Page 33 of The System

“Not much,” Carina said through her laughter. “The BLT isn’t bad, but that’s not exactly a difficult sandwich to make.”

“Depends on the bacon, really. I like it crispy, but not crunchy, you know?”

“No, I don’t think I do,” Carina laughed again. “Aren’t those synonyms?”

“I like it when it’s not going to break my teeth to bite into it. How’s that?” Kieran asked as she grabbed a menu held up by two napkin holders.

“Explains it perfectly,” Carina said, smiling over at her. “Coffee?”

“Yes, please. How do you sit in courtrooms all day? It’s incredibly boring. And I wasn’t allowed to have my phone out, so I couldn’t even play a game while I waited.”

“Well, I rarely sit in the gallery all day. Really, never. I’m usually at one of the tables up front, and I’m working, so it’s different. I imagine that I’d find myself pretty bored staring at a computer all day, with random numbers and letters all over the screen that I don’t know what they mean.”

“That’s a very long way of saying computer code.” Kieran laughed.

The waitress behind the counter walked up to them and gave Carina a nod.

“BLT on sourdough, with the fries, and coffee, please.”

The waitress then looked over at Kieran expectantly.

“Same for me,” Kieran said and closed the menu she hadn’t even read.

The waitress nodded again and walked off.

“Taking a risk with that bacon, huh?”

“I guess so,” Kieran replied.

“Are you nervous?”

“Yes, but I shouldn’t be. Today is just a reading of the charges, and she’ll put in her plea. They’ll do the bail thing, and that’ll be it, right? I go to a bail bonds place and get her out.”

Carina cleared her throat and said, “I’m asking for no bail, Kieran.”

Kieran turned her face to her and said, “You’re what? Diego said you’d just probably ask for a ridiculously high amount.”

“I’m asking for remand. She’s been on the run for eight years and is clearly resourceful enough to move and change her name. When we found her, she was going by Zoey Maccala, but she’s had other aliases as well.”

“She ran because he beat her, so she had to get away. She didn’t even know that he was dead until days later. And yeah, it was wrong of her not to turn herself in then, but she didn’t want to be railroaded.”

“She’s not being railroaded; we have evidence,” Carina said as she watched the waitress put their coffees down on the counter and leave the two of them again. “And if I recommend bail or even an ankle bracelet, and she gets away, you’ll be out all that money.”

“I don’t care,” Kieran replied. “It’s just money. She’s my sister.”

“And I’m sorry that she’s put you in this situation, but I still have to do my job. I’ve also got a boss who reviews the cases with us and said no bail. I happen to agree with him, though.”

“I see,” Kieran said as she grabbed her coffee cup and pulled it toward her. “Well, I don’t think there’s anything I can do to change your mind, so I’ll just drink my coffee and take my food to-go.”

“Kieran, come on… I’m sorry. I have to do my job. We’ve been able to have drinks and now coffee and lunch and not talk about the case.”

“I was going to put a guest bed in my office for her,” Kieran shared as she added a creamer to her coffee. “Not for Diego, but for her. I have an air mattress for now, but I was going to buy a twin or something for her. The sofa pulls out, but I didn’t want her to have a crappy bed.”

“I’m sorry,” Carina repeated. “But you can understand where I’m coming from, at least, right? The evidence I have tells me that she killed her husband and ran. I can’t let her run again. And I don’t think a judge is going to let her, either. He’ll go with my recommendation.”

“I don’t really know why I came over here when I saw you or why I let you take me for a drink and then drive me home. I shouldn’t even want to be in the same room with you.”

“I shouldn’t be spending a lot of time with you, either. You might be a witness.”

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