"Hey," I greeted Kevin quietly as I slipped in next to him on the bench. Kim and Adam were sitting on the other side of him, while Jay and Antonio were sitting on the bench in front of us between Al's wife, Meredith. Voight sauntered in last and sat next to Trudy on the bench behind us.

"Hey." Kevin greeted quietly. I could tell he had a lot on his mind so I didn't push asking him or anybody else how they were doing because I felt like to varying degrees we were all feeling a little on edge.

The chatter rose around us as we waited for the trial to start, then fell silent as Al came shuffling to his seat in cuffs.

"All rise." The bailiff announced as we all stood up from our seats. "Court is now in session. The honorable Judge Maddox presiding." I could tell how much Voight wanted to wipe that smug look off Denny Woods' face by the way he was staring him down after announcing the judge. He was someone who had caused a lot of problems on cases we had worked on in the past.

"You may be seated." Judge Maddox announced as we all took our seats again. Al turned around with an unmistakable look of shock as he locked eyes with Voight. "State of Illinois vs Alvin Olinsky. Murder in the second degree. Case #542234. Mr. Osha?"

"Your honor, given the serious nature of the charge, and the fact that the defendant was a veteran police officer with unique knowledge of the criminal justice system-as well as having access to confidential informants and members of organized crime syndicates, we believe he poses a significant flight risk. "And as such, we would request that no bail be set, and that the defendant be remanded to Cook County jail until trial." Osha gave a mouthful of a statement, like a man with a vendetta on his mind.

Mr. Manetti?" Judge Maddox issued to the defense attorney sitting close to Al. He was a man in his late sixties, one of the many we had on hand for times when we were put on trial for cases. I had worked with him once or twice while working for robbery-homicide.

"Your honor, given the serious nature of the charge, and the fact that the defendant was a veteran police officer with unique knowledge of the criminal justice system-as well as having access to confidential informants and members of organized crime syndicates, we believe he poses a significant flight risk. "And as such, we would request that no bail be set and that the defendant be remanded to Cook County jail until trial." Osha gave a mouthful of a statement, like a man with a vendetta on his mind.

"Mr. Manetti, this is a bond hearing, not a closing argument. Defendant is remanded into the custody of the Cook County Jail, pending trial."

"Unbelievable." Adam blew out a breath as he walked out of the room to catch his bearings. "I'll catch you all back at the precinct."

"So that wasn't what we wanted," Jay said in a low voice, walking by my side as we exited to the hall to wait for Kim, Antonio, Trudy, and Kevin to come out. By the time they did, there was a long line of people trying to get out as well, and others pushing through to attend the next hearing before it began.

"Well, that was anything but fun." Kim retorted, pressing her coat against her stomach as we all gathered in the hall. "I can't even think about what this may mean for Al."

"Hopefully we don't have to wait too long to find out." Antonio shifted on his heels as he put on his coat. "All I know is Voight bolted out of the room before we could ask any questions."

"We should probably all head back. I don't think we're going to get any more answers standing in the middle of a courtroom." Trudy's wise words were just what we needed to hear to bring us back to our senses. We all ended up walking to the parking lot without another word until we were heading to our cars when Trudy approached me. "Hey, Hailey. Hang back a minute."

"Yeah."

"I haven't been able to talk to you much since you told us about Eva. I know Hank's had you all working hard on this last case, and now everything with Al."

"Yeah." The weight of that word was an understatement. Voight's short fuse looked like it had been cut even shorter since Al had been dragged away in handcuffs."I'm just glad we were able to get those guns off the street before they hurt anyone else."

"Thank goodness. You have to admit that If people weren't such idiots we would be out of a job."

"Hey, how are you and Mouch doing? You celebrated your first anniversary not too long ago, right?" I could tell that she didn't quite care for the subject change, but I had been meaning to grab her and wish her a happy anniversary. Then again, I wanted to make sure things were going well before opening my mouth about it.

"On the 18th." Trudy held a bright smile on her expression. It was true that she was still madly in love with her firefighter husband even one year later. "We're doing well, thanks for asking. We went to a nice restaurant, came home, and watched a movie. Nothing fancy." She shrugged like celebrating wasn't a big deal, but I knew by the way she was blushing slightly that it was.

"As long as it's something you both enjoy. I just wish I could have been there."

"Honestly, I think you would have gotten a good laugh. Mouch told me later he used every excuse to delay our wedding. I had a meltdown right before the wedding. It was all a big mess, but I'm also glad it happened. I know you have Eva now, but if you ever find the one who treats both of you right, don't think twice about marrying him."