“I left him a message,” he replies. “I’ll let you know when I know more.” He disconnects.
Shellshocked, I let the phone fall from my ear.
“I think you’re about to get your wish,” I say. “I think Waters is about to go free. I don’t know what you know from Blake. Maybe all of it.”
“Tell me anyway,” Adrian urges.
“The attorney that charged him apparently did some dirty things on his cases. Most of them are in jeopardy of being dismissed. Including Waters.”
“And your father filed the lawsuit,” he supplies.
“He did, but I can’t call that dirty, Adrian. He’s protecting his clients. Of course, he’s clearly doing it for Waters’ benefit. I get that. Believe me, I get that in a brutal way.” My cellphone buzzes with a text message and I glance down to find a file drop from Ed with a message that reads: The documents. It’s a shitshow that gets worse every time I look.
I grab my computer where it sits on the kitchen island and shove my plate aside. “Ed sent me a copy of the legal filing.”
“I’m going to call Blake while you look at it,” Adrian says, already punching in the auto-dial on his phone.
I download the documents Ed sent me and he’s right. It doesn’t look good. And my father only filed on behalf of his own clients. More filings will follow. “Blake says Ed is expectedly frazzled,” Adrian says. “He doesn’t think he knew this was going to happen in advance.”
“I’m sure he didn’t,” I say. “He likes his title and he’s going to lose his job over this.”
“Just keep in mind that Waters would bite the hand off his own kid if it meant survival. This doesn’t mean Ed’s not dirty. He may have just been burned or paid well enough to choose money and life over death.”
My cellphone rings again and my stomach falls at the number on caller ID. “It’s Judge Nichols. This can’t be good.” I draw a breath and answer the line. “Judge Nichols. Good morning.”
“Do you know what’s going on?” he asks, cutting right to the chase.
“I do,” I say. “Unfortunately.”
“Between you and I, I do not want to make the call this is forcing me to make. But Waters’ defense has petitioned to have his case dropped. I’m by the book. I do things right and I don’t always like what that means.”
A boulder might as well have been slammed on my shoulders for the weight of his words. “You’re dropping the charges?”
“Give me a reason not to,” he says.
“I have witnesses and evidence, judge. He’s a killer. He’s a monster. He is the devil. Why would we let witnesses die only to have the case dismissed? Why are we all in hiding, if we’re just letting him walk away?”
“Can you prove he had those witnesses killed?”
“No, but—”
“There is no ‘but.’ You can or you can’t.”
“I can’t.”
“Then re-arrest him and charge him again tomorrow after he gets out of jail. If you can get the District Attorney to approve it with this kind of mud on his face. Because right now, any conviction you get will be appealed. And you’ll lose.”
“Then you’re dropping the charges? That’s it?”
“Send me anything you want me to consider before I render my decision within the hour. I’ll let you know my final ruling by morning.” He disconnects.
Chapter Forty
PRI
The minute the judge hangs up on me, I call Ed. He picks up on the first ring. “The judge is going to let him out,” I say. “We have to re-arrest him right after release. It’s a ridiculous process. We’ll let him walk out of the facility and just arrest him again. I’ll get the paperwork together and—”
“No,” he says. “We’re not reliving this hell until we deal with this scandal. I’m not sure I’ll even be here to make the call. A new District Attorney will likely make this call.”
“Ed—”
“No,” he snaps. “I just talked to the mayor, Pri. We have bodies stacking up and now, scandal. We’re done. It’s done.” He disconnects.
I close my hand over my phone and stand up, shoving it in my pocket. Adrian is right in front of me. “That didn’t sound good.”
“It’s not,” I say. “It’s done. He’s letting him out.” I round the barstool and walk to the window, staring out at the city. The rain has stopped. And my case is over. I’ve failed to win against the devil.
Adrian is with me, immediately in front of me, leaning on a steel beam and pulling me to him. “It’s done,” I say again because I just can’t get my head around the idea of it, the reality of it. “He’s going free. The judge said I could submit documents, but why bother? They won’t change anything. Waters will be out of jail by morning. And there’s nothing I can do about it. I mean, we could re-arrest him, I have the evidence, outside anything my predecessor did, to file charges, but Ed isn’t going to let that happen. You were right. Waters’ is unbeatable.”