“You arenotmy fucking lawyer! What the fuck is this?” Candy screeched, looking at the three officers.
“We told you already, the number and name of your attorney has not responded to all calls that have been sent to him. So, being the ‘nice whores’ that we are, we contacted the office for court appointed attorneys and got you this awesome gentleman.” Diesel used the air quotation marks with both hands before gesturing to the lawyer in the room.
“One of you assholes better getmylawyer instead of this law firm reject and you better do itnow,” Candy yelled, pounding her fist onto the table.
“Mrs. Ruiz, I spoke with a Mr. Galen Trotter before I came in here. He states he does not, nor will he represent you. He states he has no idea who you are,” Lonnie advised Candy, reading from the note in his hand.
“Oh, really now? Okay.” Candy sat up straighter and leaned onto the table the best she could. “I’ll tell you bitches everything you want to know, including who Ares is. I want a deal, hell, I want immunity from everything, and I want witness protection.”
“You’ll get a deal of some kind for the homicide of your husband, but no deal for selling your daughter or giving Tina to the black market for her to be sold and killed.” Pratt growled at Candy and her new attorney.
“Then I don’t talk, you’re fucked.”
“Oh, you’re going to talk, because if you don’t, Iwillmake sure Officer Swift let’s every snitch in the city of Tampa know you squealed like a fucking canary when your attorney dumped your ass and that you gave up Ares and his operations like a bitch in heat!”
“You can’t do that, officer!” The attorney huffed before Candy could say anything else.
“Officer Swift can’t, since this is her turf and all, but I,Detectiveto you, Mr. Steigerwald, can since I am not on my home turf. I don’t know who’s a snitch and who isn’t.” Pratt leaned back into her chair with a shrug, staring Candy down, who was now white as a ghost.
“I will fucking sue you and your department if you do shit,” Candy cried out, glaring at the three women, standing up, leaning onto the table towards Pratt.
“Eh, you gotta be in San Diego to do that. Annnnnd well, Florida takes their sweet ass time with extraditions, and you already have charges you’re dealing with here.” Pratt leaned forward, smirking into Candy’s face. “Let’s not forget, sugarplum, you got the attorney here, he can’t assist you with that lawsuit in San Diego. You seemed to have run through all the attorney’s young and dumb enough to end up fucking your ass, in and out of the courtroom.”
Pratt, Diesel and Swift all stood up and walked toward the door. Swift turned around and looked at the lawyer, “You have twenty minutes to talk to her then we will be back. Just to make sure we are clear, there will be no immunity. Tell us where your daughter is, or we send you back to California to face the needle for the death of your husband.”
Pratt walked over to Highlander and laid her head on his chest, literally shaking. Highlander wrapped his arms around his wife and leaned down to her ear.
“It’s okay lass. I got ye.”
“I wanted to punch her fucking lights out so badly.”
“Ye did good babe. For the record, I’ve never touched the coo!”
A confused Jordyn looked around the room before looking at Highlander. “Coo?”
“Scottish slang for cow, lass.”
“Ah!”
Pratt laughed into Highlanders chest before turning her head without removing it from its spot. “Trust me, he has tons of words I have to ask about and I’ve been married to the man for almost five years.”
“Six years total lass. Five blissful and amazing years of marriage my beautiful lass.”
“Joe, I know you didn’t touch her. God, I wanted to punch her face in because she thought she should get a deal after what she did to Tina and Dakota.”
Highlander leaned down and hovered his lips just above Pratts, helping her calm down a bit before firmly planting a soft kiss on her lips.
“She already gave away one major clue.” Pratt turned around and looked at everyone in the small room.
“What’s that, Red?” Larry asked, looking at Pratt amused.
“Whoever this Ares person is, he’s been supporting her financially until now and he lives here in Tampa. That means our Dakota may be here in Tampa too.”
“I don’t know, Pratt. I mean, why, if she sold the kid, would she follow the buyer here?” Diesel asked the question burning in everyone’s mind.
“Who knows why the bitch does half the shit she does. I think her being here has to do with her hatred for Dakota. I mean think about it…” Pratt walked over to the two-way mirror, staring into the interrogation room where Candy and her new lawyer were in a heated discussion. “Kota had the love of every Navy SEAL that knew her father, the love of Sheila and Eddie. It wasn’t sexual love, it was true, unconditional love. Candy chased those very men for attention, they couldn’t stand her, they barely tolerated her for Kota’s sake.”
Pratt turned around to look at everyone individually for a moment, looked back at Candy for a several moments before looking back at the group. “If she’s still in touch with this Ares person after three years, she’s been able to watch Kota suffer, maybe even participate in making her suffer. Not only is it the ultimate ‘fuck you’ to the daughter who got all the attention she craved, but it’s also the ultimate ‘fuck you’ to every SEAL who loved that girl, as well as every law enforcement who has been involved in the search for her.”
