31 Tricked Again

At the end of the arraignment, Andrea stepped out of the courtroom with her head spinning. She was so full of questions and emotions that she could barely think straight.

As though moving on autopilot, she found a nearby bench and sat down to take detailed notes on everything that had just transpired. Anyone watching wouldn't have noticed anything amiss, other than a slight glassy look to her expression.

She wanted to get everything down while it was still fresh in her memory. Even though it felt like the entire event was playing back in her head as though it were on a loop.

Once she was done taking notes, she read them over again to be sure she hadn't missed anything, then tucked them carefully into her briefcase. Then she pulled out her phone and called the police precinct to ask to arrange another meeting with her client.

She didn't know how she was going to tell Kyle about this…

* * *

In a way, she didn't have to. The moment she stepped in to the room, Kyle could tell. She tried to keep her expression and body language neutral, giving herself a moment before she had to break the bad news, but Kyle could obviously tell that something was off about her.

The beaming smile he had worn every time she had visited him that morning faded. It felt like telling a kid that Santa wasn't real.

Kyle tried his best to rally. "Hey there, Blondie, you don't have your usual uplifting presence. I don't mean to be harsh, but I'm kinda hoping you just heard that your goldfish died or something…"

Andrea shook her head and carefully sat down. She still didn't quite trust herself to speak yet without her voice breaking.

"Okay, so it sounds like the arraignment didn't go well…" he said.

Again she gave a small shake of her head.

He rubbed his mouth thoughtfully. "So how bad are we talking… Am I going to have to sell both of the yachts I don't have?"

Andrea couldn't bear to keep him guessing. She managed to keep her voice steady with just the slightest quiver as she said. "Kyle, your bail was denied." Finding it easier to keep going now she had started, she blurted out, "They said due to the heinous nature of the crime, you posed a threat to the public, and that your resources, influence and family connections meant that you were a serious flight risk."

Kyle nodded slowly, chewing on his lip.

'He had to have suspected this might happen,' Andrea thought. 'He must have seen this coming, just a little.'

Kyle asked quietly, "Did you try to argue against it?"

"Yes!" Andrea said, a little insulted he had to even ask. "Of course I did! I pointed out that you had no previous convictions, that you were a pillar of the community, that you had a long career of upholding the law. I tried to tell them that you weren't close with your family–"

"I have to wonder how they found that out," Kyle mused.

"You did say you used your father's name to pull strings… They might be keeping it quiet from the public, but they'll still have informed the prosecution."

Kyle had been staring off into the distance, but his eyes snapped back to Andrea at that. "Who was the prosecution?" he asked sharply.

"The DA is the lead prosecutor, but the representative attorney for the DA's office at the arraignment was Jack Cunningham."

Kyle slammed his fists down onto the table. "Jack the Fox…" he growled, "Son-of-a…" He sighed heavily. "I mean I guess he's just doing his job, but you'd have thought friendship would mean something…"

"Don't you know most of the other attorneys at the DA's office? Would you rather have someone who doesn't like you?" said Andrea. "Maybe Cunningham will go easy on you–"

"Nah, not Jack. He's too much like me for that. He's going to be playing to win. He's a sneaky bastard, but I know a lot of his tricks." Kyle forced a smile. "You're right, this could be worse. I know this guy, I can help you beat him. Help us beat him." Kyle looked thoughtful for a moment and then asked. "Did you tell them that I didn't try to run? That should have counted for something."

"I tried to point that out, Kyle. I argued that if you were guilty you would have forced them to get a warrant, you'd have stopped them from searching your apartment. But they said that you resisted arrest–"

"Resisted arrest?!" Kyle stood up so fast it knocked his chair back into the wall. He started pacing angrily. "The only 'resisting' I did was clocking my head on the countertop when that trigger happy Wyatt Earp took me down with his taser. Unprovoked!"

"I told them that, too!" Andrea said, getting a little heated herself. "I told them that it had been unreasonable force, and they said that the police report stated that you had a knife and had to be subdued! They made it sound like you were threatening them. The judge didn't want to listen to anything I had to say, he just took the police report at face value."

Kyle snapped his fingers. "Right, the judge… that's the ticket. We don't need to play the opposing team, we need to play to the field. And in court, the judge is the field AND the referee. If we can find an angle, we might have a another shot at this…"

"What do you mean 'another shot'? Kyle, the arraignment is over. We don't get to appeal the decision, not unless there was misconduct or a procedural error…" Andrea trailed off as realization dawned. "You weren't there! You were supposed to be present, this was a felony hearing!"

All of Andrea's previous cases had been for less serious offenses. While some of them still required the defendant to be present for the arraignment, most only required their attorney to be there to represent them.

Kyle grinned and winked.

"Why didn't you say anything?!" Andrea demanded. It was the precinct's job to transport Kyle to the arraignment, but it was the defense attorney's responsibility to notify them of court dates, and she had completely neglected to do so. It was terribly embarrassing to have made such a basic mistake because of her lack of experience.

"Hey, don't worry about it, Blondie. You've had a lot on your mind. It was an easy mistake to make. And besides, either the judge or the prosecutor should have called you out on it, so it's not like you're the only one who dropped the ball." He examined his nails and buffed them on his shirt. "And this way, we have justification to schedule a do-over on Monday!"

"So you tricked me again," said Andrea, crossing her arms angrily.

"Hey now, don't be like that," said Kyle. "I knew that if I reminded you about it, then you'd feel honor bound to do the right thing. Tell me truthfully, if I had talked to you about this plan, would you have been willing to go along with it?"

Andrea didn't respond. She knew he was right, but she didn't like it. Didn't like being manipulated. Didn't like feeling like a fool. Didn't like Kyle making plans that relied on her making a mistake.

"Okay, you're angry, and I get that. But we can't afford to play this one by the book, Blondie. I have people who are pulling strings to make me look guilty, so we can't pull any punches."

He smiled as if that made everything better, which just made Andrea more frustrated.

"So," he said, "Who was the judge?"

"Judge Speering," Andrea said curtly. It wasn't a judge she had argued a case in front of before.

"Speering?" Kyle asked. His whole tone changed. He folded his arms and seemed to be studying Andrea critically, as though trying to gauge her reaction. "Are you okay?" His eyebrows were knitted with worry.

"I'm pissed at the outcome, but not really at the judge," she said.

She was also still pissed at Kyle for the stunt he pulled—again. But why this sudden concern?