rides with Glint, her secretary. They may be having dinner, or something.”
They gave each other frustrated stares. “I think she’s here,” Hedley said, suddenly aggressive.
“You’re not paid to think, son. You’re paid to serve those damned papers, and I’m telling you she’s
not here.” Momma Love raised her voice when she said this, and Reggie heard it.
“Can we search the house?” Flagg asked.
“If you have a warrant, you can search the house. If you don’t have a warrant, it’s time to get off my property.”
They both took a step back, and stopped. “I hope you’re not obstructing the service of a federal subpoena,” Hedley said gravely. It was supposed to have an ominous, dire ring to it, but Hedley failed miserably.
“And I hope you’re not trying to threaten an old woman.” Her hands were on her hips and she was ready for combat.
They surrendered and backed away. “We’ll be back,” Hedley promised as he opened his car door.
“I’ll be here,” she shouted angrily, opening the front door. She stood on the small porch and watched as they backed into the street. She waited for five minutes, and when she was certain they were gone, she went to Reggie’s apartment over the garage.
DIANNE TOOK THE SUBPOENA FROM THE POLITE AND APOLO-
getic gentleman without comment. She read it by the light of the dim lamp next to Ricky’s bed. It contained no instructions, just a command for Mark to appear before the grand jury at 10 A.M. at the address below. There was no hint of how he was to get there; no clue as to when he might return; no warning of what could happen if he failed to comply or failed to talk. She called Reggie, but there was no answer.
I HOUGH GLINT’S APARTMENT WAS ONLY FIFTEEN MINUTES
away, the drive took almost an hour. She zigzagged through midtown, then raced around the interstate going nowhere in particular, and when she was certain she was not being followed, she parked on a street crowded with empty cars. She walked four blocks to his apartment.
His nine o’clock date had been abruptly canceled, and it was a date with a lot of promise. “I’m sorry,” Reggie said as he opened the door and she eased through it.
“That’s okay. Are you all right?” He took her bag and waved at the sofa. “Sit down.”
Reggie was no stranger to the apartment. She found a diet Coke in the refrigerator and sat on a bar-stool. “It was the U.S. marshal’s office with a grand jury subpoena. Ten o’clock Monday morning in New Orleans.”
“But they didn’t serve you?”
“No. Momma Love ran them off.”
“Then you’re off the hook.”
“Yeah, unless they find “me. There’s no law against dodging subpoenas. I need to call Dianne.”
Clint handed her a phone, and she punched the numbers from memory. “Relax, Reggie,” he said, and kissed her gently on the cheek. He picked up stray magazines and turned on the stereo. Dianne was on the phone, and Reggie managed three words before she was forced to listen. Subpoenas were everywhere. One for Reggie, one for Dianne, and one for Mark. Reggie tried to calm her. Dianne had called the detention center, but couldn’t get through to Mark. Phones were unavailable at this hour, she’d been told. They talked for five minutes. Reggie, badly shaken herself, tried to
convince Dianne everything was fine. She, Reggie, was in control. She promised to call her in the morning, then hung up.
“They can’t take Mark,” Glint said. “He’s under the jurisdiction of our Juvenile Court.”
“I need to talk to Harry. But he’s out of town.”
“Where is he?”
“Fishing somewhere with his sons.”
“This is more important than fishing, Reggie. Let’s find him. He can stop it, can’t he?”
She was thinking of a hundred things at once. “This is pretty slick, Glint. Think about it. Foltrigg waits until late Friday to serve subpoenas for Monday morning.”
“How can he do this?”
“It’s easy. He just did it. In a criminal case like this, a federal grand jury can subpoena any witness from anywhere, regardless of time and distance. And the witness must appear unless he or she can first quash the subpoena.”
“How do you quash one?”
“You file a motion in federal court to void the subpoena.”
“Lemme guess, federal court in New Orleans?”
“That’s right. We’re forced to find the trial judge early Monday morning in New Orleans and beg him to allow an emergency hearing to quash the subpoena.”
“It won’t work, Reggie.”
“Of course it won’t work. That’s the way Foltrigg planned it.” She gulped the diet