Read Online A Voice from the Field by Neal Griffin - Free Book Online Page A

your decision? A case from another jurisdiction? Now this Patricia Graham woman tells me you threatened a prisoner with retaliation. She was so fired up she practically jumped through the phone.”
    â€œ She called?” Tia really hadn’t expected that. “I swear. The nerve of that—” She looked down at her boots and stopped herself. Insulting the DA wouldn’t help. “This should have been a prison case. She let the guy walk on a misdemeanor. After assaulting a cop. One of your cops. You telling me you’re okay with that?”
    It was Ben’s turn to sound indignant. “Of course I’m not okay with it. But what you or I think doesn’t matter. We don’t file cases; lawyers do.”
    â€œAre you kidding me?” Tia fumed. Her voice became a near shout. “Hell, I could win this case. If that lawyer—”
    â€œThat’s enough!” Ben cut her off. “Tone it down. You were out of line with the prosecutor and you sure as hell were out of line by going to the jail. I’ll say it again. This guy is represented by counsel. He’s locked up. That means hands-off and you damn well know it.”
    Tia stared at him as the silence became uncomfortable. She knew she had pushed past his limits and tried to regroup. “Jesus, Ben. This whole thing has been a mess from the beginning. I can’t help but think if the operation had just gone better…”
    When her voice trailed away, Ben answered, his tone a bit more reasonable, “I’ve been over all that with Jackson. It’s over and done with.”
    â€œDon’t go blaming Jackson. Hell, I’m the one who wandered off camera.” Tia tried to shrug it off. “It was all good until it wasn’t. You know how it is when you look back. Woulda, shoulda, coulda. We all came out okay, but I’m telling you, the case on Kane was solid. We had him on felony assault. There’s no way he should be getting a pass.”
    â€œWell, he is,” Ben said with a sigh. “You need to deal with it and that means no rogue visits to the jail to try to put a twist on the suspect. This case is done .”
    He rubbed his hand against the deep scar that ran from the corner of his eye to his upper lip, giving his face the look of ill-fitted puzzle pieces. Damn, we got some history, she thought, remembering when he’d gotten that wound. But now, it’s like we’re strangers. How did that happen? She picked up on his frustration, something beyond Kane. There’s more to come, she thought.
    â€œI know I’m not operational anymore, Tia, but I have to say there is no way you should have been working U/C. If I had known about it, I would have put the whole thing down.”
    â€œIt wasn’t a big deal,” she said, striving for lightness.
    â€œIt was too soon. You shouldn’t have been out there. Jackson claims you talked him into it against his better judgment. Says you really pushed for this.”
    â€œYeah? What do you want, Ben? Cops who like sitting around, twiddling their thumbs, waiting for something to just fall into their laps?”
    â€œYou could’ve really gotten messed up.” She heard the concern in his voice.
    â€œBut I wasn’t. It was nobody’s fault, Ben. It was a one-in-a-million kind of thing. One second I’m talking to a john, and the next thing I know there’s two of them and they’re trying to force me into a van. That’s where they had the—”
    Tia stopped in mid-sentence as her grip slipped away from the girl’s ankle. She felt the moist sweat on her hand. The van door slammed shut and sped from the lot. The sights and sounds of the event were as fresh as ever.
    â€œThat’s the other thing,” Ben said. “About this girl you say was in the van.…”
    The doubt in his voice made her strike back. “That I say was in the van? She was there, Ben. Tied up and