Helping

"I heard AJ is defending your sister." Dean said, sitting beside Punk at the desks as Punk nodded, "Feel like a hypocrite?"

"I'm doing what I have to do for her." Punk said, "I can't let her go to prison. She'll meet people there. Come out ten times worse." He said, "I can't think of anyone better to represent her." He said.

"I'm just surprised she agreed to help you considering how mean we always are to her." Dean admitted.

"I think she could see how desperate I was." Punk said.

"How is Cami holding up?" Dean asked.

"She's ok. At least this way I know she's safe and not using anything, even if she has been arrested." He shook his head, "The trial won't be long so hopefully AJ can get her off with like a few month's probation and a rehab program." He said.

"Yeah but they don't treat prostitution lightly in court. Handful of the girls we've arrested for it always seem to do time." Dean said.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just… depending on AJ to come up with something." Punk sighed, "I thought she was gonna tell me to fuck off once I testified the other day. She was pissed."

"She's fucking terrifying in court. She kept leering over at me." Dean shivered as Punk smiled a little.

"I waited on her after it and had to apologise to make sure she still represented my sister." Punk said.

"Apologise for what? We had to do it, it's part of our job, we were there." Dean said.

"I know but I still had to do it." Punk nodded, "She said I'll owe her which means I'll probably have to… do something illegal for her." He rolled his eyes.

"Well let's just hope she can work her magic and give Cami the help." Dean nodded, "Although, surely this has to be a wakeup call for her. She can't go on like this." Dean said.

"I know." Punk nodded, "She needs out of that apartment, away from her boyfriend. She needs a new job, a rehab program and a routine." He said, "I think I'm just gonna tell her to live with me once she's done at court. She can have my spare room, I'll fix it up, and she can live there until I think she's ready for her own place or most importantly, she has the money." Punk said.

"What if you wanna bring girls home?" Dean asked worriedly.

"I'll just go to their house. It's easier to get away in the morning anyway rather than having to tell them to leave your place." He said.

"You're horrible." Dean laughed, "You need a girlfriend to tame you."

"I don't need tamed." Punk defended.

"You do, you're a mess." Dean said as Punk just shook his head, "So I went back to our guy's work, absolutely nothing suspicious going on. Most of them had alibis, some of them didn't even know the guy, they all looked pretty shocked too about what happened. I don't think that's the route we should be looking in." He said truthfully.

"Yeah, I agree." Punk nodded, "It's been bugging me that he was interviewed for this murder. Sofia Moreno." Punk looked on at his computer, "She was…" He looked at the details and groaned to himself, "Beaten, raped and murdered. Multiple suspects involved but… the case was never closed." Punk said as Dean moved along and looked on.

"She was eighteen?" Dean shook his head, "Fucking scumbags." He spat as Punk nodded in agreement, "Maybe our guy had something to do with it?" Dean turned to Punk, "If it says he was interviewed-"

"But he was let go because he was obviously out of the clear." Punk said.

"Doesn't mean he didn't know something." Dean shrugged.

"So then who would be his killers?" Punk asked.

"Well this girls family maybe. Out for revenge. Or maybe the people who actually killed that poor girl." Dean said.

"Ok, I'll look into her family. You read up more about the case." Punk said as Dean nodded.

"Ok, so your boyfriend was the one who first introduced you to drugs?" AJ asked, sitting across from Cami in the interviewing room, taking notes with her folders out.

"Yeah, he was. It wasn't too hard it first. I knew him from high school. He shared a place with his brother and I always went around. At first it was just weed, smoking stuff to get high, then it… began to get a little harder."

"Harder as in heroin and cocaine?" AJ asked her.

"Yeah." Cami nodded.

"Was he ever pushy towards you to take it? I'm gonna say he was anyway, but just for reference." AJ said.

"He was at the start. At first I didn't want to do it. Smoking the weed and getting high was always enough but he wanted to do other things so… I just gave in." Cami shrugged.

"Ok, good… well, not good, but we can use this for the case." AJ said.

"I really don't want him to get into trouble." Cami sighed.

"He's not gonna. Unless they go and search his house and find him with a ton of drugs, they won't do anything. Just because you say something doesn't mean they can arrest him on the spot." Cami reminded her, "And plus, after this trial, you're staying away from him, aren't you?" She narrowed her eyes at her as Cami nodded slowly.

"Yeah." Cami said.

"Ok, what about the fact your mom left when you were fifteen? What happened to you? Where did you stay?" AJ asked her.

"She left to go stay with a cousin out of town. She said things were too much for her. To be honest, she wasn't really around when she was here anyway. Phil always looked after me. Took me to school, helped me with homework, cooked us dinner and made sure I had good clothes on my back." Cami said, "Mom just floated in and out."

"So did you live with Phil when she left?" AJ asked.

"Off and on. I did at the beginning but he was working all different shifts on the force, so I barely saw him. That's when I started going out with people I shouldn't have. That's not on him though. I just took the chance whilst he was on night shift. He was so busy he didn't have time to babysit me and I don't blame him for that." Cami shook her head, "He still checked up on me. Once he saw I was hanging around with people I shouldn't have, he arrested them to scare them away from me but then I just started hanging out with Justin more until I wound up moving in with him. Phil was ok at first with it but then he realised he was a raging drug addict. He tried to get me out, gave me jobs, took me to rehab but… I never helped myself and I know that is the problem." Cami said.

"We can all lose our way." AJ nodded to her, "We all go through times in our life where we think it's not gonna get better and there's no light at the end of the tunnel, but there is, you just need to keep going to find it." She said. She normally didn't sympathize as much with her clients as she was with Cami. She thought her story was unfortunate and was also seeing a different side to Phil, a more worried and caring side which she liked to hear.

"If I get out of this, I'm just gonna end up back with Justin, though." Cami shook her head.

"No. I overheard your brother. He said he's gonna let you live with him, help you find a job, get you back on your feet and away from that boy." AJ nodded, "Now that will only work if you cooperate and do it for yourself." AJ said as Cami nodded, "Ok, the drugs part I can work around and talk a way out of… what about the prostitution, you need to tell me if there has ever been a time you did… sell yourself on a street corner, because I need to be prepared for anything." AJ nodded to her as Cami looked down.

"It was just once." Cami looked up, "I was… really desperate. He was rich and promised me a lot of money." She nodded, "Please don't tell Phil." She shook her head.

"I won't." AJ nodded, "It stays between me and you." She assured her, "When was this?"

"A few months ago." Cami said, "Justin was in debt so I thought it was the quickest solution." She said, "But no one saw me or knew anything about it. It was just the once."

"Ok." AJ said, "What about the other times, though?"

"I just take their money. Some pull up and they're so… desperate for anything." She shook her head, "I tell them I only get in the car with cash up front. Some of them don't buy it but some of them do. I take the money and then I just run." She said.

"Ok, well I can't use that in court. What I can say is this was your first time doing this. I can use Justin, tell them he forced you out onto the streets to get money for his drug debts, the same drugs he forced on you." AJ nodded, "And I can build the case around that."

"Sounds like you're putting all of it on him." Cami said worriedly.

"Yeah, honey. That's because I am." AJ nodded, "Stop defending him. He doesn't care about you. Has he even came to see you? Or called you? Anything could be happening to you right now and he doesn't care." AJ said as Cami just looked across at her and nodded slowly, "The quicker you realise that, the easier this is gonna be come the trial." She said as Cami nodded.

"Ok. I know." Cami said, "I am thankful to you for your help. Phil always bangs on about you, how good you are, I personally think he has a crush but… that's not my business." She put her hands up.

"Your brother? I'm pretty sure he has no feelings actually." AJ said as Cami smiled and nodded.

"Possibly." Cami said as AJ looked back at her notes. She didn't think Punk really shed a thought about her let alone complimented her working skills.

"How is she doing?" Punk asked, standing at reception watching as AJ walked down the corridor and over to him.

"Yeah, she's holding up ok." AJ nodded, "I'm building a strong case for her so hopefully it should go well." She said.

"Good." Punk sighed with relief, "Thank you."

"It's ok. It's people like Cami that made me want to be a defence attorney." AJ shrugged, "Whether you think I get bad people off or not, there's always two sides to a story. Everyone is human." She said, "And I heard you think I'm the best defence attorney around." She nudged him as Punk laughed a little.

"Oh, I just said that to settle Cami's nerves." Punk covered quickly with a smirk as AJ smiled and nodded.

"I'm sure you did." AJ laughed, "How is the case you're working on coming along? Still nothing?" She asked him, signing out at reception.

"No, nothing." Punk sighed, "We got him linked to a murder a few years back so we're looking into that but… no, it's like ghosts just walked into this place and killed him." Punk said.

"It can happen." AJ nodded, "You know… Cami thinks a lot of you. She told me that you were the one who took care of her for most of her life." She said, "Who would have thought?" AJ said to him with a smile.

"She's my little sister." Punk shrugged, "And we didn't have parents. No dad and… well, no mom either." He said as AJ nodded.

"I get the feeling." She nodded to him as he just smiled, both of them staring at each other for an awkward few minutes. Neither could deny the obvious attraction towards each other that they felt. AJ thought he was stunning, and couldn't really believe he didn't have a girlfriend or a wife. And Punk felt the exact same about her.

"You should probably get home then if you want to beat traffic." Punk nodded to her as she looked away and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be back to talk to her running up to the trial." AJ said as Punk just nodded and smiled, watching her walk out, his eyes following her all the way until she disappeared. His eyes didn't follow any women the way they followed her.