Chapter 8 Monroe #2
“I want to know both. Why the hell are you using a boy’s life to leverage a case that isn’t even yours?” Rose asked.
I held out my hand for Rose, watching as her chest rose and fell with her deep breaths.
This was hitting a nerve for her and I didn’t know, but the two of us needed to switch off.
Whoever was the calmer of the two of us needed to take the reigns, and since Rose was too worked up over whether Shepard was dead or alive, I needed to take control back.
“Mr. Potter, what is the U.S. attorney hoping to get out of all this?” I asked.
“He wants to get Knox to either turn on his club, or get someone else to turn on them,” Potter said.
“So, you're going to leverage a murder charge over his head to try and do it? I won’t allow you to do that,” I said.
“You don’t have a choice.”
“We do have choices, Mr. Potter. Knox is, first and foremost, our client. And if there have been false charges brought against him, we will figure it out. We will be able to prove his innocence and your credibility with the public will be shot. You’ll look like a witch hunter and it’ll destroy whatever reputation you have in this community,” I said.
“No one’s going to take pity on a biker,” he said.
“But they will listen to reason,” I said.
“And trust me when I tell you that the evidence we already have in our custody proves my client’s plea of self-defense.
The more you hand us, the more it strengthens our case.
The assistant U.S. attorney is attempting to leverage something last-minute, and you know what happens when we do things last minute. ”
There was a pause as Potter digested my words.
“Things get messy,” I said. “You will be found out. I always figure it out. There will be no question I still have that isn’t answered to its fullest extent and there is no wool you’ll be able to pull over my eyes.
There’s a reason Mrs. Lowen hired me and there’s a reason they trusted me with this case.
I might look innocent, Mr. Potter, but I can assure you I am not. ”
A silence filled the room as my mind drifted to Knox.
If I didn’t believe his innocence, I did now.
There was a tone in Potter’s voice as he was talking.
A tone that led me to believe that Shepard wasn’t really dead.
They were holding circumstances hostage and making it seem as if someone Knox touched was dead in order to fuel the government’s agenda, and that wasn’t going to stand.
Just like I wasn’t going to defend a guilty party, I wasn’t going to allow anyone to keep my client underneath their thumb with tainted evidence and false accusations.
“They’re not innocent,” Mr. Potter said.
“That’s not for you to decide,” I said. “In a court of law, the only thing that reigns supreme are facts.”
I looked up at Rose as she crossed her leg over her knee, fully allowing me to take control of the phone call.
“The facts are clear-”
“Yes, they are. And when we’re done, Knox will be a free man whether you want him to be or not.
You want to fight fair? Then bring facts.
Because that’s all I’m bringing. If you have anything else to discuss about this case, you can give us a call.
And if Rose and I don’t have permission to see a body and autopsy results in seventy two hours, I’m coming subpoena in hand to the county coroner’s office,” I said.
Potter hung up the phone call and I put my head in my hands.
This was a nightmare. My first day on the job and I was already swindled into some massive government conspiracy.
They really wanted to take a man who was innocent of his charges and make him believe he was guilty so he’d roll over on his own gang to save his ass.
There were two things wrong with that picture.
One, Knox wasn’t guilty. It was hard for me to palette and it was going to be even harder to prove, but that phone call told me he wasn’t.
And two? They assumed Knox was the kind of man to roll over on his friends. I didn’t know much about him, and I didn’t know what kind of soul he possessed, but there was one thing I knew for sure.
Knox would never give up his club.
“Where do we go from here?” I asked.
Rose picked up her phone from my desk before she stood to her feet.
“To lunch,” she said. “There’s this place on the corner I think you’ll enjoy.”
“What will we do after lunch?” I asked. “There’s an innocent man sitting in jail because of the U.S. government.”
“We haven’t proven his innocence yet,” Rose said. “Don’t lose sight of your rationale now. We’ll go get lunch, talk about anything that doesn’t have to do with this case, then come back with a fresh pair of eyes.”
“But what about Knox?” I asked.
I stood from my chair as Rose made her way to the door.
“I know you still have a lot to learn about The Dead Souls, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that they’re resourceful. Knox can take care of himself. Our job is to prove what we’ve now figured out from that phone conversation,” she said.
“Which is?”
“The fact that our client is innocent.”