9. Evgeny
Evgeny
“I’m here to see my client, Sasha Melnikov,” I tell the woman behind the front desk. Betsy has been here since long before I passed the bar exam, and I swear the woman hates me a little more every time she sees me.
“Why am I not surprised,” she mutters while she grabs the glasses that are dangling from a gold chain around her neck and slowly puts them on.
She really likes to make me wait, and I try very hard to not let my impatience slip through while I watch her use two pointer fingers to painstakingly type something into the computer.
Looking up, she gives me a sweet grin that would be grandma-like if I didn’t see the evil glint in her eyes when she says, “My arthritis is acting up today. This might take a minute.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I tell her, but she just makes a hmph sound and ignores me while she keeps up the facade of being in too much pain to type with all her fingers.
The police station is in its usual state of chaos, but instead of dour looks, every officer I see walk by has a grin playing at his lips.
They’re all on cloud nine after arresting my cousin, and I can’t wait to wipe it from their smug fucking faces when Sasha walks out of here a free man.
“The detective will be out to see you soon,” Betsy tells me, trying to pull off one of her sweet smiles again.
“Thank you for your help,” I tell her, refusing to let this little old woman know how much she irritates me.
Instead of sitting in one of the grungy-looking chairs, I stand near the wall and watch the door I know the detective will come out of.
After twenty minutes, it finally opens, and when I see it’s Detective Alvarez, I’m part thrilled because he’s an asshole who often lets his temper walk him straight into a mistake, and pissed because I know the kind of detective he is.
He’ll bend or break any rule he needs to if it means keeping my cousin behind bars.
Giving him the same smile I gave Betsy, I walk over and say, “Nice to see you again, Detective Alvarez. I believe you brought a client of mine in this morning.”
“That was fast. We haven’t even given him his phone call yet.”
“He’s on retainer.” I give him a nonchalant shrug. “You know how it is. Word travels fast with things like this. I’m sure he’ll appreciate that phone call later, though. He can use it to call his wife.”
The look Alvarez gives me makes it clear he doesn’t give the slightest fuck about Sasha’s wife. I ignore it and ask, “What is my client being charged with?”
“We arrested your client,” he says, his tone holding the same kind of distaste you’d use when speaking about explosive diarrhea or a bad case of chlamydia, “for second-degree murder.”
“Victim?” I ask, ignoring his tone and the disgusted look he’s giving me. I’m used to people assuming I’m the scum of the earth, so it’s easy for me to brush it off and keep my mind where it needs to be.
“Rosalie Mendez,” he says, but the name doesn’t sound familiar.
“Cause of death?”
“She was stabbed.”
When I ask for time of death, he scoffs at me. “You’ll have to wait for discovery, Nikitin. That’s all I’m saying right now.”
Detective Alvarez motions for me to follow him back through the door and then stops at security so I can sign in.
After filling out the form, I put my briefcase on the table and empty my pockets.
I knew I’d have to do it, and it’s why I kept my family cell phone in the car.
While my possessions get scanned, I step through the metal detector and wait to be cleared.
Once I’m through and given my things back, I follow Alvarez down a busy hallway.
I’ve spent a lot of time here, so when he leads me to one of the interrogation rooms, I say, “I see you’ve already questioned him.” I don’t need to ask if he got anything, because I know Sasha would never tell them shit.
“Here’s your client,” he says while opening the door.
I spot Sasha, cuffed and sitting in a chair, but I don’t let my eyes linger on him. Instead I look over at the two-way mirror. “We’ll use an attorney interview room.”
“This one is fine,” Detective Alvarez starts to argue, but I shake my head.
“I’m sure it’s wonderful, but I’ll be speaking to my client in an attorney room.”
He grumbles something I’m glad I can’t hear and hollers for an officer to come over.
Relaying my instructions, he tells the officer which room to put us in and then walks off without another word.
Officer Sutton, a cop I actually like here, comes over to get Sasha.
With his hand on my cousin’s arm, he leads him out of the room and into another while I follow behind.
This is one of the ugliest rooms in the station, which is saying something, but it at least doesn’t have any mirrors or hidden cameras.
“You can remove his cuffs, Officer Sutton,” I tell him. “I can assure you he won’t hurt the man who’s trying to get his ass out of here.”
Officer Sutton looks like he just graduated high school a month ago, and when a small smile slips out, he looks even younger.
“Holler if you need me, Mr. Nikitin. I’ll be right outside.
” Instead of walking out the door, he hesitates before giving me an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry, but I need to ask for your cell phone. ”
I was hoping he’d forget, but even though he looks young, he knows how to do his job, so I hand over my cell phone while he removes Sasha’s cuffs and then leaves us alone.
As soon as the door shuts, Sasha asks me in Russian, “Are you sure it’s safe to talk in here?”
“I’m sure,” I tell him, sticking to English to prove that I’m confident we aren’t being recorded. “I would sue this place into the ground if they violated my attorney-client privilege.”
Grabbing a pad of paper and pen from my briefcase, I lean back and say, “Tell me everything.”
Sasha scrubs at his face while he drops the dead-eyed stare he’d been wearing and turns back into my cousin, the man who may not think like the rest of us but whose heart beats and bleeds for his wife and kids.
“I swear to you we’ll keep Cyn and the girls safe and away from all this,” I tell him. “I know it’s hard, but I need you to stay focused on the here and now. I can’t get your ass out of this if I don’t know every detail of what’s going on. Who the hell is Rosalie Mendez?”
He drops his hands and looks at me. “You’re not going to ask me if I killed her?”
I huff out a small laugh and put my reading glasses on. “I’ve made it a habit to never ask my clients that question.”
“Probably for the best,” Sasha agrees. “Niki and I were helping Rosie.”
“How so?” I ask, while scribbling down notes as we talk.
“She was trafficked. Niki found out and asked if I’d help move her to a safe house.”
I stop writing and look at him over the rim of my glasses. “When did you and Niki start rescuing women on the side?”
Sasha shrugs a broad shoulder. “Niki’s been doing it for years. My involvement is more recent.”
“You didn’t think you should mention this to any of us?”
He smirks at me. “Sorry I didn’t run it by you, Dad.
Believe me I’m not anxious to get back out there and do it again.
I can’t believe I got fucking arrested for trying to help someone.
Makes me think I should’ve just stuck to what I know.
Wait till you see the body, Ev,” he says.
“No precision whatsoever. Fucking sloppy is what it was.”
“They showed you crime scene photos?” I ask.
“Yeah.” He huffs out another laugh. “I think they thought it might disturb me enough to get me talking.”
“What a waste of time that was,” I say, making a few more notes before I ask, “Did they say anything else?”
“No, they’re convinced I did it, though. Alvarez is a fucking dickhole, and I’m killing him once you get me out of here.”
“As your counsel, I’m going to have to advise against that.”
He smirks at me. “Noted.”
I sigh and let it go, deciding to not waste time on something that’s pointless. “Do you have any idea who did this?”
“Probably the fuckers who had her to begin with, DeMarco’s men.”
“Big fucking surprise,” I say. “Do you think they knew you were helping her?”
“I don’t think so. I think she escaped, and they killed her for it as a warning to the other girls. I guess the cops found her and then saw me on CCTV footage leaving the safe house.”
“Niki didn’t erase it?” I ask, surprised that our cousin didn’t take the extra precaution.
“I hadn’t committed a crime,” Sasha says. “He would’ve scrubbed it eventually, but he wasn’t in a rush. He was busy with other things.”
“If we can prove you were somewhere else on the night of the crime, then we can blow this case apart. Cindy’s testimony won’t cut it, though. They expect spouses to lie.”
“Yeah, that’s going to be a problem,” Sasha says.
“Why?” I ask, pretty sure I don’t want to know the answer.
“That’s what Niki was busy with, scrubbing all traces of the murder I actually committed that night.”
My cousin gives me a shameless sort of apologetic smile. “Sorry, man, but the good news is I couldn’t have killed Rosie, because I was busy killing someone else.”
“That’s not the defense I’m going to present to the judge,” I tell him.
“Jesus, okay, forget trying to prove your whereabouts that night. In fact, I really hope that shit stays buried. We’re going to need to prove you didn’t do it by dismantling their evidence.
Alvarez wouldn’t tell me anything, but I’ll get it all in discovery, and I’ll find out who the prosecution is on this one. ”
Sasha nods before rubbing the back of his neck.
“I’m getting you out of here,” I tell him. When he just nods again, I say, “Look at me, Sasha.”