Echoes of Resilience

25

So where does this leave Shepherd?" Officer Jacobs asked prosecutor Isabella Manchester after Kyla's death and connection to Aria got leaked to the press.

"His lawyer is backing out of the deal and my boss is concerned that if we try to offer him any sort of deal that they'll go to the media and claim we're trying to cover up Agent Nicholls' actions. This looks really bad." The prosecutor sighed, accepting a cup of coffee from the officer with a smile.

"We have his DNA on multiple bodies and he confessed to killing Rose before the FBI got involved, the smart thing to do would be to take the deal. All he's doing is leaving himself open to the death penalty." Officer Taylor chimed in, sitting down at her desk and rubbing her temples in a failed attempt to ease some tension.

"Due to Agent Nicholls' actions, the feds are no longer interested in taking the case. He never killed more than once in a given place so independently, none of his crimes are eligible for the death penalty. We can try him in Washington for Rose's murder and Meredith's abduction, after that it's likely the other states will file for extradition. He'll get multiple life sentences and never get out of prison, but Meredith will have to testify." She explains, much to the horror of the two officers.

"Why are the FBI backing down? The second he brought Meredith across state lines he committed both a federal and a capital crime!" Taylor exclaims while slamming her hand down on her desk in frustration, Jacobs nodding in agreement.

"Shepherds' lawyer is threatening to use Kyla's connection to Aria to suggest that evidence was planted to connect him to the other victims. Her name has been drug through the mud as it is, they don't want to dirty her up more, not to mention Kyla has been a part of the same FBI team for years so if she's dirty it wouldn't take much to convince a jury that the entire team has something to hide. They don't want to take the chance of him getting off or at least not getting as much time as he deserves.It doesn't help that she was having an affair with her supervisor."

"I'm sorry she and her supervisor were involved?" Jacobs gasps, unable to hold back her shock at that revelation.

"That's why she didn't face more consequences for her actions towards her ex-finance after Aria's death. They had already been seeing each other for almost two years at that point. Honestly it seems like her relationship and subsequent engagement with Lucas Williams was because her supervisor's wife was getting suspicious of their relationship. Which would explain why it was so easy for her to believe that he could commit murder." She explains with a tired sigh. "I don't want Shepherd to get away with what he did to Meredith, but I also don't want to have to put her on the stand. Our only option to avoid that is to decline to prosecute him for her abduction. We can still prosecute him for murdering Rose which will earn him a life sentence, but if we drop the charges for what he did to Meredith then he would be legally innocent in his crimes against her, which doesn't sit right with me."

"That doesn't sit right with me either, but I honestly don't know if she can handle a trial." Taylor sighs while taking a sip of her coffee.

"I honestly don't know what would be more traumatic for her, having to testify and face Derek at trial or him essentially getting away with what he did to her." Jacobs sighs.

"Maybe the best thing to do is ask her what she wants. If we drop the charges you're right, he would be essentially getting away with everything he did to her, but he still wouldn't be free. We have more than enough evidence to convict him for Rose's murder and I will be seeking a life sentence for what he did to her. Even if none of the other states move to extradite and prosecute him, he would be in prison for the rest of his life." Isabella assures the officers while moving to exit the precinct with a wave and a sympathetic smile towards the two officers.