PROLOUGE- Downtown Philadelphia... A Month Ago!
Attorney Greg Garland was talking to his old Law School friend, Attorney Yvette Jones-Lockwood and her new husband, Gary Lockwood, an Investigator for the D.A.'s Office.
"Sooooo Yvette, Gary, Married now huh? Congratulations are in order.." he said.
We had worked a case with Garland once, where he was being blackmailed by a hacker who had placed Malware into his system...Malware with the potential to black the city out...
"So Greg, you had left town for awhile..I see you're back, what are you doing now.? " asked Yvette
As her drink, a Mango Martini arrived.
"OUUUUUUUU CONGRATULATIONS GREG!!! WAIT TIL I TELL LIV!!" said Yvette..
"Here she comes right now."said Greg proudly..
A very beautiful Black woman walked over to us...
"Thank Youuuuu." said Yvette..
"Thank You..." said Gary..
''I have a meeting Monday with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karla Williams and
Todd Dellums/
"Oh Myyyy...sounds juicy..." said Yvette...
"Whoever did this used a plastic explosive ,placed under the passenger side of the Pathfinder..A simple device that was controlled by a radio signal....The killer might have used a cell phone to trigger it."said Dr. Hazel Baylor..
"Damn, so the bomber was probably watching from say across the street" said Gary.....
''Car Bombing...The bomber used plastic explosive...a real cheap one...Under the passenger side of the car and triggered by a radio signal..possibly a cell phone...which means the bomber was right across the street, near by..."said Gary..
\Lt. Tragg opened the body bag and winced at the charred remains...
"Hi...I'm Assistant U.S. Attorney Tessa Greenleaf...You must be Yvette and Gary...Pleased to meet you."she said.
Yvette spied her engagement ring...
"Ouuuuu girl...That ring is beautiful...Congratulations!" said Yvette.
"Thank You....I'm up her to wrap up one last case and then we are planning to get married...A destination wedding in Punta Canta...I need your home address, We want to invite you and your staff, the four young attorneys and your investigator... Greg had nothing but glowing things to say about your defense and investigation for him during that Blue Malware case..." said Tessa.
We've got indictments on a White Supremacist Cell....Three guys from the Philadelphia area in communication with two from the Miami area responsible for two major bombings..It's a big case..A career making case..." said Tessa..
''And when my girl catches em, don't defend em Vettie.."joked Greg.
"I only defend innocent clients...These guys sound like bad news.."said Yvette..
"Ummmmmmmmm girl you got me so hot...I'm ready to take you right here in the back of this car.."moaned Greg as he kissed Tessa passionately..
"And I'm ready to let you do it to baby...ummmmmm, but wait until we get back to the hotel..."said Tessa. "Ohhhhhh baby....I just noticed... I think I left my purse in the ladies room...It's got my car keys and everything in it.." she said.
''Whoa...Let me run upstairs before the club closes..I'll be right back.."said Greg, who ran up the stairs rather than wait for the elevator...
''Oh they are..They are.Laughed Tessa.
We partied well into the night...Listening to cool jazz sounds of both Reed Nelson's quintet and Downtown Rob Brown's quintet....and drinking and talking..
Tessa opened the door of her 2021 Nissan Pathfinder...
She and Gary kissed passionately for a few minutes...
He ran in the restroom himself and retrieved her purse..
"Whew! That was close.."he said smiling as he ran out... Closer than he could imagine..
A loud explosion erupted outside the club...It was the Pathfinder...Blown to pieces in the explosion!
AN HOUR LATER-
Tessa Greenleaf was killed instantly in the explosion.....
"That's what I'm thinking Gary...Ohhhh no.."sighed Hazel..
Two Police cars drove up.....Facing opposite directions..
Lieutenant Tragg got out and walked over to the scene where the Pathfinder was still smouldering..
"What the hell happened here?" he asked.
"Ummmmm hmmmmm, crimminy!"said Lt. Tragg.
"WOUUUU!, who is the victim?" he asked, startled by the charred remains..
Greg was crying profusely, crying so hard, his entire body was shaking....His suit was drenched..
"It's alright Greg, Oh My Goddd...It's okay...It's Okayyy."said Yvette, who was consoling him...
"It will at least make the night more interesting.."noted Gary...
The ATF Agents and FBI agents were already taking witness statements and examining the still smoking vehicle..
II-
ONE MONTH LATER-
We all sat in our office early in the morning.. I , Attorney Keith Jones was busy filing away the last of my and my wife, Bee Bee 's case files....
''Wow, what a few weeks we had, in court constantly.."I said.
"It's nice to have some down time.."said Bee Bee..
"Yesssssssss....Let's go out tonight...Have a nice meal somewhere after work." said Sofia..
"Yeah I'm down with that.."said Kahlil, her husband..
"Gooood Morning guys...Hungry?" said Jade
She brought us coffee, doughnuts
"Yoooooooo, thank you Ms. Jade!" I said.
''Jade, we love you!"said Bee Bee.
"Thank You Sooo much Jade!" said Sofia...
''Jade! Thank you....You read our minds...We were all talking about going out to the new truck.."said Kahlil..
"Hi Loves....Ouuuu Look!"said Ms. Yvette as she walked in..
"Dig in Ms. Yvette, there is enough for everybody.."said Jade..
as we sat at our desks...
and bagels...
As we dug into our food...Attorney Greg Garland walked in....
It had been a month...A Month since his fiance had been murdered in a car bombing outside of Mulberry Street rooftop Jazz Bar and Grill..
Gary and Ms. Yvette had flown to Miami to attend Tessa's funeral..
and Greg
Had flown out to Los Angelas for awhile and to Mexico....Now he was back in Philadelphia...
"Hello Guys." he said.
We all knew what he had been through....What do you say to someone whose fiance has been murdered?
III-
"I'm better Vettie...I'm not all the way there yet, but better...The FBI and The ATF surrounded the bomber..He foolishly chose to shoot it out with them and they killed him in the shoot out.. They followed the money trail to Miami, where they traced his communications to three of the five guys that Tessa was making cases on....I think all of these guys are stupid..They too chose to shoot it out with the FEDS and they too caught the short end of the stick.. They're all dead...
One of the surviving two chose to take his own life rather than face arrest and the ring leader was killed in a wild highway chase, when his car flipped over and exploded..." said Greg.
"NO....I want more...That's why I'm here Vettie."said Greg, looking very serious...Almost scary to Yvette.
"Yvette...These guys, were from modest means....Hillbillies , except for one..Yet the apartment complex that two of them were living in rivaled mine in cost...They had a cache of sophisticated military grade weaponry on them..including the plastic radio controlled bomb that killed Tessa..The bomber's bank account had close to 200 large in it and the apartment complex the three who were from here lived in was in a much nicer part of town than they could afford...Plus, these guys had relatively new cars...None of them had any known employment..Yet they ate well and spent money like it didn't matter.Now somebody paid for all of that..Somebody financed all of that..."said Greg...
"I do....." He said and pulled out a photo of White woman...
"Her name is Cynthia Biddle...She's is the CFO of the Wellington Investment Group, a multi-national, multi-million dollar organization....She is also a Ultra-Right wing Republican, a Loon , who has been rumored to donate money to White Supremacist groups like the Proud Boys, The Oath Keepers, Quanon and others including our six guys...Here is another photo of her at a rally ,taken last summer." said Greg Garland.
''You know this how?" asked Yvette.
"I've followed the money trail...as long as I could..Then it mysteriously vanished..And not just that...She and the ring leader of this cell know each other...I followed the trail until it mysteriously vanished.."said Greg.
"I want to sue her...100 million...I WANT THAT BITCH TO HURT!!! I'll pay you whatever you need and give you all the resources you need...build a case and sue her...She lives here in Philadelphia..That's why I came to you...Will you do that for me Vettie?" he asked...
"Alright.....I'll put Jade and my guys on this...I may need to employ additional attorneys...We'll do the best we can to build a case...but if there isn't anything there..then it will be what it is...and you'll have to make peace with that!"said Yvette.
"Fair enough!" he said and he got up and walked out...
Bee Bee saw him leaving...
"It's been a month...He's not over it yet huh?" she said to Ms. Yvette.
"He wants us to go after Cynthia Biddle."said Kahlil..
''She's all over the news..The FBI is looking into allegations that she has been financing Alt-Right and White Supremacist groups..."I said.
''She's always on Television with her Anti-Immigration and Racist views. I can't stand her."said Sofia.
"He wants to sue her... 100 Million dollars." sighed Yvette..
"Ouuuu, That's the Big Hurt, Let's go for it!" said Bee Bee.
"Well I didn't have to twist your arms."said Yvette sarcastically...
IV-
Yvette sat in the playground , across the street from her house with Assistant U.S. Attorney Karla Williams. 
"I was getting bored with being a lawyer a few years back Karla and then I was given this great assignment..Hand pick four quality minority law school grads and mentor them.. 
and it seems like they came right out of central casting....Their beauty, their intelligence, their purity and their fierceness gave me a boost, a new lease on life...and with them ,I began practicing the kind of law I always wanted to practice..." said Yvette.
"It doesn't hurt that you got a new mannnnnnnnnn around the same time too did it.?"laughed Karla,speaking about Yvette and Gary..
"No It didn't... I rekindled my friendship with Olivia Bennett, my room -mate and best friend from law school..and I've worked with some fabulous attorneys..
''And noowwww, noww you're taking on the boogie man or woman...A career defining case if you win it right?" laughed Karla.
"I'm rooting for you baby girl...You guys are making a civil case against her and we are looking for criminal charges..but either way one of us or both of us is going to make that bitch , the one who made this dirt happen pay....She killed one of ours..she hurt your friend... We are going to take her down..Make her feel the Big Hurt!!"said Kim, high fiving Yvette..
(TO BE CONTINUED)
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