“Why… because they’re black men?”
Grace slid in next to Emily with her face a few inches away from Dorsett’s, so close in fact, something else crept across the DA’s features: fear. “Listen to me closely, Nick’s best friend and partner is black. He was probably one of the witnesses. What kind of crap are you pulling anyway? Are you auditioning for a leader role in the local ‘BLM’ mob or something?”
“That’s not funny!” Dorsett stood away from the table.
Nick stood too. “Yeah… it is funny. What do you have in mind? As you saw in the video, you have proof to get those two making plea deals for anything up to the death penalty without a court trial. It’s a win. You can take my copy of it. I have others in case you have something else planned behind all this.”
“You maimed two men for life.”
“They’ll have to seek sexual gratification with the other hand in prison. Boo hoo. US Marshals Reinhold and Stanwick can tell you my skills encompass the ability to have blown both of their heads off, thereby saving the State of California millions.”
“That’s obscene!” Dorsett shifted her outrage to Tim and Grace, who were failing miserably to stifle amusement.
Nick walked over to her. “Listen closely. You’ve made an error in judgement. I’m wondering if you are even aware of the incident’s facts. Did you simply see the two guys were black and think I shot them because of their color?”
“I…I… that doesn’t matter. You shot without-”
“It does matter, nitwit! The guy’s wife and kids are black, Em. Maybe you didn’t care enough about them to read in fully on the case. You have the opportunity now to reverse whatever damage you’ve done shooting your mouth off without facts. Take the video to those dolts’ public defender or ambulance chasing asshole that’s representing them. It ain’t likely you’ll have to get through more than a few minutes. If they still have questions, let them know about the witnesses. If they’re smart, they’ll take any deal you offer. You’ll save court expense, and the real victims’ lives won’t go through a lengthy court trial. I don’t know what you’ve been thinking, but until you actually research all the facts within the prism of this video, shut the hell up. Can we go now?”
Dorsett gripped the table with both hands for a moment before using her right hand to wave them out. Nick let Grace and Tim lead the way. They accompanied him to pick up his personal things. That done, the three exited the police station.
“Can I hitch a ride home with you?”
“Of course,” Grace replied. “Can you fill us in on the Carone operation?”
“I can’t. It’s another joint mission with John Harding’s group. Even we don’t know all the parameters of it yet. What do you think all that Dorsett stuff was all about? She talked like those guys’ defense attorney.”
“We weren’t sure what she had in mind after the meeting we were present at with the police,” Tim said. “Thank God you had the video. Is Carone dead?”
“No. He’s in our custody.”
“Meaning he’s locked in a room somewhere awaiting death?”
“Possibly not, Annoying Grace. I’ll let you know how it works out in the end. I’m trying to figure out what Dorsett could possibly gain by trying to railroad me with a bogus complaint. Did you hear any of the regular cops mention anything about me?”
“They wondered why you were being held and questioned at all. They saw your action as a win. You’ll need to keep an eye on Dorsett,” Grace replied. “Do you have enemies inside the Monterey DA’s office?”
“I don’t think so. Someone moved on the case real fast for the defense. Suing the city for twenty million seems like a ploy to get those two released. You know how fast the politicos start apologizing when anything happens to any minority, no matter what crime they commit. If the city settled, instead of prosecute for millions to keep the whole thing out of the headlines, I wonder if there’s a connection to Dorsett getting a piece of the action.”
“Plausible,” Tim agreed. “I think Grace and I better meet with the police chief with your video. We may have to insist on you getting credit, but only as a mention about a US Marshal sniper called in to assess and handle the hostage crisis alongside the police. That way Dorsett can’t sandbag the video and allow the wrong outcome to surface.”
“Thanks, Tim. That sounds good. Those two meth-heads had every intention of killing everyone they could. It makes me think I should have capped them both. It seems relying on a strong police response to insane accusations by the perps is a thing of the past.”
“You had no way of knowing the DA’s office would fold at the first hint of a ridiculous lawsuit,” Grace said. “Tim’s right. We’ll get to the police chief and pin him down. Send me the video file.”