mark a very superficial understanding of what’s going on,” Alex says, “in part because I don’t fully understand it myself. So I thought it would be the best use of our time today, Jackie, if you meet with Mark in the conference room, while I chat with Jonathan in my office.”
Jackie looks at Jonathan with concern. She apparently doesn’t want them to be separated, even if it is only to meet their respective lawyers.
“It’ll be okay,” Jonathan says.
“Okay,” Jackie says, sounding less sure.
* * *
Once they’re in Alex’s office, Jonathan says, “So, your buddy, is he any good?”
“He is. Good enough that I can guarantee you that his advice to Jackie is going to be that she should turn on you.”
Jonathan at first thinks Alex is kidding, but he hasn’t cracked a smile. “I told you, I didn’t have anything to do with Rick’s death.”
“I know,” Alex says, which sounds more like I hear you than I believe you. “But that doesn’t mean that she’s not going to say that you killed him. I hate to break the fantasy, but the truth doesn’t always set you free in the American legal system, and love doesn’t always conquer all anywhere.”
“She’s not going to say that I killed Rick,” Jonathan says.
“Are you willing to bet your life on it? Because this is really one of the few times when the question is actually meant literally. If she turns on you, your life is over. And I got to tell you, I’ve seen couples who were married thirty years, couples with six children together, turn on each other to avoid prison. So, are you sure—and I mean really sure, bet-your-life-on-it sure—that Jackie isn’t going to turn on you to save herself?”
The truth is no, he’s not. How could anyone be sure what someone else is willing to do to save herself?
“I don’t know,” Jonathan says, fully knowing that it means she might.
“In that case, I need you to listen to me, Jonathan. Keep an open mind, and hear what I have to say. Will you do that?”
Jonathan knows what’s coming. “Yeah.”
“Just like I told you that Mark’s a good enough lawyer to advise Jackie to turn on you, I’m that good a lawyer, too. And my very strong advice is for you to turn on her. Empower me to seek a deal where you get immunity in exchange for testifying that she admitted to killing Rick. I may even be able to get the immunity deal to cover the securities fraud, too. A complete get-out-of-jail-free card for you. The one caveat is that you have to do it ASAP—before she tells them that you confessed to her.”
As with his fears about whether Jackie would turn on him, Jonathan has also considered this counter-option—saving himself by giving her up. At least he’d be telling the truth. He hadn’t even considered that he could get out from under the securities fraud charges, too. If the specter of a criminal indictment went away, he could start his life over. Maybe stay in banking, even.
Nevertheless, he shakes his head as if it’s not even a consideration.
“No, I’m not going to do that.”
Jonathan wonders whether Alex believes him. He’s sure that many people declare that they’re never going to turn, and then they do, when all other options evaporate.
“No judgments, Jonathan. You know me better than that. But this is a serious fucking thing here. Not to say that a potential securities fraud conviction isn’t, but you have an excellent shot of beating that one, or at the very least pleading it down to a sentence that’s doable. Three years, maybe. Short enough that you’ll still have a full life afterward. But this . . . this is a full-on murder charge we’re talking about. Worse than that, actually. It’s a murder-for-hire. That makes it potentially federal, which brings the death penalty into play. And like I said, the clock is ticking. If she makes the deal first, it’s all over for you.”
* * *
Jackie’s first impression of Mark Gershien is that he seems too happy to be there for her liking. She suspects that defending an attractive woman in a murder trial brings out the hero complex in a male lawyer, and so she decides to give him the benefit of the doubt for a little while longer.
“I’ve had lots of introductions under these circumstances, and I know how hard it can be,” Mark says after he and Jackie enter the conference room. “For what it’s worth, you’re holding up pretty well. At least from what I can discern.”
She’s tempted to correct him. She’s not holding up well. She’s about to jump out of her skin. He has no idea how hard it can be thinking about spending the rest of your life locked in a cage. But she doesn’t see the point of telling him that what she’s experiencing is well outside his comprehension. If Mark Gershien likes to pretend that he knows something about what she’s going through, so be it.
So she says, “Thanks.”
“I thought we’d start off with a reading from the Gospel of Criminal Defense according to Mark L. Gershien.”
Jackie smiles. She knows that he’s trying, so she might as well throw him a bone.
“I can’t wait to hear it.”
“Good. I’ll let you in on a little secret. The best criminal defense lawyers do not win at trial. Winning at trial costs a lot of money and a lot of sleepless nights. Not to mention that the odds of acquittal are very long. The prosecution wins . . . I don’t know, ninety percent of the time. That’s why the very best lawyers win before trial.”
Jackie bites. “So, how do I win before trial?”
“By cooperating against Jonathan,” Mark says matter-of-factly, staring intently at her.
Jackie immediately looks away. She wonders whether her lawyer will think the worst of her if she turns on Jonathan, or whether that judgment will only apply if she doesn’t.
“Jackie . . . listen to me. If Jonathan is responsible for the crime . . . or even if the two of you did it together, I can go to the DA and see what type of deal I can get for you. They’re going to demand jail time if you were in on it, but I may be able to get them down to something that is livable. Not easy, mind you, but survivable. Maybe ten years. I think you already know this, but I gotta say it anyway. If you lose at trial, the best case is life without the possibility of parole.”
“They said that I could face the death penalty. Is that right?”
Mark cocks his head to the side. “It probably won’t be a capital case. Most of the time, spousal homicides, even when they’re murders-for-hire, are charged as state crimes, and New Jersey abolished the death penalty about five, ten years ago. But, yes, to answer your question, they could charge it as a federal murder-for-hire and ask for the death penalty.”
Jackie feels as if she’s going to pass out. That, or throw up.
“When will we know?”
“Unfortunately not until—and if—you’re arrested. If FBI agents do it, it’s federal. If it’s East Carlisle cops, it’s state. Even if it goes federal, they may not charge it as a capital offense. There are a lot of factors that go into it and the decision to seek the death penalty ultimately needs to be approved by the US Attorney General.”
Jackie doesn’t find this comforting. In fact, she’s lost in the despair that a cabinet-level official will actually be tasked with deciding whether she’s put to death.
“Which brings me back to the initial point,” Mark says. “The best way for you to protect yourself is to seek a deal in exchange for testimony against Jonathan. Is that something you’re willing to do?”
“No,” Jackie says flatly, as if that’s all the response the question required.
“Can I ask you why not?”
“Because Jonathan had nothing to do with killing Rick.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I hired that guy to kill Rick.”
There, she said it. Told her lawyer the God’s honest truth. She wonders how many people admit they’re murderers to their lawyers, especially during the initial meeting. Does Mark Gershien respect her candor? Or is he repulsed by the sight of her?
“Okay,” Mark says after a long pause. “I’m not going to lie to you, that limits our options. Does Jonathan know it was you?”
“Yes.”
Jackie’s admission is met with a scowl. It’s as if her lawyer is more troubled that she confided in Jonathan than that she’s a murderer.
“How much does he know?”
“Everything.”
“What about details? Does he know . . . how you made the payments or communicated with the hit man?”
“Yes. I told him everything.”
Mark’s concern is now undeniable. He’s holding his hand over his mouth, as if he’s physically trying to hold in his response.
“I hate to say this, Jackie, but Jonathan is far and away the greatest danger to you. All he needs to do is tell the police you confessed to him, and then corroborate that confession with some of the particulars of the crime, and they’re going to give him immunity in exchange for his testifying against you.”
“He’s not going to do that,” Jackie says.
As the words come out, Jackie hears how silly she sounds. The cold reality is that she’s known Jonathan for all of a month. She can’t believe it’s been that short, but the calendar doesn’t lie. And if she considers Jonathan with even a modicum of objectivity, she knows he’s a man who possesses a finely honed self-preservation instinct.