Chapter 53
A PRETTY GOOD idea had occurred to Yuki Castellano after she talked to the young patrolman in the waiting area. Now she had to see if her idea would work. The recess the judge had given her to talk to the skittish witness had morphed into a long lunch break. She had time to think this plan through.
Yuki went back to the waiting area and found the patrolman who was still waiting to be called on another case.
She also rounded up three other cops, who all fit the same general mold: big, muscular, young guys.
Plus a friend of hers who worked robbery and wasn’t in uniform.
But even at forty years old and dressed in a nice suit, Chuck Heuer was still formidable looking.
He was a good six feet tall and looked like he hadn’t missed a day in the gym in the last decade.
A bullet to the face during his first year as a cop had left him with a menacing scar and a left eye that seemed to move on its own. This was perfect for her plan.
Yuki pulled Carlos Cotara aside just before court was called into session. She couldn’t help running her fingers across the cowlick in his hair.
“It doesn’t ever stay flat. My mama tried to put it down every day,” he assured her.
Yuki said, “Carlos, look around the room and tell me what you see.”
Carlos glanced around the courtroom and said, “Nothing. Just the same people who were here this morning. And in a few minutes they’ll bring in Elio and his crew.”
Yuki nodded toward the back of the courtroom. “I brought my own crew.”
Carlos looked toward the rear of the courtroom, then noticed the four police officers sitting together. They took up an entire bench.
Yuki smiled when Carlos nodded his head. “They are here for me?”
“No, Carlos, they’re here for Elio. They’re here because they’re tired of men like him ruining families and destroying whole neighborhoods. They’re here to make sure he realizes he can’t do that anymore. And you’re one of the main reasons he won’t be able to do it anymore.”
Yuki was a petite woman, and Carlos was almost the same height, but she felt him stand up a little straighter and push his shoulders back.
She had him take a seat in the gallery, just behind the prosecution’s table.
One of the cops from the back bench showed some initiative.
He walked to the front of the courtroom, then slid in right next to Carlos.
It was the perfect move. Yuki thought Carlos might turn and throw his arms around the muscle-bound cop.
Even better than that were the looks on the faces of the defendants as they were led back into the courtroom.
Especially Elio Huerta, a thirty-five-year-old who looked older.
He’d thought the case had been ruined. Now he realized maybe he wasn’t so powerful.
At least that’s how Yuki saw it. And it was remarkably satisfying.
This time, when Carlos got on the stand, he didn’t falter.
He was sworn in, stated his name, then listened attentively as Yuki led him through the initial questions.
When the time came, he pointed directly at Elio Huerta and ID’d him as the man who’d shot a grocer for daring to tell him not to sell drugs in front of his store.
Elio’s wide, square, pockmarked face never even twitched. He crossed his arms, still staring down the witness. His jaw clenched and it was obvious he was furious.
Yuki was saving the grocer for later in the trial. It was difficult for him to get around now because he was confined to a wheelchair. She knew the impact the visual of him being wheeled into the courtroom would have on the jury.
Yuki was starting to feel a lot better about this trial.