Logan Echolls (loganecho) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-08-22 21:06:00 |
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Entry tags: | judy hopps, logan echolls |
Who: Logan & Judy
What: Cover Up Conversations
When: Tuesday afternoon
Where: Baxter’s
Rating: PG
Status: Complete!
Judy sat at one of the corner tables at Baxter’s, a coffee in front of her as she stared into its sparkly contents. She knew who Detective Echolls was, but they hadn’t had too many interactions together. She did know that he and Leon were close, so it only made sense that he would reach out to her to talk about the cover up. She was grateful because it was proving to be more difficult than the last time and she would take all the help she could get. The circumstance of Leon’s wounds proved hard to come up with some kind of story that didn’t get Alex in trouble.
Found in bed with the gunshot wounds no signs of a break in… She shook her head, pulling her curls back into a ponytail. She had told Alex she would take care of it, that he wouldn’t have to worry. She hoped she would be able to keep that promise after this meeting.
Logan was doing this for Leon, and a bit for Judy who had gotten herself into this by accident. He couldn’t say it was for Alex, but he would benefit from someone who still had a brain left. He agreed to meet her at Baxters. If they were seen, it wouldn’t be unusual for two detectives to get together and talk.
“Hey,” he said, coming to the table. “Did you order anything to eat yet?” He sat, looking at the menu at the table. He hadn’t gotten to eat all day and he was hungry. Might as well grab a bite while they got into the details.
Judy couldn’t help but stand as he approached the table, unsure why it felt more like an interview than get together. He didn’t seem to be as worried as she was (at least outwardly) and she sat across from him, telling herself to just chill. She didn’t need to bring any more attention to them, this was just a casual get together, not a cover up plan.
“Just the coffee,” she said, holding up her cup as if he couldn’t already see it. “But I could go for some food.” Not really, but she could pretend. She grabbed another menu and opened it, her eyes scanning through the various pictures and descriptions without really taking it in. “Thanks for meeting me here. I figured it seemed better than sneaking around and meeting at our respective homes.”
“Good, yeah, me too. I haven’t eaten since really early, and that was like a donut. Don’t even laugh. Cops and donuts are a thing.” Logan smiled at her, sorry that she got caught in this, and sorry that Leon had no clue on how to fix it. If Logan prided himself on anything, it was his ability to pull a good plot. His dream self had gotten out of things once or twice, so he could too, right? Maybe that’s where the determination came from.
“I think I’ll get one of those bagel sandwiches. They are really good here, and at least somewhat healthy.” He wondered how sneaky she could be as he looked at her. “Are you nervous?” he asked.
For meeting up to discuss something so serious, Judy couldn’t help but smile back at Logan’s laid back attitude. It certainly help cut the tension and he was probably right; better to think on a full stomach than to worry yourself to starvation. They needed to be alert for Leon and Alex right now.
“Yeah, I think I’ll do the same,” she said, glancing up at his next question. She folded the menu, her leg starting to bounce up and down. “Maybe...yeah. I mean...nothing happened! But they’ll just think he’s crazy and who knows what could happen with that! Or assume he’s trying to cover for Alex and I don’t want him to go to jail.” She shook her head, taking a large sip out of her coffee. It was one of the few times she could probably relate to Leon and wished for something stronger.
“Sorry. I can handle this. I can help you.”
“There is the problem,” Logan said. He could think logically when Leon was a little hotheaded. Leon’s heart was usually in the right place, if he could call it that, but the truth didn’t serve them. “Here we have a guy who gets shot, there is only one person there, no evidence of a breakin at all, so Alex is the automatic suspect.” The case would be a no brainer for a court. There was simply nothing else.
“Not only that, they fucked up by calling in an ambulance. That meant there would be a report and here we are. With a cop getting shot, they won’t let it go as unsolved, and if that means Alex goes down, so be it.” Logan sighed, scanning the menu. “I’ve tried to tell the to get a dream healer on board, but it’s like talking to stone, and Alex is too stupid to give them a good story. He fucked himself. So here we are too, making sure we can get them out of their drama.”
Judy was still green in her hope in the justice system, but she shook her head at what he said. “But with no evidence, how can they possibly hold him?” she asked, shaking her head. “So if they can’t find anything, they’ll just keep Alex in jail because someone has to be held accountable?” It sounded like madness, but as Judy tossed it around in her head, it didn’t seem that impossible.
“Have you had to deal with things like this before?” she asked at his mention of getting a dreamer involved in these cases. “How have they gone down before? Were we able to help?” Judy thought of her own experience and wondered why it couldn’t happen the same way. Because that dealt with a single person and an overdose. This is attempted murder. She downed the rest of her coffee and set it on the edge of the table for a refill.
As if on cue, someone came over to take their order, filling up both their mugs. Judy ordered a simple breakfast of toast, eggs over easy, bacon and hash browns. Her leg immediately started to bounce once Logan had placed his order and the waitress had left.
“So...honestly. How bad is this situation?” Judy was really relying on the other experienced members on the force and their past histories with things like this.
“They can hold him as long as they want. They have got nothing else. Alex was the only one there and there is no evidence that he didn’t do it. Someone has to go down for it, and it will be him.” Logan stirred some sugar in his coffee. “However, there are a lot of dreamers out there. There is some talent. There are healers, magic users, and those who can compel. That’s the vampire crowd.”
“Do you know anyone along those lines? The magic users are good, but we need this whole thing redirected.” Logan wasn’t even a huge fan of the kid, but he’d do whatever he needed to do for Leon. “I wish Leon didn’t feel that the truth will set him free because it won’t.”
Judy frowned, not wanting to believe it. “But isn’t that why they can’t hold him? Because there is no evidence!” She didn’t want to think that it was more important to the city to blame someone rather than the right person. Sure, that didn’t really pertain to this situation, but it certainly wasn’t a reason to target the boyfriend! Especially when no evidence came up to make it seem like there was any reason why Alex or Leon would lie about what happened. But there was no evidence to begin with…
Judy shook her head and took a deep breath. “I don’t. I kinda just started with this whole dreaming thing, so I haven’t really been able to make many friends who get those kinda powers from them.” She looked over at him, a concerned look on her face. “Tell the truth? Like...that he dreamt his injuries?”
Logan sighed, drinking his coffee. “I’m a cynic, especially after being out here so long. Here’s the problem. The system works sometimes. Where you’d like to think people are innocent until proven guilty, in Alex’s case, he’s guilty until proven innocent, and there is no way to do that with the truth.” He looked at her, and smiled a little. She was sweet, and pretty innocent still. “To a non-dreamer, there is no way a dream injury could manifest in real life, so that is where we are stuck. There is no evidence of a breakin, no DNA evidence of anyone other than Leon and Alex at the house, and so who could do it - Alex. Waiting for the system to work isn’t going to work.”
“We have connections though. We know dreamers. Got friends out there?” Logan didn’t have many that were the supernatural variety, especially ones skilled in particular manipulations. He could put a call out there though. He was pretty sure he’d get an answer. “I know we are going outside the law a little, and Leon doesn’t love that. He’s more a rules guy, and has a naive belief that the truth wins. He’s not winning though.”