Free The Mistaken by Nancy S Thompson Page A

we hear from the DA’s office,
we’ll let you know, but you need to be patient. The process is
complicated, and the DA won’t prosecute if he doesn’t think he can
secure a conviction. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some phone
calls to make.” He tipped his head then walked out of the room,
leaving the door open behind him. He stopped in the hall and turned
back to me. “I can walk you back out, Mrs. Karras.”
    I grabbed my bag and left the room, stomping rather
childishly down the hall. Fine. If the police wouldn’t help,
I would take care of it myself. I didn’t know how, but I wasn’t
going to let this case fall through the sizeable cracks of a broken
legal system.
     
    ~
     
    For the rest of the week, I wracked my brain trying
to figure out a way to get the District Attorney’s office to
prosecute, or somehow coerce that woman to confess. I was
frustrated that there didn’t seem to be anything I could do. I
tried to stay calm for my own health and the sake of the baby, but
it continued to eat away at me for days on end. There was no way I
could just let it go. Tyler acted sympathetic, but he was also
patient enough to wait for the prosecutor’s office to follow
through. He was a stickler for rules, something I found
particularly irritating at times. After two weeks with no progress,
I decided to push the issue.
    “So I’ve made a decision, Tyler,” I announced one
evening as we cleaned up after dinner. “I’m going to meet with the
DA. If I put a face on the victim, give him a little sob story or
whatever, maybe he’d care a little more. Or perhaps I should talk
to one of those TV news investigators. You know, the ones who
embarrass deadbeats on the air. I’ll tell him all about the DA not
doing his job.” I turned from the sink and faced him, my eyes
narrowing involuntarily. “I bet a little public humiliation would
get him off his ass. Don’t you think?”
    He sighed. “You already know what I think, Jill. You
need to let this go. It’s not good for you or the baby to obsess
about it all the time.” He stood in front of me with his
hands around my arms, stooping to catch my attention. “Look at you.
You’re a bloody wreck.”
    I wrenched free from his grasp, feeling like a
scolded child. “I can’t just let it go, Ty. I’m so freaking pissed.
And you should be, too, for God’s sake! That woman belongs in
jail.”
    “Relax, love. She will be...eventually. It won’t
change us having to take the time to clear things up on your end
though. You need to be patient.”
    “Ugh! I’m so tired of hearing that,” I said as I
paced the floor. “What are we supposed to do in the meantime, huh?
There’s not enough room for us here. We’re already bursting at the
seams, and it’s just not safe with all this clutter. We need a
bigger place, Tyler, and I won’t have the time or energy to deal
with moving after the baby comes. Don’t you understand
that?”
    “I understand you’re a bit overwrought right now,
love. All those pregnancy hormones are wreaking havoc on your
emotions.”
    My chin dropped. “So because I’m taking those
goddamn pills, this is just me being hormonal, is that it? Like I
don’t have a legitimate reason to be upset about all this, huh? Let
me tell you something, if someone was messing with your perfect world, you’d be pissed, too,” I said, poking him in the
chest, but then I pulled back. “Oh wait, I’m sorry, I forgot. Mr.
Law-Abiding-Citizen here is content to just sit around and wait for
that chucklehead DA to get off his ass and do his job. You’d never
think to stray outside the rules to see to my interests, would you?
Hell, no! And God forbid I should wander from the straight and
narrow either, right? Tell me, Ty, do you ever get tired of being
so self-righteous? God knows I do.” I pointed my finger toward the
door. “That bitch is ruining my life, my reputation. But hey, it’s
no big deal, huh?” I waved my hands at him. “Whatever.”
    My tone