Means of Justice - Scene #1

Hello readers,

Tess, here. We're up and running. Yay! This is a story called Means of Justice written by Cherise Taylor and I. We're going to be posting pieces of this story each week, so check back often. This is a short story part of a larger book - a collection of crime stories called Once Upon a Crime. We hope you like it. Keep reading and enjoy!

...

      Ryne leaned back in his chair across the prison table from the well dressed woman with a smile. His prison suit scratched his light skin uncomfortably. His brown eyes never stopped sparkling as his thin lips smiled. He shook his dark head.

      "Look, baby,” Ryne Jefferson drawled. “We've been over this. Yes, I shot him. No, I didn't kill him. The bullet killed him. No, I don't plead guilty. Capiche?"

   The long-haired, blonde lawyer in the chair across from him folded her hands on the cold metal table, "Mr. Jefferson, I understand what you've told me but the judge will be given solid evidence to negate it. The truth is, you did kill him, and admitting to that might get you out of prison alive. Take the deal."

 

by nyloninmate

     As if to punctuate her words, the long tubes of florescent lights flicked off and on. Through the brief moment of blackness, brown eyes held blue ones. Both sets firm and unyielding. The lights flickered on and Ryne’s eyes stung slightly, starting to water from the sudden sharpness of the light. The young lawyer looked away, blinking her eyes.

     
     Once he’d regained his composure, Ryne shook his head again, tsking. "Imogen, Imogen...May I call you that? Of course I can," he dismissed his own question with a slight wave of his hand. "Why would I take a deal when the truth is the truth?"

      "Because it might save your life," she laid a manilla folder on the table so he could see it. Ryne almost scowled, eyes flicking over his name: Jefferson, Ryne, printed in sharpie on the tab. Imogen Murphy spoke again, "Let's make sure we understand each other." She traced her finger over the tablet of scribbled notes sitting in front of her. "You shot Mitchel Chaff in the chest with a .44 caliber gun last Tuesday at 1am. You cornered him behind a bar, you were not intoxicated, and you shot him, then went back to your apartment on fifth street. Am I correct thus far?"

       "Proverbially speaking, yes," he looked at her, amused.

       "The court will charge you with premeditated murder, Mr. Jefferson. Is there anything you can tell me that might help your lot here?" she bent down, drew a pen from the briefcase at her feet before she straightened up again, waiting for him to speak.

       "Premeditated?" He huffed and rolled his eyes,"You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to decide to pull that trigger."

        Imogen Murphy’s lips twisted in disgust and her blue eyes darkened, narrowing slightly. She set the pen down and informed him,  "This was not about money. You knew Mitchel personally. I have statements from the cops saying witnesses saw you at that same bar, talking to Mitchel, three nights before you murdered him." She reached down and grabbed another file folder, placed it on the table, but kept it closed. "There was a case last year about a woman murdered in her car outside of I-91. Mitchel Chaff was a suspect in that case, but the killer was never found." Imogen kept her gaze on Jefferson, she didn't blink.

        "You think you have me all figured out, don't you, Murphy?" He purred.

        Imogen shook her head, blonde hair looking sticky from the hairspray in it, curls fallen out after a long day’s work.

       "Believe it or not, Jefferson,” she replied firmly, “I am on your side. If you would just let me cut a deal for you, I think I could lessen your sentence."

      "You say you're on my side," he disagreed, scooting his chair back as the guards came in to retrieve him from his meeting with the lawyer. "But the truth is, you just want justice."

       That was the last thing he'd said to her that day in prison. But it was the first and only meaningful thing he'd say to her during their time together.