Page 82 of Falling For You

LVMPD opened an internal investigation into Handler the same week. The footage made it impossible to avoid. Once the investigation was open, women started coming forward. Civilians. Women Handler had encountered on the job. Witnesses he'd interviewed. Family members of victims. Women who were already in the worst moments of their lives when they met a sergeant who saw vulnerability as opportunity. Three, then five, then seven. They'd never reported it because who do you report a cop to? But now there was footage, and their stories had a name.

Seven women. I sat with that number for a long time.

I was in the courtroom for Handler's hearing. I watched Andy take the stand. The clerk read her full name into the record—Cassandra Allison Walsh. She didn't flinch. She sat under it like she'd been waiting her whole life to stop hiding from it.

Handler was terminated six weeks after the footage went public. Andy didn't celebrate. She just kept working.

Daphne pled guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and involuntary manslaughter. Her attorney argued for leniency based on Sydney's story, the system's failure to investigate her death, and Daphne's full cooperation after the arrest. The judge heard all of it. He also heard about Gus. Daphne didn't ask for mercy on that count.

"Gus was the kindest man I ever met. He died because of something I set in motion. I will carry that for the rest of my life whether this court tells me to or not."

The judge gave her fifteen years with the possibility of parole. She accepted it without appeal.

Lockwood went to trial. Andy told me he tried to buy his way out. He hired expensive lawyers who pushed for delays and motions to suppress. It didn't work. Dunne's confession named all five men. Daphne's testimony filled in the rest. McCarthy fleeing the state told the jury everything it needed to know about guilt. Preston Lockwood went to prison, and no amount of money followed him there.

Andy made detective within the year. She completed her ride-along hours, passed the written exam, and sat the oral board interview. Zeus Alexander signed off on her investigative experience from Gus's case and wrote the recommendation. Doug wrote the second.

She called me from the precinct parking lot the day she got her badge. Barb cooked a feast that night. Chicken, mixed greens, pasta, and a cake Birdie had decorated herself. The table was set for four by the time Andy walked through the door.

"So you really are Nancy Drew!" Birdie looked up from her plate.

Andy smiled. "Yes, I am." She leaned down and booped Birdie's nose.

Barb reached for Andy's hand. "We're so proud of you, Andy."

"Thanks for all of this, Barb."

I watched her from across the table. After years of being overlooked and the patience it took to keep showing up anyway, she'd earned every piece of this. She never cut corners or asked for favors. She put her head down and did the work until the work spoke for itself.

I didn't know what I'd done to deserve a woman like Andy Walsh. But I was going to spend the rest of my life making sure she knew it.

Gus's kids decided to keep The Lantern open.

"Dad loved this place," his son told me. "He loved this block. He would have wanted the doors to stay open."

They transferred ownership to Selena. She was the right choice. She knew the bar, she knew the regulars, and she'd been holding the place together long before any of us realized how much weight she was carrying.

She put Gus's picture above the bar, right where he used to stand. Every time the crew came in, Selena would pour an extra glass and set it on the bar beneath the photo. Nobody touched it. It stayed there all night.

Terrence got the internship at the downtown firm. The interview had been cut short the day of the shooting. The firm offered to waive the rest of the process after what happened, but Terrence asked them to reschedule. He came back, did the full interview, and got the offer on his own terms.

It was hard for him to come back to the bar. But he'd stop by every few weeks and give Selena and the crew an update on how the internship was going. Andy always asked. He always stayed longer than he planned to.

"Detective Walsh!" Travis raised his glass from the table by the window where the crew had pushed two together. "Congrats on the promotion!"

"Thanks, Travis." Andy squeezed my hand as we made our way to the bar. The Lantern was full tonight. Selena looked up from behind the counter and smiled when we came in.

She set a drink down in front of each of us as we sat down. "On the house." She squeezed Andy's shoulder before she walked away to attend to another customer.

I reached for Andy's hand under the counter. "Are you used to it yet?"

"Used to what?"

"Detective Walsh."

She smiled. "Not yet."

"Good. I like watching you figure it out."