VENTURES: Sucker Bet

We sat in Food Corner having Banana Splits..

It was the night before the Preliminary and we were win ding down.

"I've still got some more digging to do...I hate to send you guys to trial without all you need." I said.

"Relax..This is just the preliminaries...We want to see what the prosecution has... We've prepared...Trust me.. I know she's a heavy hitter...I know she's prepared..."said Olivia.

"The wiretap, the plain clothes coppers dogging us..That was her...That wasn't Tragg...And she hasn't learned a damn thing..I'm betting she's frustrated right now." said Beverly.

"She knows we subpeoned Alvin Taylor today...She either saw the court documents requesting it or she got it from a plain clothes cop detailed to us..We couldn't slip em forever."said Nelson.

"She's better at this than Lt. Tragg. I'm surprised they didn't look at the jealous boyfriend angle like we did." said Josie.

"How do you know they didn't?" asked Paris.

"They didn't, or Alvin Taylor would be on trial instead of Natasha.."said Bresha.

"Yo, chill, you got company." said Tony Billips.

Lt. Tragg naturally walked over to our booth...

"Nice Summer Night tonight Lieutenant, Having Ice Cream? " asked Olivia innocently..

''Don't try to play me Liv..You guys subpeoned an Alvin Taylor a few hours ago...Thought I didn't know about it huh? I want to know why and what it has to do with this case or I'm going to run you all in...Withholding evidence, Obstruction of Justice...for starters...Now spill it!" he snarled.

''You do know that except for maybe two people, you are at a table full of lawyers and you can't compell us to discuss our case...Everything we have regarding this case will be filed in discovery..That's all we are required to do. It will be in discovery for you and for ADA Drake to see in the morning." said Olivia.

"So you might as well cool off and grab one of these floats. They're mighty fine on a night like tonight." said Beverly.

"Honey Bun you sound like a commercial." laughed Nelson, squeezing her tight..

"I know right?" laughed Josie.

"I've had it with your smart mouth...THAT IS IT!!! LIV , I HATE TO DO THIS..BUT I'M PLACING THIS WHOLE TABLE UNDER ARREST!" he bellowed..

We all busted out in gales of laughter.

"You think we can get this table arraigned tonight?" laughed Olivia.

"I don't know, he's going to have a hard time getting it out of here...It's bolted to the floor " I said..

"Oh My God...Oh My God..Stopppp!"laughed Beverly.

Nelson was laughing so hard he had tears streaming down his cheeks..

"Paris...I think when we pay our bills it will be more than enough bail."laughed Josie.

"You guys aint right."laughed Paris.

"Stopppppppppppp!"laughed Bresha.

"I aint got nothin to do with this..I'll rep you all, pro bono." said Tony.

Some of us were banging our fists on the table, tears flowing down our faces..

Lt. Tragg knew he had no real grounds to arrest any of us and what was worse, He knew that we knew it! His bluff didn't work...It may have worked on a first year attorney like Bresha if she was by herself, but not experienced attorneys like ourselves.

He was as red as a beet......

"Just to humor you...Chandler Smith was sleeping with Alvin Taylor's girlfriend.. Taylor warned him that if he didn't stop he would kill him...There's another angle you should have looked at...before you rushed to judgement and arrested my client."said Olivia, now serious and no longer laughing.

"Who is this girl? Where is she?" asked Lt. Tragg.

"Now there is a mystery...We couldn't find her." said Beverly.

"She's telling the truth..I turned this city upside down...I couldn't locate her."I said.

"I'll find her." said Lt. Tragg as he stormed out of the Food Corner.

"I got twenty dollars...I'm saying he won't." said Nelson.

"Ouuu that's a sucker bet...Here is my twenty. I'm saying he might!" said Josie..

"I want in on that. I'm with Josie . ."said Paris.

"Let me in on that action. Here's my twenty.I'm gone go with Josie."said Tony Billips.

"You all are crazy. He couldn't find a suspect if they surrendered to him in his office."laughed Bresha.

Beverly howled...

"You don't know how close to the truth you are Bree." she said and hugged Bresha.

"You all are Crazy...Come on..Let's get out of here...Go home and get some sleep."laughed Olivia as we paid our bills and began to file out.

I was more inclined to agree with Nelson, but I wasn't a betting man....I just laughed and shook my head.

II-

TWO DAYS LATER-

We were two days deep into the Preliminary hearing in the murder trial of Natasha Smith for the murder of her soon to be ex-husband...

ADA Cheryl "Death Row Cheryl" Drake was good...She told about the husband had been up to his eyeballs in debt and how the couple faced eviction...(They had recently been evicted from their residences in Los Angelas and Las Vegas..) She told about how Chandler had skimmed more than his ten percent from all of his clients, who were there and who testified and how in the end...His wife asked for a divorce...Realizing she could contest nothing, she murdered him to get the half million dollar life insurance payment she'd be entitled from his death..

Beverly and Nelson went after her 12 witnesses hard...They compared their statements now with what they told Lt. Tragg and the signed affadavits they had given to me..

I sat back and smiled..

Olivia said nothing, but beamed with pride as her two prize protoge's took ADA Drake to task and perhaps got a little revenge for their past defeats at her hands..

Olivia pointed out to Josie and Bresha

why it was important to be prepared , regardless of who you were facing..

ADA Drake was a bit perturbed, being crossed up by these two, but she could see the maturity and the preparation both

Beverly and her husband, now seasoned courtroom vets had compared to when she first faced them years ago...Olivia had done a marvelous job, she silently conceded..She looked at me.

And having a GOOD investigator never hurt either...She noticed that we weren't surprised by anything she had thrown at us...

U.S. Attorney Todd Dellums sat with his arms around Natasha the entire time.. He nodded approvingly at us...He could see that we had knocked ADA Drake off of her game and we hadn't even begun a defense yet...

Olivia told him that there was a possibility she might win this in the preliminary.

Missing was Lt. Tragg, who was out searching for a missing girl..A girl Chandler Smith had been having an affair with...A girl who might or might not be the key to this entire case.

"Think Lt. Tragg will find that girl?" asked Josie.

"No! If Donnie Ray couldn't find her...He has no chance of finding her."said Nelson..

I was touched at Nelson's faith in my abilities...but Lt. Tragg had a lot more to his disposal than I did.

When it was time to present a defense, Josie gave thee argument that ADA Drake's story was just that, a story and only one of several scenarios that one could look at... Chandler was in debt..Several Gangsters could have been after him...Chandler was having an affair with another man's woman..There was something to look at too. Olivia had coached her well.

Bresha called several witnesses who testified that Chandler had paid his debts off and was square with all of the local and out of town gangsters , but said that in his last days...He was worried about someone else ..Alvin Taylor!!

ADA Drake objected...

Olivia and Beverly both argued that it goes to motive and brought up predicates and transcripts from previous trials to make their point..

Judge Wong was impressed...She allowed it and she recessed trial for the rest of the day.

ADA Drake was pissed... She rarely went into a trial feeling as unprepared as she did in this one..Olivia and her team had made her look like a first year attorney, an intern..

And Lt. Tragg, she hadn't seen him in two days...He had brought her a weak case...If Olivia's youngsters had put this much of a dent in her case in the preiminary....What was Olivia herself going to do later?" She thought.

"I'm telling you...It's true...They want you back and they're willing to pay you ten percent more.." said Attorney Richard Durbin.

"Rich, you're pulling my leg."said Attorney Pinkney Bach..

"No! Old management is out...new Management is in and they said..You have no convictions for anything ,just a few unfortunate circumstances...There is no reason for you to be gone, plus we have a major litigation coming up that has your name on it...You can start Monday, if you like.."said Richard Durbin.

'If I like? Of course I'll be there!!! Thanks Rich!" said Pinkney.

''Don't thank me...Thank New Management..See ya Monday pal." said Richard Durbin...

Judge Wong walked up just as Richard was leaving.

"You look Happy today... Didn't you used to work with that guy?" she asked.

''Apparently I still do..My old firm just hired me back with a ten percent raise...I start Monday!!"said a jubilant Pinkney Bach..

"That is wonderful...You uh wanna celebrate? We'd better hurry before someone winds up in my chambers."laughed Judge Wong, taking him by the hand..

And into her chambers where she closed the door and locked it and dimmed the lights..

They began kissing passionately....

"OUUUUUUUU, PINKNEYYYYY!!!! OUUUUUUUU!" she moaned as he slipped her panties to the side and entered her...

"Ohhhhhhhh, I'm so glad you wear skirts..." he moaned..

"You are so fresh and HORNY!" she said... "OH MY godddddddd." she said..as he continued to thrust away inside of her in her office...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" she cooed softly....

He slipped her panties down and off....

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GODDDDDDD!" he moaned....

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM PINKNEYYYYYY!!!!" she cooed.

III-

ONE WEEK LATER-

We declined to offer a defense and instead asked for a trial...That was because neither Lt. Tragg or I had been able to locate Samantha Sykes..

Beverly and I had been back to her apartment...The door was still unlocked...Her Car was still downstairs with the key in the ignition...Sink had the same dishes in them, bed still unmade and all of her clothes were in the closet..

"All this mail just piling up and no movement on her debit card or any of her credit cards and it looks like she left here in a hurry."I said.

"Donnie Ray....She's Dead! You know it and I know it...No girl would leave her place like this..All her clothes still here...Sink dirty, bed unmade...It looks like she left in a hurry...but it's been three weeks..She'd of returned by now or had somebody secure her spot. And then there is her car..Key still in the ignition...She's dead!"said Beverly..

"I'm afraid you're right Shortcake..We've got to go with what we've got and hope it's enough." I said.

That was a week ago...

ADA Cheryl "Death Row Cheryl" Drake had rested her case ,painting Natasha as a 'Soul less killer " and asking the jury to find her guilty...

She looked nervous.., unsure...

Lt. Tragg sat beside her, bewildered..He had had no luck in finding Samantha Sykes and had put a BOLO out on her and had reluctantly called the State Police to find her as a "Material Witness " in a murder case.

Nelson dueled her to a six-six split when picking a jury...

Olivia and Beverly did about the same amount of damage they had done in the preliminary...but they had been holding an ace...

Now they began their defense..and they presented their client.

Just as they had at arraignment, they paraded the same unimpeachable 28 charactor witnesses , Neighbors and yes, church members who attested to Natasha's good charactor...That and the fact that she had no prior criminal record all weighed in her favor.

Nelson attested to the fact that the police produced no murder weapon and that our client had never owned a gun and had no knowledge of how one was handled.

He and Josie showed the Jury large still photos of the crime scene.. and how both bullets hit the victim center mast in the chest....and no shell casings were found....The sign of a pro...not a petite young model with no prior gun experience..

Olivia and Beverly called six witnesses near the scene of the crime...All of them testified that they heard nothing on the night of the murder..

Police experts testified that this meant the killer used a gun with a silencer.....

They argued that this was a professional hit..Not a random murder by an angry woman, about to get divorced....

Cheryl Drake's objections and cross examinations got her nowhere...She frustratingly glared angrily at Lt. Tragg, who in her mind gave her nothing...And now,

Olivia, Beverly, Nelson and Josie were changing the narrative and pushing the jury in another direction.

U.S. Attorney Todd Dellums nodded approvingly...He knew exactly what we were doing,,He knew he had done the right thing, hired the right attorneys..

Alvin Taylor was a manager of mostly Actresses in the Porn Business..he managed the girls and sold Porn DVD's from a small shop in Little Norway... He had connections and ties to the Russian Mafia and had a record.. He had done ten years in the State Prison for R.I.C.O. charges

Bresha questioned him and got him to admit all of those things about his reputation..She was glad Olivia, Beverly, Nelson and Josie had so much faith in her and was proud to not just be watching , but participating more and more in these cases.

Smelling fresh blood like the shark she was.. ADA Cheryl Drake objected to the entire line of questioning..

Bresha kept her composure and argued that it led to motive..

Judge Wong was impressed and allowed her to go on...She knew ADA Drake well and knew how she eviscerated young inexperienced attorneys..

Bresha, Like Beverly, Nelson and Josie were anything but in this trial.. They had their predicates, trial transcripts and histories and pertinent facts ready...They were not to be bullied.

Olivia had done a masterful job mentoring not only her niece and her niece's husband..but these other two talented young ladies, she thought.

Olivia brought seven witnesses who testified that they heard Alvin Taylor threaten Chandler on several different occasions and that he knew of Taylor's connections to Russian gangsters...

Cheryl Drake called it all hearsay....

Olivia asked him where he was at the time of the murder..

He lied two different times and both times she offered proof as to where he was..but both times were

not near the scene..

Beverly showed him a list of phone calls he made around the time of the murder...and a call from an unidentified number made right after the murder and a bank withdrawal of $5000.00 made the day after the murder.

Nelson asked him who was calling him from the unidentified number... He said he couldn't remember..

He then asked him..What the withdrawal was for..

He said he didn't recall.

ADA Drake objected...

Olivia rested her case... She didn't have a smoking gun...but she had succeeded in producing reasonable doubt...Which was what she planned to do...Alvin came off as slimy and just a little bit culpable.

Now it would depend on a jury..

ADA Cheryl Drake looked exhausted and disgusted..she gave what she thought was a convincing closing.

She felt as though she was out maneuvered by Olivia and her young upstarts...They were better prepared in nearly everyway...and just might have turned the jury in their favor..Still, jury's were funny..She might get a hung jury out of this....She'd be grateful if she did..

She blamed the whole thing on Lt. Tragg and his less than stellar investigation...He rushed to judgement and brought charges against this girl, who even she was now beginning to think might be innocent and failed to look at the other angle..

"Nooooooo Lover, I'm not going anywhere near Judge Wong's chambers.. If you want more, you'll have to wait until we get home." whispered Olivia in between kisses.

"Damn this is all because Lt. Tragg and Pinkney Bach don't know how to lock doors.." I said as we kissed.

"Pinkney doesn't have to lock doors now...He's the Judge's boyfriend... They're probably in there kissing right now."laughed Olivia as we continued kissing.

Olivia and I stood outside the courtroom kissing.. We were maybe celebrating a little too early...We hadn't gotten a verdict yet and I didn't feel as though I had done my best job..

"Uh Uhhhhhh,No way I'm going in the Judges Chambers..We'll have time to do it when we get home."said Beverly.

"No one is even in there Honey Bum.." begged Nelson.

"I'm not getting caught in there....Uh Uhhhhhhhhh." said Beverly in between kisses..

"I hate to break this up...but the jury is back!" said Josie.

"Twenty Minutes...That must be a record." said Bresha.

IV-

"Mr. Foreman has the jury reached a decision?" asked Judge Wong.

"Yes your honor, we have." said the Jury Foreman.

"Bailiff bring me the decision." she asked..

She looked at the decision and smiled..

"Read the decision." she said.

"COUNT ONE PEOPLE OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA VS. NATASHA SMITH, CONSPIRACY TO COMMITT MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE, NOT GUILTY!"

" COUNT TWO PEOPLE OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA VS NATASHA SMITH, COMMISSION OF A CRIME WITH A DEADLY WEAPON, NOT GUILTY!

"THE MOST SERIOUS CHARGE, PEOPLE OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA VS. NATASHA SMITH, MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE, NOT GUILTY!!!"

"YESSSSSS, THANK YOU MS. OLIVIA, BEVERLY, NELSON, DONNIE RAY, JOSIE AND BRESHA...THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!" Natasha squealed, hugging all six of us!!!

"Ohhh you are sooo welcome baby!" said Olivia.

"You're welcome, Good luck to you."said Beverly.,

"Wow close one eh Donnie Ray." said Nelson.

"Yeah, closer than anyone will ever know." I said.

"I feel like some food and a drink.." said Josie.

Another Thursday, another victory." said Bresha.

"I knew I hired the right Attorneys!!!...I knew if anyone could get you off...They could.."said a jubilant U.S. Attorney Todd Dellums..

"First, I'm going to get you off....At your, I mean OUR new condo..."said Natasha, who was moving in with U.S. Attorney Dellums..

They kissed passionately...

"I'd like to thank the jury...You are dismissed.. I want Mr. Alvin Taylor remanded to custody...Perjury is a very serious crime..." said Judge Wong..

Alvin Taylor was taken into custody for Perjury...

ADA Cheryl Drake was disgusted totally...She hated losing..This was twice in as many weeks..It was not something she did..She looked at Lt. Tragg.angrilly and declared-

''This makes two trials I've lost...With any luck, I shall never have to work with you again." she said and stormed out of the courtroom, furious..

"Likewise I'm sure."said Lt. Tragg who was once again as red as a beet. He kicked a steel trash can until it bent and stomped his foot in anger and stormed out of the courthouse.

We celebrated that night by having a nice dinner at our house.

Just a small ceremony for the gang...

Olivia and Me, Beverly and Nelson, Josie and Paris and Bresha and Tony...

Alfreda fried up a lot of chicken.

and made up a nice salad, which we had with a nice port of Wine..

Outside, the unmarked plain clothes cop cars were all but gone.

Proof Positive that the case was over.

EPILOUGE-

The Body of a young Black woman was recovered from the river.

"Two gunshots ,center mast....I've seen this pattern before."said Hazel as she looked at the body.

"She's got an identification badge in the pocket of her blouse...It says Samantha Sykes." said Detective Angela Belton-Barlow..

"I called you Donnie Ray, because I know you'd been looking for this girl for weeks, Weeks before you know who."said Detective Edwin "Duke" Baylor..

"Thanks Duke, Angie, Hazel....I'm just glad we were able to get our client off without needing her help."I said.

"She wouldn't have been able to help you...She's been in the water about as long as your client, Chandler Smith has been dead.. We estimate a good six weeks."said Detective Tyriq Pile.

"While you were looking for her..We did a little digging ourselves..It seems she vanished the same day that Chandler Smith got himself killed."said Detective Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace.

"A real slick way of taking the trail off the killer...by disapearing one and shooting another outright."said Detective James "Jimmy" Barlow.

"You think ,Alvin Taylor?" I said. He was still in jail om perjury charges.

"Not him personally, but people he has been known to associate with."said Detective Sirena Pile

"Namely , a certain Russian mobster, who thinks he's slick."said Detective Tony Hopkins.

"It's our case now Donnie Ray...but we'd appreciate any insight you could give us."said Lt. Sissy Van Buren.

"Now see if Lt. Tragg would ask like that..."I laughed.

"Don't mention him...You won't have to worry about him for two to three weeks.."said Detective Jimmy Barlow.

That Assistant District Attorney, Cheryl Drake and a U.S. Attorney named Todd Dellums both complained so much about his performance during that trial that you guys had ,that The Deputy of Operations gave him two options, return to Quantico for a month long refresher in their Law Enforcement and Detective course or three weeks on the Marine Boat..Guess what he chose?" laughed Jimmy.

Lt. Tragg was back on the Police marine boat.

Working the day shift though...Getting off at midnight.

He's got his bottle of Jameson's Irish Whiskey to keep him company.

The Criminal Investigation Division arrested a Russian with ties to the Russian Mob Named Simon Muglavich..A suspect in several contract killings.They found his gun..and his silencer...It was a match to the Chandler Smith murder and the Samantha Bryce Murder as well as about five other unsolved murders.

Faced with the Death penalty for seven murder convictions,

He agreed to a deal with ADA Keith Wallace and ADA Cheryl Drake, glad to be working with good detectives and competant people again.. He testified that

Alvin Taylor hired him to kill both Chandler Smith and Samantha Bryce and showed his telephone number which matched the unidentified number I found.

Alvin Taylor was sentenced to death by lethal injection, while Simon Muglavich was sentenced to Life ,no parole for all seven of the murders he was convicted of." said Jimmy Barlow.

And so based on the news I presented...

Nelson sat and collected twenty dollars from Josie , Paris and Tony.

"Wowww That was a sucker bet...I was just playin Nelson." said Josie as she gave him her twenty dollar bill.

"Damn I just threw my money in the street...What made me think that Lt. Tragg was going to find that girl and much less crack the case.?" asked Paris as he passed Nelson a twenty..