“I know,” nodding my head. “She told us.”
“Right, interning.” He nods again.
“Elias Leech.” The judge finally calls him. “You are being charged with tampering with evidence. Do you understand the charges?”
“Yes.” He stands up, looking forward.
“How do you plead?”
He looks in our direction, but catches himself before and sighs. I can feel the conflicting thoughts in his mind.
“Mr. Leech?”
“Not guilty.”
As the words leave Eli’s mouth, I can audible hear Z’s relief. “Thank fucking God,” he mumbles to himself.
“Okay,” the judge says as she shuffles some paperwork. “Next court appearance in 60 days.” She pauses. “Bail denied.”
“Your Honor!”Sherri shouts as Z and I look at one another.
“Your client has been a police officer for the last 10 years and has ties to a criminal organization. He has no strings tying him to this community and has the means. He’s the definition of a flight risk.”
I don’t hear the remaining of what she says as the gavel bangs on the wood and she stands, leaving the room.
28
1 month earlier
The night shift is always much quieter, especially with half the force out at the compound after they brought Z in a couple of hours ago.
“You good?” Collins asks me as he’s walking past my desk in the bullpen.
“Huh? Yeah.” I nod to him as I look back at my monitor. “Just finishing up some shit.”
I hear the chair squeak as he sits down next to my desk and just looks at me.
“What?” I mutter as I look over at him.
“You’re about to do something stupid.”
“What?”
“You don’t have to tell me what it is.” He laughs, leaning over onto the top of the desk. “In fact, I’d prefer you didn’t tell me.” It makes me laugh as I look at him. “Is it stupid?”
I don’t say anything, but for some reason, I know I can trust him. Instead, I just nod my head.
“How stupid?”
Sighing deeply, “Come by in a couple hours.”
Nodding his head, he gets up, walking out of the station, leaving me inside with nothing but my bad decisions.
* * *
The knocking on my door sounds causing me take a long sip from my glass as I walk over to it. Collins nods his head as he walks in.
“Did you do something stupid?”
