Tessa Stark: Desert Heat

Chapter Fifteen

"This could bring any of the cases that I've prosecuted in the last five years into question, Ed. Are you sure its worth all this?" District Attorney Lonnie Eckhart questioned, running a hand over his bald head.

"I'm sure that I can't ignore the fact that Rogers overlooked evidence that it took Detective Stark about five minutes to find," Sheriff Gonzalez said, his tone and expression tight.

D.A. Eckhart turned his attention to Tessa, sitting in the chair beside him. "Detective, this evidence you found...are you certain it will lead you anywhere? Could it not be extraneous information that really means nothing?"

Lifting a shoulder, she could only provide him with an honest answer. "I don't know, Mr. Eckhart. They very well could be dead end leads. But, then again, not investigating a lover who was sending angry and desperate texts to Hallie Whitmore would be flat out negligence."

"But, there is a better than average chance that it will be useless information," the D.A. persisted. "And if that's the case, then bringing all this to light will upend years of work for absolutely no reason."

"That's always the risk," she told the man, watching a vein in the center of his forehead pulsate.

"So, Detective, would you have any objection to investigating this evidence first and then, if it leads nowhere, rescinding your complaint--"

"Lonnie! What the hell are you doing!" Sheriff Gonazlez demanded, aghast as he stared at the D.A.

For a moment, Mr. Eckhart froze, and then his shoulders slumped and he huffed out a deep breath, giving his head a shake.

"We don't work like this. I don't work like this!" the sheriff bit out, leaning back in his desk chair and pulling in a breath of his own.

"I know. I know," Mr. Eckhart agreed, swiping a hand across his forehead. "Its just.."

"I know," Sheriff Gonzalez repeated. "But, we do what's right in this office. And we do it by the book."

The D.A. gave a nod, sliding a sideways glance at Tessa. "Strike my last statement, won't you, Detective? I'm just a little caught off guard by this."

"Its forgotten," she told the man. "And I'm sorry this is happening. If I didn't think there was a severe lack of due diligence, it never would have been brought up."

"Its not your fault, Detective Stark," the sheriff assured her. "This lands squarely on Rogers. He laid down on the job and now the three of us have a mess to clean up."

"I'm doing my best to clean up on my end," she said, hoping the man sitting beside her wasn't going to fall over due to a stress induced heart infarction.

The poor man looked like he was on the verge of either imploding...or bursting into tears.

"So, I guess we have to clean up on our end," Mr. Eckhart sighed. "I'll log Detective Stark's deposition into the case review affidavit...and file the paperwork for the audits. Have you talked to Detective Rogers?"

The sheriff nodded somberly. "I called him in last night. He's out of commission until further notice."

Tessa felt herself wanting to apologize again, but she bit her lip and refrained. She'd been brought in to solve a case and she was doing that. Any failures on Detective Rogers' part to fully investigate, and anything that might happen to him as a result of those failures, landed squarely on his own shoulders.

"I think your part is done, Detective Stark. You can get back to work before the morning slips away," Sheriff Gonzalez said, suddenly giving her a kind smile. "And you're doing a fine job."