"Good morning, O'Hara," He said, and slid into his chair.
"Carlton. You're late." Juliet O'Hara stood and walked over to her partner's desk.
His breathing was faster than it should, and he quickly wiped a bead of sweat from his temple. Carlton didn't make eye contact, but opened his computer and began to type, an intense look in his piercing blue eyes.
Juliet starred at him for a moment before asking, "Carlton... What's wrong?"
His body went rigid and he slowly turned up to look at her, "I just witnessed a murder."
"What?" Juliet's face went blank, "What!? Carlton you have to tell somebody!"
He grabbed her shoulder, "No. It can't be done. Not now."
"..What?" She narrowed her eyes, "Did you see who did it?"
He paused and let his hand drop back to his lap, "That's the problem."
"Well if you didn't see who did it, you should still tell somebody."
No response.
"Carlton. Listen to me, you need to let someone know about this." She sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder, a small support.
"O'Hara, I did see who shot the guy." Carlton lifted his head and looked her straight in the eye, "He was FBI."
"W-well then maybe he had a reason-m-maybe this guy was a criminal."
"He was my hairdresser, Carlos... O'Hara for god sakes; what the *hell* am I supposed to do!?" He slammed a fist against the desk. "The shooter saw me, he knows who I am, O'Hara."
She kneeled and looked her partner in the eyes, "Carlton, do you know who he is?"
"Izho. Agent Izho," he said, wiping more sweat from his brow.
"No. Way. Carlton-are you sure about this?"
"Yes. You can't tell anyone, promise me."
"Carlton-"
"Promise me."
"I-I promise."
"Shawn, what did I tell you about leaving the cap off the milk jug?" Gus shouted to his friend.
"Sorry buddy!" Shawn peeked around the corner, "Won't happen again!"
Burton Guster sighed and twisted the cap back to it's original position. He then walked back into the main room, "Vick let you know when we're getting paid for the Stoltsky case?"
"Naw, man, she didn't. We really need the money too, it's Taco Night this weekend at Chipotle."
"No, Shawn, no. We really need to save that money for rent! I can't keep paying for most of it myself. You promised we'd split it for this place." Gus fell onto the couch, "Not this weekend, Shawn."
"Well Gus, looks like we need to get a new case if there's hope for Taco Night, eh?"
The phone rang on Juliet's desk and she popped back to her feet, "I'll be right back, Carlton."
She skipped over the the phone, "Detective O'Hara-Oh, hi Shawn."
Shawn leaned back in his chair, "I was wondering if you or Lassie had any cases for us? It's Taco Night at Chipotle this weekend and Gus and I'd really like to go. But we're sorta low on funds right now, so I was wondering-"
"No, Shawn. There's no cases now, I'm sorry. I really have to go right now, so go do something else; rake some yards or something, tacos can't be that expensive. See you later." She hung up the phone.
"Did you hear that buddy? No cases, guess we just have to go down there and find one ourselves."
"Shawn, can't we leave them alone for once?"
"Tch! Come on son! And lose our glorious tacos? I don't think so!" Shawn spun in his chair and jumped up, "Lets go get some money!"
Gus reluctantly followed. Sometimes it was easier just to agree with him.
Juliet walked back over to her partner and leaned against his desk,
"Tell me what you saw Carlton."
He tilted his head, "Well, I went out to go get a coffee, as you knew. I parked across the street and walked through the park to the shop. After I had gotten my coffee I walked back out to the park. I heard some whispered voices coming from behind this supply shed, so I went to peek around the corner and there was Izho, standing over my hairdresser with a gun, blood everywhere. He looked me in the eyes, and said to me, 'You can go to jail for a long time if someone finds out you killed an innocent man.' Then he just walked away, and I dropped my coffee and ran."
The lady detective was silent, "Shit. Carlton, you should really tell someone, I'm serious."
"I can't do that O'Hara, he saw me and he threatened me."
"He can't do jack! You're innocent, Carlton!" She grabbed his hand, "The truth always wins."
Shawn Spencer and his partner burst through the front door, heading toward Lassiter's desk. "Hey, hey, Lassie! Juliet," Shawn said with a wink, "We are here to help!"
Juliet quickly dropped Carlton's hand and whipped around to stare at the psychic, "Shawn. I told you we don't need your help. You need to leave, now."
Shawn stopped in his tracks, "Something's wrong."
"No, no. Nothing's wrong, we just need to sort some things out."
"Lassie, what did you do to her?" His voice raised. Gus grabbed his friend's arms to hold him back.
Lassiter glanced up, "This is between partners, Spencer. You should go. Now."
Shawn pulled slowly out of Gus' grip, "No really," his voice calm now, "What's up with you guys?" He starred at the detectives, his glance switching to look both of them in the eye. Shawn could tell something was up. "What happened?"
Juliet looked to her partner, who shook his head with a frown, and back to Shawn, "Something happened, but we're dealing with this on our own. I would advise you to leave, Shawn. I'm serious, this is beyond your help."
"Nothing's beyond my help Jules," Shawn said lightly, "This is something big, like, a crime of some sort." He turned to Lassiter, "You got involved in something didn't you?"
The head detective looked down for a moment, before looking back up at Shawn, "I witnessed a murder, Spencer."
Then Detective Lassiter's phone rang. Spencer stood in silence and Lassie picked up the phone.
"Detective Lassiter." The voice on the other line spoke and all the color drained from his face. Carlton held the phone at a distance and whispered, "It's Izho."
"Bad idea to drop your coffee cup. I guess that now means your prints are all over the murder weapon."
"Y-you wouldn't dare."
"It wasn't a dare. The police are on their way Carlton, thank you." With that, he hung up.
Carlton slammed his face into the desk and growled, "My prints are on the gun."
"What!?" Juliet nearly shrieked, "He can't do that!"
"He can, and he did." Carlton banged his head against the desk a second time, "I'll go to prison for this!"
"Geez, well maybe they'll think you had a good reason. You are a cop, Lass," Shawn tried.
"Oh shut it Spencer, I'm done for."
Just then the sound of sirens came from outside, approaching quickly.
"Shit, shit, shit. I'm done. I am," Lassiter said softly, but harshly.
"Naw man, this isn't right. I'm gonna fix this," Shawn said, patting the detective on the shoulder. "Do you trust me?"
"Not really," he admitted, "There's nothing you can do if all the evidence points my way."
The cops burst through the front door and found Lassiter sitting at his desk surrounded by his coworkers.
"Leave your weapon on the desk, and come with us," the cop in front said.
Lassiter growled, but slowly handed his glock to his partner and walked to the cop, who proceeded to cuff him there.
"I'm gonna make this right Lassie!" Shawn yelled after him, as the innocent man was led from the station.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..."
The cop's voice trailed off as they left the station.
"Jules, I promise I'm gonna make this right, I promise." Shawn looked upset, but determined, "I'm gonna get him out of there."
"Shawn, you are *not* to try anything, not now. My partner's life is on the line. We're going to do everything we can to prove his innocence."
"Carlton Lassiter, you are hereby sentenced to six years, federal prison, for the murder of Carlos Sanou."
The judge slammed his gavel against the table.
Juliet began to cry and Shawn allowed her to sob against his shoulder. "This isn't right, they can't do this!"
Shawn sighed, "I'm gonna fix this, it's okay, don't worry."
The chief sat on the other side of Jules and shook her head in disappointment.
They escorted Carlton out of the courtroom and into the holding cells below. In two days he would be transported to the California Men's Colony, a federal prison located in San Luis Obispo, to serve his sentence as an innocent man, for a crime he didn't commit. And Agent Izho would continue to walk the streets, a free man, as the blame was no longer his problem.
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So this story is an idea I got from re-watching the TV show, Prison Break, and is slightly based on the main plot points. You could call it a crossover, but there are no characters from Prison Break in this fic; only Psych characters. I do not own Psych or Prison Break and do not claim such. All characters belong to their original owners. This story will have quite a few OC's so I'd like to hear from the readers if I need to boot any of them, because I will. Let me know what you think! :)