Chapter Twenty-Two
The news of DNA evidence in the case of Alyson had traveled around town. Those with privileged access had already received the juicy details. Albert was no different. The mere fact that more than one person was implicated on the evidence was enough reason to worry him. The big issue, as he analyzed it from every angle, was the fact of Keith being unconscious for a period of time. Anything could have happened. And that was sufficient basis to be proactive about protecting his son.
Albert acted on the first move. This was the biggest gambit. A high risk and high reward path to securing a good deal for the present and the future. He showed up on time at a neighborhood bar to meet with Alex Cochran, who upon hearing the request to meet the Senator had demanded an out of office debriefing.
“Where is the Senator?” Albert asked, unimpressed by Alex, who appeared to him as a lightweight staffer.
“You need to talk to me first,” Alex said. All that he had to go by was the claim that Albert had material information concerning the death of Alyson Crawford.
When the call was first forwarded to him at the Senator’s office, Alex thought Albert was someone who wanted to take advantage of the limelight with no credible piece of information to contribute to the puzzle. Instead, Albert had mentioned that the information he had concerns Caroline McKenzie and ‘her connection to the murdered girl.’ The mere mention of murder and a possible connection with Caroline was enough to kick his senses into high gear and quickly accommodate Albert’s request to meet. He had promised to bring the Senator with him.
“Who are you? Are you here on behalf of and with full knowledge of the Senator?”
“I am your link to the Senator. Now sit down and let’s talk.”
“I am not speaking with some light weight page of the Senator. If he wants to save himself from embarrassment and ruin, tell him to meet me as soon as possible. Time is of the essence.”
“I give it to you, Albert. You have the tough guy act well practiced. Don’t mistake my youth for inexperience. I have dealt with and squashed many opportunist smugs. You don’t deserve an audience with the Senator. I know why you are here. Why don’t you get to the point? Is it about your son? You must be shitting in your pants right about now fearing he might get picked up, aren’t you?”
Alex had taken the better part of the day to come up with a strategy to counter Albert’s move. The benefit of having a 24/7 security detail whose job it is to scan the environment and make a note of all individuals in the vicinity of Caroline McKenzie. It was rather quick and easy to identify Keith. The only Lloyd in his class. The file generated by the security team had pictures of him at various places on campus and other places of interest around town with a final disposition of no security risk.
As part of that assessment, Albert had been looked at and was deemed to be a small scale legal operator. So, when Keith sat at the bar sipping his Guinness cold beer, he knew Albert was putting on an act. If he had been in the earlier state of mind where he knew where he belonged in the world, he might have played along and seen how far Albert would take the case. He didn’t have the patience for that course of action having heard definitively from Casey that she had moved on and his services were no longer needed.
Albert hesitated. He hadn’t come prepared for this kind of confrontation. As far as he knew, there was no one else that knew about his son’s connection to the dead girl. In some weird sense, the fact that Alex was threatening him reassured his hunch about Caroline’s involvement. Or, the alternate explanation was they were calling his bluff, which seemed more rational to him in the brief analysis he completed while standing in front of Alex and debating whether to leave or not.
Why would the Senator stoop down to the level of every conspiracy thrown at him? Instead, he sends his men to threaten and destroy people like Albert. Whichever way the Senator was leaning, Albert quickly decided he had nothing to gain by talking to Alex further. He needed to reconsider his position and find another approach.
“Let’s see if the Senator will be showing the same bluster when his name is plastered all over the news,” Albert said and walked away.
In all the years of his legal practice, he has not once dealt with those many levels above his pay grade. The way Alex carried himself, the kind of assured confidence he exhibited is the sort of high-level operation he had always wanted to be dealing with instead of petty offenses and misdemeanors.
When he arrived home, Albert was concerned by the asymmetry in his battle with the team surrounding the Senator. By his calculation, Alex was likely third, or at best second-tier operator. They won’t ever let him get near the Senator. If they had enough information about Keith, they wouldn’t hesitate to use it. That, of course, defeats the whole purpose of trying to find a way out of the situation.
The last resort would be to buy his son’s immunity at the expense of disclosing all the information he had received from Keith. He knows the address of a prominent individual. He knows about secret sex parties. He won’t volunteer that information, though. Albert decided he would hunker down and wait. If there is any hint whatsoever his son is even mildly implicated in the case, it will be the perfect opportunity to exercise his leverage. Humbled by the encounter with Alex, Albert decided the best course of action was not to do anything and put his ear to the ground and pick on any tidbits of relevant information. The way he saw it, he would likely have another debriefing with his son after a day of rest.
“Any news, dad?” Keith asked when Albert walked past him in the entertainment room heading to his office.
“No news for now. We’ve got to hunker down and wait. You have nothing to worry about for now.”
“Why is it so quiet? Don’t the journalists usually jump on this kind of case?”
“How do you mean?”
“Like that case in Italy about the American girl and her roommate.”
Albert had feared his son might over complicate the situation for him. Hearing about a parallel being drawn with the international sensation was unsettling. Could his son be secretively seeking that kind of fame? Could he be making up some details of the case to make it more salacious? In one sentence, Keith had given him all the reasonable doubt he needed to question his strategy for defending his son. What was needed was a methodical assessment of his son’s psychological well-being.
The problem was Albert Lloyd was no psychologist. Neither did he know anyone close enough to be entrusted. On the other hand, he has dealt with many petty criminals to make a rudimentary assessment about motivations and whether one is telling the truth or not. That moment had changed everything. He noticed that he hadn’t paid critical attention to his son’s micro-expressions having been fascinated by the case and living out the adventurous life vicariously. Albert now felt stupid for having established contact with the Senator without making sure his son’s story is the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
“You have nothing to worry about. Let’s talk tomorrow.” Albert said before he disappeared into his office.
~~~
