The Witness

the cups, the pot, the sugar bowl and spoons on the table. “You should sit down. You look very tired. We’ll have to share the tea strainer when it’s steeped. I only have one.”
    “That’s fine.”
    Unsure, she remained standing when he sat down. “Do you want food? I have the lasagna. It can be heated.”
    “No. No, but thanks.”
    “You’re so sad,” she blurted out.
    “I guess that’s some of it. Got a lot of pissed off in there, too. I’ve got to shake both off before I deal with tomorrow.”
    “Do you want to tell me, or should I change the subject?”
    He smiled a little. “You should sit down, Abigail, and have your tea.”
    “I don’t know if I’m good at this,” she said, as she sat.
    “Drinking tea?”
    “Comforting. Or defusing. Since you’re angry and sad, it should be both.”
    He laid a hand over hers briefly, then poured out the tea. “Let’s find out. Russ’s family’s owned the hotel for three generations now. It’s not just a business, not just a livelihood, to them.”
    “It’s an essential part of their family history, and their place in the community.”
    “Yeah. There’s pride and love there. Justin Blake, have you heard of the Blakes?”
    “Yes. They’re a very wealthy and influential local family.”
    “Justin’s a spoiled, troublemaking fuckwit with a string of DUIs, a bad attitude. He’d have a sheet as long as my leg if his father didn’t use that money or influence, or political pressure—whatever works—to get him off. The kid has no respect for the law or any other damn thing.”
    “It would be difficult to develop one if he’s allowed to behave badly with impunity. I’m sorry,” she said quickly, “I’m supposed to listen.”
    “There’s no supposed. Anyway, his latest. He and a couple of the assholes he hangs with booked the best suite at the hotel and trashed it. Destroyed it.”
    “Why?”
    “For kicks, out of boredom, because they could. Pick one.” Brooks shrugged, then scrubbed his hands over his face. “Russ went up this evening to deal with them when guests complained about the noise. Upshot is Justin punched him, took some swings at security, got himself arrested. And this time he won’t slide through. It’s looking like better than a hundred thousand in damages. Maybe more.”
    “That’s a great deal.”
    “Yeah, it is, and Russ and his parents won’t cave when Lincoln Blake pushes at them. I had a go-round with him and the kid tonight.”
    “You won’t cave, either.”
    “No, I won’t. Justin and his pals are spending the night in jail. They’ll make bail tomorrow, Blake will see to it. But Justin’s got two choices. He takes a plea and does time, or he stands trial and does time, but he goes down this time. And either way the Blakes pay every cent of the damages. Jesus, I’m pissed off.”
    He shoved up, stalked to the window. “I should’ve gone home.”
    “You wouldn’t be pissed off at home?”
    “No, I’d be pissed off anywhere. That fat, self-satisfied, cigar-smoking fuckhead figures he can threaten me with my job, and I’ll scare off?”
    “The father?”
    “Yeah, the father.”
    “Can he have you fired?”
    “If he can, they can shove the job. I don’t want it if I can’t fucking do it. Not if some overprivileged asshole can do whatever the hell he wants and I’m supposed to look the other way.”
    “Money is power,” Abigail said quietly, “but it’s not the only power.”
    “I guess we’ll see. I went over to talk to Russ’s parents, and Russ and Seline—his wife—after I dealt with the lawyer. She cried. Mrs. Conroy. This sweet, funny woman who always had peanut butter cookies in the jar, just broke down and cried. I should’ve found a way to put that little bastard away before it went this far.”
    “It’s useless to blame yourself for what this person did, or what his father has been able to do, especially when the pattern was set long before you took the position as chief of police. The rational thing to do is arrest him, which you have, and to compile evidence for the prosecutor to assist in getting a guilty verdict at trial. That wasn’t sympathetic,” she realized.
    Brooks sat back down, picked up his tea. “Worked pretty well, though. I know the logic of it, Abigail.”
    “But your friend and his family have been hurt. It’s emotional as well as financial and physical and criminal. People should pay for their actions. There should be consequences. There should