VENTURES: Straight Up Wrong

I was right... We were working on seperate cases with different attorneys for the next few weeks..but we weren't seperate...We were all working out of Olivia and Beverly's Office Duplex...

They loved it that we all were there...

Kahlil and I were working with Calvin Hunt and Nelson

Nelson and Calvin Hunt had worked together many times before..

Sofia was working with

Jessica, Chip and Josie...

Olivia, Beverly, Donnie Ray and Beverly's mother, Ms. Alfreda

kept the good food coming..

Pancakes

Sausages

Eggs

Hash Browns

Hot Coffee

Orange Juice...

We were well fed and we all helped with the clean up..

Then came the days work....In their huge conference room, which was big enough for all of us to work

and a pretty decent law library in which to study...

Bee Bee of course was working

with Beverly

Olivia

and Donnie Ray, since they were without Nelson and Josie on this case...

Ms. Jade joined us to help Donnie Ray with the investigating needed

So did the investigator, Kevin Morris.

We liked being busy...and we liked hanging out with Liv, Beverly, Donnie Ray and our friends..

II-

AUSA Todd Dellums sat in Ms. Yvette's office..

"Soooo...you got yourself married too I see." he said to Ms. Yvette.

"Yes... It was marriage central around here for awhile..but now it's time to get back to work.. Bee Bee is off working with Olivia , Beverly and Donnie Ray... Keith and Kahlil are working with Nelson East and Calvin Hunt.. and Jade and Sofia are working with Jessica Sanchez-Burrows and her husband and Josie Boyd on a case..so it's been quiet around here for awhile.."said Yvette...She sensed that he wanted something, but she had no idea what..

"Yvette, I need your help....I'm investigating two, well now one Attorney from this firm that was involved in a money laundering scheme with a person we are investigating...and that bone headed Lt. Tragg has been getting in my way every step of the way.." Todd sighed..

"I can't help you with him and I can't help you with your investigation of one of our attorneys either.." said Yvette..

"Oh I don't want you to....But I need you to defend a former employee...Lt. Tragg arrested Lisa Bodice, a para-legal that used to work here...She was fired by Phil Rosen on the day he died.. but I don't think she killed him.." said Todd Dellums.

"She left that night with my husband and I...It was around 7:00 pm, maybe a little after...And while I can't swear to it...I'm pretty sure..Mr. Rosen was still alive...I heard him having a loud argument with a man a few minutes before we entered the hallway..but when we entered...the room was silent.."said Yvette.

"If you heard them in here and they were down the hall, that was pretty loud...I need to talk to her..but I can't get anywhere near her...but YOU can...Would you be her attorney? I can see to it that you are compensated.. Please...I'll be in your debt.." said Todd.

"I'll look into it...Where is she?" asked Ms. Yvette,.

"Probably Central Booking...Where she's been for a week..She's fired three Public Defenders already...but hasn't tried to get any other counsel.."said Todd..

"Okay...I'll go see her...but you owe me lunch and drinks." said Yvette.

"You got it.."laughed Todd..."Oh and uh Yvette....Beatrice.. Is she uh happy?" he asked.

"Never seen her happier!"said Yvette, realizing that Todd still carried a torch for Bee Bee.

III-

In the "Fishbowl" the nickname the detectives gave for the interrogation room, Lisa Bodice once again faced off against Lt. Tragg, who desperately needed a confession...Even he realized his case was weak.

"Looook you Keystone Copper...I'm not a lawyer yet...but I'm a Para-legal and I work around enough lawyers to know better than to talk to you and to also know that you got nothin..." said Lisa Bodice.

"So what are you gonna do defend yourself? You've fired three Public Defenders already..Though that last one, I don't blame you, He smelled like a saloon..."said Lt. Tragg..

"SHE WON'T HAVE TO DEFEND HERSELF!!! THAT'S WHY I'M HERE!" said Ms. Yvette.

Lt. Tragg sighed...

"I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!" he said..He hadn't expected to see one of the lawyers he considered the bane of his existence..

"I didn't expect to see anyone from my former employer here..."said Lisa.

"I didn't even know you'd been fired until today.....Just sit tight....I'm going to get you arraigned and see if we can bail you out.."said Yvette..

HOURS LATER-

"Thank you so much Yvette....Why are you doing this for me? I mean we've been cordial before, but I wouldn't say we are friends...I'd like to be friends..." she said.

"I'm doing a favor for a friend..A Powerful friend who doesn't feel you are guilty....They have your prints and DNA in that office...They would be there..You worked for him...They have two glasses of water, with your prints on them and a third glass with your lipstick on the side..and your DNA...That glass is clean....The other two glasses are loaded with arsenic..."said Yvette.

"I poured those three glasses....Phil and I had alcoholic drinks....Then he fired me.. He said that spilling that coffee in his lap was purposeful and embarrassing...I said that him trying to yank my panties down was humiliating and sexist... I guaruntee you two things. One I didn't have any arsenic and two...When I left..He was alone and very much alive...I gathered my things in that box you saw me with and I went upstairs, said goodbye to a few of my friends...They told me to bring him up on sexual harrassment charges.I said I couldn't prove it...It would just be my word against his....They asked me how was I going to finish law school...I told them that I was already paying for my last year with loans..." said Lisa.

"Did you call anybody?" asked Yvette.

"I called Dan Stevens...He was livid...He told me not to go anywhere...But I was tired.."said Lisa.

"Dan Stevens...damn good attorney...but he has wandering eyes and hands....I'm not going to lie to you Lisa...I've heard you were his -" said Yvette.

"His plaything? Yes...I was... I was quite enamored with him...I know he's married and I know who his wife is...She suspected something was up between us...She started visiting him a lot more.. He paid for my first two years of law school... He transferred me to his buddy Phil Rosen's office...Phil thought that meant that I was his plaything...He took me out to dinner a few times and out for drinks and as you saw out to lunch...He was coming on to me almost every minute of the day....I had zero interest in him....Yesterday at lunch , I had to move his hands from up under my skirt every five minutes...I finally poured that coffee in his lap.....and that was the last straw for him too...He fired me!" said Lisa.

"Maybe it was Dan Stevens that was in that office...." said Yvette....

"I didn't see him...I left upstairs by the back stairs...When I got to our floors...I was too tired to continue walking, so I took the elevator..." said Lisa.

"Plus with those heels? I don't blame you for taking the elevator....By the way , those heels were sharp girl...You have to tell me where you shoe shop.....Here's what I want you to do...Go to a hotel, register under your own name...Stay there until I contact you....We are going to sort this out.."said Ms. Yvette.

"Take this Portal...We will communicate anything you need to know through that." said Ms. Yvette.

"Thank you sooo much for this.."said Lisa.

IV-

THREE DAYS LATER-

Ms. Yvette was surprised to see the five of us in the office..

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"We won in the Preliminary...It was a pretty easy case...Lt. Tragg was livid... I hope he doesn't come up here...He's probably going to bug Olivia, Beverly and Donnie Ray...I just assisted.." said Bee Bee.

"Same with our case....Piece of cake..Two day prelim and it was over just like that..."said Kahlil..

''Another faulty arrest by Lt. Tragg..He's 0-2 this week.." I said.

"My case was the only one that didn't involve Lt. Tragg...."said Sofia, "But we were done quick too!"she added with a laugh....

"So here we are...At your service Ms. Yvette."said Jade..

"I'm so glad to see you all....Lt. Tragg has arrested Lisa Bodice, charged her with Phil Rosen's murder...I'm defending her...As a favor to AUSA Todd Dellums, who believes she is innocent and says that her arrest is gumming up the works for an ongoing federal investigation of which he would not fill me in on the details."said Ms. Yvette..

"That is sooooo him, isn't it?" said Bee Bee.

"Aint it though?" laughed Sofia.

"What do you need Ms. Yvette?" I asked.

"You Bee Bee, and Sofia, can work with me... I have copies of the autopsy, the tox report and the arrest report with some witness statements.. Kahlil...I need you and Jade to find Dan Stevens...He hasn't been to work in three days..."said Ms. Yvette.

"We're on it."said Kahlil..

"We'll start first at the most obvious place..His home.."said Jade...

"I'm so glad to see yall, I really am.." said Ms. Yvette..

She really cared about us and she really wanted our careers to advance, which was why she always said yes when other attorneys wanted to use us...She knew the education we were getting was invaluable..but she really missed us when we were gone and she really enjoyed our special comraderie with each other..

At this very minute in front of our building a battle of wits was taking place..

''Where do you think you're going?"asked AUSA Todd Dellums.

"This is still my investigation....I need to have a word with Yvette Jones, I mean Yvette Lockwood..She is repping my suspect, who I can't find...and I need a word with her.."said Lt. Tragg.

"You made an arrest, your investigation is over...You don't need to talk to Yvette....The rest of this investigation is mine..You can just run along.."said Todd Dellums.

"Bite me pal.."said Lt. Tragg, who walked passed him and got on the elevator..

He barged into our suite

as he usually did..

He looked around..

"Well , Well, Well...Looka here...The Gangs all here.." he smirked..

"Seeee this is why we can't work in the same office...We'd be doing this all day long.." she whispered to me.

Bee Bee was in the doorway of my office, giving me a kiss..

a nice ,slow kiss..

Kahlil wasn't kissing Sofia..,

but he did have his arms around her ,holding her.....

"What brings you here Lieutenant?" asked Jade...

"I need to have a word with Yvette, is she in?" he asked..

But before Jade could answer, his phone rang...

"Lt. Tragg, Homicide..No sir...I am not impeding AUSA Dellums investigation...I am recanvassing my murder investigation...Yes, I made an arrest...She was bailed out..I needed to talk to her lawyer..What?

No sir...I do not intimidate or harrass attorneys...I don't care what AUSA Dellums said, he's lying..I don't have an attitude sir..No sir sirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!! Yes...Well , Well, Well alright" he said and hung up..

He was as red as a beat!