Law and Disorder: The Finale

And finally, without further ado, Part 7 of Law and Disorder. If you missed any of the other parts, Otin has parts 1-6 up on his blog now.
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Tammy's next call was to the prosecutor. She got the 24-hour answering service. "Get him out of bed," Tammy growled. "He's going to want my call."

A few moments later, she was connected to the head of the prosecutor's office. "Tammy. It's 3 in the freaking morning. This better be good."

"You will release my client from jail. Now. In return, I will give you the real killer." That got his attention. She laid it out for him quickly. He needed time to line things up with the local authorities before they could move.

Tammy was buzzing with tension and couldn't get back to sleep. She gave up and drove back to Boca so she could be there when it all went down. She owed her family and her client that much.

At 9 am sharp, Tammy marched into the local police department. Moments later, she saw both her parents being led in, escorted to separate interrogation rooms. The prosecutor nodded at Tammy, who took a deep breath before springing into action.

She threw the door open to Interrogation A. "How long were you fucking Jenny? And don't even think about giving me any of that 'she initiated it' bullshit! How long were you and her having an affair?"

William put his head in his hands, but said nothing at first. After a few seconds, she began to speak. "Let me tell you a story... It's about a lonely high school girl. Her mother suffered from depression. Her dad couldn't deal so he spent most of his days too wasted to care what she was doing. She gets a job working at a local law firm and for the first time feels like she is accomplishing something. Doing something with meaning. She was all alone that summer. Her best friend had decided to spend it with her aunt in the Catskills. And then, one day in the conference room, her boss comes to her. Tells her how much he appreciates all of her hard work. They're both lonely. Depressed. Starved for attention. And they cure that need with a totally taboo relationship for... three months before the boss knocks her up."

William stared at her, jaw slack, eyes wide in disbelief. "Its okay dad. Admit it. The statute of limitations has run on the statutory rape charge."

"I had to split you two up. It was not that she was bad, it was that I could not bear seeing her every day," He said, trying to make Tammy understand his long ago decision that forever altered her life.

"It's okay, Dad, you can admit it," Tammy repeated.

Then William, the paragon of strength and virtue, crumbled. Sobbing too hard to speak, he simply nodded. For a moment, Tammy's resolve cracked too. She put her hand over her dad's and whispered, "You loved her, didn't you?"

Again, William could only nod. Tammy brushed her chair back from the table, straightened her shoulders and readied for round two.

Throwing open the door to Interrogation B, she led with "You knew." It was not a question, but a statement of fact.

"Dear girl. Do you really think there's anything I don't know about that man's life?" Her mom challenged. "I knew about the affair. And the bastard child. And the millions he funneled to that tramp."

Tammy ran back to her father. "Either you killed her or she did. What's it going to be, dad? Will you let your guilt consume you and send you to jail for her crime?"

William smiled sadly. But beneath the sorrow was nothing short of total pride. "I knew you'd figure it out, honey. That's why I sent Harold to you. You would never let an innocent man go to jail on your watch."

Tammy looked at her father coldly. "You knew all along? But you were shocked when I told you."

William reached out for her. "I knew. I had to pretend. For her. For you. For all of us."

At that moment, two detectives walked into the interrogation room and slapped handcuffs around Lara's wrists. Lara screamed over being read her rights, "This is all his fault! He let that bitch into our lives, into our bed. I forgave the bastard in the beginning. But now all these years later, he was going to leave me for her! That's why he was transferring all his money to her. He was going to leave me and try to leave me with NOTHING!"

Tammy crossed the room in three long strides. Then she drew back and slapped Lara across the face. "You stupid bitch!" Tammy spat. "You stupid crazy bitch. He was never going to leave you. For some insane reason, the man actually loved you! That money was for their daughter! When you go to jail, I want that to be the last thought that goes through your head. You murdered that poor girl for nothing."

Tammy's initial anger turned to sorrow.

"How could you , Mom? All of those holidays and vacations that we were all happy. The dinners that we cooked together. You knew all along and yet you let us go on pretending to be the perfect little family."

" I didn't know all of it", She protested. "It was not until I had found out about the money that I became bitter. All of your life, I was genuine when it came to the three of us. I knew about your dad's little secret. It was hard on me, too. I had to keep it from Jennifer's parents and smile whenever I saw that family, but I accepted that he made a mistake and I still loved him. When they visited here last year, and they showed up in a Patricia's Mercedes, and then Helen told me that Patricia didn't even have a job, that's when I knew that something was wrong. I dug through your dad's papers and found letters from Jennifer, asking for more money. When he told me that he was going north to take care of some firm business, I knew where he was going."

"So you followed him?!" Tammy asked, emotionally bankrupt at this point.

"Yes Tammy! That is what you want to hear? I did it. I confess! But remember this. I still love both of you, and nothing will ever change that."

Lara's head slumped to her chest as the two detectives led her away.

Tammy could not watch as her mother was taken away. She turned and looked back toward interrogation room A.

A few days later, Tammy stood on the steps of Patricia Greenhill's beautiful home, snow falling gently around her. She had never been nervous interviewing anyone before. But today she was not here as a lawyer. Today she was introducing herself as a big sister. And she had no idea how it would all turn out.