Conflict of Interest

Chapter Twenty Seven

Carrie

I didn't speak for a few moments, mostly because I couldn't decide - whether to laugh, argue, roll my eyes, or to be terrified. What I decided on finally was a stupid suggestion, but one I went for nonetheless.

"I'd like to speak to your client alone."

He just laughed, as I should have anticipated. "How stupid do you think I am?"

"Christ, just give me five minutes and neither one of us has to go to trial."

"Whatever you have to say to my client--"

"I can say to you, I've heard it before, but if you're sitting a foot away from him, he's under the impression that he can lie to me and you'll save his ass."

"I'm right here, you crazy bitch," Saenz interrupted. 

"I can see that," I snapped back before returning promptly to ignoring him again. "Five minutes."

"No."

I inhaled deeply, and knowing full well that I was walking down a dead end, I took a turn. "Okay," I finally said. "Benefit of the doubt. What does this possibly have to do with Collin Shaw?"

"Why are you talking like you don't believe me?"

"Because I don't," I assured him.

"Bitch, you asked me a question and I gave you an answer, now you're telling me you don't buy it?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm telling you, and if you refer to me as a bitch one more time I'm walking out that door, the deal's off the table, and the next time I see you will be in district court."

"Watch what you say, Victor," his attorney advised. "She's volatile."

"I'm volatile?"

"Listen," Saenz pressed on. "You can sit there and tell me I'm lying for as long as you want, but it's your ass on the line."

I shrugged. "You're lying," I complied.

"Bitch," he said under his breath.

"Okay," I decided, standing up. "See you at arraignment."

"Carrie," his attorney attempted to intervene.

"Counselor Everett..."

"Go ahead, walk out that door, send me to prison," Saenz encouraged. "But he'll get someone else. When I'm gone, Shaw will get someone else, and he won't wait to kill you like I did."

I had my hand on the doorknob, but that was enough to make me turn around and even laugh slightly. "That sounded like a threat."

"That was the damn truth, and I'm trying to help you."

"You're trying to help me? I'm offering a year for a kidnapping, turning a blind eye to several murders and an outstanding possession charge, and you think you're the one helping me?"

"You play God," he spat, standing up now, and his lawyer just sat there in shock. "You act so damn holy, like you're saving the world. You put innocent people in jail."

"Innocent?" I repeated. "Who's innocent? You, the kidnapping murderer, or Collin Shaw, the kidnapping gang rapist? You're both animals, and you're damn lucky if I decide to let you out of your cage after a year."

Yes, I was probably asking to get punched in the face, but for some reason I wrongly assumed that a murder suspect would have a strong enough moral compass to have reservations about hitting a woman. I didn't fully expect it when immediately following my comment, I received a fist straight to the jaw, and Saenz's attorney was cursing, probably because there was no way now that he was getting off scot free, and Jennifer was storming through the door and pinning the guy to the ground like she'd just been itching to do since his apprehension. I was stunned, in a word, but for some reason all I could think of was that now Saenz deserved his own slogan like mine.