Jeffrey wasn't quite sure how long he'd been sitting there. The seconds had begun to tick by so slowly now that… Had Sandy finally cried himself to sleep? Jeffrey ran his hand lightly over Sandy's arm and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm sorry…" he whispered. "I wish that I knew how to help you…" He didn't think that he could be of any more use here. He walked out into the hallway, relieved to see that no one else was there. He picked up his phone and called his voice mail. He sighed when he heard the message. Why did the AD have to be so damn vague? He dialed the AD's number and waited for an answer.
"Hello…" the AD said, picking up his cell phone.
"Hey…" Jeffrey said. "It's me, O'Neill… I'm just returning your call…"
"O'Neill…" the AD said. "Hi…"
"Why was the message that you left me so damn vague?" Jeffrey asked.
"I didn't wanna leave it on your voice mail…" the AD said.
"Well…" Jeffrey said. "What is it?"
"The Attorney General is throwing you off of the case…"
"WHAT!?!"
"But… only as a prosecutor…"
"Only as a prosecutor, what the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
"It means…" the AD said. "It means that if we need more witnesses questioned, that he wouldn't object to you interrogating them… But you are not arguing the case in court…"
"This is ridiculous…" Jeffrey said.
"I honestly can't say that I find fault with his decision…" the AD responded. "Given the obvious conflict of interest…"
"Conflict of interest my ass…" Jeffrey snapped. "Who is prosecuting the case?"
"I don't know him…" the AD said. "Some newbie…"
"This case is too damn important to put some newbie on!" Jeffrey said. "I can do this! I can prosecute this case!"
"It's not up to me O'Neill…" the AD said.
"Oh, come on… I know that you have influence with the Attorney General…"
"Not that much influence…"
"Well.. Who is this guy he's putting on the case?"
"I told you O'Neill, I don't know the guy…"
Jeffrey sighed. "Is he going to subpoena Sandy?"
"I don't know…" the AD said. "I would assume that unless they could get somebody else to testify they would have to…"
"Have you tried Alex again?"
"What?" the AD said. "Why?"
"He is the obvious weak link…" Jeffrey said. "Vinnie and Brad have top-notch attorney's that aren't going to let them say two words to us… And now, thanks to the department, Jack does too… But Alex… He's stuck with a public defender…"
"And they are keeping him in the cell with Jack… So there is no way that he is going to risk pissing him off…"
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Jack looked over at Alex from his corner of the cell. Jeffrey's words still lingered in his mind. Had Alex really been ready to flip on him? "So tell me about your attorney…" Jack spat.
"What?" Alex asked. "Why? What about him? He's a public defender…"
"Is he hot?" Jack asked, walking over to him.
"What kind of question is that?"
"Just answer me, bitch!" Jack said, smacking Alex in the back of the head.
"Oww…" Alex whined, standing up. "What the fuck was that for?"
"Just answer me!"
"I guess… You could… Say that he is…" Alex answered hesitantly.
"You were checking him out, weren't you Alex?"
"No!"
"Tell me the truth!"
"NO!"
Jack slapped him across the face. "TELL ME THE FUCKING TRUTH!"
"All right!" Alex screamed. "So what if I was?"
"O'Neill was right, wasn't he?" Jack said. "You were all ready to turn on me…"
"No, Jack…" Alex said, looking up at him. "No…"
Jack gripped Alex tightly by the hair, pulling his head back. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now…" he said.
"Jack… please…" Alex whimpered. "I'm not gonna turn on you… Please… Jack…"
Jack smashed his head against the wall of the cell.
Alex let out a blood-curdling scream.
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