“See for yourself,” he shrugs, handing the few papers to me. We look at the warrant at the same time, quickly skimming through the unimportant parts. At the top of the paper, the charges are listed. Towards the bottom of the paper, the reviewer of the warrant signed as A.S. Scott. Next to it, there in black and white ink, was a john hancock of the plaintiff. Scrawled in loopy letter was an unmistakable S. Carlin.

Ashley looks up at me, betrayal apparent in her eyes.

“I think we’re done here, Mr. Scott,” I tell him, packing up my things. “Rest assured, I will be back. Just make sure you’re ready for a fight,” I snarl as menacingly as I can.

It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me! I plead with my eyes.

Ashley looks conflicted as the DA hauls her back to her cell. I control the hand that instinctively reaches out to console her.

I need to call Kristal, and fast.

“Hello?” a breathless woman answers the phone.

“Kristal? This is Spencer.”

“Oh, I remember you. What’s up?” Her voice came out in ragged breaths

I hesitate. “Are—Are you busy?”

She lets out a small chuckle. “What? No. No. I just got back from a jog. Why did you call, though?”

“I,” I pause to correct myself. “We need your help,” I admit, hating the fact that I had to come groveling to her, of all people.

“What are you talking about? Who need my help?” she asks, tone serious.

“Ashley’s been arrested and she needs a layer, a real one, to represent her. She gave me your num—“

“When is the trial,” she interrupts.

“I’m not sure of the exact date. A few weeks, maybe?” I hate not being able to fill her in more.

“Damn,” she mutters. “When exactly was she arrested?”

“The day before yesterday.”

“Holy… they only try first class criminals that quickly! What are the charges against her?”

I rattle off the long list, pausing in the middle to take a breath.

“I’ll be there tomorrow,” she tells me. “Have everything ready because I’ll need a lot of time to prepare a proper defense, although it’s going to be nearly impossible. As long as I can get your stories firsthand, we might have a small chance at winning this case.”