Uncommon Thief

Chapter 32

  Willing Accomplice

  The next morning, Fred had an appointment with Joel Roberts to begin preparation of his defense. Roberts' office was in Ventura, so he picked up Randy, who was home for Christmas break, on the way. As Fred drove in the driveway, he saw that Randy was in his garage talking to his father. He opened his window to say hello. Mr. Hanson wished him good luck, Randy got in the car, and they left.

  “Hey! How are you holding up?"

  "Okay, considering everything," Fred replied.

  "How's Maria?"

  "It’s unbelievable, like she's a different woman."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Well, when I finally told her everything, she took it quite well. She’s totally on my side and determined to get me out of this mess. Oh, she lectured me a little about Candy, but it was nothing I didn’t deserve."

  "That is strange. I would have thought she'd insist that you return the money, explain what happened, and throw yourself on the mercy of the Court."

  "No, I really misjudged her. She's become quite the accomplice. In fact, she went to Devil’s Canyon with me to get some of the money to use for my defense.”

  “Wow! That’s great. It will be much easier on you with her at your side.”

  “You’ve got that right.”

  Fifteen minutes later, they had arrived at the small garden complex where Joel had his offices. They walked over to the elevator and pushed the up button. When the door opened, they entered and pushed the button for the fourth floor. As the door of the elevator opened, they heard a commotion.

  "Oh shit. The damn reporters are back," Fred complained.

  They pushed their way through the crowd. One of the reporters stuck a microphone in Fred’s face and asked, "What's your reaction to the Judge canceling your bail?"

  "Huh? What are you talking about?"

  "You haven't heard? The Judge revoked your bail, and you’re going to be taken back into custody." Fred’s heart nearly stopped as he thought of having to go back to jail. This can’t be happening. Why would the Judge change his mind?

  As he stood in the hallway in shock with reporters barking questions at him, the door to Joel's office opened, and two FBI agents appeared. They muscled their way into the crowd and escorted Fred into Joel's office.

  Joel was standing inside. "I guess you heard the news," Joel said.

  "Yeah. What in the hell happened?" Fred asked angrily.

  "It seems the Feds noticed something strange about your license plates."

  "Huh? My license plates? Oh shit!"

  "Your plates don't match the DMV records. They think you switched plates so the police wouldn't spot you during your escape. Frankly, it doesn't look too good, and judging from the look on your face, I think we may have a serious problem."

  Fred had no response to Joel's comments. He just put his hands over his eyes and tried to keep from bursting into tears.

  Joel continued. "This is going to change our strategy quite a bit. If you were ready to flee the country, then you obviously can't testify. We'll have to just hope we can cast some reasonable doubt as to your guilt. Most of their evidence is circumstantial and inconclusive, so maybe we can muddy up the water enough to hang the jury."

  "I don't want to go back to jail," Fred pleaded.

  "You don't have any choice. Just as soon as we are done here, the FBI is taking you back into custody. I am sorry, Fred. There's nothing I can do."

  "How long until the trial?"

  "Probably about three to four months, I would guess. Whitehead is anxious to get it underway. He says he can smell victory. Oh, by the way, do you happen to have the $5,000 you mentioned?"

  "Yeah." Fred reached into his pocket and pulled out ten $1,000 money orders and handed them to Joel. "I managed to raise ten grand. I took what’s left from my inheritance money I was using for college, but I guess college will have to take a back seat for a while."

  "Well, this is a good start, but you’ll need to start talking to your friends and family about raising another $50,000."

  Fred nodded. “Don’t worry about money. Maria’s already working on raising a defense fund, and when she sets her mind on something, watch out. "

  Roberts laughed. “Well, that’s good to hear. You’re very lucky she’s sticking by you. A lot of women wouldn’t, you know.”

  “I know. She’s got a big wedding planned, so don’t spare any expense on my defense. I don’t want her to be a jailhouse bride.”