Bonus
Touch Me
Kyle
The woman in front of me paced back and forth. I was sure it was supposed to be an intimidation tactic, but with her cute face, and bouncy blonde hair, she wasn’t very scary. “You just going to keep walking around or are you eventually planning to tell me what’s going on?”
I was sitting on a cold, steel chair, my hands cuffed in front of me. This wasn’t my first visit to an interrogation room. This time, however, things were different. This time, I was innocent.
“Look, Mr. Johnstone. I am your lawyer and as your lawyer, I have an obligation to do whatever I can to help you. But even so, I can only do that if you tell me the truth. Now, did you, or did you not kill Ross McArdle?” She leaned forward, the cut of her shirt dipping down slightly, showing off her nice bosom. I smirked slightly before looking into her bright blue eyes.
“I already told you, I’m innocent. I didn’t kill him. Sure, we had our grudges. He’s part of the rival motorcycle gang, it’s only natural, but I had my respect for the man. I would never shoot him in cold blood like that.”
“Then why are you withholding your gun from us?”
“Because it’s not a legal gun and well, I’ll need it when I get out of here.”
“Well, if you don’t start cleaning up your act soon, I’m not so sure you will.”
“What? Are you not going to defend me?” I raised an eyebrow.
The woman straightened, rolling her shoulders back. “I’ll be asking the judge for a bail.”
“No. I want a trial.”
“If you get a trial, Mr. Johnstone, the jury will eat you alive. They’ll never believe your story.”
I shook my head, wringing my fingers together. I was starting to lose my temper. Why wouldn’t anyone believe me? “Sit down, Linda.” My voice came out harsher than I intended it to. My lawyer looked shocked before she took a seat, placing her briefcase on the table. “Why do you even carry that thing if you don’t plan on defending me properly?”
“It’s none of your business.” Her voice was icy and cold. She also had her hands folded in front of her. I studied her for a moment. She was cute. Looked a little too innocent to be working as a public defense lawyer, but I wasn’t one to judge a book by its cover.
“Fair enough. So tell me, why did you decide to become a lawyer? Better yet, someone who defends the bad guys.”
“Irrelevant and also none of your business.”
“It is my business because you’re my lawyer.” The back of my orange jumpsuit was starting to get really itchy. I reached back and scratched myself. Instantly, the guards who were stationed in the room stepped forward, their hands on their guns, looking ready to shoot. “Damn, can’t a man scratch an itch? I don’t have any weapons on me. You did a thorough search to make sure.” I glared at them and they eventually backed down. “Besides, I’m not some lowlife murderer. Never will be.”
Linda sighed, her blue eyes softening just a bit. “Sure. You’re not a murderer, but if you want to get out of this, you really should come up with a better story.”
“I’m not lying so why should I say anything other than the truth?”
“You really want me to believe that one of Ross’ men killed him? That a member of the Iron Horses would kill their own leader just so they could drive the Blackbirds, your motorcycle gang out of town?”
“Think about it. Killing Ross and framing me for it seems like a pretty good way to get rid of us. Besides, it’s much easier to kill your own leader than it is to kill the leader of a rival group.”
Linda still didn’t sound convinced. “If I ask for bail at $100,000, will your friends be able to pay for it?”
“Yes, no problem. But I already told you, I’m not going to settle for a bail.”
“Would you prefer to rot in a jail cell?”
“No. I prefer justice.” She scoffed at my words. I got up, slamming my hands against the table. “Look, there has to be a good reason why you decided to be a public defense lawyer. You must think that there are some innocent men who get sent to jail for crimes they didn’t commit. I’m one of those people. I didn’t kill Ross!” My face had moved dangerously close to hers before the guards harshly pulled me away. “Why won’t you believe me?”
Linda had a calm expression on her face as she got up, grabbing her briefcase, but I could tell that her fingers were shaking. Was I scaring her? I did my best to calm down a bit. “I still don’t know whether I believe you or not, but I think it seems more likely that you killed Ross McArdle than one of his own members. After listening to witnesses, Ross held great respect among his people, why would one of his own –”
“I already told you! Whoever did this is a coward! They didn’t have the guts to find me and kill me themselves.”
“That’s enough, Mr. Johnstone.” One of the guards dug their fingers into my arm so hard I nearly winced.
“You have to believe me…” I said through gritted teeth. “If you don’t, then who will?”
“Look. I’m going to get you bail, but that’s the best I can do. If we go for a trial, you most certainly will end up in jail.”
“Is it because you’re scared?” I challenged.
“Huh?”
“Are you afraid to defend me in court? To question all these gang members and put yourself in jeopardy.”
She just crossed the room, her high heels clicking against the hard cement. She was much shorter than me, but even so, she held my gaze, her face serious. “I’ll tell you one thing, Mr. Johnstone. I’m never scared.”