The choice

Michaels squirms under Nate’s grip and immediately drops Jason’s arm. He glares at Nate and Lockheart and is about to retaliate when a booming voice interrupts them.

“What is going on here?” Detective Jackman stalks down the hall towards the small group.

Released, Michaels rubs his wrist, scowling. “Nothing.”

“I bet.” Jackman frowns at the younger officer. “Why don’t you get on back to your desk before I do make something out of this?”

Michaels throws Nate one last glare before slinking back down the hall, receiving a shove from Jackman.

Jackman glances around the group. “I apologize if Officer Michaels bothered you folks. He can get a little excited sometimes, especially when dealing with ruffians like we had in here this morning.” He nods towards Jason’s cell. “Unfortunately, this young man got the brunt of a couple gangsters that shared his cell. We had quite a time breaking them up before getting them out of here.”

Jason stares at Jackman, not surprised by the lie, but angered all the more. Yet he could say nothing. If he did, it would just make things harder for him while he was here.

Jackman nods to Lockheart. “You must be Lockheart. I heard you’d taken on Mr. Stevenson’s case, and let me tell you, you have my respect for it. If you can win this one, I’ll be mighty impressed.”

He pauses, then gestures to Jason’s cell. “I can’t let anyone else in there, but you’re more than welcome, as his attorney, if you’re not satisfied talking through bars. I’ll lock the door behind you and give you privacy as well if you like.”


Carson tosses a wad of paper into the trashcan, heaving a sigh. It was late afternoon…he hadn’t had any lunch, though he wasn’t starving…he’d seen no one since that morning…what was he doing here?

He knew everyone was busy with cases, and Reese and Nate were gone to look after Jason, but what was he supposed to do in the meantime? He felt like he was letting his mind rot. He wasn’t used to sitting around doing nothing, and it was driving him crazy.

Finally he rises from his cot and meanders out of the holding room. He’d obeyed by coming here…but Reese hadn’t said how long he’d have to stay.

Ambling down the hall he makes a couple turns and wanders past offices, stopping at Jason’s open door. Interesting…young kid like him having an office with the rest of the higher-ups. He must be quite the agent to have that privilege.

Without thinking, Carson steps inside and glances around at several pictures on the wall, and a few things Jason had lying on his desk. The kid seemed to be fairly organized…looked like he’d had a lot going on.

Curious, Carson has no problem sitting down in Jason chair and thumbing through a couple file folders. He’d wondered what kind of cases TJY was involved in, and since no one had told him, this was a prime way to figure it out.

He scans reports, lists, profiles and more. Inquisitiveness takes over, and he opens one of Jason’s desk drawers, spying an overturned photo. Picking it up, he lifts an eyebrow. Studying it for a moment, he nods a little. Bret was a good photographer, no doubt. Carson knew this had been in his own bag, but wasn’t surprised Jason had taken it. It was the kind of keepsake not many would have.

Placing the picture back in the drawer, Carson wonders if there were other photos people around here might like to have. He wasn’t going to use them anymore, and they led to nothing. They’d only been used for Agency profiling.

Still bored, Carson flips on Jason’s computer. Seeing the prompt for a password, he thinks, tries a word, but login fails. Contemplating a little more he looks around the room, the types again “hero.” This time it works.

Grinning to himself Carson browses some files, finding out just how much TJY knew about the Agency, and how much they apparently didn’t know as well.

Gleaning information, Carson taps his fingers absentmindedly on the desk, popping his gum inside his mouth. He didn’t like not knowing what was happening on the other side. It made him feel vulnerable and out of place.

Carson glances out the open door and sees no one. Without much caution, he picks up the phone and dials, waiting for several rings before it’s answered. “Hey, Martin, how long’s it take you to get to the phone, ya lazy critter.”

“Carson?! Where on earth are you man?!”

“Just havin’ the time of my life.” Carson leans back in the chair. “What’s it to ya?”

“Everybody’s lookin’ for you,” Martin exclaims. “Drew’s ready to kill you himself.”

“That dog worries too much,” Carson scoffs. “What’s he blaming me for now?”

“Snatching that chick from him.”

Carson chuckles. “Oh, that. Well you just tell him that he’d have done the same thing if he’d been getting paid five thousand to do it.”

“Ashlyn’s on his side.”

“She’ll get over it.”

“Well where’s the chick now?”

Carson allows a pause. “Would you believe she ducked me? It was Radcliff that wanted her, but about halfway there she took off. I ended up with half the cash though, so it wasn’t too bad. I figured laying low for a while would probably be good until Drew cooled his guns.”

Martin sighs. “You’re crazy, you know that?”

“Why else do you think I’m working for the Agency? Listen, what’s the scoop on that end of things? Anything I need to know before heading back?”

“Well, we got the Stevenson deal rolling. The kid will be in prison before we can say wahoo. Clarkson already got that judge to sign the papers, so it’s gonna be a speedy little process. Medridge is thrilled – he’s looking at that girl though, uh, Katie, yeah, seeing her reactions. Not getting a whole lot though, seems up in that area it’s a bit harder to catch the ones we’re after. Figure its that little corporation you discovered.”

“Ah, yes. They’ve got a handle on things, I’ll give ‘em that.”

“Say, where are you?”

“An undisclosed location for my own protection.” Carson smirks at the phone. “What do you care?”

“Well, Ryerson’s got a deal going down in Arizona in a couple weeks. We’re taking out those two lawyers who have been a pain.”

“And why would I be interested?”

“He’s paying ten grand…each.”

Carson’s eyebrows shoot up. “Twenty for the pair?”

“Yep. …No takers yet,” Martin prompts.

Carson’s mind reels. There was an awful lot he could do with twenty thousand dollars. It was an easy job too. Two weeks ago he wouldn’t have hesitated. “He’d be mighty proud of you, Carson, that you’re trying to turn your life around.” He swallows hard. He’d ignored the strange emotions Misty’s words had evoked before, and tried to now as well. The past was the past…his father was dead… And right now he was…

“Well?” Martin interrupts his thoughts.

Carson purses his lip, bypassing all logic and ignoring his conscience completely. “Tell Ryerson he’s got his man.”

Martin chuckles. “I didn’t think you could pass it up. How do I get you details?”

“I’ll call you in a week.”

“Sounds good.”

“Anything else I need to know?”

“Naw…if you pull this one off, then I doubt you have to worry about Drew anymore, or even Medridge for that matter.”

“Good. Talk to you soon.” Carson hangs up the phone, and just stares at it for several minutes. He felt like a double-crosser. But just because he did one job didn’t mean he’d be betraying TJY...right? So maybe it was riding the fence, but he’d been doing that all his life and hadn’t fallen off yet…

Shaking his head, Carson reaches over to turn off Jason’s computer, and rises from the desk. Right about now, a cold drink sounded good, and the only closest thing was a soda pop from the break room.