All Mine

ONE

The officer was rambling at me the second I'd arrived at the precinct, clearly eager to get the brief over with. "He was picked up Friday night, too late to post bail. He's charged for aggravated battery and non-compliance. Won't say a word. Requested you this morning when we notified him the other party was in ICU."

"Seth Ackerman, right?" I asked, wanting to clarify before he led me down to him. My boss had been just as vague on the phone, just telling me to go downtown as soon as I could.

"Yes, here's the arrest report." He handed me a short stack of papers, starting to thumb through it quickly. The paperwork was a little more dated than I'd expected, reports going back months and then years. "He's restrained, currently." He said and my eyes snapped back to his, stomach turning at his words.

"Why? Still violent?"

"He was with me this morning."

"Noted." I sighed, motioning towards the hallway so he can show me where the client was at. If he'd been here since Friday, I really wasn't trying to prolong his stay anymore than it already had. "You told him I was coming?" I asked, hoping he'd let the client know to ease some of his aggression towards the situation. I didn't want to be the cause of more stress, so I was hoping to get him out of here as quickly as I could.

"Yes," he paused, stopping us in front of a door before opening it. "Ackerman, your attorney is here-" he stated a little more sternly than he'd been conversing with me, clearly trying to show his authority with the detainee.

I stepped into the room and finally met eyes with my client, almost freezing at the familiarity of his gaze. "Good morning." He said casually, a smirk on his lips as my reaction had to be a little more external than I'd planned. What the fuck?

"Uh, thanks Zach." I said uncomfortably, wanting the privacy now. I wanted to know what the hell he was thinking, requesting me so boldly considering the circumstances.

I didn't know who he was by name, but I recognized him. He was my father's partner, memories of him leaving the house late or early in the morning whenever they'd finished doing whatever they did. I knew better than to question my dad, and he knew better than to bring it up. Whatever they had going on clearly wasn't to be talked about publicly and I wasn't going to start now.

"Let me know if you need anything." The officer stated before closing the door behind himself, leaving Mr. Ackerman and I alone. I took the brief moment of silence to really look over him, taking notice of slight injuries he'd gotten Friday night.

His nose was bruised and his eyebrow split, a dark scab separating the already dark hair. He cocked his head slightly, forcing our eyes to meet again. "Mr. Ackerman, my name is Grace I'll be defending you throughout the case per your request-" I started my usual spiel, trying to keep things professional. I knew he knew who I was, remembering the small glances we've shared as I watched him leave my father's house late in the night when I was a teen.

He's been around forever it seemed, but I knew nothing about him. He'd been a mystery to me since I first saw him, remembering how my father had brushed me off when I'd initially asked who that was leaving the house so late. I'd never asked again, trying to ignore the shared glances we'd had when I'd been up late studying or just fucking around in my room. My father had thought he'd been slick, careful, with whatever he was doing but clearly he wasn't- his partner now sitting across from me after begging for my assistance. I wonder if my father was aware of the situation.

"You can call me Seth." He corrected, accent heavy and something I totally wasn't expecting. It was European, thick like every word came from the pit of his stomach. "You normally start this late?" He questioned me, dark eyebrows furrowing slightly.