Page 109 of The Wrong Side of the Law

I could have fought Whitehall harder on firing her. I absolutely could have. But perhaps it’s better that I didn’t. After all, at least this way I still have a job, and I’m still working toward… what am I working toward? What are my goals here?

I just don’t know anymore.

Frank Wilson, free. That’s the only immediate goal I can see, and Emily seems to have reached it. But at such a cost.

What becomes of us? I love her. But after this, how are we supposed to carry on together?

I love her, but she betrayed my trust.

Would I have done the same thing in her shoes? I can’t say. I’m an only child. I never had a sibling to look after.

Was it really a betrayal, though? You’ve spent your professional life choosing right over love, putting justice on a pedestal higher than any relationship. Didn’t she just do the same thing?

Yes, but it was illegal.

It was illegal, but does that matter? Remember what Dickens said: the law is an ass.

It’s a dangerous line of reasoning. When the ends justify the means, you can make excuses for almost any kind of bad behavior. Today it’s breaking the law to get an innocent man free. Tomorrow, though, it could be far more sinister. It’s a bad precedent to set.

But Dickens was right.

Emily was on the right side of justice, even if she was on the wrong side of the law. But now she’s going to have to face the consequences, and there’s nothing I can do to prevent that.

For half an instant I consider calling her; finding where she is and going to her. But no, that won’t work. I can’t do that.

What kind of an asshole fires you, then gives you a hug and tells you he loves you?

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