Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Before we dive into today's conversation, I want to take a moment to thank this episode's sponsor, Audible. You know how much I love a good story. I write them, I read them, and sometimes when I can't sit down long enough to open a book, I listen to them. Lately, I've been listening to Audible while I walk, travel, or even sometimes while cooking dinner. There's something about hearing a story perform that makes it come alive in a different way.
[00:00:28] I just finished okay, Julie Chan Is Dead by Lian Zhang, an Alice Feeney book, beautiful, Ugly, and the latest Linley book by Elizabeth George. So I'm going to be honest. This is how I do it. I get a book both on Kindle and on Audible and I go back and forth listening to both. So when I'm driving in the car or with my son at some activity, I will listen to audiobooks. And then when I'm home, I read them on Kindle. And Audible makes it easy to switch back and forth in the app.
[00:01:04] Honestly, I do it every time I want to keep the book going while I'm driving. And so I just switch to the audiobook. And then when I get home, I switch back to the Kindle because honestly, I can read faster than I can listen.
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[00:01:47] Welcome to the Politics of Justice. It's me, your host, Amy Austin. I believe this is going to be the last video for Ransomed.
[00:01:58] When we left off, The judge had been convicted and but he was what do they call what they call an appeal bond. But he was out. He was free on appeal.
[00:02:21] In the meantime, he was acquitted or his conviction was overturned and he well, his conviction is overturned. Let's just leave it there.
[00:02:37] So at this point, it's May 22, 2004. We're in chapter 36 and it's a Casey chapter. So the first line is does this look okay, Greg? Greg inspected my dining room table closely. I tried to see it through his eyes. With its discount store table settings and candles lit instead of the overhead light to hide the aforementioned settings. I wonder if I've done that ever.
[00:03:00] So at this point in Casey's Life. She does not have a lot of money. She has law school loans. She is self employed, which is, can be for some attorneys very lucrative, especially if they do like personal injury. You know, people you see advertising on the side of the bus.
[00:03:16] Bus advertisements are, ain't cheap. So it's real doing okay. But for everybody else that I know, generally they're eking out a living.
[00:03:26] One of the big issues is that clients cannot pay. And while clients can be sued, you can't get blood out of a turnip. And debts, attorney's debts are not dischargeable.
[00:03:37] Look, you can't write them off.
[00:03:39] Personal services can be written off. I, there are reasons why, but we're not going to get into that. I'm completely sidetracked. So Casey's at her home, it's May, and she is about to invite over. She's about to have over her parents and invite over Tom and his parents. And this is the first time really that the families are meeting.
[00:04:01] She, she's back in. I love this. She's back in her monochromatic clothes. She's all. She's in white and she's nervous because her parents are who they are and the Brodies are who they are.
[00:04:16] So her, her mom comes. Mom brought like some kind of German cream puff, so that's great.
[00:04:21] But she's just so worried about how she's, how her family is going to appear. I wish she had more confidence, but at this point she does not.
[00:04:30] She says my dad owned a single suit, but it was solely for funerals and parish events that couldn't be avoided. It was black or nearly so.
[00:04:37] If he hadn't worn it tonight, he'd simply worn a dark gray button down shirt whose creases matched those of the box that had come out of this morning. The pants were jeans pressed within an inch of their lives.
[00:04:47] She says mom was in a deep purple silk dress. It was not her color, I thought uncharitably. I think it makes her mom's kind of face look red. I really feel for her and understand her.
[00:04:58] She's trying to suck up to this rich and influential family and feels less than.
[00:05:04] And the idea. She's worried that her parents are going to embarrass her and they're going to judge her for it. I have a lot of thoughts about what she should feel, but this is how she does feel. So her mom walks in and says that blouse looks expensive. She flipped the tag in the back. Eileen Fisher. Hmph. I think I saw something like that at Filene's basement. Did you look there? And Casey's like, I didn't have time to bargain shop. And she said, to my relief, she let it pass.
[00:05:31] Parents, so. And also she's wearing her Communion necklace. I think, personally, she's doing this to try to appear modest and.
[00:05:39] And acceptable. It's gold. And who. Who's ever going to say anything about a cross?
[00:05:44] Because this is a room full of Catholics. So her dad disappears.
[00:05:50] Like, your mom's in there, and they're in the kitchen prepping food. And of course her dad disappears, she says. So she thinks he's probably in there trying to check the bathroom pipes and making sure the screens were set in properly. The highlight is it taken me nearly 30 years to figure out that that's how he showed love.
[00:06:06] What does the note say? I wrote this long before I'd ever heard of the Five Love Languages. Her dad is a classic act of service. Oh, I can't believe I talked about the Five Love Languages. I bore that book. I think the whole thing is terrible. I will not get sidetracked. But there is an episode of it's the Books that Can Kill youl podcast that talks about the problematic nature of the Five Love Languages. And I will leave it there.
[00:06:32] So she'd arrange her parents on the couch, and then the Brodies buzz in.
[00:06:36] She offers them a drink. Everybody's sitting at the table. Her neighbors had helped her prep a menu.
[00:06:43] She's serving. This is so.
[00:06:45] Oh, this is so early era.
[00:06:48] You know what they're having?
[00:06:50] Oh, my God, this is awful.
[00:06:52] So, oh, God, this is awful. I remember this. She's starting with small salads of goat cheese, cranberries, and candied walnuts. There was like an era, probably the early 2000s, when I wrote this, when, like, anybody's house you went to. And actually, half the restaurants had this salad. I haven't seen it in a while, and I hope it's died to death.
[00:07:12] I hope it's that death. I don't know if kale's better, because that's what the massaged kale salad would you get nowadays.
[00:07:19] So. And then she serves. So she cleared the salads to eat their salads. She serves roasted chicken with rosemary, garlic and onions, potatoes and carrots. Glazed. Oh, this is so. This is so of that era. I don't. I don't think I would serve this now. I don't think anybody. I don't think this is the kind of thing people serve anymore. But what do I know?
[00:07:40] So they get to the wedding planning, and her. His family says, his mom says, well, I looked into it. His mom's name is Eleanor, and there are two weekends available in the fall at the club for the wedding. One in October, one in November. We thought a fall wedding would be best. They say it's the best season in town and the least chance of rain. It's actually true. Cleveland has a delightfully cool and dry autumn.
[00:08:05] It's the best season ever, actually. It's very similar in Budapest.
[00:08:09] Who doesn't love a cool, dry fall with crisp leaves and crisp air and no rain?
[00:08:16] Then comes lake effect snow, so you get slapped in the face real quick.
[00:08:20] But her family is really upset because they're like, you're talking about the reception.
[00:08:26] And Tom's mom says, you want them to get married in the church? Eleanor's nose wrinkled a little. I'm. LAUGHS Daddy, I said, fiddling with the chain around my neck, maybe I shouldn't have worn it. I wanted to know that gaining a new family didn't mean I was leaving them. So she's trying to bridge the gap, I guess, with the necklace. And he's like, once a Catholic, always a Catholic.
[00:08:46] And Eleanor says, patrick's Catholic, but you're okay with the club, right, honey? I assume his mom's actually not Irish, nor Catholic. Tom's. I mean, Tom Brody's mom.
[00:08:56] I have to actually think about it. I don't remember all that.
[00:08:59] So then to like, add insult to injury, the Brodies are like. And we're happy to pay for the reception because they know that, you know, her family doesn't have money like that for country club weddings.
[00:09:11] And in order to compromise, because she said, my father turned a shade of red I'd never seen before.
[00:09:20] So they compromise by saying that they'll have the wedding at the parish, at St. Ignatius Church, and then the receptions, and they're like, oh, you can pay for the church wedding. Which, I don't know. Like, when I was younger, church weddings were like, you paid the priest 50 bucks.
[00:09:38] I assume that hasn't changed. What do I know?
[00:09:41] So then her mom, like, turns the screws and is like, you should wear my dress. And Casey knows that, like, I don't know. I don't know if this is. She's like, you know, say I said the dress. Kleinfeld's class. But she certainly knows that whatever her mom wore is not gonna be what she wants to wear.
[00:10:00] So they go through this whole thing. They have. She brings a coffee, and she brings a coffee and dessert. And her dad, her dad says, is your uncle going to be at the wedding, my dad asked Tom. I hadn't thought to warn him off the topic. He read the paper every day and had opinions about nearly everything in it. She says in the silence of. In the silence that followed the question, I wanted the superpower to turn back time.
[00:10:29] And then Patrick says, iman is my brother. Of course he'd be at his nephew's wedding, even though he's a rapist. My father said, oh, awful. This is awful.
[00:10:38] Appetite lost. The delicacy that had seemed so flaky and sweet and mouthwatering seconds ago was an appealing an unappealing mess of congealed cream and pastry before me.
[00:10:47] And she, like, screams, dad. And he's like, it's America. I'm entitled to my opinion. I don't want a man like that at a wedding for my only daughter.
[00:10:53] So for your information, he's not a convicted rapist. He was tried as some federal statute, and now he's free. If he's guilty of anything, it's having bad faced women in poor timing. The Brodies say, oh, and then, like, wasn't one of your clients one of Brody's victims? This is just awful.
[00:11:12] So let's just say they agree to disagree. The Brodies leave, and then her family, her parents leave, saying that she and Tom are young lovers and they should spend time together.
[00:11:23] Which makes Casey a little bit nervous because for all Tom's enthusiasm of pushing to get married, he has been very reluctant to be intimate with her.
[00:11:33] So then he says, and she's sort of worried about this, you know, and trying to figure out, like, where he's coming from, but not being pushy because she's afraid of losing the things she's always wanted.
[00:11:45] So he says, he puts this whole thing, gets another glass of wine, and she's like, oh, maybe he's actually staying. And he says, I think we should wait until the honeymoon.
[00:11:55] And she says, okay. And then she thinks they're gonna stay. At least no Netflix. There's no Netflix then. But at least, like, hang out a little bit because they are theoretically engaged being married and gonna spend a whole lot more time together. But he says, you know what? I'm gonna go play pool with my brothers.
[00:12:12] Puts on his coat.
[00:12:14] Although I do like this line. So he puts on his coat, she said. She walked in the hall to retrieve his coat from the closet. I smoothed the khaki overcoat across his shoulders, brushing stray lint from the lapels. Somehow I doubted Eleanor had chastised him for buying the full price Burberry trench So she walks him out the door.
[00:12:38] And, you know, she puts a little cardigan. She puts slippers in. She actually walks them down.
[00:12:44] So, you know, you feel for her or. I feel for her because she's getting the things she wanted, but it's tainted by the uncle, by her fiance's reluctance, by the fact that he ditched Lizzie, who is rich and beautiful for her, who's poor and less beautiful in her eyes.
[00:13:02] So when she gets down, she sees Tom walking down the street.
[00:13:08] And then somebody walks up to her and says, I didn't know you had company. It's Miles. She said, I didn't hit my head on the trestle, though. I felt like I jumped a mile high. What in the hell?
[00:13:18] And he says.
[00:13:21] He says she wasn't answering his phone. Oh, the era before cell phones.
[00:13:27] And she's like, I was busy. And she's like, where'd you park? And he's like, what? And she's like, I need you to drive. And he's like, what?
[00:13:34] And she says, and this is the highlight. Now let's go follow that car. It's the last line of the chapter.
[00:13:40] And the note says, come on. Forgive me. This line. I couldn't resist every writer's dream.
[00:13:44] I watched too many of those, like, 70s cop shows where everybody's like, follow that car. I don't know if you know. You know. So we're to chapter 37, and it's a Miles chapter. So he's. We're. We're in the car, and he's like, what am I doing? And she's like, you're following that blue Acura. He's like, who's in it? And she's like, tom.
[00:14:06] So she's trying to figure out why he stopped by. And he's like, I'm trying to follow this guy. So they follow him all the way to this hotel, I think, in Warrensville. Is it Warrensville? I can't think of the name of the town. But you go east in Shaker Heights, and then you turn south, and there's, like, these, like, series of, like, little, like, cities or towns, little suburban towns in Cleveland.
[00:14:34] Maple, Maple Heights, Mayfield Heights. Oh, I'm not gonna remember any of these.
[00:14:39] So she follow. They follow him, and she sees him walk. Okay. So she says 10 minutes later, the car pulled into a single stucco hotel. Pushed back from the road, her fiance. This is from Miles's perspective. He locked his car door, looked around and pushed the woman in, groping her breast with one hand and shoving the door closed with another.
[00:15:01] Miles is like, oh, crap, did you know where he was going? And he sees that she's crying, and he's like, ah, I'm sorry. And she's like, I know.
[00:15:12] So they drive back to. He's like, he doesn't know what to do with her because this is not, like, this is not why he'd come over. So he drives her back to his place, gives her whiskey and calls Lulu because this is above his pay grade.
[00:15:31] So they, Lulu and he are all sitting in the apartment, and they have urged her to dump him. And in her mind, she's thinking, but we just planned, like, we picked a date, we picked a venue. You know, I was going to ask you to be my maid of honor.
[00:15:51] He was going to ask his brothers to be, like, his best man and, like. Or stand up for him as an usher. And. And so she's still stuck in the idea that, like, there could still be a marriage, even though. And there could be, like. I'm not saying people marry all sorts of people.
[00:16:07] I'm just saying that it's clearly, like, not realistic that this needs to continue.
[00:16:14] So we're up to chapter 38, and it's May 29, 2004. So I think about a week later.
[00:16:21] So the first line is, the knock that pounded at my door nearly scared a living daylights, Daylights out of me. My mother's bedtime tales of the Gestapo made me wary of police, German shepherds, and heavy fists beating upon my door.
[00:16:34] You know, those of us who drew up in a certain era where the movies were always like, Nazis were the villains or Russians were the villains, do have a fear of pounding doors.
[00:16:45] The note says every kid I grew up with when I did also the movie, which I was rounding people up. Okay. Apparently I have the same thoughts, like, years later as I did when I made the notes for this.
[00:16:55] So, yeah, yeah, actually, I don't think I have that fear anymore. Different fears.
[00:17:01] So she, she. She opens the door and it's Miles. Miles, you know, he could call first.
[00:17:09] So.
[00:17:11] And she's like, what are you here in my apartment? And he's like, give me the remote control.
[00:17:16] So she says she pulls the hard black plastic from a pillow under the couch and she retreats to the kitchen.
[00:17:22] And he's like, casey, it's on now.
[00:17:24] So this is. So since he had been let go because the court had determined that he could not be convicted under that statute, it's as if he has been, you know, gotten off for these crimes scot free.
[00:17:42] So what happens is, and this is like they're watching tv, and this is coming from the tv. To reiterate, we have breaking news. Judge Eamon Brody is still at large. CNN received an anonymous. Anonymous of cassette tapes late last night. Reporters listened to each number recording made transcriptions before turning the damning evidence over to local police. You gotta love. You gotta love the news. They're always like, we're gonna get ours. Before we give you yours. Before you play a portion of the courting, we ask that you take your children out of the room. I don't even know if they say that kind of thing anymore. I don't watch the news.
[00:18:11] So basically, it's. It's a horrible, like, audio of him, like, telling a woman to get out, down on her knees, and that if she doesn't want her child to be buried, buried in the system so far that she can't find her, that she'll do what he wants. It's clear from the audio what happens.
[00:18:30] And so then it's like. Action News has learned that when the case was brought to Liam Brody in his role as Cuyahoga county prosecutor, he declined to prosecute. His handpicked successor, Laurie Pope, refused to charge Judge Brody. His brother Patrick orchestrated his move from probate to juvenile. And Liam Brody, as attorney general, also refused to prosecute.
[00:18:54] So after the. After the news broke, I mean, because you can't refute, like, news. I mean, you know, behind the scenes, you can refuse a lot of things.
[00:19:06] Liam Brody heard saying, a special prosecutor will be appointed to review the evidence. Charge will be brought if warranted, and he's recused himself from the matter. So clearly they at this point have just, like, at some point, you gotta let your family go.
[00:19:21] So Miles is like, they knew all along, didn't they? And Casey's like, still defending the Brody. She's like, I don't know, maybe they didn't want to see what was right in front of them.
[00:19:30] She said, but I knew my defense of the Brodies was weak. But the feelings of loyalty hadn't disappeared in a week.
[00:19:35] And he's like, are you serious? This is a cover up. And she's like, Tom said. And Miles is, like, pretty disgusted with her.
[00:19:43] And Miles is like, is that why you haven't dumped him? Because you love him?
[00:19:48] And she's like, I guess Lulu had filled him in.
[00:19:51] Casey says, I hadn't had the guts to confront Tom yet. I needed to do it. But the dream was a powerful thing.
[00:19:57] Let's see. The note says, as is delusion, I had an unkind moment there.
[00:20:05] Oof. That's a little painful.
[00:20:08] So and so Miles. Like after. I don't know what Miles had hoped to get out of this. I don't know. To shake her into awareness.
[00:20:16] He's always got his own agenda. Personally, I think.
[00:20:21] But he says, I'm sorry this is so I'm the prize behavior. But whatever he says, I'm sorry. I like you, Casey. I really do. This is not how I wanted us to start a relationship, but I need you to see that you have to disentangle yourself from the Brodies. I don't want you to go down with this ship. He wants her, but he's like, framing it as like, best for her. And I'm not saying it's not best for her to stop messing with his family, but he has his own. Everybody's got an agenda.
[00:20:46] Anyway, so this is chapter 39. Claire.
[00:20:52] I don't know. I don't know if I had to do this again, I don't know if I'd like this chapter. But basically, Darius asks for another chance. Her baby's dad, so they can parent like Darius Gaines Jr.
[00:21:06] Aka Luke, together.
[00:21:08] And she says so Darius gives a speech about how they can be together with a little peck on the cheek. Darius left after his speech. Instead of calling my parents to get their opinion. I picked up my son early from his play date and I told him his dad had stopped by. He had a million questions. Maybe I could give Darius one last chance. My son deserved his father.
[00:21:27] That's clear. I don't know. I don't like that.
[00:21:32] Okay, moving on.
[00:21:33] Chapter 40. Casey. It's June 6th now, 2004.
[00:21:38] So the first line is. If anyone had told me last year that I'd be the one calling the shots with Tom Brody, I wouldn't have believed it. But this time I knew exactly how the day was going to end with Tom.
[00:21:54] Although there is a funny line in here. So she's wearing Monoclona clothes again. She said never again when I shop at Chico's or Norm Thompson, shrouding myself in hideous jewel tone clothes. I looked at the those catalogs and thought I'd look soft, floaty and ethereal. But looking back at pictures of me and Lulu over the years, I just look like I was in a Technicolor dream coat without the course.
[00:22:12] Sorry, I don't mean to slam those retailers. I don't even know if they're around anymore. There used to be like a Chico's. Oh my God. In LA.
[00:22:18] That's long gone. That's long gone. I'm 90% sure. 90% sure. But I don't pay that much attention when I drive anymore.
[00:22:26] But when I was a kid, there was like, Chico's and Norm Thompson catalogs used to come. I guess maybe my mother wore the clothes because I didn't. And like, they always remind me of like, bearthur clothes. You're like, why are you wearing, like, this really, like, oddly constructed outfit that doesn't look good on anyone, just makes you look like an old lady before your time.
[00:22:47] I have some thoughts about that. I'll look that up later. So she's waiting for Tom at her living room. So he finally comes in. She takes his coat, and he's like, casey, you've been my rock.
[00:23:05] And she's, you know, she's like, I can't believe what happened with Judge Eamon.
[00:23:09] And he says, just Eamon now. I don't think he'll be Judge Brody again.
[00:23:13] And so she does ask, like, is he okay? He's like, she's. He. They moved in. He, like, his wife has moved in with Eamon's wife has moved in with Tom's parents. I guess I'll take care of her. Take care of her.
[00:23:29] And so he tells us like. Like how, like, about this is. Oh, something about recently happened that bothers me about this.
[00:23:38] He tells it as if Eamon and Moira had this, like, great love story. And who knows, maybe they did, you know, he's like, but. And then she says, that sounds so romantic. Nothing like us. And he's like, what do you mean? We're together, having found our way back to each other after a long break.
[00:23:56] And she pauses because finally, like, I guess the chickens have come home to roost or whatever. And she says, why did you break up with me? And he's like, what?
[00:24:06] And she's like, you know, in 1995. Oh, here we are like, like dialing back from nine years ago, girl.
[00:24:15] And he looks away and he said, dad thought it was best. And she's like, why? And he's like, the Strohmeiers were significant campaign donors. They control the dollars of a lot of people in Cleveland. I loved you. But dad thought the livelihood of three elected officials was more important.
[00:24:29] So Tom is basically saying he chose the family over her.
[00:24:34] And she's like, well, what about now? Aren't you worried about the Strohmeiers, like, lately? Because they are elected officials. Well, Eamon, no, no longer is anything. But they still are elected officials.
[00:24:44] Unlike other states, a lot of those positions Especially judges are all elected in Cuyahoga, in Ohio.
[00:24:52] So he says, well, Uncle Liam's not going to go from the Senate. Depends on how this shakes out.
[00:24:58] And you're not on the Strawberries radar anymore.
[00:25:01] And she said, I hit the imaginary buzzer in my head. Wrong answer.
[00:25:07] So she doesn't argue with him. Instead, she pivots right to, why did you break up with Lizzie? And she said, tom hesitated a beat too long.
[00:25:15] And he's like, why are you asking about all this? And she's like, answer the questions. And he's like, can I have some water?
[00:25:21] Some cranberry juice? That'd be good. So she says she pours him like a tall glass of juice with ice and a slice of lime. She's a lovely host.
[00:25:28] And she's like, if he wasn't driving, I'd have thrown in a stiff shot of vodka.
[00:25:33] And he's like, where's this all coming from?
[00:25:36] And she says, the upside is that with you being back with you is that she's gotten referrals and clients and her bank account is healthier. She said, the downside is the rumor mill.
[00:25:49] And she's like, I got an earful about why you broke up with Lizzie. And it says, tom Blanche. Any ruddiness from the cool spring air left his cheeks in an instant. What did you hear?
[00:25:59] And she says right out loud that Lizzie broke up with you because you have a penchant for young black prostitutes. He's like, please don't. People's motives, you know, don't listen to gossip. People's motives are suspect. She basically accuses him. She. She's like, you know, I bought lingerie. She's like, I read Cosmo. She's like. And we're back again, this time saying you want to wait for marriage to have sex, but you're not really just. You're a red blooded man. And unless you're on the asexual end of the spectrum, I'm struggling to buy it.
[00:26:29] And she's. She's like, but other men have shown interest.
[00:26:33] Why? She said, this is so horrible. The Miles guy, right? He's been all over you since that night in the wine bar. Always looking at you, probably filling your head, talking shit about my family.
[00:26:42] She's like, it doesn't matter who it was. She's like, after your celibacy declaration, she followed you straight to the hotel, straight into the arms of someone else.
[00:26:51] And Tom's eyes widened in fear. I'm not sure he was afraid of me telling the truth to the world. Or me dumping him once and for all.
[00:26:57] She thinks a lot of herself. I'm sure he's worried about telling the truth.
[00:27:01] So she's like, I'm gonna. She took. She takes the ring off and she breaks up with him. And he's like, you're breaking up with me?
[00:27:11] And she was like. She was like. She was done being a doormat for Tom, for judges, for clients for too long. She said, I was done with everybody walking over, walking all over me. For once I was going to stand up for myself and what I wanted.
[00:27:23] She said, I can do a lot of selfless things with. Being second fiddle to prostitutes is not one of them.
[00:27:28] And he's like, this is. He's so desperate. He's like, but this could work. It's not the most important part of a marriage. Not in the end in any way. We want the same things. A Catholic family, children, respectable careers.
[00:27:40] And she said, you break the law in one hand while pretending to uphold it.
[00:27:44] And he's like, you'd always have your pickup cases. You can work in a firm like Lulu part time hours when the kids are young. Shouldn't be a problem.
[00:27:51] I mean, he's really selling it.
[00:27:54] And the highlighted part is I looked into those brown eyes I'd loved for so long, and the warmth I used to see there had been replaced by calculation.
[00:28:01] He needed me. I was the respectability. Everyone expected a little corruption at the top, but if you married a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, it would show how magnanimous and accepting he and his family were.
[00:28:13] Everyone thought the handsome prince far better for choosing Cinderella over all the rich and spoiled girls he could affect.
[00:28:21] I said, oh, that's the truth about the prince that no one talks about. That's actually what I really think about that story. Neither here nor there.
[00:28:30] So she's not going back with him. She says, I have your demands. I have some demands. And he's like, name them. She said, I'll keep your secret. And he says, thank you. She said, I get to stay on your family's referral list, so to speak. I need to make a living here.
[00:28:42] And she said, and except for social occasions, we will never speak to each other again.
[00:28:49] It's nice when your character gets a backbone as. As wiggly as it is.
[00:28:55] So this is July 10th, so like a month, maybe a month and a half. Month and a half has passed in the first line. Let's see. You look really good. I said, joining Casey. This is A Miles Chapter 41. Miles, you look really good. I said, joining Casey at the restaurant table. I accepted a menu from the host, but. But laid it on the white tablecloth unopened.
[00:29:15] And she says, thanks. Can I ask you a favor?
[00:29:19] And she says she needs a ride home because her car died. Her poor little hooptie Honda died.
[00:29:26] So they're having.
[00:29:29] I guess he asked her out at some point.
[00:29:32] He said that.
[00:29:35] He said that he talked to his parents and like admitted his crush and his mom encouraged him to go for it. I don't know about all that.
[00:29:44] So he. They talk about what she's worrying about, and she says he's kind of like sussing out whether or not he has to worry about her being in federal court. These people are also self interested anyway, she says, now I'm saying my butt out of federal court. And she talks about the, the guidelines, which I talked about earlier.
[00:30:02] She says, she says it's not a fair fight. I wouldn't go into a gun battle with a knife.
[00:30:07] It's, it's, it was a bad era. I mean, the sentencing guidelines were modified to some degree, but anyway, it's not perfect. She says, do you want to get out of here? Why don't you come back to my place? I knew that look. I gave sound thanks to my parents, then managed them from my mind after tonight. Maybe I could convince Casey to give us a try.
[00:30:24] So she's like, he pays the bills. She makes her into the ladies room. And while she's in the bathroom, his phone buzzes. Oh my God, this is probably the BlackBerry era.
[00:30:36] And he's like, who in the hell is calling on a Saturday night? So he answers. Miles Spingle. Miles Siegel Valdispino. The voice said Lou.
[00:30:45] He'd finally let me use his first name. What's up? I'm with Casey. We're finishing up dinner. I'm about to take her home.
[00:30:50] He's like, I normally didn't kiss and tell, but he was calling at a bad time.
[00:30:56] And he says, I know you're not on call, but I can't reach Rachel. And Miles is like, so unless this is the bust of the century and I was going to be on television with guns, drugs, US Currency and pornography, I, I wasn't interested. That's highlighted. And the reason I said this, at some point in the 90s, this became the default drug bus. Television news shot. Every prosecutor I knew wanted one of these in a case he or she, when he or she ran for judge, it made for great campaign footage. This was true. It was always.
[00:31:22] God, it was always drugs, guns, US currency a stack of money and pornography. Like, usually CDs or DVDs. C. DVDs. Back in the day, I'm dating myself.
[00:31:35] And he's like, in. Anyway, Lou is like, I can't get it over the phone. Do you. Do you know where the Sleepy Time Motel is on North Rill Road?
[00:31:43] And he said the restaurant stores were closed. But a chill went down my back. Nevertheless, yeah, I know where that is. I'll be there in 15.
[00:31:51] So Casey comes back, and he's like, slight detour. Do you mind coming with me for a few minutes? And she's like, I have no cars. I'm at your mercy. She's like, all pricky. She's not even thinking.
[00:32:00] And she said the drive to the hotel was much shorter this time. And she's like, are we at. And he's like, yeah, don't know. The FBI called me in. I don't think I'll be long. So he rolls down his window, and there's storage containers in this, like, parking lot behind the hotel. And he was like, I wonder if it was meth or marijuana or guns. He's like, I've never seen a quantity of cocaine large enough to fill shipping containers.
[00:32:25] Whatever was there, this was going to be huge. I could feel it in my bones.
[00:32:29] So they both get out of the car.
[00:32:31] He badges his way through, just telling people that Casey's with him. Lou looked at both of us, but didn't admonish me for dragging her along. Silently, he lifted the metal bar. It reminded me of the iron post we'd had on our subterranean basement door when I was a kid. Brace yourself, Lou said.
[00:32:46] The iron on iron gave a protesting squeak. Then one of the doors was open. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust. People. Women. There are about a dozen women and children inside. Blankets, a space heater, a few belongings. I grabbed for Casey's hand, squeezing it hard. I wanted to have apologize with that squeeze because it looked like this date was going to be the last vestige of normalcy we'd have in a long time.
[00:33:06] And that's the end. So the book actually ends on a cliffhanger and the next book is caged. Because clearly these people are not in the cage or in containers. How could. There's a book contained. Anyway, so wait, no, the next book is caged. Sorry, I just want to check.
[00:33:23] I love the next book so much.
[00:33:28] Love it, love it, love it. And we'll get to that one soon. But this is the end of Ransomed. And so if you'd Followed before. This case was loosely based on a judge who in Tennessee, God save us all, who had abused his power to.
[00:33:50] To like abuse his power to abuse women in his jurisdiction and his powerful family kept to also kept him out of trouble.
[00:33:58] But I sort of, you know, I molded the, the I use it as a seed of an idea and molded it to my own thing, but it's a little ripped from the headlines, sort of law and order type take on the case. But I really wanted to like dig in deep with Casey. So when I started this book, let me say this, when I wrote Judged, I was trying to write a book. It was the first book I was trying to write.
[00:34:23] At that time I just wanted to write a book. Like I had no plans for series, no plans for any kind of career, no plans to do anything with it.
[00:34:31] And it didn't get published.
[00:34:35] The agent, despite having like a big time agent. And then I pivoted to romance because romance is easier to get published.
[00:34:43] And when I came back to this, I was like, these books aren't so bad or this book isn't so bad. And I published it. And what I learned in romance and romance is always a great education for writers. Some of the, the most savvy women, smart and savvy women I ever met. Which is obviously how the podcast the Time to Thrill started.
[00:35:02] But at the time I was like in the romance community pretty heavily. And I went to a seminar by, sorry, I think of her writing name, Tessa Dare.
[00:35:18] And so she writes, I don't know, that same like historical romance from that era that everybody loves, you know, all the dukes. And she g talk on how series could save your life and save your career. And so even though at the time I had never considered Casey to be a series, this was like a one off book where I just wanted to talk about foster care because at the time I was in that milieu in juvenile court, I realized it wanted to be a series. So this second book was a struggle. I had a baby between the beginning and the end. It took me, it's probably another two years to write because I wasn't pregnant then. I was and I had a baby and then I got back and I finished it.
[00:36:01] But once I finished this book, I was like, oh, this has legs. So I finished this book on a cliffhanger and I think I started right away Writing Book 3, which is caged. And I think it's where the series in my estimation really takes off because at that point when I was writing it, I don't know, maybe 2012, 2013 or so. I knew that it had legs. I knew who Casey was.
[00:36:27] There are thousands of stories I could think of given like the corruption and all the problems in the in law and the criminal justice system in Cuyahoga county. And I was invested and I really sort of like the way that the series goes from here in my mind. It really like coalesces into like this long term series of stories where Casey fortunately grows because she's a little pick me here if you ask me, where she grows and the series grows around her and all the characters like grow and mature and develop.
[00:37:01] So with all that said, we'll be starting Caged next. I can't wait. Love that book. I haven't read the book in so many years. So I'll be reading along with you and I'll be excited to find out ostensibly that I think the same thing I thought back then. Anyway, if you've made it to this point of the video, I know you liked the video so I'd love you to like subscribe and share. It was great chatting with you. Obviously, if you're an audio you can also I'd love it if you rated and share the podcast with everyone we're and I'll see you soon for a new Politics of Justice.
[00:37:41] Take care.
