Springing Big Daddy

The next day was a beautiful Spring Day in D.C.

I ordered room service for everybody....Tumblers of Coffee...Bagels, Dougnuts and Breakfast sandwiches....

We all sat in the living room area eating and going over our game plan...

Olivia peered out the window and then turned to us..

''Well,How did everybody sleep last night?" she asked.

 Beverly and Nelson looked like two love struck teenagers...

"Sleep? Who went to sleep?" she joked...

Nelson smiled sheepishly....

These two were going to be very happy with each other for the rest of their lives....I could see it...

"Well without saying, I guess you two had a wonderful night.." laughed Olivia..

I whispered in Olivia's ear...

"We had a pretty wonderful night too baby!" I said...

Olivia blushed....We had made love at least four times the night before....

 Including a romp in the shower and had both slept like a newborn baby afterwords...

 She kissed me...

"Yes we did."she said softly.

"I probably slept the best out of all of you." said Josie, looking at Beverly and Nelson wryly...and setting up our work station..

I smiled..

"I'll give you girls a lift over to the Mental Health Facility where Judge Courtland is being held." I said.

"We have to stop and pick up his doctor first and a psychiatrist that Annette mentioned."said Beverly...

"Nelson I'll drop you off at the Law Library...When you guys are ready to come back...Call me and I'll pick you up."I said.

"Good....Oh poor Josie..you're going to be here by yourself...Well just until around 1:30 or 2:00, we should all be back by then and I'll order us all a nice lunch...I know a nice place in town to eat."said Olivia.

"Cool Liv...I'm used to being alone...You guys are always in court most of the day when we are home." said Josie...Who was just glad to be with us and away from Philly..

"Although...I checked our phone messages...from home...Our office got several calls from a blocked number...last night, after we were closed.."said Josie..

"A blocked number? Our Office phone??? After hours...?Hmmm,wonder who that was?" mused Olivia..

"Annette?? No ,she would know that we are gone...and I left a message saying we are on haitus for a few days and to leave a message."said Beverly...

I immediately thought of Judge Joseph Crawford....The stalking Judge who had a thing for Olivia...We hadn't heard from him in a long time...Olivia's personal phone number had been changed and his number had been blocked just in case he tried to call...The only number he could call was our office number...Guess we'd have to block that one too...

I didn't want to bring him up ,I merely said..

"If they didn't leave a message,It couldn't have been that important...Let's go spring a judge from the hoosegal." I said as we all got up and headed downstairs to my SUV...

II-

 After dropping Olivia, Beverly and Nelson off..

I began my investigation into The Judge and his family...

Brett "Big Daddy" Courtland  was born 76 years ago in Washington D.C. , the youngest of two boys...The older boy , Alvin, a good ten years older and a never do well...

Alvin Courtland was in and out of jail and had a juvenile record as long as his younger brother's accomplishments...

He fathered two children a boy..Alvin Jr. and a girl, Robin out of wedlock to two different women, both deceased...

Bret however was different.. The boys father worked as a lawyer himself and was quite embarrassed that his oldest son was such a law breaker. Courtland however started at Amherst College in 1961, was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, and graduated as valedictorian in 1965. He returned to D.C. to teach at Howard University.

He did a stint in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam war and then returned to D.C. in 1970 ,where he served as Vice-Dean and Dean of the Howard University School of Law from 1971-75. In this capacity he had direct influence on nearly one-quarter of all the black lawyers to be in the area.

 Bret Courtland left Howard in 1975 and served as special counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) until 1990...

He practiced law privately for awhile and then eventually worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Washington D.C....He eventually became a Judge and then a Federal Judge...He lectured regularly at different law schools and got the name "Big Daddy" because he had mentored so many of the area's young attorneys...He was also known as a lady's man ..Though he never married....

 After his older brother was killed in a shootout with rival drug dealers  ,he tried to do right by his brother's children...He put both his Nephew and Niece through school...

Alvin Toffler graduated from Morgan State with a degree in Communications /Journalism...He worked at several Radio Stations as a DJ and wrote for a few small newspapers...but was presently unemployed...He was living in a small apartment in Washington, DC.

The niece, Robin Nolan...graduated from her uncle's Alma Mater...Howard University with a Nursing degree and was employed at a near by Hospital...

Neither Alvin nor Robin had any kind of criminal record and I couldn't understand for the life of me why they had had their uncle committed...

I quietly snapped photos of both of them.. and followed them around.... The niece, Robin Nolan worked most of the day...at the hospital..

The nephew on the other hand was unemployed and at home most of the day...He walked from his apartment to buy some weed...He had breakfast and lunch with some friends of his...who were like him semi-employed and crashing at each others apartments...

I'd been a cop for years...Nothing about these two said criminal mastermind...If their uncle was being blackmailed...It was somebody else.

The One Time Deputy District Attorney, Arthur Curry was married and the father of two...An up and coming young Black Barrister...It was no secret he was looking to parlay his time in the courtroom into political office...

Annette had met him at a company fund-raiser...At the time she was defending a client on trial for insider trading.. Another ADA was handling it...

He was enthralled with her and began trading sensitive information about that trial to her for mind blowing sex in several hotels and motels outside of D.C. for months...It was a steamy affair that was only whispered about in some circles..

After Annette got her client off...She broke off their relationship...Curry was said to be inconsolable..But there was no way he could say anything about their relationship without exposing himself..

The other Judge Annette had been involved with was a young man named Flip Washington, who was one of the youngest guys to make Judge...He had been a rather successful attorney....He was two years younger than Annette, but handsome and dashing and drove a nice sports car...

He and Annette enjoyed a steamy,passionate relationship that went on for about a year, despite the fact that he was engaged and had a baby on the way...

Their relationship ended on good terms....

I ruled them both out as being behind this.

III-

 Olivia and Beverly filed a motion for the Judge's immediate release and arrived at the facility where he was being held with His doctor and a psychiatrist who examined him and said that he was mentally fit and shouldn't be there...

They had had several difficult legal battles before...This had to go down as the easiest....The Judge was immediately released...

Olivia and Beverly was happily surprised that the judge ,while 76 years old was tall, athletically built and very,very handsome and charming...

He was honey brown skinned and his hair was surprisingly just starting to gray...

He slyly pinched Beverly's rear end..

"Ouuu.." she said and smiled sheepishly at the Judge...

"My..My Myyyyy..."If I knew my niece and nephew were sending you two to get me out...I'd of left out of here a lot sooner..." said the Judge..

"Your Niece and Nephew?They had nothing to do with this...We were sent by someone else." said Olivia..

"Someone Else..??Who?  "he asked now visibly puzzled..

"Your fiance??" said Beverly...

He smiled...

"Annette....Ahhhhhhhhh...well....then her firm is bankrolling you..." he said slyly...

"Noooooo, we are being paid by someone else...You have a very powerful friend who cares about you a lot..That's who is paying us."said Olivia.

He smiled..

"Annette tell you to say that? That damn gal is something else...She can lie as well as she can......Well , Well anyway...Okay, your secret is safe with me..."he laughed and winked...

"You sure you married Olivia?" he asked looking at Olivia salaciously....

"I am...My husband is here in D.C. with me...Investigating your case..." she said.

He smiled..

"Nothing to investigate..I tossed some money out the window that's all.." he laughed..

"It was rumored to be 100K sir." said Beverly...

"Yeah and? It was my money...I felt generous that day..."he laughed... "You aint married sugar" he said pinching her bottom again..

"Ouuuu, stoppppp.."laughed Beverly...

"Damn you got a nice bottom on you....Could I be generous with you?" he asked slyly...

"I don't think my man would appreciate that...He's the other attorney working this case.." said Beverly,laughing..Despite him being somewhat of a hound, Beverly found him cute and entertaining.

"Damn...He's here too? In D.C.??" he asked..

"Yes." said Beverly...

"I shoulda figured it...As fine as you two gals is, some man would have to have snatched you two up...You two related? You look like sisters!!" he asked.

"That's my niece.."said Olivia.

He looked at the both of them..

"Get out!!!!" he said...he stared at Olivia..."You aint much older than her.." he said.

"Nine years older...She's my older brother's daughter." said Olivia...

"Lawd have mercy....Two of you....." he said.  "Where is Annette?? I'm horny!" he said...

"Oh My godddddddddddddddddddddddddddd!" they both laughed....

He laughed too....

"My husband should be by here in a few minutes to pick us up...Can we drop you off anywhere?" asked Olivia...

"Yeah...My house..."he said and busted out laughing...

"Annette seems to think that your Niece and Nephew put you in here and that they don't like her..." said Olivia..

"Oh they don't like her...They hate her guts...but they didn't do this...I was off my meds and I got a little crazy....I take Anxiety medication....Not something I want to get out, so keep that quiet...When I don't take my meds...I get a little ..well untoward...I'm alright now..." he said.

Olivia and Beverly looked at each other and smiled..

IV-

 Nelson and I drove by and picked up Olivia and Beverly and the judge...We took the Judge to the pharmacy to get his med's and then we dropped him off...We headed back to our hotel for a reunion with Josie, who had been there all day by herself..

When we returned... Josie was there...She was watching Television...There had been no calls and nothing to report..

We all got ready to go out to lunch, but first we sat around for a few and talked about the days findings...

"This was too easy..we got him out too easy..."said Olivia..

"He seems normal...but then again...something about him is a little off putting."said Beverly...

I told them about what my investigation into the Judge and his family had turned up....and then I added..

"Liv, Shortcake...I followed his Niece and Nephew around....They don't seem like criminals...They don't seem like they're plotting on his money..They seem like regular folk... I need to look at that zip drive and it's contents..."I said.

"I got you the copies of the precedents that you wanted...but from the looks of things you may not even need them..."said Nelson....

Olivia was anticipating a courtroom battle...It didn't look like there would be one.

"It's something about the Blackmail.....I have a feeling that Annette and Mr. Gaskins aren't telling us the whole story...Something feels off." said Olivia...

V-

That night the five us found a nice bar in downtown D.C.

"This is a bit bold...but the only way to clear this up."I said.

''I agree Donnie Ray."said Olivia.

"You think they'll show up D.R.?" asked Beverly...

''Who can say? But if they don't...That's almost an admission of guilt...They know we aren't cops...Just attorneys." I said.

"Well, they don't have to talk to us..." said Beverly...

"No they don't...but I would hope that they would." said Olivia..

"Heads Up, here they come.."said Nelson...

Alvin and Robin walked in the bar and sat down with us....

 "Hi..I'm Alvin Toffler Jr. " said the male, who was slight, about five foot five..And looked as if he could use a couple of good meals..

"I'm Robin Nolan " said his half sister, a petite ,but very shapely and attractive brown skinned woman with a short afro cropped hairstyle...

''I'm Attorney Olivia Bennett-Alexander and this is my niece, Attorney Beverly West and Attorney Nelson East and my husband, Donnie Ray Alexander...my investigator...and my assistant, Josie Boyd."said Olivia.

We all shook hands and exchanged pleasantries and then sat in a large booth and ordered drinks...

This was a very nice bar.....It wasn't Josies...but the drinks were cheap and the music was good...It wasn't a dive...

''So yall came all the way from Philly to get our Uncle out of the clink huh?" asked Alvin..

"We heard that you and your sister had him committed."I said.

"Annette Collins tell you that? See, I hate that lyin......Ouuuuu...Look...We didn't put our Uncle in there...I don't know who...but I work all day at the hospital...I'm a Nurse...I don't have the time or the money to do that...and why would I? Everything I am...I owe to my Uncle...He put me through school...My friends are paying back student loans...Me and my brother ? None...."said Robin....

I showed her the papers from the facility with both her and her brother's signature on it authorizing it..Both shook their heads...

"That's not our signatures..." said Robin and she preceded to show us her signature...So did her brother...

It wasn't their signature...But a black male and female about their ages and build were said to have accompanied a practically incapacitated Brett Courtland into the facility...

"On this day in question...I was working a double shift at the hospital...I didn't even see my uncle..You can check."said Robin.

"I wasn't even in town that day...I was in Philly, in fact...I D.J. ed at this spot called Josies..I was a guest D.J."said Alvin...

''We loved our Uncle...He only did right by us..We found out he was in that facility from slut ass Annette,calling us ,crying and carrying on , accusing us of committing our uncle...We did no such thing..We loved him.."said Robin.

"That's right..Thanks to our Uncle...We both finished school and got college degrees...I'm uh a little job challenged right now..but I got a few prospects..I got nothin but love for my uncle...In fact ,Sis and me hired a lawyer to try and get him out." said Alvin..

"You did?" I asked..

"Yes..Floyd Gaskins..."said Robin.

"FLOYD GASKINS???" said Josie.

"You know him?" asked Robin.

"You might say that....How do you guys know him?" asked Beverly...

 "He has an office not far from where I work."said Robin...

"Yeah...He's no heavy hitter like you guys...but he's all we could afford.."said Alvin....

"He doesn't work for the Lundy Law Firm?" I asked..

 "He did at one time....but he got fired about a year ago....And he set up his own law practice....He was trying very hard to get with that slut Annette Collins...She broke his heart...Poor thing...When he heard about our Uncle's predicament..He said he'd do whatever he could to help us...So I guess that meant contacting you guys." said Robin.

"Yeah...and we can barely afford him...Why did he call you guys in?" asked Alvin...

Olivia looked at me and motioned for me and Beverly not to say anything...

"Uh..We don't know...but we'll be back in touch with Mr. Gaskins.." said Olivia..

We talked and drank with Alvin and Robin well into the night...

We were all convinced that they neither had the motive, time or money to have orchestrated all of this..

Annette had left a lot out and we needed to talk to her...

We returned to our hotel room that night...We were all pretty tired...

Beverly, Nelson and Josie sat out in the living room, talking quietly...and watching a movie....

But Olivia and I sat in our bedroom....We walked into the hallway and then outside...

Olivia made a quick call to Annette in Philly on her smartphone...I suspected that our room might be bugged.

"Annette...This is Olivia."

"Ohh Hi Sugar....Did you see Big Daddy?" she asked..

"Oh yes...We got him out...and we had an interesting conversation with his niece and nephew...They did not have him committed...In fact they hired your man, Floyd Gaskins to get him out..." said Olivia..

''Floyd Gaskins?? What has he got to do with this?"she asked.

"He's your contact person right?  He helped us get set up in our hotel...He wanted our bank routing information...I am so glad we didn't give it to him." said Olivia..

"Ouu. Thank you Jesus...Floyd Gaskins was not your contact person...He's not even with our firm...I sent a white guy named Tony...Tony Katz to meet up with you...You never saw him?"asked Annette,now with Panic in her voice.

"We never saw anybody named Tony Katz....Floyd Gaskins said that he was working with you..." said Olivia..

"No...No...I don't know how he had anything to do with this...He hasn't worked with our firm in a year...He was fired for sexual harrassment...He has been trying to get in my panties since the day I started working there...I filed charges against him and he was let go...I dropped the charges after he was let go...No need for him to lose his license and livelihood...I just wanted him to leave me alone..I haven't talked to him in over a year. Look..I'm coming back tomorrow..Don't try to call him or talk to anybody else....I don't know how he found out about the hotel you guys are staying in or anything." she said.

I had heard the conversation....

"We've been hustled babe...."I said.

''And if Floyd Gaskins isn't who he says he is...Where is Tony Katz?" asked Olivia...

"What's going on here?" I asked.."Don't say anything about the case in that room...Take the youngins aside and explain it to them...If Gaskins is dirty...Then he found out about us and intercepted Annette's guy Tony...I suspect our room is bugged...Tomorrow morning, we are all going to breakfast...I've got some work to do...We are being played Livy....It didn't take us to get the Judge out of that facility and someone clearly wanted him out of the way , but for what reason???"I asked...

''We've got to turn the tables on Gaskins." said Olivia..

Just what I planned to do!



(DEFINITELY TO BE CONTINUED)