Page 84 of The Proving Ground
“What kind of move?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But think about it: All your press conferences this year have been about prosecutions related to the fires. L.A. is a big place, and most people never go through Altadena or the Palisades and Malibu. To them, the fires are what they saw on TV. You’ve got to have something else. Something else big that you can announce to show that you’re in charge of the whole county. That it’s not just about the fires with you.”
Maggie opened her mouth to say something that would push back on the suggestion. But then she closed it. I could see her mind racing as she came around to the idea.
“If you don’t have anything, I can give you something,” I said.
“What, about your case?” she said. “We’re not finished with the psych eval on Aaron Colton. I’m not going to rush that. I told you I wouldn’t.”
“No, my other case. David Snow. I told you about it. I’m gonna get him out, and everybody likes an innocent-man story. You could announce a move to review his case, and it would be on every channel at six.”
She shook her head and smiled—which I admit was nice to see, even though I knew what was coming.
“Mickey, you never stop working the angles,” she said. “Even with me.”
“Hey, I’m just trying to get you some good press,” I countered.“Whether now or later, you’re going to want to get on the right side of this case.”
“Well, it’s a little premature at the moment. But your advice is well taken. Thank you.”
She kissed me.
“I think I know what to do,” she said. “There’s a file on a cold case that came in from the LAPD yesterday. It might do the trick. I have to get dressed.”
She headed out of the kitchen.
“You sure?” I called after her. “You’d look great in front of the cameras in that sleep shirt.”
“Very funny,” she called back.
I was already dressed for battle. While I waited for the machine to brew, I called Cisco. “Okay, where are we?” I asked.
“Well, she’s still here,” he said. “If it stays that way, I’ll bring her to court at noon.”
“Good.”
“How are you going to handle it?”
“We’ll own it and tell it the way it is. It will take some of the wind out of Marcus Mason’s sails.”
“Hope so.”
“Anything changes, call me. If you can’t get me, tell Lorna and she’ll give me the message.”
“You got it.”
“And Cisco, if she brings up the subpoena, just remind her it was issued by the judge and she has to appear.”
“Copy.”
I disconnected. My double-shot was ready and I sipped it as I read theTimesstory on the start of my trial. It grabbed a few quotes from my opening statement, which I liked, but otherwise the storywas mostly a summary of the allegations contained in the lawsuit that would be addressed as the trial proceeded. As unhappy as Maggie was about what theTimeswas up to, I was pleased that it looked like my trial might be getting daily coverage.
On my way downtown, I took another call from Cisco.
“She’s in the restaurant having breakfast with her daughter,” he said. “I spoke to her for a few seconds and she’s not talking about leaving. She’s still scared, though, about what else they might have dug up.”
“Yeah, well, so am I,” I said. “But if they had more than the name, it seems like they would have used it last night.”
“True that.”
