Riley's Reckoning

by Claire Britain

  “Oh, I’m on it and first order of business is to see if there’s any video out there. I know that bar, it’s in a shady part of Queens, hopefully someone has some video. Do you know exactly where this all happened, Alex?” Kate asked the young detective.

  “Looks like it was on the west side of the bar, outside of E Street Deli.”

  “Well, hopefully we can dig up something up before Monday. I’m assuming an eyewitness wouldn’t hurt either? When AJ gets back I’ll need to talk to her too. What do you think, Alex, I mean you’re the cop? Is she telling the truth?”

  “I got to tell you, Kate, it sounds like AJ is telling the truth. I think she’s a little hesitant because she was pretty drunk when they arrested her and it sounds like she doesn’t remember everything that clearly. It’s important we get an eyewitness or video. They are not going to believe just her if it goes to court, considering how much over the limit she was.”

  “Well, I can do some preliminary digging but if it does go to court, we will need an experienced defense attorney,” Kate said thoughtfully.

  “I can give you a couple of names of attorneys. It also doesn’t hurt that AJ works for Riley, who is pretty much single-handedly responsible for the apprehension of one of New York’s most notorious killers, which also solved the cold case from Kentucky. It should give me quite a bit of leverage with the DA, especially since he was at the ceremony bragging about the tight shut case. Riley still has to testify, too. Not that I’m saying anything here, but as much as I’d like to tell you there’s never any quid pro quo in this business, someone’s always scratching someone else’s back if you know what I mean, and I’m gonna pull out all the stops, if for nothing else but to get this felony pled down.”

  “Well, I’m sure you know what you’re doing, Alex. Thank you so much for doing this for AJ, I really think she is a good kid too,” Joanna smiled.

  “Okay, ladies, well, I will get out of your hair. I plan to see the DA Monday morning, so if you find out anything else, or AJ remembers anything, give me a call.”

  “Will do, thanks, Alex, I’ll walk you out,” Riley replied.

  “So, fancy a bike ride down to Queens, Kate?” Riley asked with a big grin after she came back from seeing Alex out.

  “Don’t you want to wait to talk to AJ first? She may remember something about the customers or something,” Kate replied.

  “Nah, I talked to her already and I’m sure she’s going to be a little overwhelmed with bad cop one and bad cop two here.”

  “Just what are you inferring, young lady?” Helen asked indignantly.

  “Well, come on, you two are going to be giving her the third degree when she gets back here. I’m just trying to give the poor kid a break, and spare her from all four of us. Got to tell you though, she mentioned missing her mom, and specifically the type of attention she would have given her backside if she had told her! Ready, Kate?”

  “Yep, let me get my helmet.”

  “Freeze, young lady, if you go in that bar, it’s one drink, understood?”

  “Come on, Jo, were not going drinking, we’re going to see if we can find some cameras and see if anyone saw anything,” Riley replied, rolling her eyes.

  “Kate, that goes for you too, just because you’re not driving doesn’t mean you don’t have to have your wits about you on the back of that bike,” Helen chimed in.

  “Yes, ma’am, no more than five drinks, got it.”

  “Kate, I’m not kidding, one drink and please drive carefully.”

  “Always!” Riley and Kate replied in unison, as they left the apartment and headed for the parking garage.

  “Ugh, that bike just makes me cringe every time she gets on it. I’m never going to get over the fact that Riley was nearly killed on one. I suppose she’s making the most of it before it gets shipped back to California next week. You want a glass of wine, Helen?” Joanna said, shaking her head, as she retrieved a bottle of wine from the wine cabinet.

  “I know, makes me a little nervous too, but if there is anyone I trust, it’s Riley. You know she’s a good rider and she seems to have settled down some, since her last couple of incidents.”

  Joanna cringed even more. “There shouldn’t have been any incidents, and there better not be any more or I swear she won’t sit for a month!”

  Helen smiled, as she took the glass of wine from her friend. “How is the maintenance working? Riley seems to be doing well, how do you feel about it?”

  “I think it’s doing the trick, honestly; the first couple of times she was a little apprehensive, but when she realized it could also be fun she’s been a little angel.”

  Helen gave a little chuckle. “Good, it worked for Kate too, when she was going through law school and had all the stress. Now, how do you want to handle AJ? I think right now she could probably use some comforting support more than anything.”

  “Wow, Ms. Klein, what happened to bad cop one?” Joanna grinned.

  “Oh, she’s still in here, you of all people should know that,” Helen smirked back.

  Joanna gave a big sigh as she looked at her phone that had just chimed. “Riley just texted, AJ is on her way up.”

  Joanna heard a soft knock on the door. When she opened it, a timid-looking AJ stood in front of her, not able to make eye contact. “Come on in, AJ, have a seat on the couch and we can talk,” Joanna said sympathetically.

  “Ms. Armstrong, Ms. Klein, I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say. I never should have gone to the bar, if I’d have stuck with Duggan’s I could have walked and I wouldn’t be in this mess and now and I have to go to court and I might have to go to prison. They said I assaulted a police officer and I don’t remember doing that, I don’t!”

  Joanna immediately saw the distress and tears in the young girl’s eyes and when she sat down next to her on the couch and pulled her into a hug, AJ broke down into sobbing tears.

  “Oh, honey, we’re going to help you,” Joanna reassured her, noticing the dark circles around AJ’s eyes.

  When AJ’s tears had subsided a little, Joanna addressed the young Irishwoman with concern. “AJ, look at me, when was the last time you had something to eat and when was the last time you slept?”

  AJ looked down at her hands guiltily. “I don’t know, I tried but I’ve been too worried to do much of anything after the first court date.”

  Helen looked at Joanna, who nodded a silent affirmation, before getting up and ordering some Italian takeout, which she knew was AJ’s favorite.

  Helen scooted closer to AJ and put an arm around her shoulder. “Oh, AJ, I wish you would have told us, but I understand why you didn’t as well. It’s going to be okay, we’re here to help you. Riley and Kate have gone down to the bar to see what they can find out. Do you know if anyone saw what happened?”

  “I don’t, Ms. Klein, it’s all a bit of a blur you see, god, I’m an idiot, I am.”

  “AJ, you made some mistakes, you’re not an idiot. Right now, you’re going to have a good dinner and get some rest. You look exhausted. AJ, Riley mentioned your mom, do you want to call her?”

  “Christ, she’s gonna skin me alive if I tell her!”

  “I think perhaps you should, AJ, it might make you feel better if you get it off your chest.”

  “I will if you want me to, Ms. Klein, I’m just not sure I want to worry her. There’s nothing she can do from there and knowing her, she’ll be on the first plane here. She doesn’t have the money to do that and it’ll just make her worry more. She’s never even been out of Ireland, you see.”

  “I can talk to her if you like, assure her that we are aware of the situation and we’ll be stepping in?”

  “Well, I think you’re probably right, and she will have to find out sooner or later.”

  “Good girl,” Joanna said, bringing back the phone to AJ. “I don’t think it’s too late.”

  “No, me mam’ll be up,” AJ said sadly.

  “I’d like to talk to her too, AJ, if that’s okay. I want to reass
ure her we’ll be doing everything we can, and that we’ll be taking care of you for the next few days until we find out what is going on, okay?” Helen said, getting up and putting a hand on AJ’s shoulder.

  “Yes, ma’am,” AJ nodded, as she dialed her home country from Joanna’s landline.

  Joanna and Helen made their way into the kitchen to give AJ some privacy.

  “Poor kid is exhausted and worried sick, literally. How did we not see this?” Joanna asked.

  “I don’t know, Jo, I guess we’ve all been a little preoccupied. I was going to offer her a drink, might calm her down a bit but I already smell alcohol on her breath. She must have come home from the program and hit the whisky bottle right away. I don’t want to perpetuate something if she already has a problem.”

  “No, agreed, I think what we need to do now is get her something to eat and make sure she gets some rest.”

  Joanna turned her attention back to AJ, who was at the entrance to the kitchen, red-faced.

  “Umm, Ms. Klein, me mam wondered if she could have a word if you weren’t too busy like.”

  Helen strolled toward her and reached out a hand to AJ expectantly. She took the phone from AJ and walked back into the living room. Joanna put a supportive arm around AJ, who was looking mortified.

  “Mrs. Parker? Yes, Helen Klein…”

  * * *

  “Where’s AJ, I thought she was with you?” Riley asked, as she and Kate returned to the apartment.

  “She’s over at Helen and Kate’s, the poor girl was exhausted. She hasn’t eaten or slept in god knows how long. Helen had a conversation with her mother and we’re going to make sure she at least eats and sleeps until we can get this mess straightened out. What did you find out at the bar, did anyone see anything?”

  Riley and Kate gave each other a knowing look. “So, when you say she is over at Helen’s, you mean she is getting…”

  “I mean she is over at Helen’s getting some much-needed rest. Now, what did you find out? There’s Italian in the kitchen and I opened a new bottle of wine.”

  “You cooked, I see,” Riley teased.

  “Hmm, I’ll cook your backside if you’re not careful, now get something to eat, the both of you. I’ll let Helen know you’re back and you can tell us both.”

  Riley and Kate helped themselves to lasagna and sat at the kitchen island.

  “How is she?” Joanna asked, as Helen returned to the apartment.

  “She’s sleeping, she was exhausted.”

  “And I suppose you gave her something to help her sleep?” Kate asked with a grin.

  “Kate!” Helen warned. “What did you find out?”

  “Well, we weren’t able to get any decent video yet; the lady working at the deli said their camera would probably show something, but her boss is tight with the cops so we’ll leave that one to Alex. She didn’t think he would cooperate, if we told him what we were looking for. There are also cameras outside the apartment building next door, but the superintendent was already gone from the office when we got there, so we’ll try back tomorrow,” Kate replied, taking another bite of her lasagna.

  “But here’s where it gets interesting,” Riley chimed in. “Take a look at this, it’s not real clear, but one of the customers overheard me talking to the bartender and took this with her cell phone.”

  Riley held up her phone to Joanna and Helen and hit the play arrow of the video. “See, right there is AJ, it looks like she’s mouthing off to them but it doesn’t look like she’s resisting. This part is a little hard to watch,” Riley said with a wince on her face, as one of the officers clearly punched AJ in the head, knocking her to the ground before kneeling on her roughly and cuffing her.

  “Oh, my god!” Joanna said in disgust.

  “Yeah, well, watch this,” Kate added. “The fucking douchebag kicks her here, then he sees they are being filmed, and comes over and stops her from filming. See, he’s in her face here and he has her turn her phone off. Which is also illegal.”

  “This is appalling; we need to get this to Alex right away,” Helen directed.

  “I already sent it to her, she wants to come talk to us tomorrow morning, she’ll be here at nine. Several of the women at the bar knew exactly who these cops are. They said they are always hanging around the bar and pulling people over when they leave. They even had the nerve to go in there and do bar checks, and harass the customers. The bartender said the owner had called the station to complain several times, but they never do anything. We’ll go back tomorrow; maybe Alex can flip it around with the deli owner and tell him they need some evidence against AJ or something.”

  “Well, you have to be careful there, her being a cop, obtaining evidence under false pretenses,” Kate considered.

  Riley shrugged at her friend blankly.

  “You know, fruit of the poisonous tree? It won’t stand up in court.”

  “Who said anything about court, don’t we just want Alex to have the felony pled down, so AJ won’t go to jail?”

  “Well, yes, but those two cops are assholes, we might get more?”

  “You go on with your bad self, Sherlock!” Riley teased. “We’ll go back tomorrow and talk to the deli owner and the apartment manager, and see what we can get.”

  “No, you will not, I don’t want either of you involved any more with this. And as for you, young lady,” Joanna directed at Riley. “I think we had an agreement to leave the police work to Alex, did we not?”

  Kate just rolled her eyes, making Helen purse her lips in a thin line.

  “Yes, ma’am, police work to Alex, got it,” Riley assured her.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “This changes things a little,” Alex said seriously, as she sat at Joanna’s kitchen island the next morning, drinking coffee.

  “As well as trying to plea down the felony charge, there needs to be some action taken against these officers. I’m basically going up against two of our own here, I need to talk to the captain again and see how he wants to handle it. I’ll see what I can do about getting some better video but I’m confident, at the very least, we can get the felony dismissed. I meet with the DA at nine tomorrow. I may even be able to get the whole thing thrown out the way it went down.”

  “Do you really think so, Alex? AJ really is a good kid, she just made a mistake.”

  “Riley, mistake or not, she still tried to get on her bike shit-faced drunk!” Alex replied, a little perturbed.

  “I know, I know, cool your jets, Detective!”

  “Riley, I don’t like your tone, young lady,” Joanna snapped back at her.

  “Sorry.”

  “No, it’s okay, I am a little passionate about the drinking and driving thing, I know. I’d like to ask one thing before we talk to AJ? She blew a point two six when she was arrested, she was hammered when she got on that bike. If I can get the felony pled down, I would like her to attend an alcohol prevention program with me. It’s pretty clear this wasn’t a one-time thing and I think she could use some help, or at least, a wakeup call. She’s far too young and I can see the signs with her. She jokes about her Irish upbringing but according to Riley and Kate, that girl puts away far too much whisky for a social drinker.”

  “I think she’ll just be relieved to know she didn’t do what the cops charged her with,” Riley replied.

  “Well, if I can get the video footage, I think that will seal the deal with the DA. I’m heading down to the deli and the apartment building today. I’ll let you know what I find out. Has AJ seen the video, does she remember any of it?”

  “No, she was still sleeping last time I checked.”

  “She’s awake; they’ll be right over,” Riley replied, looking at her phone.

  “Thanks, Alex, look, we really appreciate all your help with this, I know you’re not officially back at work yet,” Joanna smiled.

  “Well, Riley’s right, she is a good kid, I’ve kind of taking a liking to her as well.”

  “Morning, AJ, did you sleep well?
” Joanna asked a rather timid-looking AJ, as she came into the apartment with Helen and Kate.

  “Yes, thanks, Ms. Armstrong. Good morning, ma’am.”

  Alex looked up at AJ when she realized she was talking to her. “AJ, it’s Alex. Come take a seat over here, I want to show you something.”

  AJ sat down next to Alex at the kitchen bar and focused her attention on Alex’s phone.

  “Shite, that’s me, is it? No wonder my head was hurting after that.”

  “AJ, do you remember any of this? Was anyone around when this happened?” Alex asked in a concerned tone. “Do you remember fighting with the officers after they had you down? Think, AJ, this is important.”

  “No, not really, I mean I remember arguing with the one cop an’ all, and the jail cell, but most everything else is kinda a blur.”

  “Did you black out, AJ?” Alex asked.

  AJ’s face flushed with embarrassment and she looked down at her hands. “I musta done, I don’t remember anything,” she replied, as her eyes welled up with tears.

  Alex gave a small sigh. “Sorry, AJ, I didn’t mean to upset you, it’s obvious from the video the officers that arrested you acted inappropriately but we don’t have the complete incident captured, so whatever you remember, one way or the other is important, do you understand?”

  “Yes, ma’am, I’m sorry, I just don’t remember,” AJ replied, her eyes glassing over.

  “It’s okay, AJ, we’ll get to the bottom of this. I’ll let you know if I find out anything,” Alex said, getting up from the bar.