The envelope

The moment when Harold noticed that things weren't going his way. his smug expression made place for that of visible anger. Even though the arguments that the DA en and Joe had prepared were so tight that this ruling was the only logical outcome, Harold was confident up until the last moment. In this moment, where Joe and the DA were celebrating the outcome of the bail hearing, as it was their first step to victory, Harold and his goons were processing another loss. They were scowling out of anger as they were making their way out of the courthouse. Just as Harold and his men were reaching the door which led to the outside of the courtroom, a man walked in the opposite direction, bumping into him. Harold glared at the man, who quickly raised his arms and apologized, before walking away just as quickly as he had arrived. Barely giving anyone the chance to catch a glimpse of his face.

The man was in and out in a matter of seconds, but what no one had realized, is that he had slipped Harold an envelope when he bumped into him. One containing a letter and some pictures. Harold noticed the envelope when he was in the car, being escorted back to the precinct where he was being held. Now that his bail had been denied, he would be transferred to an actual prison to await sentencing. He needed to look at whatever was inside the envelope before his possessions were taken from him and he was put behind bars again. But both he and his men were being watched from a rearview mirror by the two officers in the front seats, with only a layer of bullet proof glass separating them. So, if he wanted to be able to see what had been handed to him by the stranger, he needed to have their attention focused elsewhere or find a moment inside the precinct to have some privacy.

After staring back and forth at the glass, trying to determine just how often the officer looked in their direction, he found the pattern. Soon after, followed a plan, which he quickly put into action. In a whisper Harold instructed one of his men to shield him just enough so that he could reach into his pocket. He would then wait until the officer had looked in the mirror before he would use the second interval to glance at whatever was in his pocket.

The large man didn't say a word in response to his boss' request and just nodded with an angry glare directed at the opposing wall of the van they were in. The lack of response wasn't one out of disrespect, but instead one that showed how well Harold had trained his men. How loyal they were to him and how they would listen to his commands without a word of protest. The choice he had made now not to talk, was in order to increase the odds of his boss' plan succeeding. Despite not fully knowing what that plan was, he had taken the right course of action. Any sound or whisper could alert one of the officers to watch them even more closely, which would cause Harold to lose this chance he had found. So, while Harold had been forced to whisper what he needed his men to do, they didn't need to use their words to respond.

After he had given his affirmative reaction to Harold, the man came into action. He turned his body ever so slightly to the right and started to slump his head down until it was resting in his arms, which were leaning on his knees. This was perfect and gave Harold much more of a cover than he had initially envisioned. Him looking so dejected and defeated wasn't strange considering what they had just been told and therefore didn't arouse any suspicion when one of the officers glanced at the inmates. The moment the officer glanced inside and back away again, Harold's moment had arrived.

He carefully brought his cuffed hands to the inner right pocket of his suit jacket, and pulled out the white envelope. He opened it carefully, without making any sound, before taking out what was inside. The moment his eyes landed on the pictures, his eyes grew wide. He didn't know what he was seeing, but the little bit that he did saw, was making his heart beat fast and loud while his anger and blood pressure rose to new heights. He quickly unfolded the letter, hoping that it would clarify what was in the pictures.

But while he hoped the letter would provide a more positive explanation for what was in the pictures, it instead confirmed what he was dreading. The letter revealed the truth about Olivia and was stating how she had been sleeping with his nephew at the same time she was involved with him. How she had been using them both as pawns in her game, while he had been treating her as a partner. Feeding his mind with thoughts and scenarios that would anger any sane man, let alone one that wasn't too stable to begin with and who was facing charges that might give him life in prison.

Harold gripped the pictures and the letter tightly in his hand, and as they were being crumpled, he glared at whatever was in front of him with an icy look on his face and said, "It seems we have one more thing to do boys. I need to organize a parting gift for our dear Olivia..."

Although the words coming out of his mouth would be considered nice by any person hearing them, his men felt shivers running down their spines because of the way it was being said, along with the expression on his face and the person who was saying it. They knew that this 'gift' wouldn't be anything that anyone would want, but for their boss to aim his anger at the woman who had been by his side for this long and who they thought he was quite fond of, must mean she had done something very, very bad. For which she would now be paying the price.