Page 41 of Kane's Awakening
I’d helped her make her Valentine’s box. We’d used an old tissue box, put construction paper on it and colored it to her liking.
After I helped her clean up, we walked into the living room and sat on the couch beside Theo—who was bundled up in a fleece blanket and hogging all the pillows—and watched the rest of his movie with him: the firstChronicles of Narnia.After the movie, it was a little after nine o’clock, and I told them to brush their teeth and get into bed.
I checked on Isabella, and she was already under the covers and laying down, so I told her goodnight and left.
Theo asked a million and one questions as I tucked him in. Was there really a Narnia? If he walked into his closet, would he find a goat man? Why do skunks stink? Just the normal questions I came to expect from him.
“Goodnight, kiddo.” I kissed his forehead, and he squirmed and wiped it off.
“Gross, Dad. No kisses.”
“Sorry, I forgot you’retoo old for kissesnow,” I said, fighting the twinge in my gut. Why did they have to grow up? “Sweet dreams.”
Before I walked out of his room, he said, “Dad?”
I turned. “Yeah?”
“I may be too old for kisses… but I still love you. You’re the best dad in the world.” He then rolled over and snuggled into his pillow, closing his eyes.
“Love you, too,” I answered, looking at him for just a few seconds before quietly closing the door.
There might be some things in life I sucked at or that I struggled with, but being a dad was the greatest gift I’d ever received, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.
***
“Nah, man, I’m tellin’ you I didn’t do nothing,” the man denied, sitting across from me at my desk. He was in his late twenties and looked like he’d smoked one too many joints in his life. The track marks on his arms told me he did even more than that, too.
I had to bite back my retort that his use of double negatives canceled out his statement, and that he actually confessed. Grammar. It mattered.
“If you did nothing, why were you arrested?” I sarcastically asked, wishing this appointment would end so I could work on the bigger case I needed to focus on. “I can’t defend you, if I don’t know all the details. And this police report says you were refusing to cooperate during a stop and frisk and you assaulted one of the officers.”
“That cop had it coming,” the guy replied, curling his lip. “Then the bigger fucker threw me to the ground and put the cuffs on. I was innocent.”
I scanned the report, feeling a horrible headache coming on, and then my eyes came across a name I knew all too well: Kane Matthews. He’d been the arresting officer that night. Just something so small as seeing his name sent my heart into chaotic palpitations.
“So, you’re saying the police didn’t have reasonable suspicion to stop you?” I asked, focusing back on him.
“Man, I don’t know about all that. All I know is I was just walkin’ and minding my own damn business when those pigs came and demanded to search me. When I said no, they got all handsy and searched me anyway. So yeah, I punched one of ‘em.”
I nodded and looked down at the report.
“They found a meth pipe, some pills, and a knife on you,” I stated. Those were serious charges, and if found guilty, this guy would be charged with a felony for the pills alone.
If the search could be proven unwarranted, then all items discovered from said search would be inadmissible in court under the Fruit of the Poisonous Treedoctrine—basically a rule that stated all illegally obtained evidence couldn’t be used to prosecute.
I liked to think Kane wouldn’t have stopped someone without cause. He might be an asshole when it came to romance, but he didn’t seem like the kind of man who’d abuse his position as a cop.
However, I had to do my job and put all personal feelings aside. I was already considering a motion to have the evidence thrown out. Whether it’d be accepted by the judge was unknown, but I was going to take the chance regardless. Even if the fruits of the search were ordered to be inadmissible, my client would still have the charge of assaulting an officer, which was still a class D felony, but at least it’s still a lesser charge than the drugs.
Once I finished up the appointment with him, I opened up the file for the big case—a personal injury case involving a motor vehicle accident.
Although I mainly did criminal defense work, I also helped clients bring forth complaints, too, since I was a general practice attorney. Kind of playing both sides of the field so to speak. In this case, my client had been hit, suffering extensive injuries, and was going after the person who hit him to pay for the medical bills.
A knock sounded at the door right before Eric walked in, carrying a cup of coffee—bless him—and a small stack of papers under his arm.
“Hey, boss. I thought you could use a pick-me-up.” He set the coffee in front of me and then placed the papers on the edge of my desk. “These are just some documents for you to look over, approve, and sign.”
“You’re a life saver, Eric,” I said, rubbing at my eyes before focusing on him. “Don’t ever quit or I might go crazy.”
