Chapter 4

Monday morning came too fast. Rosalie needed focus on the depositions scattered across her desk, but she couldn't stop thinking about Emmett McCarty.

She didn't want to help him. She didn't want to lay her reputation and everything she had worked so hard for on the line. She didn't want to set foot in a strip club, even if it was for work-related reasons.

Edward's words from Saturday kept replaying in her head, however. "We're like a family, Ms. Hale." Alice and Kate were the closest thing to family she had left. And if either of them were sent away for no reason, she'd want the person responsible to do whatever it took to help set them free.

That was where her mind was at when she picked up the phone and dialed Jasper Whitlock's number.

"This is Jasper."

She tried not to choke on her words. "Um, hi, Jasper, this is Rosalie Hale. I got your card from Edward Cullen at Eclipse."

"Well, well, well. I must admit, I'm shocked," the man laughed. "I didn't think the big, bad prosecutor would give my man the time of day."

"I live to surprise people, Mr. Whitlock. Now, is there something you need to tell me?"

"There's something I need to show you."

"Show me?"

"Yes, show you," Jasper said. "Are you available to come down to the club over lunch?"

Rosalie looked at the clock and then down at the stack of depositions. She needed to work over lunch if she was going to get everything done. However, she knew she wouldn't be able to focus on her work if she didn't find out what Jasper was talking about. "I can be there at one."

"That's perfect. I'll see you then."

Two hours later she found herself wandering into the darkened club. The smell of stale alcohol filled the air, and Rosalie's stomach churned.

"Rosalie Hale?" A voice called from behind the bar. She stepped forward and was greeted by a tall, attractive man.

"Jasper Whitlock?"

"Follow me," he commanded, stepping out from behind the bar and leading her behind the stage and to his office.

"Everyone wants to show me something in his or her office," she joked as she sat down. Jasper laughed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I have more surveillance footage."

"Really? Of Demetri?"

He shook his head. "Of Emmett."

Rosalie arched an eyebrow. "From the club?"

Jasper nodded. "He was here on the eighteenth of August. From about six pm until we closed."

"And you have all of this on tape? With time stamps?"

"It's all recorded, yes."

"So why didn't you produce this for the defense?"

"I couldn't," Jasper explained. He leaned forward and lowered his voice to a whisper. "One of the Volturi's acquaintances paid me a visit after work one night."

"You were attacked?"

"Not attacked, just threatened. And paid a large sum of money to hand over the surveillance tapes."

"Wow," Rosalie breathed. "How do you have anything to show me then?"

"I make copies of everything I record," he explained. "You're the only person who knows this and I expect it to stay that way."

"I understand. Why didn't Emmett make anyone aware of this?"

"If they knew I told him, they'd kill me." Jasper reached under the computer keyboard and produced a DVD. "I offered to testify in his defense, but he told me not to. He said he'd rather get locked up than see anything bad happen to a friend."

Jasper's words tugged at Rosalie's heart. Prior to visiting Emmett in prison, the only thing she knew about him what that he was a violent man who had committed a despicable crime. Each new person she visited provided her with another piece to the Emmett McCarty puzzle, however, and she was starting to see that he was a loyal friend who was willing to make sacrifices for those he cared about.

"Can I take this with me?" she asked, holding up the DVD. Jasper nodded.

"I would prefer you watch it elsewhere. And please destroy it after you're done. I know that you know Emmett can't provide new evidence with an appeal, and I don't want to risk it getting into the wrong hands."

"Of course." Rosalie stood and held out her hand. Jasper followed suit and shook hers. "Thank you for this."

"Thank you for having an open mind about Emmett. I know it's a big risk for you to take, but I hope once you see he's innocent you'll help exonerate him."

Rosalie wasn't sure how to respond to him. "An appeal like this goes to a separate court. There are no witnesses to cross-examine, no evidence to produce, and no jury to convince either way. It's up to the appellate judges to decide if errors were made during the initial trial."

"I understand that." Jasper tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling. "But, I also understand that your department could come forward and admit there was evidence withheld from the trial."

"My doing so would put you in the exact position Emmett had hoped to avoid placing you in. Not only that, but I didn't have knowledge of this evidence until after the jury reached a verdict."

"Nobody aside from you knows that though," he pointed out.

"A move like that would cost me my career. That's not something I'm willing to risk for someone I don't even know."

"You might not know Emmett now, but you will once you look everything over." Jasper stood and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I just hope you can see the good that myself and his other friends see in him."

Rosalie swallowed hard and looked at the DVD in her lap. Part of her wanted to give it back, walk out of the office and close the door she'd mistakenly opened. Another part of her – although small – wanted to find out if Emmett McCarty was a man worth saving. "I'll see myself out."

"Thank you again for stopping by," Jasper called after her. She gave him a small wave over her shoulder and headed for the door.

Once she was seated in her car, Rosalie dropped the DVD on the passenger seat and rested her forehead against the steering wheel. A million thoughts raced through her mind and hot tears threatened to escape from her eyes. She was losing her edge, and losing it fast. She'd never cried over a criminal before; especially not one that she had argued against.

When had she let her emotions start to overrule the logic in her mind?

When had she become so crazy?

{-} P&P {-}

"You're back."

"Why didn't you tell anyone about the surveillance tapes?" Rosalie knew the answer to her own question, but she wanted to hear it from him.

Emmett shrugged. "Bella and I go way back. I wasn't going to implicate her for anything. And I'm sure Jasper explained why I couldn't tell you about his involvement."

"So you weren't at Eclipse that night. I get that much. But how do you plan on showing me that you didn't attack Demetri later?"

"You saw the tapes. Where was I at one thirty that morning?"

"The Cabaret."

"And when did your witnesses see the attacker leaving Demetri's house?"

"One am."

"So it's safe to say that I wasn't the one who attacked him then, correct?"

Rose thought for a moment before responding. "What if the individual seen leaving his home wasn't his attacker? The police weren't notified until his mother went to visit him the following afternoon. How do I know you didn't go to his home after you left The Cabaret? They found the lug wrench in your apartment, Emmett, along with the drugs. How can you explain that?"

He steepled his fingers beneath his chin and leveled her with a stare. "I can't. But there is someone who can."

"Another 'inside source' of yours?"

"You could call her that, yes." As they sat in silence, Rosalie studied Emmett's facial features. Prior to this moment, she hadn't paid much attention to how attractive he was. Her eyes raked over the sharp lines of his jaw and the dimples in his cheeks before returning to the blue orbs that gazed out at her.

"Your eyes have gold flecks in them," she blurted out. A blush crept up her cheeks as soon as the words left her mouth. "I, uh, I mean…"

Emmett grinned. "I'm glad you noticed."

"They're so bright, it's hard not to notice," she said. "The flecks are bright, that is. Not your eyes themselves. Although they're bright too, and-" Shut up, Rosalie. You're blathering like a fool.

"I get your point," Emmett chuckled. "Thank you for the compliment."

"You're welcome," Rosalie mumbled, looking down at her hands. "So, who is this woman?"

"Her name is Tanya Denali. Edward can put you in touch with her." Emmett glanced over his shoulder just as the correctional officer approached him. "Time's up."

"Let me guess – I should come back and see you again, right?"

Emmett nodded. He was about to hang up the phone, but stopped himself. "Oh, and Ms. Hale?" Rosalie looked at him through the thick glass.

"Yes?"

"You have beautiful eyes too."