“Don’t ever go to their house,” Colin warned. “Don’t ever let him into the clinic. Keep your distance.”
“I can’t forbid him to enter the clinic,” Joshua said. “But god knows I’d never go to their house. She’s tried to get me to talk to him, but I won’t. It would only make matters worse.”
“Muchworse!” Colin bit off. He grabbed Joshua’s arm and drew him close. “Listen to me! Guys like that are volatile. And they’re at their most dangerous when their spouse leaves, or when they get it into their head that the spouse is thinking about leaving. That’s when people get killed. And these guys won’t confine their abuse to the spouse. If he thinks you’re encouraging her to leave him, he could easily come foryou.”
Joshua blew out a breath, then sucked his upper lip between his teeth. “I don’t often close and lock my office door,” he muttered. “Maybe I—”
“Start tomorrow!” Colin blurted out, shaking him. “I mean it, Josh. And what about the room where you do group therapy? Does the door lock?”
Joshua nodded. “It has a lock...” He grimaced and huffed out a frustrated breath, “But not a good one. I’ve asked about getting steel-reinforced doors for the group therapy room but...”
“Miranda said ‘no’?” Colin asked, referring to the head of the Rainier Clinic, Miranda Estavira.
“She didn’t say no! She said there wasn’t enough money in the budget until the new fiscal year. I guess those things are expensive.”
“Yeah? Well, I intend to talk to her about it tomorrow! I have enough clout to get that place inspected and if she thinks thedoorsare expensive, wait ‘til she sees the fines she’ll get if that building is certified unsafe.”
“Honey, wait,” Joshua begged, lifting both hands to cradle Colin’s face. Colin’s warning wasn’t a serious threat, merely an expression of concern for Joshua’s safety. But Joshua wanted to defuse his temper before he got even more riled up. “Please don’t bitch out my boss before I have a chance to make the case with her. It’s not like she doesn’t see the need for the security doors. She does!”
“That buildinghasto be secure, Josh,” Colin stated. “You deal with unstable people who could easily become dangerous. Your life could be in danger if the clinic’s not secure, and I won’t stand for that!” He captured one of Joshua’s hands and kissed the palm. “You tell her that she’d betterfindthe money for those steel-reinforced doors, or she’s going to have a pissed off Irishman banging around her office.” He drew in and exhaled a deep, noisy sigh, then met Joshua’s eyes. “And lock your damned office door!”
Chapter 6
Colin and the Cops
Colin burst through the front door and yelled Joshua’s name. He tossed his briefcase to the couch as he passed by then dashed into the kitchen, expecting to find Joshua there cooking dinner. Instead, he found an empty room. “Dammit!” he grumbled, then strode back into the dining room. “Josh!”
“Here!” Joshua called as he came down the steps. “Damn, what’swrong?”
“You weren’t in the kitchen!”
“I had to pee!” Joshua said, laughing as he approached his husband. “What? You’re gonna bitch me out because I wasn’t slaving over a hot stove?”
Colin quirked his face in a disbelieving grimace, then grabbed Joshua’s arm. “Sit with me. I have something to tell you.”
“For god’s sake,what? You’re starting to scare me.”
Colin collapsed onto the couch and drew Joshua down beside him. “Esther called me into her office today.”
“She sticking you with another one of Quentin’s unwinnable cases?”
Colin coughed out a laugh. “Uh,no. I already have two of those on my docket. She knows better than to try to pawn off any more on me.” He shrugged. “I’ll plead them out.” He opened his briefcase and withdrew several sheets of paper, which he handed to Joshua. “She gave me something a lot better than that.”
Across the top of the first page Joshua saw in large letters: ‘Albemarle County Crime/Assault Task Force’. “A task force?” he said, turning to Colin.
“It’s going to be a cooperative task force comprised of the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, Charlottesville city police, and the campus police force,” Colin said, his voice breathless with excitement. “She askedmeto be the point person.”
“Gee, I wonder why,” Joshua said, giving a soft laugh. “Could therebeanyone more perfect for this job than you?”
“Well, it does kind of make sense given my relationship with both police forces,” Colin said. “It’ll start out dealing with assault cases, and if the program works out, we’ll expand into other areas.” He bit his lower lip, his eyes crinkling with happiness. “This is a good thing, Josh. I wanted something like this all the while I was a cop.”
“I’m not sure what it all means,” Joshua said, pouring over the papers. “Vertical prosecution?”
“That’s my idea,” Colin told him. “The prosecutor is briefed on the case as soon as the investigator gets it, and that same prosecutor handles the case from then all the way through appeal—if it gets that far.” He took the papers from Joshua and stuffed them back into his briefcase.
“One thing I’ve discovered since becoming an attorney is that cops and prosecutors see cases very,verydifferently. Cops usually have no idea what a prosecutor needs in order to bring a case home. For instance, cops love informants. And they’ll often interview a suspect's criminal associates as witnesses. A prosecutor is reluctant to use that kind of witness because they don’t hold up well in court. So they end up asking the cops to go back and look for different evidence. If the cops and prosecutors can be on the same page from the beginning, develop investigative strategiestogether, they’ll build a better case. And they’ll do it a lot faster.”
“Colin, this sounds wonderful, and I’m proud of you for getting this assignment...” He hesitated.
