The Beautiful People

51. Colby

     On most Saturday nights I would be either at the club in sleeping in my bed, but this time the answer was neither.  I was actually at the office, working on my opening for a case that started on Monday, clocking overtime like a madman. I was slowly sipping scotch and eating cold pizza while working on it when I got the call from David Parsons. He sounded a little panicked but it was kind of hard to tell as the signal was weak. He told me about the situation, and that his friend was arrested and I needed to come down there asap to get him out of jail for shooting an animal in self defense. I took a deep breath and said I would be on my way. After having a few cups of coffee while getting dressed to leave, I managed to get sober enough to drive and made good time to get to this sheriff's station, but I stopped at every coffee shop on the way down to help get me even more sober. When I arrived to the station, all it took was a little sweet talk a few fibs to get the man out of his cell. These hicks were too gullible and Jim was a free man in no time at all. I could tell that despite the brisk air, Jim was happy to be a free man again.

     "Get in," I called out to Jim, "I'm going to drive you back to David's place."

     "Will do," Jim replied, as he appeared happy not to be walking, "Sorry about dragging you out here in the middle of the weekend."

     "I appreciate that," I said, as he appeared to mean it, "But shit happens, and I'm still billing his ass for a few extra hours for it anyway."

     "I'll be sure to tell him you fought valiantly and for a long time," Jim added.

     "No need, but appreciated," I replied, "Let's get going."

     Once back inside the Jag, I fired it up and got us back on the road as it would only take a few minutes to get him back to David's cabin.

     "I hope this didn't ruin your weekend," Jim said, trying to sound sympathetic.

     "My weekend was already done," I replied, not really that upset. "I was lacking sleep but I substituted it with caffeine on my way up."

     "I noticed the cups in the back," Jim said, "You must have gotten sloshed last night."

     "Only a little bit," I said, lying again. "But let's keep that between us."

     "I can't believe you woke up the local DA," Jim said, sounding impressed.

     "I didn't," I said, revealing the truth, "But this early in the morning people will believe anything just to get assholes like me to shut up."

     "Damn, you are good," Jim said, as he couldn't believe it.

     "That why I get the big bucks,"  I said, as I cut the corner, "But after talk, I bet you that fat fuck won't even file the paper work and the DA will never even know the incident occurred. If you hear back from someone, I'll still take care of it but forgive me if I don't hold my breath."

     "Sounds alright to me," Jim concurred, "I doubt we'll hear back from them either. Well done."

    "Keep quite for a moment, Jim." I said as I had the car dial a number for me. Moments later David Parsons answered his phone.

     "David," I started once the line went live, "I got your fellow out of jail. Bill took good care of him."

     "Good to hear," David replied, "I'll make sure you're well compensated for your efforts."

     "Oh, I intend to be," I replied, almost laughing. "You're going to get a bigger bill than usual for this one, David."

     "Understood," David agreed, "Thanks for the help anyway."