Page 11 of Professional Consult
I take it, because if he leaves me unattended, I can smash it to make a weapon.
“What a fucking day,” he grumbles.
“You piece of shit,” I start. “How dare you—a man of the law—let your goddamn shit-headed brother blackmail you into framing an innocent woman!”
He takes his keys from his belt, inserts one into the lock, and opens the door to my cell. “Care for some company?”
“Fuck you!”
Despite my strong words, I move away from the door, clutching my cup with two hands.
He sits down on the cot and pats the seat next to him. I decide it’s best to go along with his wishes because it’s possible he’ll underestimate me and I’ll be able to get the upper hand.
“That was my brother on the phone.”
“I figured.”
“Do you want to know what he told me?”
“Um, sure. Tell me all your dastardly plans.”
“He said the favor he’d asked of me was a joke.”
“Uh, favor?”
“A couple of nights ago, he rings me up. Said he’s been hired for some hotshot legal-cop drama. I said good for you, but I’ve got to get back to my real life cop drama.” Luke takes a big gulp of whiskey. “He mentioned you being his co-star, and that you liked getting into character.”
“Yeah, ah, that’s part of my job.”
“He said you’d like to fly out to get firsthand experience of what it’s like dealing with law enforcement.”
“That was the plan…”
“That you’d like it from the criminal’s perspective.”
“It was supposed to be…” Suddenly, everything begins to make sense.
“When I took you into custody, I thought it’s what you had wanted.”
My hand tightens around the glass. I knew something was amiss, but I’d assumed the worse. Never once did it cross my mind that this could be a joke.
“To clarify, are you telling me that your piece of shit brother told you to throw me in jail?”
“Uh-huh.”
And that’s all it takes for the rage that was simmering to boil over.
“Fuck!” I shout, launching the glass of whiskey at the bars.
It shatters on impact, scattering glass and liquid across the jail floor.
And because my life can’t get any worse, I feel a sharp stab in my eye.
“Oh, shit!”I jump from the cot only to have my bare feet come down on the shattered remnants of my anger.
I really know how to make a bad situation worse.
“Calm down!” Luke urges.
