Bullies Spit On A Waitress — Unaware She Was A Commander For 10 Years!
Chapter 23
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"Good," Claire said."You've been thorough," the judge said."I had time," Claire said."The land title documentation is particularly compelling," the judge said. "The correlation between the accelerated closing of the accident investigation and the filing of the development proposal is not subtle.""No," Claire said. "It's not.""You should also know," Judge Hall said, "that the federal investigators are already aware of the arrest warrant Mace attempted to file this morning."Claire was quiet for a moment. "This morning," she said."Filed at 6:40 a.m.," Judge Hall said. "Charges of obstruction of county process. Vague enough to be useful for delay purposes; specific enough to give his department legal cover for an apprehension.""An apprehension of me?" Claire said."Yes," Judge Hall said. "The warrant was flagged immediately and is currently being reviewed for validity, which means it is effectively suspended pending that review—which means if anyone attempts to execute it before the review is complete, they are acting outside their legal authority.""Who flagged it?" Claire said."I did," Judge Hall said. A brief silence."I appreciate that," Claire said."You sent me a very well-organized file," the judge said. "At 11:00 on a Thursday night, with complete documentation and a clear chain of evidence. In my experience, people who do that at 11:00 on a Thursday night are not people manufacturing obstruction."Claire almost smiled. "There's something you should know," Claire said. "About last night.""I'm listening," the judge said.Claire told her about the bodycam audio, the file that had been running since before Tyler and Colt arrived at her building, the automatic transfer to the encrypted server. She gave Judge Hall the access credentials she would need to retrieve it through the proper federal channel.The judge was quiet for a moment. "You set that up before they arrived," the judge said."I knew they'd come," Claire said. "After what happened in the diner, it was the logical next move.""How did you know they'd say anything useful?" the judge said."I didn't," Claire said. "But people who operate from unchecked authority tend to say useful things when they think they're not being recorded, because they've never had to be careful before."Another silence."Lieutenant Commander," the judge said, and she used the title with the particular precision of someone who had looked it up and understood exactly what it meant."Just Claire," Claire said. "These days.""Just Claire," the judge said. "You should be at the courthouse by 8:45.""I'll be there," Claire said. She hung up.She looked at the time: 8:18 a.m. She stood up from the chair. She went to the desk and asked the receptionist to let Kevin Webb know she'd be back before his testimony was done. Then she went outside.