Page 103 of The Wrong Side of the Law

“Already taken care of,” I say. “Letting that reporter into my office would have been enough on its own, but spreading lies like that to the press? That’s just too dangerous. It hurts this office. And since I’m the one that’s handling it, not you, you’re even covered. Your friend has nothing to complain about.”

“Good.” Whitehall nods slowly, considering the advantages. “We’ll go with that, then.”

He squints at me again, but this time I get the impression of a fresh appraisal, rather than anger.

“But back to this Wilson thing. You’resureyou’re keeping her insulated from her brother’s case? Completely isolated?”

“Yes,” I say, confidence in my voice. “Absolutely. I’ve never let her get anywhere near it.”

“You missed something, somewhere,” Whitehall says. “What was she doing in the evidence locker yesterday?”

“In the… What?” This is an unexpected turn. “Miss Wilson went to get some pictures yesterday morning. For exhibits for some upcoming cases.”

“That was probably not the smartest thing you could have done, boy.”

Whitehall slides a sheet of paper across the desk at me.

“What’s this?”

“Look at it,” he says.

It’s a log. Chain of custody for evidence. And it’s got Emily’s signature on it. And the number 682018CF000123. Her brother’s case.

My hands and feet turn to ice, and the coffee and cereal I had for breakfast claw at my stomach, looking for a way out.

No, there’s nowayshe could have done anything.No. Not Emily. Not my Emily. This is all just some kind of mistake.

The log says she checked the box out for just two minutes. That’s not a lot of time, but it’s still two minutes too much.

But still. No. She didn’t do anything. She couldn’t have.

“I told you, I sent her to take pictures.” I shrug. “Look at the form, sir. There’s no names on it, just a number. She went over there, took pictures of… I think it was four things, total. No, five. There was the gun, too, and the other four were all drugs. This is the Narcotics Unit. We see drugs all the time. She didn’t know that this was from her brother’s case.”

Of course she didn’t. There’s no way. It’s just not possible.

But how did she get the number in the first place? I didn’t send it over with her. She doesn’t have the system permission to view it in the database.

The State Attorney snatches the page back, puts on his glasses and peers down at it.

“Good point,” he says, then looks back at me. “You’re sure you haven’t slipped up anywhere?”

“Of course not,” I protest. “I’ve been super careful about this. It’s got too much potential to blow up in our faces if I screw something up.”

“That it does,” the SA agrees, looking back at the paper, before fixing me in his gaze like an ant under a magnifying glass. “I’ve had some… let’s just call themconcernsabout you, Cooper. Heard some things about you that left me a bit worried about your future intentions. But I like the way you’ve handled this so far. You’ve been looking out for the good of my office, not just for yourself.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Have I gotten away with this? Am I clear?

“Couple things I’d have handled differently, but on the whole, you’ve done well. I may have to rethink a few things when it comes to you.”

Holy hell. I think I am!

“I appreciate it.”

But what was Emily doing with those MDMA pills for two minutes? I can’t shake my fears on that score.

“But on this one, why don’t you leave the worries about lawsuits to me,” Whitehall says. “The Wilson girl’s done. Get rid of her. Too big of a liability, keeping her around.”

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