I Shouldn't Love Him
I Shouldn’t Love Him (Book 2) – Chapter 75

manning

Forty minutes before my arraignment, a dark-haired man in his forties entered the courthouse interrogation room and placed a briefcase on the table between us.

“Manning Sutter?”

“It’s me.”

I stood up to shake his hand, but he stopped me.

“No time for formalities. I’m Dexter Grimes, your public defender.

He pulled out a handful of manila file folders, put on his glasses, and flipped through them.

“Richards, Rosenblatt, Stephenson,” he muttered as he read them. “Here we are…Sutter.” He opened my file and frowned.

“No it is wrong.”

Spreading them out on the table, he chose one labeled Sweeney and exchanged the contents of our files.

” Here we are. Sweeney was Sutter’s, and Sutter was Sweeney’s. It happens.”

I had my belongings taken, fingerprinted, photographed and waited in line, then held in a cell, all within seventy-two hours. Just like an innocent man. I was told that I would meet with my lawyer before my arraignment. He was the one assigned to me. On closer inspection, I decided he was in his thirties and had deep lines around his eyes. He had the looked like he had been through the grinder. There was a mayonnaise stain on his lapel, or at least I hoped that was it.

I stared at him until he cleared his throat.

“We are a little overworked,” he said.

“No shit.”

“But don’t worry.”

His glasses slid down his nose.

“I’ve done it a thousand times.”

In my experience, having done something a lot didn’t necessarily mean you were good at it. But he was all I had, and at least when he talked to me, he looked me in the eye. I placed my forearms on the table.

“I’m innocent.

“

“Of course.” He sat back in his seat, examining my thin papers. “Do you know how indictments work? »

“Not really.”

“It’s going to go quickly.

The judge will read the charges, you’ll plead ‘not guilty’ and they’ll set bail for you. Do you have anyone to post bail? “I had

no one, period. Even though my mother had money, I would rather stay in jail than crawl towards it. My aunt and Henry, the officer who had looked after me when I was a teenager, had done enough for me in one lifetime.

“No.”

“We can go see a guarantor. Depending on the amount, they will give you the money and take a percentage.

The money I had saved over the years was a small amount by most standards, but it was all I had. I had worked hard for this. “I’m not paying anyone anything for a crime I didn’t commit.”

“All right.”

He took some notes.

“So Friday night you were arrested.”

“No. My truck stalled, so I stopped it. The cop stopped to check on me.

“He says here he suspected you were drinking.”

“No. I walked in a straight line for him, and then we had a nice, friendly chat.

Grimes looked up.

“Did he give you a breathalyzer test?”

“I wasn’t drinking.”

“That wasn’t my question.”

“No, he didn’t.”

“Then it doesn’t matter. It’s your word against his.

The officer and I hit it off; there was no reason for him not to believe me. I opened my mouth to explain.

Grimes checked his watch.

“Your charge is attempted theft. A crime.”

“It doesn’t matter what it is, because I didn’t do it.” “

It’s important.”

“I didn’t go into anyone’s house. I don’t even know whose house it was. was acting. Look, all you have to do is tell anyone who needs to know that there’s some sort of mix-up so I can come home. I’m working under contract. Every hour I spend here is a waste salary.

“I understand, Mr. Sutter. I’ll move on as quickly as possible.”

He glanced at the page in front of him.

“This officer says he saw you just before one o’clock.

“

“I guess so.”

“Witnesses tell you that you left Phil around ten thirty. Neighbors spot you driving in the dark around eleven o’clock. What happened between eleven and one? »

“I went for a drive. Then, when I got near the camp, my car stalled.

“So for almost two hours, you sat on the side of the road, waiting for a jump?”

“Yeah, so what the f**k? I drove around for a while before that.

Grimes closed the file with a sigh.

“Look, sir…”

“Manning,” I said. “I’m nothing, sir.”

“Manning, I’m on your side. Everything you tell me is confidential. I can’t win if you don’t work with me.” I

ran my hands over my face and looked at the ceiling.

“I have news for you, Manning, and you’re not going to like it. Your case doesn’t look great. The people of this posh suburb want someone to go down for this, so the DA will try to conclude as soon as possible. You are the strongest suspect, and as far as I know, you are moving from job to job and don’t come from the best background. “What does that have to do

with with this?”

“You are suspicious. I’m sorry.”

He took off his glasses and placed them on the papers.

“If you don’t tell me where you were, if no one can vouch for you, then the police will think you’re hiding something. They want guys like you to be guilty so they can shut it up and move on. Give me something to work with. Otherwise, guilty or not, there’s a chance you’ll leave for it.

I lowered my chin, meeting his gaze. Under the table, my knee bounced up and down. I was not naive, not even about the criminal justice system. I had done well in the past, but I came from a line of wicked men. Maybe on that basis alone I should be ostracized. I used to really hurt someone like my dad did. Holy shit, I almost took advantage of Lake that night. Maybe I deserved it, but either way, being accused of a crime I didn’t commit seemed like a cruel joke.

I had already given Grimes my story, though. At least what I was willing to share. I opened my hands on the table.

“I got nothing, man.”

Grimes nodded slowly, studying me. After a few seconds, he glanced into the file and came back to me.

“Who is Lake Kaplan?”

Time as I knew it stopped abruptly. The air in the room evaporated, the fluorescent ceiling lights became blinding. The lake was off limits. Period. How the hell had he even gotten his name? My hands trembled with the urge to grab Dexter by his mayonnaise-stained lapels.

“I suppose by your silence you recognize the name,” he said.

“Where did you hear it?” »

“She left a message at my office a few hours ago.”

He opened and closed the arms of his glasses. If he was preparing to gloat, he didn’t look happy about it. “I called again, but no one answered. The machine belongs to a family.

Shit. Shit. F*****g stubborn lake. I knew she would try to help, but I had hoped that the threat of making things worse would be enough to stop her. The thought that Mr. Kaplan might have picked up the phone made me sweat. I wiped my palms on my scrubs.

“Please don’t tell me you left a message.”

“Lake mentioned it was sensitive, so I didn’t do it. She looked young, Manning. So now I have to ask why a young girl has information I need.

I looked at the painting.

“She’s nobody. My girlfriend’s little sister.

“How old ?”

“Sixteen.”

“I see.”

He moved forward slowly, as if considering his words.

“What is his involvement?”

For what seemed like the hundredth time in three days, Lake’s face came to mind, his big, gullible blue eyes, the way his chin pointed to a point like a heart. She looked terrified the last time I saw her. Then hurt when I sent her away to get Tiffany. Making her feel like a child was the only way to make her leave.

Somehow I had dragged a girl, who was younger than Maddy would have been if she were alive, into my mess hall. I intertwined my hands.

“Nothing else to say.”

“Whatever you say, it stays between us, Manning. If . . something happened to him…

“Nothing happened.”

“But if I know what happened in those two hours, I can start building your defense. I need the truth.

“I told you. Nothing…f**k….”

“Very well then.” He moved his chair closer to the table. “We need to discuss your options before they call us.” With the way things are going, I think we’d better talk about the prosecutor’s proposed plea deal.

I raised my head, frowning.

“Isn’t that so you’re guilty?”

“If you’re likely to be convicted, it’s best to make a deal to soften the blow. Less time, for one. “

But I’m innocent.”

“It’s no longer about innocent versus guilty. C “It’s a game and you have to play.”

“That’s bullshit,” I said. “The law is the law. I didn’t break it.”

“We can argue about mistaken identity,” he continued, “but since the victim identified you in the queue and claims to have turned on the lights, I can’t promise that It will happen the way we want it.”

“Did she see me?”

I sat forward.

“The other guys weren’t as tall as me. Maybe she’s remembering it wrong.

“Maybe. I will need more time to review all of this. He scratched his jaw. “Luckily, you have no priors.” The maximum for attempted theft in the state of California is four and a half years.

I laughed out loud, harder than I had in a long time.

“It’s a huge misunderstanding.”

“The DA is proposing to reduce the charge to first degree burglary with a sentence of two years. With good behavior, you would be free.

Everything he talked about went in one ear and out the other. I crossed arms.

“I’m not going to jail for something I didn’t do.”

“Then we go to trial, but we might end up with a longer and harsher sentence. I certainly would have need to know the details of what happened that night, everyone. And I won’t be the only one snooping for information. He patted the top of the file.

“I believe you did not break into this house. I don’t believe your story.

This conversation hadn’t gone as I expected. I thought I would explain to my lawyer that it was a case of wrong place, wrong time and that I would be home tonight. Now we were talking about prison. I was in deep shit. I clenched my hands until my knuckles were sickeningly white and bloodless.

“If I tell you what happened, will it stay here?” You’re not going to try to make me tell it in court? Because I will lie if I have to.

Grimes raised his palms.

“You have my word.”

The room suddenly seemed half its size. I inhaled. I didn’t want to see Dexter’s look when I told him, but I held his gaze. I deserved to face my mistakes, and maybe that wasn’t all I deserved. The fact was that I had done something wrong. And the bad guys were always locked up for one thing or another.

“Like I said, Lake is Tiffany’s younger sister. Tiffany is my girlfriend, for lack of a better term. LAKE, though.” I couldn’t put into words what she was. Like I even knew. ‘She’s my friend.’ “

Be honest with me, Manning. She’s sixteen.

I flattened my hands on the table. I would have accepted almost anything for a cigarette at that moment. I had never felt more worthy of one. “I had a younger sister.” “

Have?”

Dexter said sat back down. “I’m sorry.”

I nodded once.

“Having Lake around reminds me of what it used to be like. With Mady. You don’t just stop being an older brother.

Dexter me.” granted a moment.

“If it’s true, and it’s nothing more, then maybe we can use this to our advantage, show your character.” “

It was true. .” I said slowly. “At first, Lake was simple. True. Confident. She brought up little things about Madison that I didn’t realize I had forgotten.

I wanted to watch anywhere but Dexter. Hit my head on the table and wake up from this nightmare. I had made those decisions, though. I couldn’t pretend I didn’t do it.

“It’s not that anymore. The more I know her, it’s something else. She’s not like the rest of us. She’s good.”

“Are you saying something happened?”

“I’m saying that how I feel about her comes from an innocent place. I would never hurt her. If anything, I wanted… I want to protect her. To keep her pure. “But you had

s*x with her,” he concluded.

“No. God no.”

I ran both hands over my face.

“We went for a drive. We don’t spend a lot of time alone, and somehow we found each other that night. We were only in this area with the lights off to see the stars. I never even stopped the car. On the way back we almost hit a coyote so I stopped. She went out and jumped into the lake. She wanted me to chase her away. To sell. She wanted me, and damn, I wanted her back, but that’s no excuse. In the truck, we got a little too close. I almost went where I shouldn’t have. But I swear that’s it, and I finished just before the cop spotted us. Lake hid in the back while I talked to him.

“She hid. Damn.”

Dexter understood everything.

“He didn’t see her?”

“No.”

“While drinking?”

“Not a drop, neither of you.”

“No s*x at all?” Have you been inside her at any point?

“No, hell no. We didn’t even k**s.

To hear him say it so clinically, my stomach turned.

“I know I lost control, but I would never take advantage of her.”

“Does anyone else know?” Sister?”

“Not unless Lake tells her, but she promised me she wouldn’t. I’m sure that’s why she called.

She’s probably scared.

He bit his lower l*p. The room got so quiet that I heard the ticking of his watch. What I did with Lake, it could have been worse, but what people thought carried more weight than the truth. Even if we swore she rode in the bed of the truck the whole time, people would think the worst. Blame me for taking advantage of a young girl. And some might blame her too. They would look at her differently. Her father would see her differently. It changed a person, and I didn’t want her to change, I didn’t want her to feel the stares, to think she had done something wrong or that she had disappointed her family.

Lake was untouchable. I will make sure it stays that way.

“I’m not going to involve him in this,” I said.

“Even if it saves me.”

He looked up.

“You can’t leave for driving with a minor. If you were with her and she corroborated this, then you couldn’t have been home. Basically, she’s your alibi.

If she was called to the stand to tell the court what really happened that night, she would be traumatized. But I’d be screwed. I hadn’t forgotten what Mr. Kaplan had said at dinner about his “friends in the justice system.” If the burglary charges were dropped, he would definitely bring his charges against me. He would replace a way. Maybe even statutory rape, and I’d serve a decade before doing that to Lake. I opened my mouth to tell Grimes that as far as the courts were concerned, I had no alibi

. “But,” he said with a frown, “since the cop didn’t see Lake , he would either assume that you were lying or that she hid. So even if the jury believed her story, they would draw their own conclusions as to why she hid from a cop. “

You Do you agree with me?” I asked.

“Can we keep her away?”

“I think that’s best,” he said hesitantly. “I’m afraid her testimony will really hurt us .”

Dexter picked up my file and straightened it on the table.

“We’ll have to replace another way.”