บท 24: 24 Waiting
The police station in the nearby town was as small as the town itself. Adam could bet that the law enforcement officers here didn't deal with very serious cases on a daily basis. I wonder if they realized how lucky they were?
Lechoń sailed into his area like a cruiser under full tie flag and cannons of expensive suit. He knew how important the first impression was and although in private he never behaved like that, as a lawyer he did not hesitate to use any legal methods to achieve the goal.
“Good evening” he turned to the officer on duty handing him a shiny business card “Lawyer Adam Lechoń from the law firm Niedziałek&Hess. I would like to see Artur Czapla.”
The officer, not very young, with a moustache and a tummy, looked at him as if he was from another planet. He was wondering what he should do, and this tardiness did not please the lawyer.
“I would like to remind you that every detainee has the right to contact an attorney. You don't want me standing here all night, Sergeant. My time is valuable.”
That must have worked. The guy was getting soft.
“Good evening, Mr Zenon” suddenly Piotr, who was parking his car and only now appeared at the station, joined the conversation. “Let my cousin in” he asked. “Don't you know Artur? He is a boy from the neighbourhood.”
“It is not a problem for me, but...”
“Father Lechoń” Adam said “he could ask you a favour, sergeant. I ask you not to make my job difficult.”
“All right," he gave in.
“Thank you” smiled Adam. Sometimes you need to push, but you also need to know when to back off to gain extra points. Alienating people was not profitable in the long run. You never know when a favor might come in handy. “Can you tell me something about this case?”
“There is not much to tell” said the sergeant and started to lead them along the corridor. “Paweł Gawrosz was taken to hospital with a head injury. His friends testified that he got hit at the disco. They pointed to Artur as the perpetrator. We had no choice but to arrest him.”
“But attempted murder? Isn't that a pretty serious charge for a fight in a disco?”
“The kid's in a medically induced coma. The brain damage was severe enough that the doctor can't guarantee survival. The kid is in his twenties.”
It was tragic, probably each of them felt the same way because their faces were serious. A human life, a young life, was in danger. The boy had gone to a disco to have fun, to loosen up. No one had anticipated that something like this would happen. Maybe he drank one too many beers hitting on a pretty girl.
“The problem is also” the sergeant added “that Artur trains in combat sports.”
Adam looked at him surprised. This information he did not have, and it was important. If he's a professional his fists can be considered a dangerous tool, so even if the prosecutor's office reduces the charges to assault with a dangerous tool and hospitalization for more than seven days, Artur's situation will still be bleak.
“How good is he?” He asked.
“Third place in the national championships.”
“Professional or amateur?”
“Amateur, I guess. He's just a kid. He's been training for two, maybe three years.”
Lechoń was relieved. If the prosecution insists on a dangerous tool on the basis of the third place in the competition, it can be overturned. It won't be easy, because the boy really has achievements, but he's been training for a short time and still at an amateur level.
“Wait here” he let the lawyer into a small room with three chairs and a table. “This is our interrogation room. You will be able to talk freely here.”
There was no Venetian mirror or even cameras in it. The only thing there was besides a shoddy table and folding chairs was a fluorescent light hooked up to the ceiling. Adam knew they would have adequate privacy here. He sat down in one of the chairs and waited.
After a few minutes, the door opened again and a teenager was ushered in - medium height, thin, short-haired and deathly afraid. A kid who found himself in a situation that surpassed him several times over.
“I'm Adam” the attorney introduced himself. “I'm here to help you.”
***
Nine o'clock in the evening past some time ago, Hubert nevertheless did not cease to gaze at the little pier on the other side of the lake. The darkness of night had already begun to encompass it, and had it not been for the moon and the hotel lights he might have lost sight of it. It was past ten and the pier remained empty.
The window in the lawyer's room was also dark. Perhaps unaccustomed to this kind of exertion, the tired lawyer lay down for a while and fell asleep. Although Hubert felt disappointed, he had to understand that.
Too bad, he thought, because the more time he spent with the lawyer, the more attracted he felt to him.
The attraction wasn't just physical. Adam was intelligent, sensitive, interesting and talking to him was a pleasant tease. There are some people you just like and some you just don't. For Hubert, Adam belonged to the former group. Meeting someone like that in this secluded, quiet place was like a gift from heaven that allowed Raymund to deal with his boredom.
It wasn't that before the appearance of the problematic lawyer, Hubert was dying of boredom. Working on the hotel consumed his every waking moment, and maybe that was the problem, because the monotony of a job, even an engaging one, also began to be boring at some point. Adam was therefore an invigorating breath of novelty in Hubert's everyday life.
He was also a man whose star had been restlessly twinkling and dimming for too long. Hubert hoped to rekindle it to shine brightly. For there was nothing more beautiful than such a person beaming upon all. There was also nothing sadder when the glow of such a person faded.
At ten forty Hubert stopped watching the pier. He felt disappointed but not to any great extent. He got the impression that his interest in Adam was mutual, but perhaps the lawyer needed a slightly different pace. Or maybe he was just sleeping. One lost night is not the end of a friendship that, after all, was just beginning and had not yet taken any real shape. The chance could always come tomorrow.
He had barely closed the door when he heard a knock on it. He was still holding the handle, so he opened it immediately.
Standing in the doorway was Adam, dressed in a expensive suit and tie, which was, however, loose and his neck button undone. He was breathing heavily, as if he had run a long way.
“I hope” he said “that I am not too late.”
“Not a bit” Hubert smiled and unceremoniously dragged him inside. Without waiting or asking anything he dragged him into the bedroom and pushed him onto the bed.
Adam was blushing and breathing hard, but he looked at him bravely. He didn't shyly run his eyes away. His eyes sparkled with anticipation and challenge.
“And I thought you were sexiest in a builder's outfit,” Hubert stated. “Did you dress like that especially for me?”
“Not this time.”
So something had happened, Hubert decided. Something important enough to dress him in that suit and cause him to be out of time. Something good, or the opposite? It was so hard to judge by his appearance, which indicated neither. The only thing you could guess from him was that he was craving sex.
“But you should be punished for being late.”
“You said I wasn't a bit late.”
“I looked at my broken watch.”
“What if I don't want to do this punishment?”
“What does the law say about that?”
“It says that anyone who evades punishment is liable to an additional penalty.”
“That's right.”
Adam bit his lip.
“So," he asked after a moment, "what should I do?”
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