Chasing Justice

Chapter Ten



Piper opened her eyes wide as she brushed mascara across her lashes. It had been so long since she had gone through the entire process of getting herself made-up. She had to dig deep into her closet to find something edgy enough to wear on a date with Sean. This method of preparation even required a trip to the store for additional makeup supplies and perfume, two things she had almost completely stopped buying years ago. As the picture of her primped self started to come together in the mirror, Piper began feeling warm with excitement. The thought of a date with Sean was repulsive, but the act of getting ready for an evening that didn’t include sweatpants or flip-flops was a little enticing.

The problem was, as hard as she tried to force the memory of her kiss with Bobby out of her head, it continued to creep its way back in again and again. She spread her ruby red gloss across her lips and all she could think about was how nice it would have been for this date to be with Bobby tonight. How he would come to her door with flowers and be floored by how beautiful she looked. She wouldn’t need to wear this black cocktail dress, just something simple. She would feel his eyes on the curve of her hips and his hand on the small of her back as he walked her to his truck and opened the door. They’d have a romantic picnic under the stars somewhere so quiet it teetered on spooky, because Bobby knew her well enough to know that was what would make her happiest, not drinks in some overcrowded noisy bar.

When she was finally done getting ready, Piper stood in front of her full-length mirror and reviewed her handiwork. Her thick hair, which she usually let air dry, was silky and full of volume thanks to forty-five minutes of blow drying with a giant round brush. Her dress was cut low, and it hugged tight to her waist. Piper’s modesty would never allow her to admit it, but she did have the figure for perfectly showcasing a snug fitting dress.

As she walked the ten blocks to the restaurant in heels, she realized this would be daunting to most people in Edenville. People hardly walked anywhere in this town if they didn’t have to. For Piper, however, her whole life had been spent walking the streets of Brooklyn. Her parents never owned a car, and Piper avoided public transportation as often as possible. As a result, she frequently found herself walking miles to her destination. She thought it very funny that she had a car and a driver’s license now. It had all been included in her relocation. The fact that she never took a driving class, passed the necessary test, or had even been behind the wheel, didn’t seem to matter to anyone. Those types of details fall through the cracks when you’re handed a prefabricated new life. She had taught herself to drive in the parking lot of a closed supermarket. It took three weeks before she was willing to venture out onto the streets, but, even now, she walked whenever possible.

Walking in Edenville was so different than walking in Brooklyn. In Edenville, there were no herds of people moving like cattle. You didn’t have to jump to avoid oily puddles loaded with floating cigarette butts. There were no homeless people to step over and passively ignore. Edenville had charm, but Brooklyn had character, and Piper knew there was a big distinction. You could search all of Edenville and still probably not be able to find a group of people to represent every race, creed, and religion whereas in Brooklyn you could find it all walking down the street. No matter what time of night, you could get any type of food you wanted in Brooklyn. A Viennese deli, a food truck, an upscale restaurant—they were all just steps away from each other. For Piper, Brooklyn was full of toxic memories, but they were the only ones she had.

The contrast between New York and Edenville was most glaring in some of the simplest scenarios. Piper would watch a school bus stop every hundred feet in Edenville to gather up children of all ages. Back in Brooklyn once you reached middle school, there were no school buses to transport you. Students ventured out onto the subway, walked, or hopped three or four different bus routes to bravely make their way to school, unaccompanied and trying hard to appear unafraid.

The tallest building in Edenville was the bank, standing three stories high. In Manhattan, where Piper would escape to as often as possible, she’d get vertigo just by staring up at the enormous structures that towered over the busy streets. As a child, Piper’s favorite thing to do was ride the elevators up the highest buildings and stare out the large glass windows at the skyline of New York. There was no shortage of differences between the two places she had lived, but Edenville had one thing New York didn’t—Bobby. She let herself smile slightly at the thought of him, and replayed in her mind for the hundredth time, the kiss they had shared.

Pulling the door to the restaurant open Piper pushed out the thoughts of her past and Bobby. She took a seat at the bar and started to refocus on what her goal was tonight. She was going to attempt to determine through which avenue it would be best to annihilate the judge’s relationship with the Donavans. Would it be Christian’s wife? Would it be his family? She might not get everything she needed from Sean tonight, but even the most general conversation could open up a new door for her to explore.



It was now a full thirty minutes past the time Sean was supposed to arrive and Piper was getting annoyed as she sat looking quite pathetic at the bar. Finally, after telling herself she’d give him five more minutes, the door swung open and in walked Sean. He was wearing dark denim jeans that were a few sizes too big and hung low around his waist, not so low that he could be an extra in a rap video, but low enough to look ridiculous as far as Piper was concerned.

He had on the same green button-up shirt she had seen him in just days before, but now, thankfully, it was buttoned. His hair was combed back and greased in true mafia fashion. She hated that he was good-looking; that she had even the slightest attraction to him infuriated her. The muddled chatter around the bar subsided for a moment as patrons watched Sean approach. When he sidled up next to Piper, conversations quickly resumed, though Piper could now feel a dozen pair of eyes on her.

Sean leaned in toward her and kissed her cheek, lingering for a moment to smell her hair. He pulled out his stool and sat down beside her, looking her over from top to bottom. “Damn girl, you clean up nice.” As a true New Yorker herself, Piper was annoyed by Sean’s attempts to sound like anyone other than the Southern-born kid he was. He tried hard to hide his drawl and speak like one of the Italian tough guys you’d see outside of the bakeries in Brooklyn. He did a terrible job at it, and every word grated on her nerves.

He flagged the bartender down, which wasn’t hard as he seemed eager to serve in a moment’s notice. “Hey Chuck,” he said as the two shook hands across the bar. Piper could read an air of anxiety on the bartender’s face.

“Hey Sean, how’s things going?” Chuck asked, stumbling slightly on his words. “What can I get you two to drink tonight? On the house, of course.” He stood wringing his towel in his hands nervously.

“I’ll have the usual, and she’ll have a seven and ginger,” Sean said, not even looking at the bartender. His eyes were locked on Piper’s body, and he grinned like a child who had found an extra toy in his happy meal. Piper ignored the fact that he hadn’t actually asked her what she’d like to drink. That didn’t really matter, because if she’d had her choice it would have been a root beer. She hated the taste of alcohol and usually struggled to pick a drink for herself.

“Great guess. That’s one of my favorite drinks,” Piper giggled, batting her mascara-laden eyelashes.

“So since I guessed right, does that mean I get a prize? Maybe we should drink these fast and get out of here.” Sean put his cold, clammy hand on her thigh just under the hem line of her dress. It was incredible to her how two hands could feel so different. The night before, Bobby’s hands were warm and comforting, and tonight Sean’s hands felt intrusive and dirty.



“Maybe I gave you the wrong impression over at your house,” Piper explained, trying to slow the night down a bit. “I think you’re a cool guy, and I’m glad we’re out having drinks, but I don’t even really know you. Let’s at least talk a bit before we take this any further.”

Sean rolled his eyes and grabbed for his beer the bartender had just put down in front of him. “I knew you weren’t going to be as easy as I hoped.” He rolled his eyes and took a swig of his beer with his free hand, the other still planted on her leg. “Fine, what do you want to know about me? Bring on the stupid chitchat.”

“I guess my questions changed the minute you walked in here tonight, because originally I did want to ask you some dreary questions about your favorite movies, but not anymore.” Piper leaned in and looked into his eyes, talking barely above a whisper in an effort to seem more seductive. “Now what I really want to know is why the whole bar got quiet when you walked in, why everyone seems a little nervous you’re here, and why you drink for free in one of the only decent bars in this town. I could give a shit what your favorite movie is now; all I want to know is who the hell I’m sitting with here.” She knew what this would do to a man like Sean. She knew making him feel important and bolstering his ego would put him in the mood to talk.

“You’re a very observant girl, aren’t you? I’m guessing you’re not from Edenville because you’d already know plenty about me. If you were smart you’d’ve asked around before coming out tonight.” His finger danced in a circled on the top of her thigh and under her dress as he flashed a devilish grin.

“And what would I have heard, exactly? I don’t tend to listen to rumors much. I like to get my information right from the source.” She slowly reached across and fixed the corner of his collar that was sticking up slightly. She did this partially because she thought it would be a sexy gesture and partially because it was annoying the hell out of her.

“I come from a very important family in this town. We have a lot of history, here. My dad was a businessman until he died five years ago. My older brother and I, we’ve picked up where he left off. Don’t bother asking me what kind of business, you don’t want to know.” He threw his beer back, took another mouthful, and it reminded Piper she hadn’t even sipped her drink yet. She reached for it, pulled some up through the tiny straw and used all of her willpower not to wince.



“Very mysterious, I like that. So if you’re such an important businessman, what were you doing home in the middle of the day waiting to play video games?” She placed her drink back on the bar and tried to ignore the vibrating of her phone in her bag. The noise was loud enough to distract them and it was the third time it had gone off.

“I handle the family side of the business. Up until school started I watched my nephew every day. Now I have him every afternoon. My brother is very protective, and he doesn’t trust him with anyone but family. It sounds like a lame gig, but it pays well, that’s for sure.” Somehow Sean had already managed to finish his beer and before even thinking of waving down the bartender another had appeared before him.

“That sounds like a nice setup. How old is he? Doesn’t he have a mom who can watch him?” Piper didn’t want the questions to come too fast and sound like she was gathering information.

“Chris is eight. His mom didn’t exactly like the lifestyle that came along with the family business, so she took off a few years ago. She’s a real bitch.” Piper assumed Chris was short for Christian III. What a lucky kid, part of such a wonderful legacy.

“That is really cute. I think guys who get along well with kids are so hot.” She reached into her bag trying to get a glimpse of who was calling her while grabbing her lip gloss. No luck, she couldn’t see the caller ID without being more conspicuous, but luckily it had stopped vibrating. She smeared the lip gloss across her lips and puckered them together.

“So is that enough to get you to finish that drink and get out of here?” His hand moved another inch up her leg as he leaned in toward her ear whispering, “My car is right out front.”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth? You prove it to me.” Her phone began vibrating again, and she could see Sean becoming irritated, either with the phone or her protests about leaving. “A good uncle would have picture of his nephew in his wallet.”

He huffed and finally released her leg, leaned over and pulled his wallet from his back pocket. He flipped it open and there was a school picture of a little boy. He was perched in front of a fake autumn scene wearing the uniform of a private school. Piper leaned in to get a good look at the crest on his shirt and cooed over how adorable he was.

She slid off her stool and whispered in his ear, “Let me go find out who is calling me and run to the ladies’ room. Then I’ll be right back, and we’ll talk about getting out of here.”

“I’m done talking,” he hissed back, half angrily half playfully as he grabbed a handful of her ass on her way by.

She looked over her shoulder at him and winked, “We’ll see.” As she rounded the corner of the restaurant and was out of sight she wrestled her stupid oversized bag for her phone. It rang again and the screen read Michael.

“Hello?” she said in an exasperated tone. There was no answer, she heard the phone click and disconnect.

“What the hell are you doing?” Michael’s voice called from behind her, sending her jumping. “Are you seriously on a date with Sean Donavan, or am I having some sort of stroke?”

“Michael, you scared the hell out of me. What are you doing here, and why are you calling me every five seconds?” She knew the answer to the latter question, but faking ignorance seemed like her only card to play.

“Look at you,” he said, pointing to her dress and hair. “I barely recognized you. I tried for fifteen minutes to convince myself it wasn’t you sitting at the bar with that complete degenerate. So tell me, do you have the nastiest taste in men or the faultiest judgment on earth? Because you are either out on a date with him or poking your nose where it doesn’t belong, either of which would be a terrible choice.” Michael’s face turned from hard-lined disappointment to genuine concern. “What have you gotten yourself into, Piper? When I told you to go check out those court records I had hoped you would either be too dumb to figure it out, or too smart to do anything more with them.”

“Seriously?” Piper couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “So you knew all along what I would find? You had the answer and wouldn’t give it to me? More importantly, you’re too much a coward to do anything about it yourself. I’m writing a paper Michael, stop being so dramatic.” Piper tried to storm past him but he used his body to block her. He put his hands on her shoulders, not with force but enough for her to stay put.

“What I believe and what I know are two different things. In this case I believe there may be more than meets the eye when it comes to a judge and a crime family. I’m certain you are in absolutely no position to go trying to find out on your own. I have tried two cases against Sean, and both were sexual assaults. He is a dangerous guy and as tough and smart as you are, you can’t outrun wickedness, it will catch up to you. Please, make an excuse to leave and meet me at my office. We’ll talk this out.” Michael brought himself down to her level and looked her in the eye. “Please.”



“Fine.” Piper had gotten all she could out of Sean without actually having to sleep with him which she never intended to do anyway. Michael’s incessant phone calls had actually acted as a decent exit strategy, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of meeting him after. “I don’t need the lecture though, so I’ll skip the little meeting at your office. Thanks anyway.” She shook his hands off her shoulders and stormed past him.

As Piper approached the bar she worked fast to concoct a decent story. “The pipes in my place burst,” she huffed, sounding flustered and put out. “I’ve got to get back there and deal with the damage. My landlord is having a meltdown. I’ll have to take a rain check on tonight.” She had prepared herself for some pouting, whining, and overall childish behavior on his part and was surprised at how calm he was.

“Oh, that sucks. Why don’t you just finish your drink, that’s what we came here for, right?” He pointed to her bar stool and smiled crookedly at her. “The pipes won’t be any less broken in ten minutes.”

She didn’t have time to dispute, her story was not thought out well enough to ad lib reasons she must leave right this second. When nothing came to her, she acquiesced and sat back down. She knew Michael’s eyes would have been on her. She knew he must be steaming mad, but she thought finishing her drink was a small price to pay for exiting this horrible date unscathed and with a little more information than she had when she arrived.

The drink only tasted worse the longer it sat, and Piper decided to drink it quickly and make short work of it. With five or six large swigs that she tried to work in between more idle conversation, the drink was finished. Why she was worried about being rude was beyond her, but she thought she should wait at least another five minutes or so before taking off.

It was in the middle of a discussion about video games that Piper realized something was amiss. She had been half-listening to Sean speak and half-organizing the thoughts of her plan in her head as she processed the information he had given her and considered ways to use it. Then she was doing neither; her thoughts seemed to be sloshing around in her head like a boat at sea. She felt dizzy and confused, her vision failing her slightly.

When she grimaced and brought her hand to her forehead to try to steady the spinning room she heard Sean’s voice, now seeming far away. “You don’t look so good. We better get you out of here.” He lifted her arm, the one closest to him, and swung it up over his neck. In an instant she realized what was happening. He had put something in her drink and now was trying to take her out of the bar.

Even though her limbs were heavy and she couldn’t find her voice, she used her free arm to swat at Sean’s beer bottle and knocked it to the floor where it smashed loudly. All she needed to do was draw some attention to herself and then someone, hopefully Michael, would intervene.

“Hey.” She heard Michael’s voice swimming around in her head. She could barely keep her eyes open now and her legs were shaking, hardly able to support her weight. She didn’t want to keep holding on to Sean, but if he were to let go she knew she would fall to the floor.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Michael stood between Sean and the door. “Did you drug her? You honestly think you’re walking out of here with some girl who can’t even see straight. That doesn’t sound like a good idea with a record like yours.” Michael was ready to fight, either with his professional skills or his fists, it didn’t matter. There was no way Piper was leaving with Sean while he was standing there.

“I don’t have a record. I’ve never been convicted of anything. You’re the lawyer, you should know that. Just because you can’t win a case doesn’t mean you have to go around making shit up. She had a few too many drinks, I’m taking her home.” Michael was a full five inches taller than Sean and significantly stronger. As long as Sean didn’t have a weapon on him, or was stupid enough to show it in a busy restaurant, then Michael felt confident. Sean tried to push past him and in one fell swoop Michael pulled Piper to his side and shoved Sean in the other direction.

Chuck the bartender, still meek in his approach, came out from behind the bar and talked quietly to Sean. “Sean, buddy, if you catch another case your brother is going to kill you, especially if you draw any more attention to this place. Just get out of here and I’ll cover for you.” He ushered Sean toward the door.

“Wait,” Michael shouted, having a last minute epiphany. “What the hell did you give her and how much?” He knew this information would be vital to figuring out what to do next with the lifeless girl pressed to his side.

“Right, like I’m going to tell a lawyer. That tease wasn’t worth it anyway.” Sean pushed open the door and proceeded to flash his middle finger back at Michael. If there had been a safe place to lay Piper down he would have followed Sean into the parking lot and beat him senseless.

The bartender waved back at Michael signaling that he would try to find out and to stay right where he was. Michael looked down at Piper who was now limp and seemed as though she were sleeping. He watched her chest rise and fall and was relieved to see she was still breathing. A few moments later Chuck reemerged from the doors and tossed a pill bottle over to Michael.

“There’s an ambulance on the way, but you’ve got to meet them at the corner,” Chuck said, motioning toward the street. “Sean said he only put one in her drink, and all she’ll need to do is sleep it off.” Chuck was shaking his head as he crossed back behind the bar and went right back to work. “I can’t have this shit here,” he mumbled.

Michael adjusted his grip on Piper’s upper half and scooped her up from behind her legs, cradling her in his arms. He had stood next to Piper, leaned in close to her over some documents a few times, but it wasn’t until this very moment he realized how tiny she was. He pushed his way through the entrance and was stunned by the lack of offers to help. People didn’t want anything to do with this and certainly would have let Sean walk right out with Piper regardless of what state she was in.

Outside the restaurant, Michael sat down on a bench under a flickering street lamp, his arms starting to ache from holding Piper for so long. He was still supporting her under the legs, and her face was now pressed against his neck. He took comfort in the repetition of her breath and was whispering encouraging words in her ear.

The ambulance pulled up one block over from the restaurant, and Michael was relieved to recognize the EMT. It was an old acquaintance of his, Johnny Thompson. He saw him occasionally testifying in court and they still had some friends in common. They had partied together in Michael’s early days in Edenville. The move to a small town where he hadn’t known anyone had seemed like such a good idea until the loneliness had started to set in. Johnny had been a dependable drinking buddy for a while.

“Hey Mikey, what’s going on?” Johnny asked, as he and his partner, a young stout woman, hustled over toward them.

“Hey Johnny, it’s been a crazy night.” There was a good chance that Johnny Thompson no longer preferred to be called Johnny, He was probably just John now, much like Michael had converted from Mikey years ago. But the relationships you form in your youth, as casual as they might be, always seem to transport you back in time.

Michael relayed the story to Johnny and handed over the bottle of pills. They loaded Piper into the ambulance and took her vitals.



“So what’s the plan here, Mikey? If I bring her into the hospital this turns into a police report, and it won’t be something we can forget about tomorrow. Her vitals are stable. There’s been no impact to her blood pressure or blood oxygen levels. Most likely she needs to sleep this off, so if you want to leave the cops out of this…” Johnny’s voice trailed off as a police car pulled up to the scene. “Never mind, looks like this will be a police matter after all.” Johnny walked over to the police car and Michael watched a young, dark-haired cop exit his car. He could tell by his military posture and unsmiling face that this cop wasn’t one of the good ol’ boys.

Great, Michael thought, at least one of the older cops would be willing to let this go to avoid the paperwork. But an eager young rookie would be a thorough bastard tonight. Michael was confident whatever Piper was doing here tonight, she wouldn’t want it to be the start of a long-drawn-out court case. She’d want it to go away.

“Hey Bobby,” Johnny said, pulling his rubber glove off and extending a hand out to greet the officer. Michael felt slightly relieved that at least they knew each other.

“Did this get called in? I didn’t hear anything about it over the radio. I was passing by and thought maybe you could use a hand. What’s going on?” Bobby approached the open doors of the ambulance and glanced inside. Immediately recognizing Piper, his heart popped in his chest, and he felt panic briefly overtake him. “Piper?” he quaked, pulling himself into the back of the ambulance to be by her side. “What the hell happened, is she all right?”

“You know her?” Michael asked, feeling like this night was one of the strangest of his life. Living in Edenville you grew accustomed to knowing someone almost everywhere you went, but Piper wasn’t from here, and from what Michael knew she was somewhat of a loner. She never talked about having friends or family in the area. Now suddenly she was associating with cops and criminals.

“She’s my friend,” Bobby said, hesitating a little on the words. Piper certainly had become a friend over the past months, but after the kiss they shared last night Bobby had been wondering if they were becoming more. He reached for her hand and pulled it up to his chest and over his heart.

“She was out tonight with Sean Donavan. Apparently the date wasn’t moving fast enough for him and he put something in her drink. I saw him trying to get her out of the bar, clearly not of her own volition, and I stepped in. This being one of the Donavan-owned establishments we didn’t get much support from the staff, which is why we are sitting here, a block away from the place, and no one else seems to be worried about how she’s doing.” Michael found himself still itching to fight, his nerves still on edge, and the thought of all those complacent people enjoying their meals was making him crazy.

“Is she going to be okay? Are you taking her to the hospital?” Bobby had urgency in his voice that spoke volumes about his feelings for Piper.

“We were talking that over,” Johnny cut in. “Her vitals are stable. We know what kind of pill he gave her. It was rohypnol, or ruffies. She isn’t showing any signs of an allergic reaction, most likely she needs to sleep it off as long as someone can stay and watch her. We’ve got to get back to the station, so I don’t want to rush you but we need to make a decision.”

“I don’t think she’d want this to turn into a big thing,” Michael said, forgetting for a minute that he hadn’t really introduced himself as more than a stranger in the right place at the right time. “Dealing with the Donavans, especially in court, is no easy process. There is a restaurant full of people ready to cover for Sean. Unfortunately I’ve been through this process with him before. They’ll drag her through the mud in any kind of case we try to make. Piper got lucky tonight; maybe we should just cut our losses and move on. I think that’s what she would want.”

“You know Piper?” Bobby asked with a skeptical glare. He let his mind run through the scenarios of how this man might somehow be involved.

“I’m sorry, I haven’t introduced myself.” Michael leaned into the ambulance and shook Bobby’s free hand. “I’m Michael Cooper. I’m a lawyer and a friend of Piper. I was out tonight having drinks with some people from work and saw her up at the bar.”

“I’m Bobby Wright,” he answered, skeptical of this entire situation. “So you’re the Michael? You’re the one Piper has been doing all this research for? I find it odd that one day she’s digging up cases on these guys for you and the next she’s risking her life at the bar with them. It sounds like maybe you were looking for a little more information and decided to use her as bait?” Bobby put Piper’s hand back down gently and exited the ambulance to get a better view of Michael. Bobby was excellent at reading body language, facial cues, and tone of voice. If he was going to get an accurate read on this guy he’d need to get closer.

“She isn’t doing any research on my behalf,” Michael barked defensively. “She’s writing some paper for school, and I’ve been giving her pointers. I have no idea what she was thinking being out with Sean tonight, but you can be damn sure I didn’t put her up to it. If you guys are such good friends why didn’t you know where she was?” Michael was dumbfounded at the attack. All he had tried to do up until this point was steer Piper away from danger. He certainly wasn’t putting her in harm’s way.

“She dropped out of school months ago. She isn’t writing any paper. What the hell is going on?” Bobby replied, looking back over his shoulder at Piper.

“Guys,” Johnny said. “I’m sorry but I need to either get her to the hospital or not. Can someone keep an eye on her tonight?”

“Bobby, I don’t have all the answers, but I think you should get her home. Getting any deeper into this isn’t going to help her.” Michael wasn’t naive enough to think his knowledge of Piper or their friendship was that deep. He did, however, know the Donavans and the lengths they would go, to avoid prosecution.

Bobby climbed back into the ambulance and lifted Piper, holding her close to his body. Michael shook hands with Johnny, nodded a thank you to his partner and opened the rear door of Bobby’s cruiser.

Once Bobby had placed Piper in the back of his car and positioned her in a way he thought she’d be safe, he turned back to Michael. The ambulance had driven off and now it was only the two men standing uneasily on the quiet corner.

“Thanks for keeping her safe tonight. I’m glad you were there. I don’t want to think about what might have happened if Sean left with her.” Bobby’s mind was churning with questions and worry. He wasn’t completely sure what he thought of Michael yet, but, at a minimum, he seemed to have stepped in when Piper needed him.

“Cindy Martin,” Michael whispered, shaking his head. “I know you don’t want to think about what might have happened, and tomorrow neither will she, but you both should. She’s mixed up in something, Bobby, and tonight could have ended much differently. Sean has been charged twice with some pretty serious crimes, one of which was drug facilitated sexual assault. The details of that crime will be seared into my mind forever. Cindy Martin, the girl he drugged and assaulted had three broken ribs, a fractured cheek bone, and was covered in scrapes and bruises. He rolled her out of his moving car and left her on the side of the road in the middle of December. She was on the verge of hypothermia when she was discovered by a woman driving home that night. Yet, there was a parade of people willing to corroborate his alibi. Once they had destroyed Cindy’s credibility on the stand because she had a history of recreational drug use in her past, the case started to fall apart.” Michael was speaking mostly through his teeth with an angry hiss. He was motioning his hands animatedly as if he were giving an impassioned closing argument.



“I almost didn’t come out tonight. I was tired and had more work to do, and if it weren’t for my buddies convincing me I needed a break, I’d be at home trying to find a way to prosecute a crime while Sean was out committing another one. Tomorrow when she wakes up and doesn’t want to tell you what the hell she was doing here tonight, when she tells you she’s fine and that she had it all under control, you tell her about Cindy Martin. You tell her about the beautiful twenty-two year old girl who can’t eat out at a restaurant anymore without having a panic attack, has three locks on her door, and hasn’t been on a date in a year and a half. Here’s my card,” Michael said, pulling a business card out from his pocket. “If you’re really her friend you’ll get her to tell you what she was doing with Sean tonight, and you’ll convince her to stop before it’s too late. Give me a call in the morning to let me know she’s all right.”

Bobby tucked the card into the breast pocket of his uniform shirt. “I hear you,” he said, shaking Michael’s hand. “I’ll see what I can find out tomorrow. Hopefully a scare like this will be enough to get her out of whatever stuff she’s mixed up in.”

Michael nodded a goodbye. As he turned back toward his car he spoke over his shoulder. “I don’t know what it is about this girl that makes me give a damn. It’s impossible to cut my losses and mind my business. The easiest thing in the world for me to do would be to get in my car and forget this night every happened, forget about Piper all together. She shoots down every date I ask her on, she plays me like a fool, and I know almost nothing about her. She’s like fireworks, captivating and gorgeous, you can’t help but watch and be amazed, but you better keep your distance or you’ll get burned.”