Chapter Four

Ethan

 

Present time. Offices of Bradford & Campbell, Attorneys at Law. Albuquerque.

 

Thank god for Riley Bradford. Without her I wouldn’t be able to get an appointment with a lawyer until after I’m already due in court over these charges. From the time I called them to be seen by somebody, only a few hours have passed and here I am in her office.

Riley, a confident, professional-looking woman, comes in, closing the door to her office. She pulls out my file and opens it as if it’s the one and only file that’s ever been on her desk. The one and only case that’s ever been on her mind, and at that moment, I realize this is exactly why all the military families in this area swear by Bradford & Campbell and their team of lawyers

Riley seems to be going out of her way to make me feel I am her number one priority, which is exactly what I need at this moment. I’m going to need all the help I can get with these charges of being accused of sexual misconduct toward a subordinate. A misuse of power and privilege for bodily harm, mental distress, among other charges.

Worst of all I’m being accused of these things by Frederick Patterson, a young man with a bright future. He’s not one of the friendliest of the guys on base, but his unbelievably bright green eyes and dark hair make him hard to miss. His thoughtful but more somber demeanor are unforgettable as well. But he’s hard to read and is a bit standoffish. The closest we’d ever been in contact with each other was when I was helping him through training exercises, in and outside of plane cockpits. But at no point was there any other contact than that.

Riley taps her fingers on the surface of her desk. She’s young and her bright eyes have a slightly goldish, yellow coloring to them… maybe a hint of green. Whatever the color, one thing is obvious: she doesn’t like what she sees in the list of charges.

“I can’t believe the Navy allowed him to serve with all the things he’s had going on in his life, Captain Gibson.”

“Call me Ethan, please. And I’ll call you Riley, if that’s okay.”

“Certainly, Ethan. So, as you can see, they let a young man with a history of abuse, anger and emotional issues serve for an extended period of time on active duty.”

She’s quiet for a brief moment as she reads through some of the other charges. Ones she has organized behind her list.

“That boy has a lot of issues, way too many to be serving for that long in any kind of military situation. His sexual abuse history is what really worries me. It certainly makes him more reactive — more fearful and ready to attack — and possibly ready to misidentify an attacker or even make up stories of being attacked.”

I grimace at this. Frederick seemed like a good guy to me. He may have a few issues — issues I tried hard not to stick my nose in — but overall he seemed like a decent kid. Kind, attentive and earnest in his duties as a serviceman. Though I never asked him about his childhood, something told me that he was carrying a heavy load, a weighty past that he kept to himself. Even so, he always seemed to try to rise above it and conquer whatever was haunting him from his past.

I’m not liking how my lawyer is portraying Frederick as someone so twisted and broken…manipulative even. Are people nothing more than their trauma, their past? Don’t people possess the ability to rise above and become bigger than labels placed on them for something they had no control over?

“I really don’t want to go after him in this manner,” I murmur. “Is there another way to approach this? I mean he’s just a kid”

Riley barely looks over from her papers.

“I understand you’re probably feeling for him because he’s young, only twenty eight, but you can’t feel sorry for him because of that, Ethan.”

She looks at me intently, putting my file down.

“You can’t forget he slammed you with some serious charges Ethan. These are very serious accusations coming just a year shy of your retirement. If these charges are found to be legitimate, you could be dishonorably discharged. You could face prison time and other sanctions completely tarnishing your reputation. Your wages can be garnished and your pension taken away.” She frowns at me. “This could potentially destroy you Ethan, destroy your life, career and everything you’ve worked for.” There’s a long pause.

“You can’t just ignore this. I’m sorry to say it, but we’re going to have to go toe to toe with this young man. We’re going to have to face his accusations. I’m sure I’ll be able to construct a really good case for you and get you off the hook for all charges. I’ll start by demonstrating the depth and breadth of his psychological issues and how they’ve gotten worse in the years following his childhood abuse.  He may see you as vulnerable because of your upcoming retirement, or an easy target. He may use all this against you for whatever stored up anger or feelings of injustice that are harboring within him.”

I shake my head. I hate this line of thinking even more than the last, but what can I expect? Riley is an expert lawyer. She has to be in order to serve these types of cases, our demographic, such as it is.

“This doesn’t feel right, Riley. I know you’re doing your job, but I don’t think this kid is alone in making these charges against me.” I lower my eyes for a moment, thinking. He and I haven’t spent a whole lot of time together, but enough for me to get a good idea of his personality. And bringing these charges, this just doesn’t seem like him. It’s not something I can see the quiet and reserved Frederick doing.

“It just doesn’t feel like him Riley, it doesn’t feel like the Frederick I know would intentionally do something like this.” My mind races over various scenarios. Possibilities that he might have been threatened or coerced by someone with authority over him. He did just come out as gay earlier in the year, and a lot of guys in his unit didn’t like it. They didn’t celebrate his little secret being made public.

“Maybe someone put him up to it... or a group of people. Perhaps some of his peers.” I look at my lawyer hoping that maybe she’ll bite at my ideas and show some pity to the poor kid.

But she doesn’t. I can tell from her expression she’s in lawyer mode and ready to do anything and everything to fight the charges against me.

“Whether it feels right or not doesn’t matter, Ethan. Facts are facts. He’s brought charges against you and we have to answer to them. In court. Tomorrow.”

Riley clears her throat while drumming her fingers against the table again.

“I understand, but I don’t think we should just charge in with the assumption he’s alone in this and treat him as the guilty perpetrator. I’m much more inclined to believe he is the victim here. He has to be. I can feel this in my gut”

“Circumstance? Upbringing? Unscrupulous parents and other guardians?” Riley swivels her office chair toward me.

“I’ve seen and heard it all before, Ethan. Here’s the deal: young men like Frederick, at some point they stopped being able to draw the line between who and what things happened to them in the past… and who and what may or may not be doing it to them in the present. He’s unwell and he’s taking it out on you. He’s dumping everything that’s ever been done to him onto you.” She pauses.

“Look, you and I know that you did not do any of these things. We also know that he’s been through some horrible shit in his life. But he cannot be given any more wiggle room. He has to be confronted about these charges, these accusations against you.” She bites her lower lip.

“As such, I’m planning to charge him with making false statements and claiming injuries that are nonexistent.”

I frown.

“I don’t like it, I don’t like the accusations against me, but I don’t like what is going to happen to him either.” I cross my legs loosely.

“What if he’s being threatened? What if that’s where all these charges are coming from? What if he’s going to get more charges because of the ones we’re going to file against him?” I stand up, shaking my head again.

“No. I can’t just leave it at that. I’m going to try to talk to him. I’m going to try to see if I can get a read on this… to see if any person or group of people have put him up to this in some way.”

Riley joins me, now standing. She looks paler now, more timid, unlike her more aggressive posture while seated.

“That’s not a good idea, Ethan...if you are seen with him, someone might try to slap you with charges of intimidation or coercion. You’d risk other charges of tampering with evidence or some other nonsense, since you’d be making contact with the person who is due to give evidence against you for these crimes.”

Her words make me pause, but not for long.

“Say what you want, but I’m not going to just let this stew. I’m going to go to him and have a talk to see if anything else is going on with him. I need to find out for myself if anyone has threatened or intimidated him into making these accusations against me.”

With those words I head for the door.

“Don’t get me wrong Riley, I’m glad you are my attorney. I like having you on my side, but I need to do this if not for me, then for him. No one in his past has looked out for him and I’m going to try to be the one person who finally does him some good. To look out for him and his future, regardless of the outcome”