Chapter 62

One night about three months into Matthew's refusals strike, there one of the gophers came banging on the door. Thankfully, David and Brie were still up. She was having trouble sleeping. His philosophy was if she didn't sleep, neither did he.

David answered the door.

"WE'VE GOT IT!!!" the kid exclaimed. Brie's ears perked up.

"You've got what, boy?" David asked.

"The piece of evidence that will get your brother- in - law's case overturned and thrown out, Mr. David", the kid whispered to David.

David ushered him in. "What do you have, son?" David asked after he had the boy take a seat.

"Mr. David, my name is Marcos", the boy said.

"Right, I'm sorry. No sleep is catching up to me. What do you have, Marcos?"

The boy pulled a long manila envelope out of his backpack. "Ok, Mr. David, you know you're brother- in- law's alias is Maj.  Francis Kevin Leavenstein, right?"

Brie, about four months pregnant, sat up. "Boy, you better get to the point before I throw something at you!"

"I'm sorry Ms. Brie." The boy handed the envelope to David. As David opened the envelope, the boy explained. "OK, so, we gophers have been doing a lot of digging, thank God for the internet. The piece of paper in your hand is a copy of an actual birth certificate, all kinds of orders issued to and from the Major up until a few years ago. The guy was in Afghanistan and went MIA. And didn't resurface until the Agency set up the false identity for your brother- in- law. The real guy was found, but it was never reported. TACT is a real agency that is a part of the Pentagon. The guy was working there your brother- in- law came along. They switched identities. You're Matthew's cover story is so good because it's TRUE!!! The REAL Major Leavenstein was happy to switch ranks with a corporal because he wanted out. They had JUST had the guy's retirement party the day that Matthew showed up at your door."

David blinked. "WOW!" It wasn't often that David was rendered speechless, but when it did happen, it was indeed a miracle. "This just might work, if we can convince Matt to participate in his defense again. I'll make it a point to mention it in my monologue to the Resistance when I tape it tomorrow."

For the first time in a couple of months, Brie felt hope for her brother. She and David exchanged a look. "Do you think you can convince him, David?"

"I'll try, but baby, I can't make any promises."