A Warm Friday Morning...No place was better than this tony, Rooftop Restaurant we had discovered...
"Vettie, guys, thank you sooo much for inviting us to this spot...I didn't know it was here..but then again, I'm seldom in this part of town."said our good friend and fellow attorney, Olivia Bennett-Alexander..
''We discovered it during one of our recent cases...We followed a potential witness here."laughed Yvette.
"Yeah, we were super sleuthing it..."joked Jade..
"Donnie Ray and I do it a lot, but we seldom take the rest of the team." said Beverly..
"Must have been a low risk stakeout..Huh Jade?" said Donnie Ray..
"Of course and it turned out to be quite enjoyable too."laughed Jade..
"It's so nice and cool up here..."said Nelson, enjoying the breeze..
''Yeah..I love it."said Josie.
Bee Bee and I were busy staring into each other's eyes...still dazed from a great night of lovemaking..
Kahlil and Sofia had the same dazed look in their eyes....
''With old Deputy Dog (Lt. Tragg) back on dry land again.. I thought it would be really cool to have a nice relaxing breakfast on the last work day of the week somewhere different.."said Yvette.
Gary hugged her, but said nothing..
"I agree." said Olivia..as our orders came out..
Pancakes
Waffles
French Toast
Omelettes to order
Sausages
Hash Browns
and coffee..
This was the beginning of a good day for us...The calm before the storm...
II-
Early Morning....At the pub that houses the Condo home above of Attorney Jessica Lee..
Two police cars stop...Four officers armed with riot pump shot guns and glocks leap out the two cars...
Lt. Tragg leads them up the stairs...
"This building looks familiar...I've been here before." he said as they enter the hallway..
Jessica and Eddie Lee have finished kissing and are whispering quietly...
"Thank you for a wonderful and enchanting evening Eddie.."said Jessica.
"I hope that means there will be a second and a third enchanting evening.."said Eddie softly..
"Oh Most definitely..."said Jessica.
"Next time you can pick..I do occasionally go places other than Chinatown, like Josie's, Aqua Bar, Stoley's Lounge, The Mermaid Crabhouse, Mulberry Street...I see your people there too sometimes, Yvette Jones, Gary, Keith Jones, Bee Bee, Sofia and Kahlil and others I know.."said Eddie Lee.
"Oh Nice...We can go to all of those places.."whispered Jessica..
"Break it Up!!! EDDIE LEE?" asked Lt. Tragg..
"Who Wants to know?" snarled Eddie Lee..
"I want to know....You're under arrest..MURDER ONE!!! Read him his rights and book him boys."said Lt. Tragg..
''MURDER????You're crazy...You must have a fish caught in your ear from being out on the river for a month...I didn't kill anybody...I've been here all night."said Eddie Lee..
''Arthur...He has...He was with me.."said Jessica.
"Oh yeah???...Well Asian Businessman and restauranter, Benny Hanna would care to differ..we found him with his head cracked open a few hours ago.."said Lt. Tragg..
"That's insane!!!...The two of us had drinks at his place last night...I saw him...He was alive when I left"said Eddie Lee..
''We found the blunt object with his blood and brain matter in the dumpster in the back of your place and we know he owed you 150 large..."said Lt. Tragg..
"Man you're out of your mind...I don't operate like that...besides Benny had paid me half of that already..We were good."said Eddie Lee, who had never been arrested before..He looked afraid..
"Don't say anything else Eddie...be quiet...Let me get dressed, I'll be down to help you.."said Jessica.
"Jessica? You and this jamolk?? Do you know who and what he is? He's a damn gangster.. You're going to rep him? Seriously??" asked Lt. Tragg, who was looking through her sheer nightgown..
.
She wasn't wearing a bra, but had on some panties...He was liking what he was seeing and remembering how close he came to coming up here and spending the night with her a few months ago..
Jessica realized how sheer her baby doll was and how exposed she was...She slammed the door shut in his face..
Two of the uniformed officers held their heads down and smiled at each other..
Lt. Tragg, beet red and livid, stomped his foot...
"Cuff him..Read him his damn rights and get him out of here.." he snarled..
Jade's phone vibrated...
She was remembering the great meal and the great sex she had the night before...She saw it was her cousin and she answered the phone..
"Hi Jessie, what is it? Okay, Okay...calm down...Where is he? Alright...I'll come down.."said Jade..
"Trouble Jade?" I asked.
"That's what it sounds like to me."said Bee Bee.
''Uh Ohhhh Jessie in some kind of trouble?" asked Sofia.
''What Now?" asked Kahlil..
"It's not her...It's our restaurant owner and host from yesterday, Mr. Eddie Lee...the one I told her to stay away from."said Jade.
"Eddie Lee?" asked Yvette.
"Lt. Tragg has arrested him, charged him with First Degree Murder...Apparently..Eddie and Jessie hooked up last night, after we all left her...They went drinking at another bar...They left and Jessie swears that Eddie was with her the rest of the night...But the bar or club where they drank's owner was found beaten to death early this morning...and the murder weapon was found at the dumpster behind, Eddie Lee's place of business.."said Jade.
"Nahhhhh this isn't him....This doesn't fit...It's not his style...Everybody knows he runs a semi-legal floating crap game on the upstairs of his restaurant...It's peopled by unsavory charactors, Asian and Russian mobsters, guys with money to burn...Lots of cash is spent..but that's it...We thought he was laundering money for a long time...but if he was..he's stopped..He doesn't need to...The man is loaded..He's a millionaire..but he's quiet about it.. and the loan sharking..It's minute..The reason why law enforcement doesn't bother him...is because he's been a very very helpful confidential informant for years and he keeps the peace in that neighborhood...He's no killer...This isn't him."said Gary..
"Come on Jade...Let's go see about him."said Yvette.
"I told her he was trouble.."sighed Jade.
III-
Eddie Lee sat alone in the "Fishbowl", the nickname the detectives gave the interrogation room..
He stared at Lt. Tragg...
Everytime Lt. Tragg attempted to interrogate him he said one word softly..
"Lawyer"
This angered Lt. Tragg to no end...and then he looked up and saw some of his favorite people, plus one..
"He said Lawyer three times.."said Ms. Yvette softly..
''That usually means the interview is over." I said.
Bee Bee
Kahlil
Sofia
Jade
and Jessica walked right past Lt. Tragg and into the "Fishbowl." and sat down...
Meaning Lt. Tragg had to leave.. He was beyond furious! He stared inside balefully from outside the room.
Eddie Lee smiled..
''Wow Jessie you brought out the troops...I just thought only you were coming." he said..
"I've never tried a murder case.. I don't have a lot of trial experience..These guys do.."said Jessie.
"I can pay you all...I assure you...I didn't kill anybody...I was with Jessica all night.."said Eddie Lee.
"All night meaning what?" said Jade..
"We went back out for drinks and conversation...We hit quite a few places...Dinner at the Mermaid Crab Tavern..Dancing at Aqua Bar....Then we went to Benny's joint...We had drinks and quiet conversation..We left right before closing time..He was alive..We talked, we even joked..and I left with your cousin...I went back to her place and was there until this morning when Columbo out there arrested me.."said Eddie Lee.
Bee Bee, Sofia and Kahlil all laughed upon hearing Lt. Tragg called Columbo..
He stared at us from outside balefully...
"This guy was into you for 150 large.." I said.
"He overextended himself at the crap table..but he's paid me 75 large to date..half of that...and some of the rest of his debt has been paid off by the many times I've brought a party of say 20 people or a date like Jessica there and drank for free..He doesn't owe me that much...Maybe 18 large by now, a little under that, I'm not sure.,but it was nothing he couldn't handle....Considering what he's paid , that would hardly be a reason to kill a man...Benny and I were cool....I was joking with him last night. Look at the surveilience tapes from the bar...you'll see that."said Eddie.
"The blunt object that he was brained with, with his blood and brain matter...was found in the dumpster behind your restaurant early this morning."said Kahlil..
"Come on man...I'm gonna whack somebody in the head and kill em and take the blunt object back to my place and discard it in the dumpster where the police can find it and my trash day isn't until Monday...Come on...I'm smarter than that."said Eddie Lee.
"Yes... I know you are...This looks like a frame to me...and not a very good one.."said Yvette.
"I put in a text to Karen...She said she found a judge....We can get him arraigned within a few hours."said Bee Bee..
"Ohh great!" said Jessica.
''Sit tight...We'll see you in a few hours.."said Sofia.
''Jade...Thank You...I know what you think of me...but I'm no killer...I'm not really that much of a gangster.Not anymore."said Eddie Lee.
"I know this now....Just sit tight...Talk to no one..."said Jade.
IV-
Friday Afternoon- 1:00 pm.
A call to ADA Karen Page of the Wrongfully Convicted Unit and Attorney Jasmine Coley got us a Judge, Judge Percy Reynolds..
He met us in a small courtroom at 1:00 pm..We were the last case he was hearing for the day..
He peered over at ADA Chris Garcetti , who he didn't care for too much and Lt. Tragg, who he despised even more..
Then he peered at us.. Ms. Yvette, myself, Bee Bee, Sofia, Kahlil and Ms. Jade...
We had just tried a case in his courtroom...I think he liked us..
"Your honor, my client, Mr. Eddie Lee is a respected businessman in Chinatown, a gourmet cook and the holder of an Associate degree from the Culinary School of Philadelphia, A Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Temple University and an MBA from PENN...He has no priors and is not a flight risk."said Ms. Yvette.
"God, she makes me sound better than I am.."Eddie joked.
Jessica smiled and rubbed his back..
"Your honor, despite all of these lofty accolades, this man is also a reputed underworld figure and is well known by the police department...He reputedly runs a very successful illegal gambling operation which attracts Asian and Russian mobsters and it is alleged that he is also a loan shark..He has been charged with Capital Murder and is indeed a flight risk." Protested ADA Chris Garcetti.
Judge Reynolds stared at Lt. Tragg angrilly..
Lt. Tragg was beat red.....
"I'm setting bail at one thousand dollars.." he said and banged his gavel...
"WHAT?? THIS IS PREPOSTEROUS!" screamed Lt. Tragg..
"One Thousand Dollars??? ARE YOU NUTS??" screamed ADA Chris Garcetti ,tossing his suit jacket in the air..
"Ahhh Excuse me Mr. Garcetti?" said Judge Reynolds..
Chris picked his jacket up, put it back on and straightened himself out... He had a date tonight and he didn't want to blow it by being sent to the cooler.
"Ahhh Nothing sir, excuse my uh outburst..." he said.
''Here we go again...Pony up guys...Here's my $25.00." laughed Kahlil..
"Mine too!"laughed Bee Bee.
"And mine as well."said Sofia..
"Here is my S25.00, that sinks it.."I said..
and with that, Eddie Lee was a free man...
"Am I missing something here? I'm down on a Murder Rap, I do kind of have a bad reputation...and I'm let out on one thousand dollar bail of which you only have to put up a hundred dollars?" said Eddie Lee..
"The Judge doesn't like Lt. Tragg, so any case in which he is the arresting officer..He releases a guy on a thousand dollar bail...just to screw with him.."said Yvette..
"You got a break, promise me you'll stay out of trouble.."said Jade.
"He will...He's staying with me.."said Jessica..
"For real? You hardly know me."said Eddie Lee..
"I can't think of a better way to get to know you.."said Jessica.
V-
That night we went across town to the small bar, we had hung out at before..
"Karen, Jazzy...I can't thank you enough for getting Judge Reynolds at the last minute...He saved the day....Another Judge might not have set such low bail..I'm soo grateful..."said a grateful Yvette...
"Mmmmm, I'm grateful for this blouse you have on...It accentuates your plump breasts.." moaned Gary...
Yvette blushed...
"Oh hush up..." and giggled as Gary held her tight around her waist...
''One hundred dollars? That's the second time he's done that hasn't he? And Both times it was one of your cases Vettie."said Karen...
B.L. was cracking up laughing...
"I could just imagine the look on Artie's face when he heard that low bail again..." he said..
''Both times Lt. Tragg was the arresting officer..."said Jazzie..
"Yeah ,he's arrested him twice on bogus charges....I sued the city on his behalf after the second time..He told me hates Lt. Tragg's guts....Those low bails were just to get back at him.."said Dabnis..
"Oh it was getting to Lt. Tragg and ADA Garcetti….I never seen them both so red." Joked Ms. Jade..
"I'd of paid money to see that.." said Lt. Danny Ho..Jade's significant other..
"Me too! He doesn't care too much for Chris Garcetti either..."said Olivia Bennett-Alexander ,who was also at the bar tonight with her crew...
"He was thumbing his nose at both of them this time.."said her niece, Beverly West-East.
"I hope we get Judge Reynolds for our next client...."joked Donnie Ray...
"Yeah you can't beat One Thousand dollars bail." said Nelson..
"He doesn't give out those low bails for everybody...He set bail at a quarter of a million for somebody last week."said Josie..
"Yeah, But Liv and Bev and you guys got him off twice...If you guys have a client and Lt. Tragg is the arresting officer...It's a cinch he'll post a low bail...might be lower than a thousand." added Josie's boyfriend ,Paris..
A valid point...
Bee Bee and I weren't paying any attention to the conversation...We were kissing passionately....
So was Sofia and Kahlil...
Kissing like nobody's business..
Our drinks came...
as well as steaming plates of Honey Barbecued Wings and Honey Barbecued Shrimps...
Tonight was another good night for this bar... His regulars plus us...
And meanwhile at Jessica Lee's apartment..
"Thank you baby for letting me crash here...but I'm not used to anybody taking care of me....I uh hardly know you.."said a very grateful Eddie Lee.
"I don't usually sleep with a guy on the first date...but I had...I felt a certain chemistry between you and I from the time our eyes met..I can't explain it.."said Jessica.
"I felt it too..." said Eddie Lee...
They kissed passionately....which led to
Clothes coming off and more kissing
and EIGHT TO NINE more hours of sweet, sweet lovemaking
and a weekend of unbridled passion between the two...
And at his neighborhood bar...
Lt. Tragg sat alone.. He hadn't seen any of the lawyers he usually sparred with Not at Breakfast or Lunch and not at dinner...And they certainly weren't in here drinking tonight or at home... He almost needed someone to take his frustrations out on...He wasn't getting it tonight..
After closing ,he drove by Jessica's condo..
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…"
"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…"
"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPH.."
"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BABYYYYYY!"
were the sounds he heard coming from her upstairs window, along with the bedsprings squeaking and the headboard rattling...
That should have been him....He had spent a whole day with her ,Took her to the Zoo, The Camden Aquarium..Bought her lunch, dinner and drinks..
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