Ties That Bind Read Online Free Page B

rookie’s first time on the stand and he’d fallen apart, forcing Kerrigan to spend the previous evening in the courthouse library researching the law of criminal confessions.
    Tim’s wife, Cindy, had been upset when he told her he wouldn’t be home for dinner. Megan, too: she was five years old and didn’t understand why Daddy wanted to write a memo to a judge when he should be reading her another bedtime installment of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland . Tim had thought about trying to explain why his work was important, but he was too tired to make the effort. Cindy had barely spoken to him this morning when he crept out of bed at five-thirty to go downtown to finish the memo. Since six-fifteen, he had been hunting for the words that would convince a liberal judge that a flustered rookie cop’s slightly altered version of the Miranda warnings should not invalidate a confession of murder.
    “You busy?”
    Kerrigan looked up and found Maria Lopez standing in the doorway. Crumbs from one of the doughnuts she was always munching clung to her lower lip. After a year of handling misdemeanors, the slightly overweight, bespectacled deputy DA had graduated recently to Unit D, which prosecuted sex crimes, assaults, and other felonies. Tim was the senior deputy in Unit D, which made him Maria’s supervisor. The interruption annoyed Tim but he didn’t let it show.
    “What’s up?” he asked, taking a quick look at his watch.
    Maria slumped into a seat across from the senior deputy. Her suit was rumpled and her long black hair had partially slipped out of the barrette that pinned it in a bun at the back of her head. Maria’s bloodshot eyes told Kerrigan that the deputy hadn’t slept either.
    “I’m prosecuting a guy named Jon Dupre.”
    “Pimping, right?”
    Lopez nodded. “Compelling and promoting. The guy runs an upscale escort service.”
    “Drugs, too, no?”
    “Cocaine and ecstasy for college kids. My case is strictly the escort service, and it depends on the testimony of one of Dupre’s women, who we rolled.”
    Lopez shifted in her seat. She was definitely on edge.
    “And?” Kerrigan prodded.
    “Stan Gregaros can’t find her.”
    “Does Stan think she split?” Kerrigan asked, concerned. Dupre wasn’t the biggest fish in corruption’s pond, but he wasn’t a minnow, either.
    “He’s not sure. Lori’s kid was staying with a neighbor . . . .”
    “Lori?”
    “Lori Andrews. She’s the witness.”
    “Go ahead,” Kerrigan said, sneaking another look at his watch.
    “Andrews and the neighbor have an arrangement. The kid stays with her when Lori’s working. The problem is, Lori never picked up Stacey.”
    “Is Andrews the type to run and leave her kid?”
    Lopez shook her head. “The kid’s the reason she agreed to testify. We had her on possession and sale, and she knew Children’s Services would take her daughter away from her if she went to prison.”
    “Do you think Dupre did something to her?”
    “I don’t know. He could’ve. He’s brutal if his girls get out of line.”
    “What happens if Stan doesn’t find her?”
    Lopez fidgeted and looked down. “When we indicted, we convinced Judge Robard to treat our witness as a confidential reliable informant so we wouldn’t have to give Dupre her name.”
    “Why didn’t you just put her somewhere he couldn’t find her?”
    Lopez reddened.
    Kerrigan sat up straight. “Tell me she’s not still turning tricks.”
    “The feds are involved. They wanted her inside to find out where Dupre kept his records.”
    Kerrigan calmed himself. It wasn’t Maria’s fault. Federal agents could be intimidating, and she was new in felonies and would want to play ball. Kerrigan remembered how important he’d felt the first time one of his cases had been big enough to involve the FBI.
    “The trial starts this afternoon,” Lopez continued uncomfortably. “I don’t have a case without the CRI.”
    “Ask for a setover.”
    “We’ve asked for two