Chapter 26
The morning of Hollis’s arraignment, Beau Lee woke at five and got dressed in his expertly pressed suit, then took a cab from the hotel to the courthouse.
It was a big day. And though he had plenty of big days in his rearview, this one felt monumental.
His mind raced the entire ride over. It would be his first appearance before a judge in the state of Illinois, and the only thing he heard in his head was Nellie cautioning him to be prepared for anything.
Rain poured. It wasn’t cold enough to snow, but the temperature was dropping. Meteorologists forecasted an incoming storm, which was to begin in four hours. It seemed like there was always a storm brewing…
He stood on the courthouse steps under the awning as Alvarez approached in a wool coat, scarf, and leather knee-high boots.
She held a large umbrella, and a briefcase hung off her shoulder.
The stark look on her face suggested she’d had a restless night or had received bad news… or just hadn’t had her coffee.
“Good morning,” Beau Lee said. “How are you?”
“Been better,” she said. “Terrible night. Couldn’t sleep. Dreamed about my mother mostly.”
“Your mother?”
“She always visits me when I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
Beau Lee held the door to the courthouse lobby open for Alvarez and entered behind her. The heat was blasting. It felt like a sauna compared to outside. Beau Lee began removing his coat.
His hands were shaking.
“You got the jitters?” Alvarez asked.
“Could be too much coffee or anticipating the hearing.”
“Didn’t take you for the nervous type.”
“If you don’t get nervous before these things, then you probably shouldn’t be practicing law.”
“Nervous or not, we better be on point.”
“Precisely.”
“So, do you know much about the judge?” Beau Lee asked. “Any pointers you can share?”
“I wish,” she said. “Just say a prayer that whoever it is will be the epitome of fair and impartial.”
“A fair and impartial judge doesn’t seem so elusive.”
“In this city, you’d be surprised. On second thought, maybe you wouldn’t.”
“Nothing surprises me, but I will do my research once the judge is appointed.”
“Well, I haven’t had breakfast yet. I was thinking I’d grab a pastry from the café. Want to join?”
“You go on without me,” he said. “I’ll meet you inside.”
Alvarez headed upstairs to the café while Beau Lee sat on a bench outside the courtroom. He took the opportunity to go over his notes in preparation for the arraignment. His phone rang—it was a number he didn’t recognize.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Cooper…hello?”
“Tyler, is that you?”
“Yes, sir.”
Tyler, Nellie’s seventeen-year-old son, whom he had been raising as a single father since he was eight years old, was on the verge of graduating high school.
Tyler was a phenom when it came to academics and on the lacrosse field.
Beau Lee hadn’t spoken to him in a few weeks.
Not since the firm held its annual community cookout.
It was rare for Tyler to call him. Something must be wrong.
“Shouldn’t you be in school? A little odd to be hearing from you. What’s going on?”
“It’s Dad. He didn’t want me to call you, but—”
“Nellie—is he all right?”
“That’s why I’m calling. I took him to urgent care last night. His blood pressure was the highest we’ve ever seen it. Off the charts. Scared the mess out of us.”
“Please tell me he’s all right.”
“He’s fine for now, but that’s the thing. The doctor seemed to think he was on the verge of a stroke. Had I not convinced him to get seen, who knows what might’ve happened.”
“What do they think caused the spike?”
“They seem to think stress and lack of sleep were factors. Dad’s been going nonstop with running things here in Houston, and I know I shouldn’t have been snooping, but I overheard him talking to one of the legal assistants, and he seemed upset.”
“About what?”
“Something about Chicago PD countersuing the firm.”
“I didn’t know anything about this.”
“Well, it had Dad in a fit. I’m worried about him. I haven’t seen him like this in a long time, Mr. Cooper. I’m not sure what to do.”
“Take a breath.”
“I’m sorry to unload all this on you.”
“No, it’s fine. You did the right thing calling me.”
“Okay.”
Beau Lee had assumed Nellie was managing well without him, but if Tyler was right and the CPD intended to countersue, it could be enough to overload Nellie. “Is he there now?” Beau Lee asked.
“He’s in his office.”
“Can you hand him the phone so we can talk?”
“Thank you, Mr. Cooper. I know he’ll listen to you.”
Beau Lee remained on the line while Tyler sought out his father. After a short time Nellie got on the line. “Hello?”
“What’s going on, Frat?”
“I was just about to ask you the same,” Nellie said. “Case updates?”
“We’ll get to that, but what’s this I hear about a trip to urgent care?”
“Oh, it was nothing. Tyler worries too much.”
“Does he have reason to worry?”
“Isn’t there always?”
“Be straight with me.”
“I didn’t want to drop this on you, but since it seems you already know, CPD is threatening to countersue us.”
“For how much?”
“Fifty million. The exact figure you’re suing them for.”
“Talk about tit for tat,” Beau Lee said. “What’s their claim?”
“Defamation. Stems from the allegations you made during the press conference,” Nellie said, starting to get worked up. “I wanted to keep this from you as long as I could. I knew you had enough to deal with, but I don’t need to tell you how bad this is.”
“Keep it from me? Since when do we keep things from each other?”
“I know. I’m sorry…I thought I was looking out for you, but I realized this might be the end of us.”
“What are you saying, Nellie?”
“It’s the police union in conjunction with the department. If their lawsuit’s successful, they’ll tank our firm. We don’t have fifty million to pony up.”
“Frat, you know I don’t scare easily. There’s no way they can sustain a defamation case, because they’d have to prove that we were knowingly saying something that was false.
And based on everything that we know, we’re simply alleging that they shot an innocent police officer who was Black.
But please don’t worry about all that right now.
Just tell me…you going to see a doctor?”
“Got an appointment coming up this week.”
“Good,” Beau Lee said. “I’ll check back with you when I get some time and update you on things. We’re about to go into court.”
“All right, Frat.”
“Love you, man.”