Skins & Lawyers

10.

Zac followed Russell and the sergeant. He had been sitting on the flat roof of the office and workshops from the moment Joey's Bentley arrived, and had heard everything. Now he sneaked to the edge, unnoticed, and looked at what was going to happen.

When John senior was shot dead by this policeman, Zac was fifteen. Senior had just decided to use his young nephew for burglaries. Zac was tiny and slender, and could effortlessly crawl through the smallest of holes and into locked buildings. All Zac had to do was unlocking doors or windows. After disabling alarms. He had been responsible for three successful raids before it all ended so abruptly. Uncle Lenny didn't have to punish him as hard as he had punished John junior or the older cousins.

A policeman being responsible for the death of a family member would usually be enough to hate all cops and law enforcers, but not for the Willows. Thanks to uncle Lenny, the cousins held no grudge. The man had told them to be grateful, not revengeful. A policeman had saved their lives, not ruined it.

Thanks to uncle Lenny, Zac looked at Russell Cox with even more interest. The son of the man who saved him from prison or worse. The handsome son, he had to add. Oh my.

Most containers were modified with doors and windows, and unlocked. They were placed in rows around the yard, to secure the place and to keep it from trespassers, and used to store either delicate salvages or Christmas decorations, to name a few purposes. They didn't use them as meth labs or other drugs, both policemen soon found out. Only the workshop, the office and Lenny's residence was left, and the men returned. Zac climbed on a stack of wood panels to see what else would happen.

“The safe,” inspector Bauer said when they exited the workshop. “Is it in the office?”

“Yes,” uncle Lenny said.

“Would you open it?”

“No.”

“Ah-hah!” Bauer pointed at Lenny. “You do have something to hide! I knew it!”

“Let me talk to my lawyers first,” Lenny said coolly. “Gentlemen?”

Bauer repeated that in a childish tone, pulling a face. “Stupid lawyers,” he spat.

“One of them was a trial lawyer,” Horn said quietly. “Cox. Doesn’t that name ring a bell?”

“No, and I don't care, do I? They both act like they work here and I can’t do anything about it. Even after years of trying, I can’t find anything to bring this family to trial and now they have not one, but two of those fucking lawyers.”

“You should care. Cox was the cop who shot John senior. Russell is his son.”

Bauer jerked around, staring at his partner. “You are joking. Are you sure?”

“I am sure. And he admitted it as well. Bauer, you know I respect you and everything, but enough is enough. We have never found any proof about even remotely illegal stuff and we will never find it, because the Willows are good, hard working people. Only John senior was bad and he is no longer here. Give it up.”

Bauer seemed to mill over that advice. “I still want to look in that safe,” he muttered.

*

“Should I open my safe?”

“What's inside?” Joey asked. “Can that ass hold anything against you?”

“Well, not unless he thinks my spare dentures are like illegal weapons… There's nothing suspicious. Just personal. I keep my brother’s papers in it. You know, his obituary, the statements of the police, that sort of things. Can he use all that against me?”

Joey looked at Russell. “Can he?”

Russell shook his head. “I'm here, if he tries. Go get them, and open your strongbox, Mr. Willow. Then they can leave and hopefully that will be the end of the harassment. If it isn't, I will push charges against them. Believe in me. We're here to help.”

Bauer entered the office to look in the safe, but his enthusiasm seemed to have faded a little. He asked about the money he saw, of which Lenny had all the papers and proof of how he got it, ignored the false teeth, and reached for the thick file. “What's this?” After Lenny's explanation, he simply nodded. “I'm satisfied,” he said blandly. “Thank you for your time and trouble, Mr. Willow.”

“No more drones and visits?” Russell asked.

“No more drones and visits,” Bauer reluctantly agreed.

“Excellent. Happy to be at service, inspector. Joey, let them out, will you?”

*

Joey drove Russell back to town. Uncle Lenny couldn’t stop thanking them, but after a few cups of tea, Joey managed to drag himself and his coworker away from the yard. John had promised to keep an eye on his uncle and to visit Joey later that evening. They had to finish work before they could go home.

“I'm glad they held no grudge against you,” Joey commented after a while, as he entered the town and took the route to the factory. “I never knew your father was a police officer?”

“There's a lot you don’t know about me,” Russell said. He took his phone, because it had buzzed. “I'm not very open when it comes to my personal life. Oh…”

“What, bad news?” Joey glanced at the phone, a moment before Russell clicked it off. He saw a glimpse of a photo. He saw a lot of skin. “Who is that? You said he knows me…”

“Never mind,” Russ said, his voice a bit husky. “That’s a bit of my personal life I don't want to share. Not yet.”

“Hm. Is he one of John's cousins? I can only think of one…” The gate at the edge of the factory grounds opened as Joey approached, and closed again when he had driven through. “Is Zac sending you nudes?”

Russell didn’t answer. He stepped out as soon as the car stopped, and closed his coat. “There are subjects we shouldn’t discuss,” he said quietly, when Joey walked up with him to the elevators. “Not here.”

They went up to their floor and stepped out into the broad corridor. Their office was at the end. Behind the glass doors, they could see people, and they both slowed down at the same time. “What's going on…?”

“Oh, bloody fuck,” Russell sighed, probably cursing for the first time in his entire life. “Bauer.”

“Ah shit, no. He found a way to revenge himself? Dude… That is not cool.”