Corrupted (52 page)

“Second, I wanted to say congratulations.” Declan straightened up, smiling more easily, though his eyes still showed the pain. “Just as I predicted, you won. Because of you, Jason goes free tomorrow, and Linda Stokowski goes to jail.”

“She might get off on self-defense,” Bennie said, then realized that was the wrong thing to say.

“She might.” Declan nodded, swallowing hard. “And I hate to admit it, but I think she should be acquitted. Doreen might never accept it, but I'm not Doreen. I hate to think what Richie was going to do in that alley. She was well within her rights to protect herself.” Declan sighed, then eyed Bennie with emotion, his crow's-feet wrinkling. “You were great today, and … I love you.”

Bennie swallowed hard, but couldn't say anything. She loved him, too.

“So I'm wondering if we could rewind. You still have feelings for me, and I still have all the feelings I always had for you, and then some.” Declan chuckled, uncomfortably. “I mean, this is weird, the two of us are sitting down like lawyers.”

“That's what we are now.” Bennie had to decide what to do. Whether to tell him, and how.

“But it does take some negotiating. It always would have. We knew that. I still like where I live. You still like where you live. We both have our own law firms, but they're in different places. Long-distance is never fun. You know I'm not being cavalier. You know I understand this, right?”

“Right,” Bennie answered, because he was waiting for a reply.

“I'm also aware that this trial has been a trial for both of us. In every way imaginable. But I think we can put it behind us. I think we can get back to each other again. If you'll have me back.” Declan met Bennie's eye directly, with the richness of the love and passion that had been there, before. He rose, opening his arms in an embrace. “What do you say, babe? Can we give it another chance?”

Bennie looked up at him, wanting to jump into his arms. It would be so easy. It would feel great. They would get back together and they could run upstairs. He never had to know. She could keep it to herself, handle it on her own, the way she did everything.

“What?” Declan blinked, his face falling. He lowered his arms and they hung down.

“It's hard to say.” Bennie stayed still. Frozen, sitting on the couch, her hands in her lap.

“Just say it.”

“Okay.” Bennie found herself standing up, because she always felt better on her feet, a natural-born trial lawyer, facing the biggest trial of her life, right now. “Declan, there's something you don't know. Something that happened after Jim Thorpe.”

“What?” Declan frowned, puzzled.

Bennie steeled herself, then told him. Declan rushed over to her, wrapping his arms around her, telling her he was sorry, comforting her, and she surrendered to his embrace, burying her face against the smooth silk of his tie and the rough cotton of his shirt, as if she were burrowing to his very heart.

“I'm so sorry,” Bennie heard herself saying, not knowing until this moment how much she'd been blaming herself for losing the baby, thinking back to the sleepless nights when she'd gone over everything she'd done that could've caused what had happened. Somehow she felt better and worse, both at once, knowing the depth of the emptiness, but feeling the void fill up faster than it could empty.

And, finally, she understood that in sharing a burden, there was the true love.

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This is where I thank the many experts who helped me with the factual background for this novel, and there are more than usual. Spoiler alert: You might not want to read the following until you have finished
Corrupted
.

My inspiration for this novel was a true-life judicial scandal that took place in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. I have always written about the intersection of justice and law, and my novels often examine how law is often disconnected from justice or even thwarts justice. There are few better examples than the Kids-for-Cash scandal, wherein two Pennsylvania judges wrongly adjudicated thousands of juveniles as delinquent for personal monetary gain.

As a lifelong Pennsylvanian, I followed the scandal as it happened, but I knew I didn't want to write about it per se. I'm a novelist, not a reporter, and though it took me a few years to process the corruption scheme, I finally hit upon a way to do it: by looking at the children who had been incarcerated and trying to explore the lifelong effects of such rank injustice.

I hope I was able to make a moving and even instructive novel herein, and my first thanks go to the cofounders of the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, Robert Schwartz, Esq., and Marsha Levick, Esq. This amazing team of lawyers investigated the scandal, made vital constitutional law, and saved young lives when they brought the scandal to light. Both Robert and Marsha were both extraordinarily helpful to me in my research for this novel, but that's only one of the reasons they have my deepest thanks. Robert and Marsha are heroes, and they exemplify the best in the legal profession. They prove that law can ultimately lead to justice, at least of sorts. And that may be all that we can ask for.

Special thanks to Terrie Morgan Besecker, a great reporter who took the time to answer my questions about Kids for Cash. She is another hero in this nonfiction background because her reporting was the first to shed light on the fact that there were grave improprieties with respect to juvenile law in Luzerne County. If you wish to learn more about the actual scandal, read the book
Kids for Cash
by William Ecenbarger, and you can also rent a wonderful documentary,
Kids for Cash
by Robert May.

Thank you to the staff at Crestwood Middle School, who were so helpful to me when I dropped in to interrupt their day. Thank you to the journalists at the
Mountaintop Eagle,
who were equally welcoming and told us lots of on-the-ground information about what took place during the scandal. Thanks to the current staff at PA Childcare, who answered my questions as well as they could, with proper respect for the confidentiality of children incarcerated there. I would have it no other way.

Thank you to the Luzerne County District Attorney's Office, Public Defenders' Office, and everyone at the courthouse who helped me. Thanks to the Luzerne County Bar Association, which made me an honorary member so many years ago. You are doing what's right to promote the best of Luzerne County and your gorgeous courthouse, and you have my admiration.

Thank you to Lisa Goldstein, M.D., a psychiatrist specializing in children and adolescents, who spent time with me explaining the tragic results of childhood incarceration. Dr. Goldstein is warm, brilliant, and impossibly kind. I'm not surprised that such a gentle soul does such vital work.

Now onto my other experts. First thanks go to Detective Tommy Gaul of the Homicide Division of the Philadelphia Police Department. Detective Gaul deserves a medal, not only for what he does, but for taking the time to meet with me, answer all of my questions, and show me around the squad room and Arraignment Court. Special thanks to the Homicide Division for their brilliance, devotion, and hard work around the clock, trying to bring justice to my hometown.

Thank you to Lieutenant Funk of the Pennsylvania State Police for helping me in every way possible, and also for all that he and the PSP do for all of us in the Commonwealth, every day. Special thanks to Trooper Jason Fritz, Corporal Brad Zook, Corporal Carrie Neidigh, and Betty Houser of the Pennsylvania State Police Academy for all of their help. Thanks to Jennifer Traxler, Esq., of the Prothonotary's Office of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania and to my dear friend and former co-clerk at the Superior Court, Charles Thrall, Esq., who knows more than anyone in the Commonwealth about Pennsylvania legal procedure.

Thanks to my great friend Nicholas Casenta, Esq., Chief of the Appeals Division of the Chester County District Attorney's office. Thanks to Jerry Dugan, Esq., for his criminal defense advice and expertise, and special thanks to Nino Tinari, Esq., who taught me all the inside information that criminal defense lawyers only share with family. Thank you to the staff at the Criminal Justice Center, who answered all of my questions. Thank you also to David Zilkha.

Now onto my publishing family!

Thank you to my amazing editor, Jennifer Enderlin, who improved this manuscript so much, even though she now is publisher of St. Martin's Press! Jennifer is a one-in-million person, publisher, and mom, and I am lucky and blessed to know her. Big love and thanks to John Sargent, Sally Richardson, Jeff Dodes, Lisa Senz, Brant Janeway, Brian Heller, Jeff Capshew, Nancy Trypuc, Kim Ludlam, John Murphy, John Karle, Caitlin Dareff, Stephanie Davis, Angela Craft, and all the wonderful sales reps. Big thanks to Michael Storrings, for astounding cover design for the new Rosato & DiNunzio series. Also thanks to Mary Beth Roche, Laura Wilson, Esther Bochner, and the great people in audiobooks. I love and appreciate all of you.

Thanks and love to Molly Friedrich, and to the amazing Lucy Carson. Thanks to my wonderful agent, Robert Gottlieb, and the ace staff at Trident Media Group, including Claire Roberts, Molly Schulman, Nicole Robson, Nicole McArdle, Brianna Weber, Emily Ross, and Alicia Granstein.

Thanks and another big hug to my dedicated assistant and best friend, Laura Leonard. She's invaluable in every way, and has been for over twenty years. Thanks, too, to the great Nan Daley and to George Davidson!

Thank you very much to my friends like Franca, Paula, and Sandy, who suffered along while I wrote this book, and especially to my amazing daughter, Francesca, for all of her support and love.

 

About the Author

LISA SCOTTOLINE
is a
New York Times
bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author of twenty-four novels. She has 30 million copies of her books in print in the United States, and she has been published in thirty-five countries. She has served as the president of Mystery Writers of America, and her thrillers have been optioned for television and film. She also writes a weekly humor column with her daughter, Francesca Serritella, for
The Philadelphia Inquirer,
and those critically acclaimed stories have been adapted into a series of memoirs, the first of which is entitled
Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog
. She lives in the Philadelphia area with an array of disobedient pets. Visit
www.scottoline.com
or follow Lisa on Facebook or Twitter at
@LisaScottoline
. Or sign up for email updates
here
.

    

 

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