Page 1 of Legends: Easton
Chapter One
“Due to the severity of the crime, bail is denied. The defendant remains in custody pending the outcome of a trial. Court is dismissed.”
Bailee Maxwell flinched when the judge’s gavel slammed down. Judge Angie Allen was an imposing woman in the flowy black robe. With her ramrod straight posture and unreadable countenance, she rose and exited through a door to the judge’s chambers.
The audience stood like well-timed Jack-in-the-Boxes, the cacophony of their voices deafening as they filed out the double doors of the courtroom. The case of the veteran police detective accused of corruption and murder had garnered a lot of interest, resulting in a full courtroom for the bail hearing.
Bailee barely registered the noise as she watched the defendant, James “Jimmy” Pearce with the Louisville Police Department in Kentucky. Even from this distance, his presence overwhelmed the space. Confidence punctuated the way he carried himself, as if the judge’s ruling had zero effect on him. He was angry — she was sure of it — but he hid it well behind his icy exterior.
Jimmy’s fellow officers rallied around him as the bailiff appeared to cuff the defendant’s hands behind his back.Bailee wanted to throw up at watching the men she once worked alongside give Jimmy pats on the back and words of encouragement, all while shooting her stares meant to bully her.
She had once been counted as part of them, but they’d turned against her so fast it’d snatched her breath. Her mind still reeled from the hypocrisy. They were officers of the law, detectives who sought to bring down the worst form of criminals, yet they supported the one man in their ranks who deceived them all.
The defense attorney, a snake of a man named Burton Soddy, spoke directly into Jimmy’s ear. Jimmy’s head dipped in a slight nod, but his eyes never veered from her. Bailee’s expression was hard, giving nothing away. He’d taught her well in the two years they’d worked together. Because of Jimmy, she knew how to keep cool when shit hit the fan, how to hide all the thoughts and emotions that could make her vulnerable.
But as well as she knew him, he knew her just as much. He knew her façade was just that. He probably suspected what tumultuous thoughts plagued her, and he reveled in them. Bailee felt like an eternity passed before Jimmy was escorted to an exit at the back of the courtroom.
She should have fallen into step with the crowd exiting, but she couldn’t. Not until she saw Jimmy being hauled away. Not until she was sure he was truly going to jail and not back out on the street.
Before he passed through the door, he turned slightly at his waist, casting his gaze over his shoulder. Dark, penetrating eyes locked on her, and Bailee used every ounce of her willpower to keep from looking away. She hardened her own stare, wonderinghow she ever respected the man. All she felt for him now was hatred with a healthy amount of disgust thrown in.
The bailiff nudged him, but still he watched her. She could almost hear him plotting his revenge. He all but threatened her life when he realized she possessed enough evidence to take him down. She didn’t regret it, even though the arrest had imploded her life almost more than it had his.
“Get moving.” The bailiff’s tone broke no argument.
Jimmy did move — but not before he flashed her a sinister grin. Bailee felt chilled to the bone. She smoothed her palms against the polyester blend material of her uniform slacks. Her sweaty palms were the only sign of her unease, thanks to the years she spent working in a male-dominated police department. To anyone watching her, she was composed, unbothered by facing down her colleagues, whose hatred of her was palpable in the stuffy courtroom. Inside, she felt ready to jump out of her skin.
“Bailee.”
The voice at her ear startled her, and she hated her body for jumping in response. She tilted her head to see the woman standing behind her. Corinne Southerland placed a hand on Bailee’s shoulder to calm her, her eyes flitting up briefly to see what had Bailee’s attention before returning to meet her gaze.
“If you hope to escape the press, we need to sneak out now while they’re distracted by the state attorney.”
Bailee blinked when she realized the courtroom had cleared out with only the two of them, Bailee’s fellow officers, the bailiff, Jimmy, and his attorney remaining.
“Yeah, okay.” Bailee stood, tucking her service cap under her arm.
She hazarded a parting glance in Jimmy’s direction. The bastard had the nerve to drop his lid in an audacious wink before allowing the bailiff to lead him out the back of the courtroom. His buddies filed toward her, but she hastened to follow Corinne out the swinging doors, not wanting to deal with the pack of police officers and detectives who blamed her for Jimmy’s trouble.
“Look at her. Running like the little chicken shit she is.”
Bailee didn’t recognize the voice behind her, but she didn’t care. As she marched down the hallway behind Corinne, her thick-soled shoes squeaking against the polished hallway, she threw up a one-finger salute to the mocking men behind her.
She knew better than to engage, but the action felt good. She was tired of feeling like she was all alone on an isolated island, banished because she did the right thing. Let them be angry at her if they wanted.
Hell, she had moments when she was angry too. Why did she have to be the one to take Jimmy down? What hadn’t one of them realized what the senior police detective was up to? Why had the Chief thought it was a good idea to partner her, the rookie detective, with Jimmy, the veteran with so many arrests under his belt that no one dared to question his actions?
Corinne opened a door and motioned for Bailee to step through it. Once she did, she allowed her rage to surface. Her pent-up frustration had her pacing the cramped interview room until she bumped the corner of the small conference table. The curse that fell from her lips was vehement and did little tostop her anger from mounting. Dropping her hat, she finally slammed her fists against the top of the table, barely registering the pain radiating up her arm.
“Feel better?”
Corinne leaned against the closed door, her arms folded over her chest. As an Assistant Director of Operations for the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, she was a kindred spirit in how she’d had to overcome male bias to fight her way to a leadership role in the ATF.
Bailee had come to count on the no-nonsense woman as her anchor in the storm. Corinne was a hater of bullshit and lover of hockey who had Bailee’s back through one of the darkest times of her life. The two hadn’t been friends or colleagues for long, but right now, Bailee trusted her more than the Louisville PD officers she’d worked alongside for years.
Bailee scowled at Corinne’s sarcastic question. “No. I’d much rather punch Jimmy’s face.”
Corinne’s lips twisted wryly. “You punch him, and I’ll punch his sociopath of an attorney.”
