He frowned and shook his head. “I wish I could, Jamie. I promised Brett that I’d always do my best for you, and I will, but this isn’t something that will just blow over.” He sighed and reached down, grabbing a leather briefcase, setting it on the desk, popping the latch and opening it. He pulled out a case file and set it down, flicking through it. “They’ve been watching Brett for a while because one of his staff got involved in a GTA, we knew that, but I had it from reliable sources that they weren’t making any moves on Brett at this time. It appears where I wasn’t informed was that there was a sting operation that was following the Lazlos tonight, and it just so happened that it involved Brett.

I think the police were very happy to have stumbled upon Brett in that meeting, meaning that they took down two birds with one stone so to speak.”

I snorted. So this all came about because the police were trying to arrest the Lazlos and we were all just in the way? A lucky convenience to take down a local organisation at the same time? Well aren’t their superiors going to be happy with them, I thought sarcastically. “Well aren’t they all lucky,” I snorted.

He smiled. “Quite,” he agreed. “So, I’ve been speaking to the officer in charge of the raid tonight, he’s an old golfing buddy of mine too so I’m privy to a lot of things that I shouldn’t be,” he continued.

“Okay, and that means what?” I asked, trying to stay positive but his slumped shoulders told me that this wasn’t good news.

“Well, they had hidden recording equipment at the meeting tonight. As far as your charges are concerned, they have you on tape talking and planning auto thefts, being present and part of a drug deal, possession of a firearm, and resisting arrest. Now, you don’t need to worry about the car stuff too much, that’s all circumstantial, you mention no details about previous jobs, you don’t brag about jobs undertaken in the past or mention conquests. The talk is just that, just talk, so they can’t charge you with that,” he said confidently. “However, now that they know you’re into that kind of thing, they’ll start looking into other unsolved car crimes more closely to try and link them to you.”

I groaned. So because I mentioned stealing cars, they were now going to try and pin all unsolved car thefts on me? Great, just freaking great! “So, aside from them now investigating car stuff and me, I’m actually facing drug charges, possession of a firearm and resisting arrest?” I asked, wincing.

He nodded. “At this time, yes,” he confirmed.

“So I’m screwed!” I cried, shaking my head. “I’m already on probation.”

He reached over and patted my shoulder. “I’m going to do everything I can for you. I’m pretty confident that if I pull a few strings, make a couple of deals, I can get the drug charges dropped.

You have flights booked for tomorrow with your girlfriend, if I pull that card that you were getting out of this stuff, then I believe I can dismiss those charges with the help of some friends.”

“Really?” I asked hopefully. If he could that would significantly reduce the amount of shit I was in, well, until they linked me to the millions of dollars’ worth of cars that I’d boosted!

He nodded. “As for the firearm,” he stated. “You had that on you at the time of arrest?” I nodded in confirmation. “You had your weapon drawn?”

I shook my head quickly. “No, I didn’t draw it the whole time. It was tucked down the back of my pants,” I answered.

He raised one eyebrow looking extremely pleased. “So you didn’t partake in the gun battle?”

“No.”

He smiled. “Ballistics reports will be able to confirm that you didn’t fire upon the police. Resisting arrest should be easy enough to dismiss too. But there’s only so much I can do. I’m going to have to give them something in return.”

“Meaning what?” I asked, confused.

He frowned, looking a little uncomfortable. “Well, if they start trying to link you with unsolved GTAs, then things are going to get a lot worse for you. Now that they have you on record admitting it, the slightest piece of evidence surrounding the theft of a car will be linked with you and charges will be filed. So, what I’m proposing is a deal,” he explained. I nodded for him to continue, eager to hear what I was hoping to be some kind of mastermind plan. “You plead guilty to possession of a firearm, you tell them where you got it from, and in exchange I’ll pull some strings and the car investigation will disappear into thin air.”

I licked my dry lips, thinking about it. Either way I was screwed, I was going down for something, so I guess it was better to plead guilty to possession of a firearm than it was to go down for hundreds of counts of grand theft auto as well. “So what will that mean?” I asked curiously.

He sighed. “Usually twenty-four to thirty-six months in prison.”

I felt my body jerk at his words as my chest tightened and I struggled to breathe properly. Two to three years in prison? “Oh shit,” I mumbled.

He nodded sadly. “Plus your time that you were let out on good behaviour,” he added. “But I should be able to get that all reduced, but you’ll serve a minimum of a year.”

Ellie. What the hell was I supposed to tell Ellie? The thought of going inside again was terrifying, I would have no idea what to expect considering that it’d be proper jail this time, not juvie like last time. Plus, I would have to cope with not seeing her everyday. How was I supposed to get through that this time knowing what I’d lost? Last time it was a breeze because I had nothing waiting for me on the outside, this time the only thing that mattered to me, would be outside and I’d be stuck in on my own.