Waves

Part 27

The morning came faster than either Eve or Joe wanted, and they were eventually woken up by the sound of Eve's phone ringing. "Hello?" she answered groggily, slipping out of bed to avoid disturbing Joe.

"Wilson, we have a problem," Adam's voice sounded distorted and she could hear commotion in the background. "The evidence Connie provided from the night of the Pope murder is missing. One of the P&E officers had come down to pull an item for another case and discovered several lockers had been broken into."

Eve gripped her kitchen counter until her fingers went white and tried to calm her racing heart. "Tell me it's not...," Eve's voice trailed off, unable to even verbalize her thoughts at that moment. "Joseph Franklin's blood uniform is gone. We're pulling the footage and sign-in log right now to establish who was down here last night," Adam said.

"Adam, that uniform is nearly my whole case right now," Eve hissed, "and our continuance ends next week. I need that fucking uniform. How could this happen?" Adam paced down the concrete hallway as various investigators dusted for prints and snapped photos.

"I–I don't know Eve. I truly don't. Three decades of doing this and I've never had this happen. I'm so sorry. I really don't know what else to say. We will figure out what happened and I will make sure we get our hands on that uniform before next week."

Rubbing her temples, Eve peppered Adam with a few more questions regarding next steps and hung up with plans to talk later that day. Closing her eyes for a minute, Eve ran through various scenarios in her head and tried to calm the rage flowing through her body; her mind spinning at what this meant for the case.

Everything felt outside of her grasp, and she was slowly starting to feel like this was a dead end. In an uncharacteristic fit of anger, she threw her glass mug against the wall, the cup shattering.

"What the hell is going on out here?" Joe jogged into the kitchen, confused at the scene he stumbled upon. Embarrassed by her outburst, Eve bit her lip and held her head in her hands. "My evidence is missing. Adam just called me. Our smoking gun walked out of P&E overnight."

Cursing loudly, Joe walked over and pulled Eve into his chest, her shoulders heaving as she broke down. "I'm gonna lose this case Joe," she wept, "and when I do, they're going to overturn the stay of execution." Joe was at a loss for words at Eve's statement, the gravity of the situation hanging in the air.

"You've got to try and stay positive baby. I know it feels insurmountable right now but Rooks needs you to keep your head in the game. Your case is still pretty solid. You said yourself that Connie was doing great in rehab and would be healthy enough to testify. I don't think all hope is lost," Joe murmured, rubbing small circles on Eve's back.

Eve knew in her heart that Joe was partially right, that panicking now would dilute her resolve and that she needed to be dialed in. It was just so hard given all of the challenges thrown her way, and the lack of DNA evidence from the missing evidence would complicate matters.

"Okay. I'll try to keep it together," Eve croaked. "Don't try, just do," Joe ordered her, "but first, go sit down on the couch. I'll throw together some breakfast before I head out, okay?" Eve smiled weakly before plopping down in the living room, making calls to Lara and Michael with the latest news from Adam while Joe made her favorite pancakes.

They ate quickly and watched the morning news before Eve had to get ready for work. Digging around her closet, Eve giggled as Joe planted soft kisses on her neck. "Honey, I have a presentation I'm giving in an hour. I don't have time," Eve groaned, the feeling of Joe's hands on her butt dimming the bad news from earlier. "I'll only stop if you let me come by the office this afternoon."