A guard banged open the door shortly after they finished a mess of breakfast. "Give me your hands Reagan. Your lawyer wants to see you."
With his hands cuffed behind his back Jamie allowed the guard to steer him around a hallway to an empty room. Two additional guards stood outside on watch in case the inmates needed to be restrained.
Alex stood when he entered the room with a quiet nod to the guard after he uncuffed her client. "We're right outside if you need help. This one should get to know us, since he'll be here a while," the guard left laughing.
"Don't pay attention to them Jamie. How are you holding up? I spoke with your father this morning, your whole family is worried," Alex folded her hands on the file. She took the pause to study his tightly scrunched face.
"Fine, but I don't know how much longer I can stay in here. Tell him that I'm okay for now, and to pass that on to my wife."
She opened the file to a picture of Eddie clipped on the file folder. "Detective Eddie Janko? You are quite a family man Jamie, your own who has a long history with the department. You married a fellow cop who you have two kids with. This will look really good."
"Oh, you have money in the commissary and today you can make a phone call so use that to call your wife. She's going absolute crazy for you, "Alex added. "I was able to manage an arraignment hearing for tomorrow. We will plead innocent and ask for you to be sent home until trial."
"Thanks Alex. So, I have to ask how bad is this looking even though I didn't do it?"
The lawyer pulled her file folder shut, folded her hands and looked him right in the eye. "We still haven't gotten crime scene results back yet but I will be honest that it doesn't look good. "
"Has anyone here mentioned anything? Any of the guards or even some inmates? The word gets out pretty quick, especially since you're the commissioner's son. If you have anything that can help me," Alex said.
Jamie rubbed his wrists from having the cold cuffs around his wrists. The door opened before he could answer from the guard coming in. "Okay, we need to bring him back to the dorms so say goodbye."
"I'm not done talking to my client! If you take him, I will file a complaint and have you fired," Alex shot up from her chair.
The guard placed the cuffs back on Jamie's wrists smirking tauntingly at her. "Yeah, well you can try sweetheart, but I know some people too. Let's go."
When Jamie was brought back to the cell it was empty. He pressed the palms of his hands against the clear window sighing quietly. Of course, the family worry, Eddie the most being unable to do anything that could help him.
The door never opened again for hours until the lunch trays pushed through that little slot. His stomach growled at the brown mush of biscuit, mashed potatoes with gravy saturating them, and stiff chicken.
He managed to every bit of food on the cardboard tray no matter how horrible it tasted. After pushing the tray back out Jamie put the extra on the bottom bunk for Sam, then climbed up to his own.
Jamie stared at the same concrete walls he saw for the last day that seemed like weeks. He laid his hands behind his head quietly. His stomach turned from boredom, stress and anxiety being away from his family and dragged through the mud.
When the guard returned at three thirty to take them out for phone calls before outside time. He stood in a line with other inmates until it was finally his turn. Jamie dialed his home number with a held breath.
"Jamie?"
The sound of her voice brought instant relief through his body. That was all he needed, to hear her sweet voice. "Eddie, yeah it's me babe. I finally got a chance to call you. "
"I'm so glad you called. I've been worried sick about you. How have you been holding up lamb chop? How has it been there so far," Eddie clutched the phone against her ear as though it would bring them closer.
He inhaled at her sweet voice, "I've been okay Eddie, considering the circumstances. Some of the guards haven't been welcoming. I have to be careful what I say."
"Oh, lamb chop, I'm sorry. I am filling out papers to come see you and I will be at tour arraignment. Jamie, you are innocent. We all know that you are, the family does too. I have never seen your father look so exhausted."
"It's just hard being here knowing I shouldn't be. I love you so much Eddie. Alex said I have an arraignment tomorrow."
A guard grabbed the phone out of his hand and replaced it back into the cradle. "Time's up, let's go back to your dorm."
"I still had time on my call! You can't do that," Jamie twisted around in time to catch the guard's arm coming at him. Two officers cut through to help subdue him against the wall until they had the cuffs secured.
"For mouthing off you get a taste of the shu. I can take him but make sure these inmates don't try anything. "The guard gave a light shove back down the hallway away before a riot started.
Once they turned a corner the guard shoved the cuffed inmate against the wall. "Listen here, you try and start something like that again and I will leak your little secret. I'm not in charge here or I would have sold you out in front of everyone. Now, let's go."
Jamie stumbled a bit as he was shoved back up the hallway to a separate unit of single concrete rooms. When the heavy door swung closed, he stood up, trying to look out. He gave a single swing with his foot, slid down right behind the door and lowered his head.
The door flap opened to let a tray of food inside then snapped closed. Jamie picked it up onto his lap to eat. Today a blob of rice piled on top of some brown meat and some short cut string beans with a carton of milk. When he finished eating Jamie sat with the tray on his lap quietly.
He leaned his head back against the padded wall quietly starting ahead. The only human contact he had for the next twelve hours was restricted to a hand reaching in for the tray.
Jamie fell asleep sitting up against the wall to a loud bang of the door as it opened. "Get up on your feet now. I'm escorting you to your arraignment." The guard pulled him to stand and place the cuffs back around his wrists. He grabbed a fist full of shirt with one hand on his arm to walk out.
A bus waited outside to drive them across the river into Manhattan for court. "I'll be waiting outside to take you back with us."
The court officer took hold of Jamie to lead him inside for his arraignment. Alex already waited at the defense desk on one side of a gate that separated spectators. Being it was just an arraignment hearing only Eddie and Erin sat in the front row behind the desk.
"Jamie," Eddie sighed when the officer brought him over. His face looked pained, stressed and exhausted. She inhaled with the gentle assuring squeeze of her hand by Erin sitting next to her.
The other lawyer read over notes written on a yellow legal pad in front of him until the judge called for arraignment to start. "Mr Reagan, you are charged with murder. How do you plead?"
"He pleads not guilty your honor," Alex answered.
"Bail?"
Alex offered her client a smile, "My client has been an outstanding citizen with ties to the community as a decorated police office for the past twelve years. His entire family has given decades to protect this city, including his father who is the current police commissioner. Therefore, we are requesting that he be released to his home until trial."
"Your honor, his father is the police commissioner, his brother a detective who has numerous complaints for excessive force. All they care about is how it makes the game look, but he murdered a woman! Why should he get special treatment? We ask that he be remanded until trial," the lawyer retorted.
Judge Olivia Carter bit her lip in deep thought over the decision whether or not to keep him. "Bail is set for 2,500,000. The defendant will be kept in prison until bail is met. That is all."
Jamie sharply turned to his lawyer wide mouthed at the excessive bail amount. "We won't be able to pay that."
"Don't worry about that Jamie. I will work something out but for now you have to comply." He looked over his shoulder again at his wife as a court officer took him back out to the bus.