Chapter Thirty Six
Sinful Attractions
Stephen
Just perfect. I swear, itâs like weâre stuck in a never-ending cycle of bad luck. No sooner do we climb out of one pit, we tumble right back into another.
Weâd just gotten the good news that Lachie and the FBI had managed to secure a solid deal to send Detective Grounds undercover. But then, the bombshell drops. The immunity deal was handed over to Elizabeth Carson, the Prosecutor, to take to the Supreme Court.
The second Lachie mentioned her name, I tuned out. My mind was racing, playing out every possible outcome from this point on.
The worst part was knowing that she was the one who received the deal. I couldnât help but wonder how quickly sheâd picked up the phone to inform the Chief of Police and the Captain.
I didnât have any concrete evidence that she was involved, but my gut was screaming that she knew more than she let on that day she arranged our meeting with the Chief at her Chambers.
Trinity - Baby
I feel my wifeâs hand in mine and realize everyoneâs eyes are on me.
Stephen - Shit, sorry, what?
Dave - You okay, man?
Stephen - Zoned out, sorry guys. What did I miss?
Benji - Lachie, start again, mate, sorry.
Lachie - (Phone call) So, the immunity deal was delivered to Elizabeth Carsonâs office by two of our agents. Elizabeth immediately called for the Deputy Chief Leader of the Bureau before speaking further.
Stephen - Why would she do that?
Lachie - (Phone call) Several reasons. Anyway, the Deputy Chief Leader was brought down and two other witnesses from our Bureau stayed. Elizabeth also chose to have representation on her side. She tried to recuse herself by refusing to accept the immunity deal or deliver it to the Supreme Court, citing her 5th Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination.
Stephen - I knew that bitch was involved. I told you, didnât I, Clint! She set us up that day with the Chief. She was the only one who knew.
Lachie - (Phone call) Calm down for a second, mate. We decided to call her bluff. Our Chief Leader decided to pressure DA Carson and told her we already knew, which is why this was specifically delivered to her. If she chose not to deliver it and claim the 5th amendment, she would be arrested and charged as an accomplice. If she delivered it, she would face perjury charges as a sworn officer of the law.
Stephen - Holy shit.
Lachie - (Phone call) We also gave her a third option.
Stephen - Which is?
Lachie - (Phone call) A deal similar to Detective Groundsâ in exchange for her full cooperation.
Stephen - So what does the deal involve for her?
Lachie - (Phone call) She will continue as normal, she will take their instructions and act accordingly, her conversations and electronic equipment will all be interfaced so we have real-time access to it, and she will have to report in at the end of each day. She also needs to provide a timeline of how long this has been going on for and specific cases as this is going to open up a bigger can of worms for us allâand by us, I mean the Bureau.
Stephen - Dare I ask?
Lachie - (Phone call) If she messes up this immunity deal, we have no choice but to prosecute her because we have knowledge directly from her that she is involved. If we have to prosecute her, then that opens up every case she has ever successfully won for Prosecutorial Misconduct and every one of those convictions will be overturned.
Lachie - (Phone call) In addition, if they are out of the statute of limitation, we may not be able to pursue those cases at all. And finally, the biggest issue in the more prolific cases is the Double Jeopardy ruleâthey have already been tried and convicted in a court of law, we canât touch them. That could be letting thousands of criminals back out onto the street.
Benji - She was never that good, so you shouldnât have too many.
Mia - hahahahahahaha
Clint - hahahahaha
Lachie - (Phone call) Good to see you still have your sense of humor, mate.
Benji - Of course, mate. That bitch may have just made me a fortune. If she goes down for this, all those criminals are going to need a Criminal Defense Lawyer and seeing as I would be going against the State of Illinois, thatâs a tidy little class action suit sitting there.
Lachie - (Phone call) The right side of justice, huh, Benj? hahaha
Benji - Karmaâs a bitch this time, mate. I canât wait to see them all bury themselves now.
Stephen - So what now?
Lachie - (Phone call) Iâm heading back to HQ and we will be conducting a full recorded interview with her. Once we have everything down, then we will present the facts in full to our Chief and then it will be decided upon by a different Prosecutor this time. The Chief is talking about going Federal this time and overstepping Local Government and State.
Lachie - (Phone call) Normally we like to go to them first as a courtesy and to avoid ill feelings, but in this instance, that could be a fatal mistake given we still donât really know how deep this goes. Weâre only scratching the surface now.
Lachie - (Phone call) Likely, if it goes federal, the immunity deal will be presented through the Supreme Court in DC which could potentially cause a little delay. But like I said, we will know more when I call you later and I will. Now that we are finally getting movement, I will keep in contact the moment we have any updates.
Stephen - So we play the waiting game again, huh?
Lachie - (Phone call) Look, I know itâs frustrating, mate, I get it. But believe me, I will go at her hard this afternoon and one way or another, I will call you back tonight to let you know which direction she is going from here, okay?
Stephen - Thanks, Lachie.
Lachie - (Phone call) Look at the bright side, okay? By this afternoon, we may have potentially finally turned the tables on them and managed to plant two moles under their noses this time.
Benji - Yeah, you really think weâre that lucky, Lachie?
We all laugh because itâs true. Could we really be that lucky this time that everything goes smoothly?