I Shouldn’t Love Him (Book 2) – Chapter 75
manning
Forty minutes before my arraignment, a dark-haired man in his forties entered the courthouse interrogation room and placed a briefcase on the table between us.
“Manning Sutter?”
.”
pped me.
ties. I’m Dexter Grimes, your public defender.
handful of manila file
ephenson,” he muttered as he re
f our files.
ey’s. It happens.”
waited in line, then held in a cell, all within seventy-two hours. Just like an innocent man. I was told that I would meet with my lawyer before my arraignment. He was the one assigned to me. On closer inspection, I decided he was in his thirties and had deep lines around his eyes. He had the looked like he had been through the grinder. There was a mayonnaise stain on his lapel, or at least I hoped that was it.
red his throat.
shit.”
n’t worry.”
down his nose.
t when he talked to me, he looked me in the eye. I placed my forearms on the table.
nnocen
“
ow indictments work? »
go quickly.
Do you have anyone to post bail? “I had
an crawl towards it. My aunt and Henry, the officer who had looked after me when I was a teenager, had done enough for me in one lifetime.
“No.”
n go see a guarantor. Depending on the amount, they will give you the money and take
not paying anyone anything for a crime I didn’t commit.”
Al
s.
.”
stopped to check on me.
he suspected you were
en we had a nice, friendly chat.
up.
st?”
wasn’t
ion.”
en it doesn’t matter. It’s your word against his.
officer and I hit it off; there was no reason for him not t
hecked hi
r charge is attempted theft. A crime.”
I didn’t do it.” “
tant.”
it was. was acting. Look, all you have to do is tell anyone who needs to know that there’s some sort of mix-up so I can co
in front of him.
“
.”
What happened between eleven and one? »
of the road, waiting for a jump?”
e around for a while before that.
ed the file with
ed at the ceiling.
r this, so the DA will try to conclude as soon as possible. You are the strongest suspect, and as far as I know, you are moving from job to job and don’t come from the best background. “What does that have to do
with t
orry.”
ok off his glass
guys like you to be guilty so they can shut it up and move on. Give me something to work with. Otherwise, guilty or not, there’s a chance you’ll leave for it.
en about the criminal justice system. I had done well in the past, but I came from a line of wicked men. Maybe on that basis alone I should be ostracized. I used to really hurt so
At least what I was willing to share. I opened my hands on the table.
nothing, m
dded slowly, studying me. After a few seconds, he glanced into the file and came back to me.
”
. Period. How the hell had he even gotten his name? My hands trembled with the urge to grab Dexter by his mayonnaise-stained lapels.
se by your
”
ered. The machine belongs to a family.
my palms on my scrubs.
mentioned it was sensitive, so I didn’t do it. S
e painting.
ld ?”
n.”
”
ring his words.
involvement?”
ay to make her leave.
o my mess hall. I intertwined my hands.
lse to say.”
omething happened to him…
happened.”
ned in those two hours, I can start building your defense. I need the truth.
old yo
e prosecutor’s proposed plea deal.
ead, frowning.
you’re guilty?”
make a deal to soften the blow. Less time, for one. “
m innocent
”
it.”
ied you in the queue and claims to have turned on the lights, I can’t promise that It will happen the way we want it.”
he see me?”
forward.
wrong.
pted theft in the state of California is four and a half years.
long time.
nderstanding.”
f two years. With good behavior, you would be free.
out the other. I crossed arms.
we might end up with a longer and harsher sentence. I certainly would have need to know the details of what happened that night, everyone. And I won’t be the only one snooping for
s house. I don’t believe your story.
onight. Now we were talking about prison. I was in deep shit. I clenched my hands until my knuckles were sickeningly white and bloodless.
rt? Because I will lie if I have to.
palms.
.”
. I inhaled. I didn’t want to see Dexter’
h.” I couldn’t put into words what she was. Like I even knew. ‘She’s my friend.’ “
een.
I flattened my ha
Have?”
k down. “I’m sorry.”
I n
rother.
d a moment.
s nothing more, then maybe we can use this to our advantage,
table and wake up from this nightmare. I had made those decisions, though. I couldn’t pretend I didn’t do it.
t like the rest of us. She’s good.”
d?”
her pure. “But you had
x with
od no.”
hed just before the cop spotted us. Lake hid in the back while I talked to him.
e hid. Damn.”
thing.
He didn’t see her?”
“No.”
ile drinking?”
drop, neither o
at any point?
s.
h turned.
ould never take advantage of her.”
ne else know?” Sister?”
he called.
scared.
ole time, people would think the worst. Blame me for taking advantage of a young girl. And some might blame her too. They would look at her differently. Her father would see her differently. It changed a person, and I didn’t want her to change, I didn’t want her to feel the stares, to think she had done something wrong or that she had disappointed her family.
I will make sure it stays that way.
o involve him in this,” I said.
e.”
r alibi.
rape, and I’d serve a decade before doing that to Lake. I opened my mouth to tell Grimes that as far as the courts were concerned, I had no alibi
, “since the cop didn’t see Lake , he would either assume that you
you agree with
her away?”
’s best,” he said hesitantly. “I’m afraid her testimony will really hurt us .”
n the table.
“We’ll ha