Unsympathetic Victims: A Legal Thriller (Ashley Montgomery Book 1)

by Laura Snider

  Katie wondered if Von Reich’s acquittal and Petrovsky’s release had anything to do with Elizabeth’s insecurities about her job. They had to, right? As a prosecutor, Elizabeth was supposed to lock up the guilty and protect the community. The results of Petrovsky’s and Von Reich’s cases had cast doubt on Elizabeth’s ability to do those things.

  A beep of an intercom pulled Katie out of her thoughts.

  “Violet,” came Elizabeth’s voice. “You can send him in now.”

  Violet rose from her desk and came toward the waiting area. She stopped a few feet away. “Chief Carmichael, Officer Mickey,” she said, clasping her hands together, then releasing them before clasping them back together again. A nervous habit. “Ms. Clement is ready to see you.”

  Katie followed Chief Carmichael and Violet down the long hallway to Elizabeth’s office. Violet knocked three times. There was no answer from inside.

  “Ms. Clement,” Violet said tentatively as she slowly opened the door.

  Elizabeth was at her desk, watching a TV mounted on the side wall. She didn’t look away from the screen but motioned for them to enter. “Have a seat,” she said.

  Two light gray chairs sat opposite Elizabeth’s desk. Her desk was a white writing desk, perfectly organized. There was no clutter and no family photographs. Katie watched the TV as she and Chief Carmichael sat down. The screen played a news story on a loop. It was the footage from the protest earlier.

  “None of this would have happened without Ashley Montgomery’s recklessness,” Elizabeth said, more to herself than to either Katie or Chief Carmichael.

  The protest was the lead story by Channel 8 News. The reporter, a thin slip of a woman with bleached-blond hair and too-full lips, stated, “A mob attacked an attorney in the sleepy town of Brine today. Channel 8 happened to be on scene covering the sentencing hearing for Victor Petrovsky.”

  Channel 8 was a Des Moines station, and they were telling the story wrong, making Ashley Montgomery seem the victim. It was typical of the media. They twisted and sensationalized facts. The camera panned from one face to another as protesters waved signs.

  Elizabeth paused the footage on a closeup of toothless Jack Daniel. “See that? He works for my parents as a farmhand.” She ran a hand down her face. “He looks like a country bumpkin. They focused on him to make Brine look like a town full of idiots.”

  Chief Carmichael cleared his throat, bringing Elizabeth’s attention to him. “Speaking of the protest. We are here to talk to you about Katie’s new assignment.”

  Elizabeth paused the TV and set the remote on her desk. “What new assignment?”

  “I’m assigning her to Ashley as a bodyguard.”

  Elizabeth crossed her arms. “Bodyguard? Why?”

  Chief Carmichael sat back. “With Arnold Von Reich’s murder and the protest, I think it’s our only option. I know Ashley is getting threats. She’s just not telling us about them. And I can’t help but think she’s next on the killer’s hit list.”

  Elizabeth waved a dismissive hand. “It’s not our problem that Ashley won’t report threats.”

  “Well…” Chief Carmichael was surely going to defend Ashley. Say something about the defense attorney’s mistrust of law enforcement, but Elizabeth cut him off.

  “I highly doubt that Ashley is at risk to be murdered. Who’s to say she isn’t the murderer?”

  “Exactly,” Katie said, leaning forward. “This is an opportunity for me to start watching Ashley closely without her getting suspicious.”

  Elizabeth was silent for a long moment, thinking, then she nodded. “I don’t honestly think anyone cares about Arnold Von Reich’s murder. I’ve had exactly zero calls from concerned constituents. In fact, I’ve heard more people say they feel safer now that he’s dead than the other way around.”

  Katie opened her mouth to argue. Everyone mattered, even Von Reich. But Elizabeth spoke first.

  “If you think your investigation could lead to Ashley’s arrest…” Elizabeth paused, tapping an expensive-looking pen against her desk. “Well, that could take care of another problem for me.”

  Katie didn’t like the prosecutor’s reasoning. Their jobs required them to uphold the law, regardless of the victim’s popularity. Von Reich was an unsympathetic victim, but he still deserved justice.

  “So,” the chief clapped his hands together, “that’s it, then?”

  Elizabeth started playing the footage of the protest again.

  Katie and Chief Carmichael rose to their feet, but Elizabeth wasn’t done with the meeting.

  “See this clip?” She pointed to the television screen. “Where did Channel 8 get this recording, anyway? It looks like it’s from the camera mounted outside the jail. Did someone from the sheriff’s department leak it?”

  Chief Carmichael shrugged.

  Elizabeth shifted to look at a row of pictures mounted on the wall. Katie followed her gaze. It was a mixture of photographs and diplomas. A picture of Elizabeth shaking the governor’s hand next to her admission to the Iowa State Bar; a photograph of Elizabeth and former President Trump next to her juris doctorate.

  Elizabeth’s eyes lingered on the photograph of Trump. It was from a rally five years earlier. Katie had heard all about Elizabeth’s meet and greet with the former president. Everyone had.

  “We have a mole in law enforcement,” Elizabeth said. “Strong leaders find moles. They dig them out and triumph. I will find whoever leaked the footage, and they will pay.”

  It was a weirdly aggressive statement from a prosecutor. How exactly was this woman, this lawyer, going to make them “pay”?

  “It doesn’t matter who did it, Elizabeth,” Chief Carmichael said. “It’s over. At least for everyone besides the few that were arrested.” He paused, focusing on Elizabeth. “What are you going to do with the arrested protesters, anyway?”

  Elizabeth sighed. “I don’t know yet. They are decent citizens under normal circumstances. Voters. All of them contributed to my last county attorney campaign. But, on the flip side, their actions led to the injury of an officer. I can’t let that behavior go unpunished.”

  Katie couldn’t agree more. It was a true dilemma. Ashley was the one that should be in jail, but she hadn’t done anything illegal. At least not at that exact moment.

  “What do you think?” Elizabeth asked Chief Carmichael.

  Chief Carmichael shook his head. “That’s above my pay grade.”

  Elizabeth rolled her eyes. She looked like she was planning to press the issue, but her phone began to ring.

  “We’ll get out of your hair,” Chief Carmichael said. “I just came to tell you about Katie’s new assignment. She will stay with Ashley at least until the unrest dies down.” Chief Carmichael nodded to Katie, and they headed toward the door.

  “If it ever dies down,” Elizabeth said. “If you ask me, that woman would be safer in jail. That’s where she belongs anyway.”

  “We can’t do that, and you know it.”

  The phone rang again.

  “Sure,” Elizabeth said, but she didn’t sound convinced.

  They left Elizabeth’s office, but they were still within earshot when Elizabeth picked up the phone.

  “Hello,” Elizabeth said.

  There was a long silence.

  “No comment.”

  There was another silence.

  “I said, no comment,” Elizabeth shouted. It was followed by a loud bang as Elizabeth slammed the phone down on its cradle.

  “I’ve got to do something about those other two,” Katie heard Elizabeth say before she and Chief Carmichael turned the corner and exited the County Attorney’s Office.

  Katie couldn’t help wondering what that last call had been about.

  11

  Ashley

  December 11th – 5:30 a.m.

  “If you are going to follow me,” Ashley called over her shoulder, “you might as well come up here where I can see you.” Ashley stood on the sidewalk outside the entrance to the Br
ine County Humane Society, the local animal shelter.

  A string of muffled curses followed Katie out of the front seat of her unmarked cruiser.

  Ashley chuckled. “There’s a good girl.”

  “I’m not a fucking dog.” Katie came up on the sidewalk. She had pulled her fire-red hair into a bun tight enough to tug at the corners of her eyes. “How did you know I was following you?”

  “You aren’t very discreet. Did Chief Carmichael put you up to this?”

  Katie nodded. “I thought you knew.”

  Ashley shrugged. “He asked me if I would tolerate protection, but I didn’t realize it would be you.”

  “Thanks,” Katie said flatly.

  A dog barked, and Katie’s eyes darted to the rows of outdoor kennels. There were approximately twenty of them, each with two or three large dogs inside. They all turned, in tandem, joining in with the first dog and forming a chorus of barks. Their mouths opened and snapped shut in warning.

  “Why are we here?” Katie asked.

  “To walk the dogs.”

  “Okay. And…” Katie motioned for Ashley to continue.

  “That’s it. There isn’t any more to it.”

  “What is this? A trick to earn brownie points? I don’t think it’s working.”

  A beat-up Chevy truck, red and white with peeling paint, idled down the road, slowing to a crawl as it approached the animal shelter. A man hung out the window. He wore a blue flannel shirt, its sleeves cut off, showing the anchor tattoo on his left shoulder. It was none other than Jack Daniel, the most obnoxious farmhand Ashley had ever met.

  He shook his fist at her and curled his lip into a sneer. “I thought I told ya to git!” he shouted. “Git outta my town! Ya pedophile-loving bitch!” He drew out the e in pedophile long enough for it to be its own syllable.

  Not this again, Ashley thought.

  It was Von Reich’s acquittal all over again. What was with this town? Were they really that ignorant to think that she loved rapists? It wasn’t like she spent her free time with her clients. She thought it was obvious that she was merely doing her job.

  “Why don’t you get out of here before I take you to jail,” Katie said, leveling Jack with a steady glare.

  “Ohh.” Jack pressed his hands to the sides of his face in mock surprise. “It’s the lady cop. I’m shakin’ in my boots.”

  The truck had stopped in the middle of the intersection. Katie took a step closer, her chest heaving. Ashley could practically see the rage radiating from the officer.

  Katie pointed to Jack’s truck. “You’re stopped in the traveled portion of the road. That’s a traffic violation. Do you want a ticket, or do you plan to leave?”

  Jack sneered one last time, then slammed on the gas, peeling out.

  “I hate that guy,” Katie said, shaking her head and rejoining Ashley on the sidewalk.

  A small smile crept into the corners of Ashley’s mouth. Maybe she had misjudged the officer. “I thought you were going to knock his teeth out.”

  Katie scoffed. “I’m not a criminal.” She didn’t say it, but the end of the statement was obvious. Like you.

  So, Ashley hadn’t misjudged her after all. She shot the officer a narrow-eyed glare and pulled open the front door to the animal shelter. It was heavy and steel, painted a cheery bright blue. The color was an attempt to welcome visitors, to distract them from the fact that they were entering a jail for dogs. She stepped inside and didn’t hold the door for Katie. Katie caught it and followed.

  “Mornin’, Ms. Ashley,” the girl at the front desk said. She was reading a book. She didn’t look up, but she didn’t need to. It was 5:30. Ashley arrived at the same time every morning.

  “Hey, Keisha. What are you reading?”

  Keisha lowered the book. “The Hate You Give.” Her dark eyes settled on Officer Mickey. “I suppose you haven’t read it, have you?”

  “Um, no,” Katie said. “I’m not much of a reader.”

  “Umm-hmm. Figures.”

  “I’m not with her, by the way,” Ashley said, hooking a thumb toward Katie. “She’s just following me around.”

  Keisha nodded, eyeing Katie suspiciously. “Yeah. One sits outside my apartment building at night. Waitin’ for some poor bastard to step outside so he can arrest his ass on some bullshit charges.”

  Ashley smirked. Keisha was only sixteen, but she was one of Ashley’s favorite people. She had a good head on her shoulders, and she spoke her mind.

  “I’m going to make her help me walk the dogs.”

  “Good. At least she’ll have done one decent thing today,” Keisha said.

  Ashley grabbed two leashes off the wall. She held one out to Katie.

  “Whoa, wait a minute,” Katie said. “I take offense to that. Police officers help people all the time.”

  Keisha snorted. “White people.”

  Katie ignored Keisha and turned to Ashley. “And what makes you think I’m going to walk dogs? I’m on duty.”

  “Yeah, Ashley,” Keisha cut in. “Pigs don’t walk dogs.”

  Katie’s freckled face turned crimson. Ashley flashed Keisha a smile. It was funny, but Katie wasn’t in the mood for razzing. It was probably best to get Katie out of there before she arrested Keisha.

  “If you’re going to be my shadow for the foreseeable future,” Ashley said. “You might as well help out.”

  “What if I’m allergic?”

  Ashley looked Katie up and down. Several wiry tan hairs stood out against the blue of Katie’s pants. Dog fur. Ashley guessed they came from the police department’s drug dog. A poorly behaved German shepherd named Honor.

  “You’re not. Now, follow me.” She motioned for Katie to follow as she marched through the side door and out to the row of dog kennels.

  All the dogs rushed toward them, barking and wagging their tails. They launched themselves at the doors of their cages, eager to get out. Ashley stopped at the closest gate. A chocolate-and-white-colored border collie was alone, his name displayed on a placard outside his cage. Champ. He sat quietly, gazing up at them with large brown eyes while wagging the tip of his tail.

  “I can walk that one,” Katie said, pointing at Champ.

  “No. You can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  Ashley gestured to a sign hanging above Champ’s cage. It read Quarantine. KEEP OUT.

  “Why is he quarantined?”

  “He came in a couple of days ago. A little girl claimed he bit her. Champ’s owner said that the girl pulled his tail. The owner told the girl to stop, but the girl only pulled harder. Poor pup is stuck here until the city can decide what to do with him.”

  “What are the options?”

  “They’ll put him down or return him home. Those are the only options.” Ashley reached through the bars and ran her hand along Champ’s soft fur. He leaned into her touch, rubbing his head against her hand.

  Katie grabbed Ashley’s elbow and yanked her hand out of the cage. “Can’t you read?”

  Ashley snorted. “Yeah. But not all rules are fair.”

  “They aren’t all unfair either.”

  Ashley narrowed her eyes, but it wasn’t worth arguing. Katie’s belief was bigger than the false imprisonment of a dog. Katie needed to believe that the incarcerated were truly guilty. A dog wasn’t going to change Katie’s mind.

  Ashley turned toward the second kennel. There were two large, excited dogs inside. Each jumping, yipping, and spinning in circles. It melted her heart. Animals were like that. They rewarded kindness and never rendered judgment.

  “This big guy here,” she said and pointed at a large German shepherd/Labrador mix. “His name is Cozmo. And this other one,” she pointed to a mostly white-colored American bulldog mix, “is Wanda.”

  Ashley opened the gate and clipped her leash to Cozmo’s collar. Then she latched Katie’s leash to Wanda’s collar. Katie didn’t say anything as Ashley and Cozmo led the way out of a side door and onto a walking trail. Wanda pulled on her leash
, trying to keep up with Cozmo. It forced Katie to walk side-by-side with Ashley.

  The air was cold and crisp. It was an unusually warm morning for Iowa winters, twenty-five degrees before the sun came up. It wasn’t supposed to remain that way, though. The temperature would drop as the day progressed, making it down to negative temperatures by the end of the day.

  Twinkling fairy lights cast light along the walking path. They hung from trees, winding their way around like those on a Christmas tree. The two women walked along in silence. The only sounds came from the dogs breathing and the crunch of the snow beneath their feet. This was Ashley’s favorite part of the day. She found peace in movement, in the trail, and from the dogs. Their happiness despite their predicament never ceased to amaze her.

  “You know,” Katie said, shattering the silence. “I don’t sit outside apartment buildings.”

  Ashley didn’t respond at first. They continued walking. They passed by a tree with bare limbs. A cardinal was perched on one of the lower branches. It eyed them warily before flying off in a whir of bright red feathers.

  “Somebody does,” Ashley finally answered. “Keisha doesn’t lie.”

  Katie bit her lip and dropped her head.

  “What do you have to say about cops stalking Keisha’s neighbors?”

  “Stalking is a harsh term.”

  “Okay. Let’s call it ‘monitoring,’ then.”

  Katie sighed. “I didn’t know that was happening.”

  Ashley wasn’t going to let Katie get out of it that easy. “Well, now you do. What are you going to do about it?”

  “I don’t know. Something. Keisha’s right. It isn’t fair.”

  “You can start by talking to Chief Carmichael. He’s a good guy. He’ll do what’s right.”

  Katie’s eyebrows shot up. “You like Chief Carmichael?”

  “God, Katie. You’ve got a lot to learn. I’ve known Carmichael all my life. He was the first to respond when my mother was in a car accident. He was the one who rushed me to the hospital when I was ten and I fell through the ice while skating. We go way back. He’s one of the few that still looks at me and sees me rather than my job.”