No Cops!

Chapter 32

"How long will I be held like this? I already told the police everything." The petulant whine was from Bert, or Rob, Suzy's idiot brother. Jake sighed, not wanting in the least to antagonize his star witness. He did cooperate, once he had been convinced that full cooperation will lead to leniency and even clemency.

Hell, if the kid was lucky, he may even enjoy the benefits of the Witness Protection Program. Only if he fully cooperated though.

They had miles long charge sheets filed against Busconi, his gang, his business associates. Names, numbers, dates, it was a veritable treasure trove.

But it always took long to dig up the treasure, they needed to be thorough and savvy.

"They really should let me go soon. I feel like a prisoner!"

"Didn't you meet your family yesterday? And Chloe had come the day before hadn't she?" He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that badass Chloe was Bert, that is, Rob's girlfriend. They must have spent some interesting weeks together.

Rob sighed and held his head in his hands, dejected.

"I got in too deep man, it was like quicksand. I wanted to get out but it was too late. Now, my mom and sister-" He trailed away.

At least he seemed genuinely remorseful.

"Well, good thing is that you are out of the mess now. And by turning into a witness, you are helping the cops and ensuring that the police take good care of you. You are getting the best deal."

He sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know. That's what my lawyer advised me." He looked at him then, his hair cropped close to his head and the clean shaven look with the glistening blue eyes made him look even younger than he was. "I want Joe behind bars. It's the least I can do for my friend, Shane."

"Yes, he won't get out of the murder charge so easily." Jake assured him.

Rob was silent for a while. "Can I ask you something?"

Jake hid an inward groan. But he had known this was coming. At his slight nod, Rob said, "What exactly is the deal with you and Suzy?"

Jake sighed, debating on how much to let the younger guy know. "She- well, we dated for a bit and-", another breath, "not sure what she feels about me now. She has pretty strong feelings against cops. She made rules against dating cops, for instance."

Rob chortled, "Yeah, Suzy and her rules!" He gave Jake once-over. "I love my sister, Sergeant Jake, I would hate it if you hurt her even a little bit." He stood up tall, all six feet of gangly muscle. "Now, I am not exactly in a position to make threats, but if you aren't serious about her, please stay the hell away from her."

He wanted to laugh at his bravado, but gravely assured her that he had nothing but respect and admiration for Suzy. Even love, but he wasn't going to admit to her punk brother yet.

#

"Did you talk to Suzy yet?" Vera Larson was on her daily mission to annoy the hell out of her son.

"Did dad get his medicines?" Jake deflected. It worked and Vera forgot about Suzy when she thanked her son, went into details of his dad's forgetfulness to take the medicines and hung up.

Jake focussed on his work. He was working longer hours daily, trying to wrap up all the Marauders gang members. The chargesheet against them took two cops working round the clock to prepare. Besides the paperwork, he had to organize a task force to clean up the gang activities. The connections went deep. It was a case that had cracked wide open, a dream for any cop to handle.

Rob was cooperative and his lawyer was a smart cookie. In exchange for witness protection, Rob was turning out to be the most cooperative criminal.

It was bad how these kids were lured into a life of crime for the glitz of glamor of easy money, women and in many cases, drugs. At least Rob had learned the error of his ways.