"I want to speak with my lawyer," Zac said, sitting in an interrogation room of a LAPD station downtown. The detective and one of the cops who had been present at his arrest were in the room as well. Getting there was brutal; once the reporters saw Zac being led to a squad car in handcuffs, questions started flying, cameras were rolling again, and all Zac could do was wonder what the fuck was going on.
"Answer a few questions first, then we'll contact your lawyer."
"I think I have the right to consult with my lawyer before I answer any questions," Zac said. The detective exchanged an annoyed glance with the cop.
"Call the kid's lawyer," the detective said. Zac neglected to mention that he was twenty-five and had a kid of his own, so he shouldn't be treated like he was still eleven years old, but since the detective looked more than twice his age, it might not have been appropriate.
His lawyer arrived shortly. He was in town anyway knowing full well that he would be needed at some point during the investigation. He and Zac were left alone to talk. "Thanks for coming, Mark," Zac said. "I'm glad you were in town."
"I knew I'd be needed," Mark said, "but I never expected it to be for this."
"Yeah, well, join the club," Zac said. Mark nodded.
"Okay, Zac. I'm your lawyer. I'm on your side and I'll defend you to the end whether you did it or not, you know that. But, Zac, I need to know the truth. Did you kill your wife?"
"What? No!! No! You know I didn't!" Zac was infuriated. Mark had been his lawyer and better yet a good friend for a number of years now. He'd been there throughout his relationship with Ginger--he even attending Zac's wedding--and this question made Mark seem like a court-appointed stranger.
"Zac, Zac, calm down. I know. I know you didn't, but I had to ask. Protocol." Zac crossed his arms. "Do you have any idea who could have done it--who was even capable of it?" Zac shook his head. "All right. You're going to have to be completely honest with me until the end. They're going to dig up whatever they can on you to prove that you did this--since you and Ginger had such a public relationship they're going to look through it all. They're going to talk about Jenny, they're going to talk about the problems Ginger had with Taylor, they're going to pry so much into your life you're not going to have a single private moment left. They're going to go through your apartment in New York and your things here, anything they think will help."
"This is too much, Mark," Zac said.
"I know it is. But you're innocent and everyone knows that. Everyone knows how much you love Ginger. This isn't O.J. here; it's practically insane that they think you're a suspect. I honestly don't see this going all the way to court, but you never know."
"Okay."
"Just hang in there and when you're being questioned, let me do all the talking. You don't have to answer anything you don't want to answer, and if you're not sure, look at me and I'll take care of it."
"Okay."
"It's all going to be all right, Zac. I'm going to get you out of this and we'll figure out who's really to blame." Zac nodded and looked over at Mark, who was looking back at him more as a friend than as his lawyer.
"Thanks, Mark."
"Don't worry about it."
The questioning was brutal and at the end of it Zac found himself in a holding cell. He sat himself down and faced Mark, who was on the opposite side of the bars. He never thought in the course of his life he'd be sitting behind a set of jail bars.
"Do you want me to call your brother? He'll probably come down to see you, maybe bring Jenny with." Zac shook his head.
"I don't want Jenny to see me like this."
"Zac, you might be in here a while. She's going to want to see you." Zac sighed but nodded. Mark left to call Taylor. He arrived with Jenny in under an hour, which was surprising. Kris was with them as well, torn up and emotional from the day's sudden turn of events. Jenny stepped up first, taking hold of the bars in her young hands.
"Daddy?" Zac looked over and despite the unpleasantness, a smile came over his lips at the sight of his daughter.
"Hey darlin," he said. He got up and knelt down to her level, as close as he could get with the bars in the way. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to see me like this."
"S'okay, Daddy," she said. "Uncle Taylor and Auntie Kris are taking care of me�they let me have pizza and ice cream for dinner."
"Oh, did they?" Zac asked, looking up at Taylor and Kris, who were both looking away. "Well I hope that doesn't happen every night. Tomorrow you're getting corn."
"Daddy�ew!"
"And asparagus."
"Dad!" Jenny was laughing.
"And lima beans and prune juice." Jenny shook her head. "Maybe just some broccoli." Jenny nodded. "Listen, darlin, I'm going to get out of here as soon as possible so we can go back home. No more of this unexpected junk."
"Okay, Daddy."
"I love you, darlin. Give me a kiss." Jenny kissed him. "Now run off with Auntie Kris and let me talk to Taylor."
"Love you, Daddy," Jenny said as she ran off to Kris, who led her away. Taylor stepped up to the bars and Zac stood.
"This is such bullshit, Taylor," Zac said.
"I know it is."
"I'm innocent and they know I'm innocent but I have to stay here anyway! Don't even let me go home! Innocent until proven guilty my ass."
"Don't sweat it so much."
"Taylor I'm in jail! I'm behind these bars and they won't let me out! This isn't fucking around. Ginger is dead, I'm in jail�what the hell is the world coming to? This doesn't make any sense." Taylor didn't say anything. "Do you know when my hearing is? Mark went to find out but he hasn't gotten back to me yet."
"I don't know," Taylor told him, shrugging. "It should be soon, though. They have to find probably cause for a trial to take place and right now all they have is suspicion, which isn't enough." Zac shook his head.
"Hopefully it's not enough. Why would they even target me as a suspect anyway?" Zac asked.
"Well," Taylor said, "and I'm just guessing, but you and Ginger were alone when it happened. Lack of evidence and other suspects pretty much only points to you. It's crap. You'll be out of here in no time." Zac looked down. "Zac, you will. This is ridiculous. Everybody knows it is. You're one hundred percent innocent and there isn't a person alive who doesn't know that."
"Yeah, well if that were true, I wouldn't be in here, now would I?" Zac asked. Taylor sighed.
"The cops aren't people, and this just proves it," Taylor said. "Mark is a damn good lawyer; he's going to get you out of here before you know it. Until then, Kris and I'll keep stopping by to keep you company, considering we have nothing else to do, and we'll bring Jenny along."
"Take good care of her for me, okay Taylor?" Zac asked. "No ice cream and pizza for dinner all the time. You know how to do it right."
"Of course I do. Kris and I didn't feel like cooking so we ordered a pizza; this isn't going to happen all the time," Taylor said, waving his hand. "We know how anal you are about proper nutrition."
"I just want my little girl to grow up nice and healthy, thank you," Zac said. The look in his eyes changed as he gripped the jail bars, focusing on his hands as he did so. "Taylor, if for some bizarre reason they find me guilty--"
"They're not going to," Taylor interrupted.
"Just listen to me, okay? If for some reason they find me guilty and I have to�have to go away to prison for a while, I want you to raise Jenny for me. You and Kris are practically her parents anyway. If I have to go away I want you to take care of her. She loves you guys and I know she can get difficult at times, but�" Zac trailed off.
"Of course we'll take her, Zac," Taylor said. "Kris has been coveting her since she was born anyway." Zac cracked a smile. "You don't know how many times she's told me she'd like to take Jenny and run, but we're sensible people so we never actually did it."
"You never know, you might just get that chance."
"Zac, don't think like that," Taylor said. "They're not going to find you guilty."
"Why not? They think I'm a suspect!"
"There's no evidence! People who they convict are ruthless people who leave all this incriminating evidence everywhere, and even if they don't they're not as broken up about it as you are. You're like this because you know you didn't do it."
"You never know, Taylor. I just want to be prepared." Taylor nodded.
"Okay. If, for some bizarre reason, you do get convicted, Kris and I will raise Jenny. We have absolutely no problem in doing that. But you won't, so it won't be necessary." Zac could only nod and hope Taylor was right.
The hearing was set for Friday morning, while Ginger's funeral was set for Thursday. Zac had to remain in holding until the hearing, so he missed the funeral. He sat in his holding cell, knowing the funeral was going on and he couldn't be there. Taylor came by immediately afterwards to relay the details.
Zac saw him coming, still in his black pants, unbuttoned white shirt, and jacket, and immediately got up and stepped up to his bars. "How was it?" Zac asked. Taylor shrugged.
"I don't know; a funeral's a funeral," Taylor said.
"Don't give me any of that. Tell me everything." Taylor sighed and looked around for a chair so he could sit down. There was one not far off so he grabbed it and took a seat in front of Zac's cell. Zac sat down on his cot, as close to his brother as he could be. "It was nice, wasn't it?" Taylor nodded fervently.
"Yeah, definitely," he said. "Kris planned most of it. We had it at the church where the two of you got married." Zac nodded. "The casket was white, there were tons of flowers�"
"What kind?"
"Tulips."
"Ginger loved tulips." Taylor nodded.
"Yes, she did," he said. "There were white roses too. Kris did the whole flower arrangement. The service itself was really nice�very respectful. A lot of people gave eulogies."
"Who?"
"Well me, Kris, one of her friends from home but I don't remember her name, her manager, her mother--"
"What the fuck was her mother doing there?" Zac asked. His eyes had been coated in tears until that point where they dried up and replaced their emotion with anger. Taylor put up his hands in defense.
"I don't know; someone invited her!" Zac shook his head. "This is her daughter, Zac. She should be there. I know they didn't get along and I know they haven't spoken for years, but she had a right to be there."
"I just don't care for that woman, Taylor. She didn't know how to be a mother," Zac said. "But I guess you're right. Go on." Taylor continued to explain the minor details about the funeral, down to how many people came and what most of them were wearing. He even reiterated his speech for Zac. Zac genuinely appreciated it; he would have done anything to be able to go the funeral.
"�And there's a lunch going on right now, but I skipped out on it to come here," Taylor finished, looking down at his hands.
"You shouldn't have done that, Taylor," Zac said.
"I wasn't hungry and I knew you wanted to hear about it, so I came here instead." On the surface Zac continued to remain opposed to Taylor skipping the lunch to see him, but he was glad somebody else was missing it with him. "Um�Kris is going back to New York right after the lunch to get some more things; we're all out of clothes and junk. She'll be back tomorrow in time for the hearing."
"All right," Zac said. "What about Jenny?"
"Jenny's going with her. Jenny hasn't left her side since you've been in here." This comforted Zac; Kris always had been sort of a second mother to Jenny. He was glad his daughter had someone she loved to look after her. "Has Mom come to see you yet?" Zac shook his head. "She should have."
"I don't think she wants to see me like this," Zac said. "Do�do you think she thinks I did this?"
"Of course not! She's just as outraged as the rest of us!"
"Then why hasn't she come to see me?" Zac asked.
"You haven't been in here that long, Zac."
"You said yourself she should have come to see me." He shook his head. Taylor waved his hand and the subject was quickly dropped. Zac knew exactly why Taylor dropped the subject; maybe their mother did have doubt in his innocence. Maybe Taylor had doubt in Zac's innocence. It was stupid, though; he and Ginger had some problems in the past, but that was the extent of it. Zac had never hit Ginger in his life--never even attempted to--and definitely would never be able to bring himself to actually kill her for no reason. There was no motive.
Taylor left soon after that and Zac settled himself in his cell, which had been his home for the past few days. He was a prisoner. He was just a common criminal, and despite the gross unpleasantness that surrounded him, it felt good not to be a celebrity for just a little while.