AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Monday, October 7
9
The courthouse was on full lockdown.
Kara paced Craig Dyson’s office. She itched to leave and find out what was going on, but Michael had made her promise to stay, then he went to get answers.
Craig sat at his desk reviewing the David Chen file as if there hadn’t been a shooting half a block from them. Kara stopped pacing and stood in front of his desk long enough to catch his attention.
“We’re stuck here,” he said. “But the hearing isn’t going to be canceled.”
“You don’t know that,” she said. “If Chen can’t get in, the judge will postpone!”
“We don’t know what happened. It could be any number of things, and as soon as the sheriff’s department clears the building, it’ll be business as usual. We’re the first case in front of Judge Hargrove after the lunch break. If the hearing is delayed, we’ll still be the first case this afternoon.”
She continued to pace. Craig was an experienced prosecutor with a long history in the DA’s office and a prestigious background in private practice. He had sacrificed a lucrative income to seek justice for victims after his mother, an investigator for the attorney general’s office, had been killed while working a case. She respected him for his dedication to the job—he was noble, smart and beyond reproach. However much she admired him, they sometimes butted heads.
Craig admired her ability to communicate clearly on the witness stand, winning over juries with her likability. He appreciated how she meticulously built cases and gathered evidence for his team. He once praised her for remaining composed under cross-examination from the defense. However, he sometimes questioned her methods, fearing she walked a precarious tightrope where one misstep could jeopardize a case. Despite their differences, she had worked closely with both Craig and her boss Lex and brought him a solid case.
Until the feds put their fingers in the pot and started stirring up shit, taking the case from them and making Craig fight tooth and nail to get it back.
“Sit,” Craig finally said, closing the file.
“I can’t.” She stood at the narrow window in his office and looked out. She could see nothing because they didn’t face the park where the shooting had occurred. They’d only had confirmation that two people had been shot on Broadway in front of the park adjacent to the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.
He gestured to a chair. “Please.”
She sat. Leaned back. Stuffed her hands in her armpits with a sigh. “I hate this.”
“We’re going to get Chen one way or the other. I can’t share the details, but because of the work you did on the Chen case, I have another—bigger—investigation. I’m optimistic.”
“You’re going after the people who aided and abetted Chen.” They’d discussed that early on.
“That’s only a small part of it. Two inspectors have been fired and both made plea arrangements. They will be available to testify when this case goes to trial. I have a business owner willing to testify, but he’s scared—he’s left the area, though I know how to reach him. I’m confident he’ll come in, do the right thing. The LAPD officer that I suspected was on the take has been transferred to the North Valley substation, and he’ll cooperate.”
“Asshole,” Kara muttered.
“So far he’s kept his nose clean.”
“Who?”
“I’m not going to tell you that. I’m still working with him on his testimony.”
“He’ll lose his job.” He should have already lost his job.
“Better to lose the badge and be free than lose it and go to prison.”
She could get the information. All she needed was to dig around to find out who had been transferred from the downtown division to North Valley in the last eight months.
“But there’s another, bigger investigation and I’m very close to going to the grand jury. I have a whistleblower in city hall and I want you to meet her—it’s because of your raid that Violet started looking into records in the mayor’s office.”
Kara leaned forward. “The mayor? He was involved with Chen?”
Craig hesitated. “I can’t talk about it.”
“You said the mayor.”
“I don’t believe the mayor is involved, but—” He hesitated, probably trying to figure out what he could tell her. She wished he’d just spill everything. Who was she going to tell? But ethics and all that. Carefully, Craig said, “Someone in his office may be party to a broader graft and corruption scheme.” He paused again, then nodded as if his statement was vague enough. “Violet called me last night and said she has something important to share, and I’m hopeful—her previous information has been very good, but I need a few more facts for the grand jury.”
