Chapter 8 - I Make It Worse
My mistake came forty-eight hours later.
Derek began appearing near places Harper used regularly.
Not violating an order.
No order yet.
Public streets.
No direct contact.
Harper’s independent lawyer, Aisha Reynolds, was preparing an abuse-prevention petition.
I hated waiting.
So I told Paul:
“I want to know where Derek goes after shift.”
Paul looked at me.
“Why?”
“To see who he talks to.”
“Legal?”
“I’m asking for observation in public.”
Paul hesitated.
That should have stopped me.
“Do it.”
He used two licensed private investigators.
No trespass.
No tracking device.
No hacking.
Public observation.
Legal in broad terms depending context.
Still a bad idea.
Why?
Because Derek was a police officer alleging that a crime boss had taken control of his ex-wife.
Then two investigators connected to my security contractor appeared near his precinct.
Derek noticed one.
He photographed the car.
Within hours his attorney sent a letter accusing me of:
witness intimidation and surveillance of a police officer.
Harper found out.
She came into my study furious.
“You promised.”
“I promised not to hurt or intimidate him.”
“You had men follow him.”
“Licensed investigators in public.”
She stared.
“Listen to yourself.”
I stopped.
She continued:
“This is what he said you would do.”
There.
“He said I’d leave one controlling man and hide behind another.”
That cut.
“Harper.”
“No.”
She was shaking.
“You don’t get to decide what protects me.”
Correct.
I called Paul.
“Stop surveillance.”
Then to Aisha.
Disclosed everything.
She was furious too.
Good day.
Would the observation have uncovered useful facts?
Maybe.
We stopped.
The two hours already documented later became defense material.
Derek’s attorney argued Harper’s fear statements were contaminated by Ashford pressure.
Not true.
But I had given him a credible narrative tool.
My need for control created risk for the person I claimed to protect.
I apologized to Harper.
“I was wrong.”
She said:
“Yes.”
No comforting me.
Appropriate.
Then:
“If I stay here, do you understand that I decide what happens to my case?”
“Yes.”
“Say it.”
“You decide what happens to your case, within whatever actions police or prosecutors independently take.”
She nodded.
“Better.”
Lawyer language.
May you like
But honest.
────────────────────
