things don't always turn out that way

[usattorney]

things don't always turn out that way;
"You have got to be fucking with me."

It's the only thing Luke can think to say when Kevin tells him that the FBI has taken out a warrant on Dexter Vincent for Janet's attempted murder. He's prosecuted enough narcotics-adjacent cases to know who Vincent is, and Kevin's second-hand explanation of why he's responsible for the shooting is enough to make Luke's blood boil. The stare he gives his best friend is bordering on homicidal.

"They're serving the warrant first thing tomorrow morning." Kevin, being six years Luke's senior and always the calmer one of the two, isn't fazed by his friend's outburst; in fact, he expected it. "Assuming he's where he ought to be, he'll be in custody before we get to the office."

"This is fucking ludicrous." Luke is still flabbergasted and hasn't sat down yet. "How did we not know Whitehouse was in bed with a drug dealer? This should have come up on discovery or in our investigation or—something. We could have leveraged him to launch a major narcotics investigation. How many people did we not arrest because we didn't know?"

"It wasn't in our investigation because it wasn't in their investigation, and they didn't have any reason to look," Kevin says gently. "Maybe you should focus on the fact that we got Janet's shooter?"

"Yeah. Of course." Luke lets out a tight breath and mentally forces himself to calm down. The most important thing is that the person who threatened his ex-girlfriend is about to be taken off the streets. "Has anyone told her yet?"

"I'm assuming Spencer called her after he hung up with me." His best friend hasn't stopped giving him that placating look. "Don't what if yourself on this. You had nothing to do with it, and you're going to have nothing to do with it." Unofficially warning him that he's not second-chairing this case, for the same reasons Luke hadn't wanted Janet near the Whitehouse trial. The conflict of interest is glaring, and Kevin won't be taking any chance that a major drug player is set free on some technicality.

Luke knows this but it still makes him shift his jaw with irritation at the idea that he can't do anything but sit and watch. "I'm gonna be in the courtroom though," he swears. "Whenever I'm not working, I'm gonna be there."

"As long as you sit in the back and shut up, I don't care." Kevin knows Luke will be working too much to show up for more than a few days so he's not that concerned about his friend fucking up his trial. He's more concerned about the wheels in Luke's brain still turning with the massive oversight that led to someone they both care about nearly dying. That's the kind of thing that can't happen again. "It's not your fault, Luke. It's not anyone's fault."

"It's got to be someone's fault."

"Narcotics and white-collar crime go hand in hand all the time. It's not that shocking."

"All the more reason we should have noticed."

"Is anything I say going to make you feel better or do you just want to feel like a bitch?" Kevin replies bluntly. He knows Luke has his moods, and if he wants to beat himself up for this anyway, then Kevin has better things to do. "I thought you should know. We're about to get the guy, we have a decent case, it's going to get better once he's in custody. The rest is all prologue as far as I'm concerned."

"Of course it is. This is where you come in." Luke chuckles and leans back in his chair. "Let me know when they actually make an arrest."

Kevin nods and walks out, leaving Luke to stare at the opposite wall of his office. He can barely reckon with the idea that everything Whitehouse caused—the end of his relationship with Janet, the public breakdown that she suffered—was just the tip of the iceberg. He feels like shit for not doing more to protect her and all the cases he could have tried. Mostly he needs to know that everything they lost was for something. He didn't give up the love of his life for one more win on his record.

"Fucking bullshit," he mutters to himself before he reaches for where he left the original case file. He's already thinking about additional charges he might be able to pursue. Every bit of blood he can draw in return makes this hurt a little less.