Of Poverty and Privilege

Introduction

Normally when Mike Cutter was pacing his office with a baseball bat it was because he was concentrating hard on a case that was presently before him. He felt that keeping his hands and feet preoccupied gave his brain the ability to think hard and fast, especially if he was bouncing ideas off either Connie or Jack.

But neither Connie or Jack were present. Connie had been sent to Baltimore to speak to potential witnesses for their current, most challenging case. And Jack...well, Jack wasn't the right person to help Mike overcome this exact problem. His current predicament wasn't a problematic case, or even a case at all.

Mike's current dilemma, the thing causing him to pace around his office with his baseball bat, was because he had sabotaged the relationship he had with the love of his love, and all efforts of winning her back had been fruitless. He needed to at the very least get his foot back into the door of her life. He needed it fast too.

He felt his Blackberry buzz on his desk before his ring tone started ringing so he already had his eyes on the screen as the tone bounced off the walls of his wooden office.

Connie Rubirosa calling. . .

"Connie, got any good news for me about the Charles Gardner case?" Mike asked his ADA, finding himself relieved for the distraction from his personal life.

"Mike," Connie sighed as she said her superior's name carefully "I'm calling about Chelsea."

Mike felt his breath catch in his throat at the mere mention of her name. He felt relief and joy begin to spread through his body, but also his heart began to race. Connie had been refusing to discuss Chelsea with Mike, so the fact she was now mentioning her to him meant that something was happening. Even if it was bad news, this was his way of getting his foot in the door.

"Yeah?" Mike responded trying to sound nonchalant but he knew that Connie was smart enough to know he was feeling anything but casual.

"It's pretty serious. I have her on the other line. Mike, she's been arrested for assaulting a police officer. She's currently being held in a station in a small town near Hudson. She used her one phone call to call me. For the first time in weeks." Connie stated.

Mike was silent for a few moments as he let Connie's words sink in. It would be a lie if he immediately denied she was capable of doing what she was accused of. Chelsea Callahan was a firecracker who had been toeing the line her entire life. But he knew this was extreme, even for her.

"Connie, what the hell happened?" Mike eventually asked as he ran a hand through his greying hair as nerves began to rise.

"I don't know. It's hard to get information out of her. I don't know if she's under the influence of anything or if she's just terrified. She claims she didn't do it, though. I didn't want her to say anything out loud without a lawyer present so I haven't asked for the full story." Connie explained.

As if he were on auto-pilot Mike had raced over to his suit rack and was attempting to throw one of his expensive jackets over his shoulders with his phone pressed to his ear. Once he got both arms through he responded to Connie.

"Good advice. I'll go down and sort this out, can you text me the address?"

"Mike, it's fairly late and it's a two hour drive. Is there anyone else you can call to go and represent her?" Connie asked.

Mike thought about it for a split second. Connie was talking in complete sense. If he found a local lawyer they could be down at the station in mere minutes to help out Chelsea. However, he didn't personally know any lawyers in or around Hudson. In the time it took for him to make a few calls at this late hour, he could already be down there. Besides, he needed this. He needed to be the one to go down there and be her hero.