Terms and Conditions Apply

Lisa pressed herself into Zack’s body, deepening the hug, simply relishing in the comfort and security of his arms around her. She had no idea how long they’d been wrapped around each other now. It couldn’t have been more than several seconds, but it felt like longer, and yet not long enough. After being held for the police, no time in his arms would ever be enough. Though it had only been a couple of days, not long enough to completely lose hope, seeing the same walls and the same people, day in, day out, had certainly began to depress and trouble her.

“I’m so happy to see you,” she stated, her voice cracking. She looked up into his face but made no effort to detach from him. “I was starting to think I might never see you or anyone else again. The only people I’ve allowed to see are my mum and Mr. McRose and these fucking useless pol-”

Behind them, Detective McClane cleared her throat, interrupting Lisa’s statement and simultaneously drawing their attention. Lisa reluctantly moved to Zack’s side, glowering at the woman for breaking up their reunion. Zack kept one arm around Lisa, soothingly caressing her back as all eyes fell on the detective, hoping that Lisa being here meant that they were going to release her.

“You’ll both be pleased to hear that the tech lab came back and have validated the recording. This means that, it is their assessment that the recording is genuine and hasn’t been falsified, edited or manipulated in any discernible way. They also assessed personal information embedded in the file, such as the time and date of recording, and that it was recorded on the phone of a ‘Brandon Cole’ from a device owned by ‘Ashley Woodsen’, all of which contextualizes the recording within the time frame of the alleged crime by Hannah Woodsen. That is to say, in similar terms, that the recording can be trusted,” The female detective dealt a barrage of details at the teens, her voice monotone. “However, I must stress that their recommendation only extends as far as the technical aspect of the recording and provides no judgement on the manipulation of the persons giving the confession.”

“Brandon, Ashley, Hannah…” Lisa repeated the names that the detective had mentioned, before looking at Zack. “What do any of them have to do with my arrest? And manipulation of the confession?” She turned back to the police woman. “You mean that it was a ****, right?”

“I’m not surprised that you don’t know. The police had no idea that Hannah was involved until we provided the recording of her confession,” Zack revealed, glancing at Joan McClane and the disapproving expression on her face as he highlighted their incompetence.

“We’re currently exploring the possibility that the confession was ****, and I’d rather not comment on an ongoing investigation,” was all the detective would directly say about the matter, deflecting and moving on. “In light of a new potential suspect, who is MIA, and evidence collected from her hotel apartment, however, we have decided to release Lisa until all other leads have been exhausted.”

“You mean, you’re trying to save your own image because it’s be really bad if it got out that the police arrested the wrong person,” Lisa growled, tempted to launch herself at the detective and claw her eyes out. The thought of being arrested and put through the same ordeal again was the only thing that stopped her. “This never would have happened if you hadn’t locked up my dad, apparently the only cop in this entire precinct with two brain cells to rub together.”

“Careful,” Detective McClane warned her coolly. “Releasing you is a gesture of goodwill on the part of the police ****, but if I find so much as a hair out of place or a name changed, I won’t hesitate to put you back in that cell, and next time your stay will come with a one way ticket to the state prison. Though it might not be so lonely. If I find that your friends conspired to forge this recording to engineer your release, then Zack Bishop here, along with Brandon Cole, Ashley Woodsen and Heather Ravers will all be joining you.”

“I understand that tensions are high, but let’s not resort to threats,” Roy McRose said congenially, his glance at Joan its own warning. “Remember, my clients have both been completely cooperative and instrumental to bringing this new evidence to light.”

“Of course,” the detective nodded at the lawyer, a small smile on her face. “As far as we know. At any rate, Miss. Rivera, while you are being released, you should be aware that you are still considered a person of interest in this crime and you should remain available for further questioning. The same goes for you, Mr. Bishop.” She paused, waiting for questions, of which there were none, both Zack and Lisa tired of listening to her treat them as if they were still guilty. “Miss. Rivera, would you like us to call your mother to take you home?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Zack said, rubbing Lisa’s shoulder. “I can take her.”

“Very well,” she accepted with a nod, already turning towards the door. “I sincerely hope we never meet again.”

She left without any more farewell than that, striding from the room and letting the heavy door slam shut behind her. Almost the instant that she was gone, the room erupted into cheers and celebration. Lisa hugged Zack again, and Roy for all he had done, and even Jennifer, even though she didn’t really know her, but she recognized the rangers uniform and knew that her presence here meant that she must have had something to do with her release, which made her eternally grateful, stranger or not. Zack shook hands with Jennifer and Roy, beaming as he saw fresh, tears of pure delight fall down Lisa’s face.

“What now?” He asked, standing beside Roy, watching as Jennifer gave Lisa a tissue, the Latino dabbing her eyes.

“I expect charges to be dropped formally any day now. Detective McClane wasn’t wrong, this was a goodwill gesture, they didn’t have to release her, but it speaks to the strength of the case that is building against Hannah Woodsen,” Roy told his daughter’s friend. “The fact that everything on the technical side of the recording checked out is a big win for us. A **** confession is much more difficult to prove, and Hannah fleeing doesn’t really add much weight to that theory.”

“The confession wasn’t ****,” Zack insisted, though being careful not to reveal too much of how he knew that. “I know I wasn’t there, but I know Ashley and Heather didn’t go there with the intention of getting a false confession. Hannah had already admitted to it to Ashley earlier that day. She simply went back to record it later.”

Roy nodded along, until Zack finished. “I didn’t think it had been ****, but that’s the angle that the police will be investigating from. But, regardless whether its true or not, it’s a difficult thing to prove without being able to talk to Hannah herself. You’d need either Heather or Ashley to admit to setting her up, or alternatively, you have to find the **** material and prove that Heather or Ashley were, one, aware of it, and two, had the means to use it. Thankfully, they can’t investigate Hannah while they’d arrested Lisa. They have to decide whose case is more compelling. That they kicked Lisa is a very good indicator that the case against Hannah is stronger. For now, it’s mostly a waiting game, but the road ahead looks good.”

“Great,” Zack replied, understanding. “What about Carlos Rivera though? He’s still under arrest, isn’t he?”

The mention of her father’s name piqued Lisa’s attention, prompting her to add, “Yeah, since I’ve been released, he should be free soon too?”

“I shouldn’t really comment on a case that’s still active to outside parties, but since you are his daughter and-” He looked between Zack and Jennifer. “You two have proven to be trustworthy, I’ll tell you this, his case is a little trickier. Whether it will go so far as to be called **** remains to be seen, the judge attests that he was grabbed quite roughly by Carlos. The fact that he was obstructing justice, when his intervention proved to be just, is a separate charge from that of manhandling the judge. So, you see, it’s not as simple as freeing one to free the other.”

“Nooo,” Lisa groaned, clenching her fists. “Isn’t there anything I can do? He’s only in this mess because of me.”

“No, you shouldn’t blame yourself for any of this,” Zack insisted, putting his arm around his enraged girlfriend again. “You were set up, and Hannah’s the only one we should hold accountable for any of this.”

“This is still quite good news,” Jennifer noted optimistically. “If the obstruction charge is dropped and the **** is reduced, there’s a good chance that Carlos won’t see any jail time.”

Roy agreed, moving his hands in front of his body, opening and raising one palm. “That’s one outcome that we’re looking at. However, the best case scenario is that we may be able to get them to drop all charges. The police won’t want questions asked about why Carlos acted out against the Judge because they won’t want it getting out that they arrested the wrong person. In that situation, they might put some pressure on the DA to drop the charges.” He lowered one hand and brought up the other. “However, it is a judge we’re talking about. A man of that importance might not want to let it go after getting pushed around." He dropped both hands and shrugged. "But, either way, there’s nothing that can be done about it right now, so I suggest we all go home and get some rest.”

“Yes,” Lisa said with a satisfied groan. “I can’t wait to get out of this place.”

The four of them walked out of the station, Roy McRose leading, officers watching and opening doors for them as they returned to the entrance foyer, where Al was still reading his book, barely glancing up as they passed. Out the door and down the steps, in the parking lot, they said their goodbyes, Jennifer heading to her jeep and Roy to his car. As Zack and Lisa crossed the lot to his shiny, blue sedan, she spread her arms wide and did a twirl, feeling the cool air flap against her body. Zack smiled to see her so happy, and free, feeling like things were finally going to get better.

“This feels so fucking great,” Lisa exclaimed, spinning again even as she started to get dizzy.

“I can’t imagine,” Zack admitted sincerely. “But I’m just glad to have you hear with us again.”

“Us?” Lisa said cautiously, trying to gauge how much of Zack’s presence was because he’d begun to reciprocate her feelings. “or with you?”

“I’m especially glad that you’re out,” he said, smiling and stepping close, his hands on her shoulders. “But a lot of people went to a lot of effort to see this moment happen.”

“I still don’t exactly understand,” Lisa said, furrowing her brow as she dipped her head. “They’re investigating Hannah? I guess this had something to do with you, me and Ashley…but how are Heather and Brandon involved?”

“I’ll tell you on the way,” Zack told her, crossing around the front of his car to the driver’s side. “I should get you home to your mom.”