Ambitious

ONE WEEK LATER!

A quiet day at the office....Olivia was sitting on my lap sifting through her mail, I had my arms around her waist.....

Every now and then, she'd lean over and kiss me softly...

Beverly had been in the other room, filing some case files...

Josie walked in...

"You guys have a visitor, Attorney Calvin Hunt..." she said.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh Calvin.....Send him in Josie." said Olivia..

Beverly walked in...

"Hey Calvin...Congratulations on the wedding...I'm surprised you two aren't away on your honeymoon by now..." said Beverly...

"Hey man, congrats! " I said smiling...

"Thanks , Thanks guys and thank you all for the gift and for attending.." said Calvin...who looked around....

"Nice place you have here....and you guys live upstairs huh?" he said.

"Beverly lives on the first floor and Donnie Ray and I live above her on the second level..."said Olivia..

"Nice...Very Nice.." he said...

"So....Why do I have a feeling this is not a mere social visit?" asked Olivia...

"Uh...it is... and it isn't...I told you I was going to come by and check out your space...but I also need a favor...A Big favor..."

"I don't like the sound of that....but since it's you Cal, How bad can it be?" asked Beverly...

A colleague of mine, a fellow Attorney at my firm has been arrested in the past week on First Degree Murder charges...and she could use a good Attorney...Two good defense attorneys..." said Calvin..

"If I recall, you're no slouch....." said Olivia..

"Yeah, but my wife and I are getting ready to go on our Honeymoon...We're going to Punta Canta and I promised her I wouldn't take on anymore cases until we get back...We've already been delayed once with one of her cases....So now that both our dockets are clear....I could use some help...I started to ask your ex-husband..but he'd try to sleep with my colleague and just muddy the waters..." said Calvin..

"You mean Elwood? Yeah ,how about that?" laughed Beverly...

"So you came to Bev and me?" asked Olivia...

"She specifically asked for you two..." said Calvin...

"Who is your colleague? Do we know her?" I asked.

"Uh , she says she knows you guys ,that you met briefly a couple of years ago..I brought her into my firm, when she told me she wanted to practice law again....She's actually a damn good attorney..A good trial attorney, I don't know why she insists on being in show business.." said Calvin..

 "SHOW BUSINESS!!!" I said.

 "Does this person dabble in Stand Up Comedy?" asked Olivia..

"Oh My God...Is your colleague by chance...Karen White??" asked Beverly...

"Yeah that's her...She works at my firm during the day as a top notch Attorney...I know she's Nelson's Ex...She told me all that! She's an associate...but I see big things ahead for her...but at night she's a stand up comedian...I've never caught her act..."said Calvin..

''And you don't want to...Oh my god...She's terrible..."said Olivia..

''As in watching fresh paint dry is more humorous and interesting..." said Beverly...

"Oh My....Really? She's that bad?" said Calvin...

"YES!" I said....

"Well then this is really going to bust you up..." he said and produced a photo of an attractive young Black woman..

I studied the photo...

"Is this who she is accused of killing? She looks familliar" I said.

''Donnie Ray, that's the girl who was heckling her last Friday night at Josies..." said Olivia.

"Oh Wow...It is...I remember her....She got more laughs than Karen did...Not that that was hard...Karen got no laughs..." said Beverly...

"Yeah, well she lives in the Sugar Top Lofts...which is a good half hour drive from Josies...Friday Night at around 3:10 am in the morning...somebody slipped in her loft and shot her twice in the head...

She swears she didn't do it....She said she was so humiliated and felt so bad after she left Josies that she sat in her car and cried for about an hour....Her memory is fuzzy as to where she was during that time, but she didn't get home until 4:30 am.. she says..." said Calvin..

"Oh My God...We were there...At Josie's last Friday Night...This woman was giving it to her ,pretty bad...."said Olivia..

"They even had a verbal altercation at the door, just as the woman was leaving..."said Beverly...

"Were there witnesses?" asked Calvin...

"Plenty....Karen was furious...by the way...Who is the murder victim?" I asked..

''Oh yeah...that! Her name is Latoya Rogers...She's the daughter of one of the Mayor's closest friends, Richard Rogers....The Lobbyist..This case has taken major proportions...

The ADA is Rockland Cambridge..."said Calvin..

"Oh God!  Him!!" said Olivia...

''Law school chum??, Old Boyfriend??? Old Adversary??" I asked.

"None of the above...He graduated from Law School a few years before me....I just know him by reputation....He's won his last 100 cases...He brags about his conviction rate like he's an athlete or something...He's a very good Attorney...I've never gone up against him before. I just see him on the news and on different shows...He's a legal consultant on that show..The Defenders Of Justice I think he thinks he's a superhero." said Olivia..

"I've  never gone up against him either...but guess who has? And guess who the last person to beat him in court was?? My baby, Nelson...." said Beverly..

"Nelson beat him? WOW!!!  But here's the uh other thing...She asked for both of you by name..Olivia Bennett-Alexander and Beverly West...She specifically said that she doesn't want Nelson East to have anything to do with this case..." said Calvin..

"But she asked for me? Knowing I'm his girlfriend??" said Beverly...

''Yeah...Liv, Bev look....She's a good Attorney and basically good people..I know she didn't kill anybody...She's no killer...and I don't want to see her sent to prison for something she didn't do...She said you two are the only two who can get her off  besides Perry Mason...I laughed at that..."said Calvin....

"You were being kind...Okay Calvin...Where is she now?" asked Olivia..sighing...

''Valhalla Women's Correctional Center...She has a bail hearing in two days..."said Calvin...

''We are only doing you this solid because we love you....But you owe us big time!"said Olivia..

"I know ,I know and thank you, thank you both! My firm will pay your legal fees....I promise.."said Calvin...

"Okay...Okay....Don't you have a honeymoon to get ready for..?" asked Beverly...

"You two are the best..." he said and kissed both of them.."I'll see you when we get back from Punta Cana....Heard you guys were in Puerto Rico a few weeks ago.." he said.

"We were...Had a great time.. Had a great time since we got back too!  Bev has had two cases and I've had two cases and we worked one together...Five Easy cases...Until today...."said Olivia with a smile...

''Sorry Liv"said Calvin...

"It's all good...We'll take her case...Who knows?..We might just win!" said Olivia...

Beverly and I laughed...

"Love you guys....See you in a few weeks.." Calvin said...


After Calvin left....Josie looked at us..

"I know I'm probably going to hell for this...but it's kind of funny when you think about it...A comedian on trial for killing a heckler..." said Josie...

"Josie...I'm surprised at you....That's not funny at all.." I said....."IT'S FREAKIN HILLARIOUS!!!"I said and busted out laughing...

Olivia and Beverly cracked up laughing too...

II-

I answered the knock on the door the next morning...  It was Nelson and Beverly...

"Hey Donnie Ray..." said Nelson...

"Hey D.R." said Beverly ,who kissed me on the cheek...''What smells good?"said Beverly..

''Your Auntay insisted on cooking breakfast for all of us this morning.." I said..

Olivia smiled and placed five plates of pancakes on the counter, hot syrup and hot sausage links...

"The extra stack is for Josie...She'll be up shortly..." said Olivia, smiling dreamily...

"Pancakes in the morning and on a Friday???....Hmmmmm what did you do right last night D.R.???" Don't answer...as if I don't know..." laughed Beverly..

Josie joined us.

It was odd for us to be eating at home on a Friday...but we had a challenging day before us..Instead of a case ending...One was beginning...

"I heard you two are representing Karen White....She's in jail for murder...First degree....I can't believe that she's a killer... A lousy comedian yes...and that girl did give it to her pretty hard in Josies...but Karen is no killer.." said Nelson..

"We hope not because we are going up against a real heavy hitter...Rockland Cambridge..." said Olivia..

"Wow Liv, Bev...He's cut throat..as cut throat as they come....I was the last person to win a case against him and that was a lifetime ago....I got lucky...I had a real good investigator...who helped me out a lot..." said Nelson...

"We have a real good investigator..."said Beverly smiling and hugging me....

''We have the best..." said Olivia, smiling and looking at me with pride...

Their faith in me was heartening!

We ate our food and drank our coffee and continued talking...

"Calvin told us that she doesn't want you involved in the case at all boo....It's not us...We could use your help.." said Beverly...

"Nonsense....You guys know all you need to know about jury selection..Just remember the things I taught you, you two will be fine..I don't care if she doesn't want me involved...That's on her!" said Nelson...

"You sure ,because you can work behind the scenes and she never has to know..."said Olivia..

"It's all good and besides...I got a case...I'm representing Timebomb..." said Nelson...

"Timebomb???" asked Beverly and Josie...

"Yeah, he got himself arrested last Thursday night for drunk and disorderly and allegedly assaulting a police officer...That's why he didn't make the gig and Karen replaced him at the last minute.."said Nelson...

"Wow, talk about fate..." said Olivia...

"He makes that gig and we are spared her terrible show and maybe,just maybe that other girl lives..."said Beverly...

"Maybe not...If Karen White is innocent...Then Latoya's death was inevitable anyway....We've got to start thinking like that." I said..

III-

Once again we wound up at the Valhalla Womens Detention Center....In my years as a Homicide detective,I had surprisingly only been to a women's prison once...With Olivia and Beverly, I had been here several times..

Karen was waiting for us in the visiting room...She had the same, unfriendly scowl on her face that had so endeared her to us the last time we met her two years ago during another case...

"Olivia Bennett-Alexander and Beverly West....The dynamic duo...Calvin said he could deliver...Looks like he did!" she said..

"We are here to see about getting you some bail...You have a hearing Monday" said Olivia..

"My mother and one of my aunts is working on bail money...I told them where you work...They should be down with some of the money shortly....My law firm is putting up the rest...They like me there! "she said. "That Prick, ADA Rockland Cambridge is asking for no bail...He says I'm a flight risk...I'm an Attorney for god sake and I don't have a prior criminal record of any kind.. " said Karen...

"It's First Degree Murder Karen.....and your victim is the daughter of one of our Mayor's closest political allies..They want action on this quick!"said Beverly...

"I'm surprised they don't have that fine ass Keith Wallace on this case...I'd love being in court with him...He could handcuff me anytime.." said Karen,laughing...Even now, she just wasn't funny...

"Karen, you're in a lot of trouble...First thing I need to know is ,Did you do it? Did you kill her?" I asked.

"Nooooooooooo....Am I sorry she's dead? NO, not at all...In fact, if I knew who killed her, I'd defend them pro bono...That bitch caused me nothing but grief and embarrassment...but did I kill her? No..." said Karen..

"What did you do? We were in Josie's that night...My Husband was playing." said Olivia.

"Yeah,I remember you...You play the Trumpet...You had the second band that went on after the Liquid Love Band....See, I'm not the only person that moonlights ...You are a gumshoe by day...a musician by night.." said Karen..

"So we saw how bad Latoya was giving it to you...We saw you confront her at the door of Josies...A lot of people did...It almost looked like things were about to get violent.." I said.

"It did, but it didn't get violent...I said what I had to say to her and I left....Look, I didn't even know the bitch's name until the cops came and arrested me...."said Karen..

"You didn't know her name? You didn't know where she lived?" I asked..

"Noooooooooo..." she said...

"Okay, but let me tell you...I used to be a cop...A Homicide Detective...Murder police...This is what I do...If you're lying...I will find out...So please...tell me everything...."I said.

"It'll make things easier for you.."said Olivia..

"Damn girl, you are sharp..." she said smiling at Olivia...Then she looked at me...

"I've had three prior confrontations with her...At a comedy club and another joint...but they never got violent...I didn't know her name or where she lived or anything about her...I swear that's the truth...I didn't kill her." said Karen...

"We saw you kick the trash can and then rush to your car...Where did you go?" asked Beverly..

"I drove as far as I could from there...I drove to Jakes ,but I didn't go in...I just sat there in my car and cried...Then I drove to Northeast Airport and sat there for about an hour and then I went home...by then it was 5:00 AM..." she said.

"Anybody see you?" I asked...

''Nobody that will come forward...It was 4:00 in the morning...This aint New York...Nobody was on the street...If that bitch hadn't of gotten me so upset...I would have been off the street...I'd of been home..she cost me a second gig...They cancelled my gig for the second night...Thanks to her and her shenanigans.."said Karen, who then looked at Beverly...

"I saw you laughing...you obviously was enjoying my show.." she said.

Beverly was laughing , but for the opposite reason...She was tickled because her show had been so bad and she was amused by the heckler, the now dead heckler...

"You know...I was wrong about you..I thought you were siddity...but I was wrong...You are just like me in a way Beverly.." said Karen..

"How is that?" asked Beverly...

"Ambitious!  See ,When I met Nelson...I was working at the Public defenders office too...You were there for about a month when I started and then you left....

Nelson was so hurt...He told me about how he finally got a date with you and when he took you out , he had left his wallet at home by mistake and you had to pay for everything..and how he had probably blown it with you...I didn't blame you...I wouldn't have gone out with him again either..Then he told me that you had left to go work in Washington D.C. for Immigration....I asked him what his plans were and he didn't have any..None..He was satisfied working as A Public defender, representing the scum of the earth...People who couldn't pay...Me,I always had plans...I dated Nelson and I slept with Nelson, out of pity...He was still living with his mama...His gangster uncle had paid for his college and law school and he was content...I broke up with him too as soon as I got a job at my corporate law firm...He was a nice guy and all, just wasn't goin anywhere...But when I saw him with you again, two years ago I was shocked..He was dressing in nicer, expensive suits...Carried himself different and was working in the private sector at a law firm and had his own place...Guess that's what made you take a second look huh?" she said.

"Wrong! I started seeing Nelson again when he was still at the Public defender's office..I didn't date him because of what he was or what he might become...I started dating him again because he was sweet to me..and true to me and he found me when I was in a real bad place emotionally....He got the job at Robert Foxworth and Associates on his own ,as well as his own place...I started noticing the little things that Nelson did for me, the little things that other guys didn't do...That's what made me give him a second look...I've never regretted it." said Beverly...

''Ohhh guess he finally got a little ambition huh? And you and your auntie started your own law firm...I like that..." said Karen...

"What is your ambition?" asked Olivia..

"As an Attorney, I want to do something worthwhile...Something that helps people....I never dug Corporate Law...I like Advocacy ,like what you two do...The firm I work at with Calvin does that kind of law...That's why I went back to law...plus I needed the money and let's face it...Comedy isn't doing it for me yet...but my time will come." she said..

Poor deluded girl..I thought to myself..

"You don't want Nelson to have anything to do with this case ...but you do know he is my boyfriend.."said Beverly...

"I know...and I don't mean nothin by it...I was just being mean...I'm sorry..."said Karen..

''He's the last person to beat Rockland Cambridge...." said Olivia..."He'd be a great help in helping us pick a jury and telling us the inner workings of Rockland's brain.."added Olivia.

"You guys really love Nelson don't you?  Good for him.....I wasn't what he needed...Not then ,probably not now..I'm glad one of us found some happiness, some fulfillment.." she said..

"Okay...Well you hang in there girlie...We'll see you at the preliminary hearing on Monday..." said Olivia..

"Not like I can go anywhere...See you then." said Karen...

IV-

Monday Morning....At the Preliminary hearing...We got a taste of what a possible trial was going to be like..

Rockland Cambridge , the ADA was bombastic, dramatic and brilliant...He put on a formidable show....
Telling the judge , that our client, Karen White , an attorney and sometime comedian was heckled mercilessly by the deceased victim and finally in a fit of rage, she followed her to her home and shot her..

Olivia countered his argument with the fact that the gun which was found a few days later had no fingerprints or DNA on it...It turned out to be a stolen gun ,long sought after and there was no eyewitness, not one to the murder or that could place the defendant there at the scene...

Beverly eloquently argued that the defendant was an Attorney, an officer of the court and had no prior criminal record or any history of violence and was not a flight risk...

The judge agreed and set bail at 100K...

Karen's law firm ,which thought highly of her and her mother and aunt put up the bail money and she was released ...

''My god...Thank you ladies.." said Karen..

''Don't thank us yet...We still have a trial to go through..."said Olivia..

"And it won't be easy...this guy is good..real good!" said Beverly...

''Here he comes..." I said..

''So...Olivia Bennett-Alexanderrrrrrrrrrrr....Beverly West...The Dynamic Duo...At last we meet...I've heard so much about you two.." he said.

''I was at one of your lectures..At Penn Law recently.."said Olivia..

"So was I."said Beverly..

''How nice...I'm flattered....Don't take it personal when I get a conviction and send your client to death row..I'm seeking the death penalty..." he said..

''What? for this...This is at best Manslaughter.."said Beverly...

''Surely you're kidding..."said Olivia.

"But I'm not...You two won this round...Surprising as that was...I usually win these prelims...but I intend to win the war!   See you two in court..." he said and walked off....

"Wow...That was something.." I said.

 ''He just raised the stakes.." said Beverly...

"Well, Go Big or Go Home!" said Olivia, sighing..."That's what my Big Brother always said."she said.

Later on that day, Beverly was walking with Nelson..

"I was getting ready to ask you how things went with Karen's case, but you can't talk to me about it.."said Nelson...

Beverly smiled..and kissed Nelson softly...

"No..we are good...Me and you...We are always good...We got her released on bail...Oh and Rockland came up and gave us his spiel about how he is going to convict her and how he's seeking the death penalty..." said Beverly...

"That's intimidation...He does that to all opposing attorneys..that's how he gets in their heads...It's worked so well now that it's down to a a science...When he and I battled..I was too green to know I was supposed to be afraid..and his tactics didn't work.." said Nelson..

Beverly smiled and just hugged him, saying nothing...

They both quietly stared at the overcast sky.....


(TO BE CONTINUED)