By The Time I Get To Atlanta

Beverly,Josie  and I had been sitting outside this seafood bistro, the same one,ironically enough where DA Ethan Bell had taken Josie for lunch two days before..

Beverly looked over at Josie ,who was driving ...

"Wow Jo, this is nice...We have to go here before we go back to Philly..." she said..

"Girl, the food is off the hook...." said Josie...

"Speaking of which...There is our target..."I said...

Bobby Kat, the stepson of our client, Allen Durant's sister stood outside with a tumbler of coffee...He drank and laughed and talked with two other employees and then tossed the tumbler in the trash...Then he smoked a cigarette....He tossed the butt in the same trash can...

I got out of the car and put the empty styrofoam tumbler in a plastic bag and the cigarette butt in another plastic bag...

"Tell me again why we are doing this Donnie Ray? The Judge already said she's going to throw the original conviction out and order a new trial..."said Beverly...

"She also said if we bring her compelling evidence....She'd vacate the entire sentence and release him immediately...I'm sure Durant doesn't want to spend another day in lock up waiting for a new trial in which he could possibly lose and be resentenced all over again..."I said.

"This guy was cleared, wasn't he?" asked Beverly...

"He was questioned and released...Not cleared...The M.E. said they found some retarded DNA on the skin of the murder victim's neck that wasn't a conclusive match for Allen Durant...We now have this fresh DNA from Kat...and  Nelson and your sexy auntie got fresh DNA from Durant yesterday at the Prison..He asked about you Josie."I said..laughing a little bit...

"He did huh?" said Josie..unenthusiastically...

"My sexy auntie....You couldn't just say Olivia or Liv...What has she done to you?"said Beverly laughing....

"You just can't imagine..."I said, laughing...

"You love her soo much...That is so sweet..."said Beverly...

"It is.." said Josie..

"Okay, before this turns into a mush fest...Let's get this to the M.E.'s office." I said,laughing...

II-

At this very moment...Olivia and Nelson was being bombarded by the press... Up until now...Our being here and our re-opening the Durant case had flown under the press's radar....but now it was out in the open...

"Mrs. Bennett-Alexander, is it true that a Super Pac that is helping the current D.A. get re-elected is paying for you and your team to take on this case..?" asked a gaggle of reporters...

"No Comment..."said Olivia...

"Mrs. Bennett Alexander...why are you out here taking on this mundane case?"asked another reporter.

"I'm an activist Defense Attorney....I turn up wherever there is a miscarriage of justice...And this case is a mis-carriage of Justice..."said Olivia..

"Mrs. Bennett-Alexander...Did the Innocence Project, which you and your niece have worked for before ,pay your legal fees?" asked another reporter..

"Why so much interest in how I'm getting paid?" she said..

"Liv, come on..follow me...There is a car waiting for us.." said Nelson..

"Donnie Ray?" asked Olivia...

"No...Someone else...Just follow me." said Nelson, who led her through the throng of reporters into a waiting SUV..

with tinted windows....The SUV took off at top speed..

Inside the SUV was a familiar voice..

"Mrs. Olivia Bennett-Alexander, I've always wanted to meet you....I just never thought it would be like this..."said District Attorney Ethan Bell...

''District Attorney Bell...I've heard so much about you." said Olivia.  "This leak wasn't you was it?" asked Olivia..

"No...I certainly didn't want the Super Pac that is paying you in the news....I wanted no financial connection to this case for obvious reasons...This had to be Gibbons...He's got a mole inside my office...I'm so sorry...I hope this doesn't complicate your case..." said Ethan Bell..

Olivia believed him....but she didn't believe the leak came from Gibbons...She kept her suspicions to herself....

"Ugh,This is Attorney Nelson East from Philadelphia...He's working with us..." she said..

"Please to meet you sir."said Nelson..

"Likewise...Ugh where is your Niece and Josie..?" he asked.

Olivia looked at her watch..

"She's with my husband and Josie...and right about now, they should be at the M.E.'s office, turning in compelling evidence that should get my client released..." she said..

Ethan Bell was more intrigued with Olivia than he had been with Josie....What a beautiful woman and sexy as all get out and smart too! he thought....Green was his favorite color and Olivia was wearing a kelly green dress.....Ethan couldn't take his eyes off of her...

"Thank you for rescuing us...."said Olivia.

"Uh My- My...My pleasure....Is there anywhere I can uh drop you off?" he asked..

"At our hotel... I know you know where we are staying..." said Olivia, smiling..

"Uh yes...uh, er ahhh..I do." he said and then smiled raffishly..... No B.S. with her....he thought...He was beginning to get a huge erection...He put his briefcase over his trousers to hide it...

Ethan Bell dropped Olivia and Nelson off at their Hotel...He smiled...

"Hopefully we can meet again, before you leave." said Ethan Bell...looking at Olivia salaciously...

"Perhaps"said Olivia, who later said she could see why Margaret was attracted to him..He was a handsome and dashing man with a certain magnetism about him...

III-

The Medical Examiner looked at me...Beverly,Josie and I had been there for a couple of hours...

"This was what we were missing all these years Mr. Alexander... Allen Durant's DNA is not on this woman's neck or in the house...

However this new DNA you brought me is a 99.9 percent match of the DNA we extracted from the skin around the neck of this woman and in the house...." he said.

''Wow, Imagine that?" I said.

"The fingerprint, the unidentified fingerprint smudge we found on the butt of that rifle that didn't match Durant's and wasn't in our system at the time...Is a match for Bobby Kat." said a Detective ,who walked in the room...

''So this exonerates Allen Durant?" I said.

"It does in my book...I hate to talk about another Detective, but Rivers...may he rest in peace really screwed the pooch on this one...He was up for a performance review and he needed to close a case fast..He had seven open cases at the time.."said the Detective.

''And it cost an innocent man 15 years of his life, 15 years you can't give him back."I said.

"You're absolutely right...But it is what it is...better late than never.."said the Detective..

I just shook my head..

''Wow Donnie Ray...You were right...You were right all along.."said Beverly...

I hugged her and kissed her on the cheek and squeezed her tight...

"You know...I really love you too shortcake.."I said...

She smiled...

"I know...That's why we keep you around.." she said and leaned her head into my shoulders...

Back at the hotel and reunited with Olivia...

"There's the two loves of my life." Olivia said warmly as Beverly and I returned...She passed us both a Coke from the Hotel Refrigerator....

The news we had was warmly received...

We kissed passionately in our room....

Olivia took her foot and closed the door...

Beverly said to Josie and Nelson...

"We can pack up our law books, Tablets and laptops and ship all of that home today...We won't be needing it..."she said..

"Yeah and we can go get some lunch....Wanna knock on your Aunt's door?" said Nelson...

''Ahhhhh Nelson..Let's just the three of us go...They aren't going to be coming out anytime soon."said Josie..

"Yeah...We'll just bring them something back.." said Beverly...

The three of them packed our books and equipment, loaded it into our rental and headed into Seattle for lunch...

Olivia and I continued kissing passionately in our room...

It had been a productive few days...

IV-

In a courtroom in Seattle...

All charges against Allen Durant were dropped and a judge ordered him released immediately....

His Sister and His Mother were there...Along with some cousins a nephew and a niece he had never met... His estranged fiance was also there...Apparently, she was now divorced..

Earlier that same morning Seattle Police arrested Bobby Kat at his girlfriend's house and formally charged him with First Degree Murder...A murder he had managed to escape being charged for....

We stood in the back of the courtroom as a gaggle of reporters snapped photos of the newly freed man...and then eventually us....

We fielded  questions about the case...but refused to answer any questions about payment or any super pacs....

District Attorney Ethan Bell Vehemently denied having anything to do with our being in Seattle and our involvement in the case...While his opponent, Runyan Gibbons told anyone who would listen that he was certain that Bell had organized this entire stunt to make him look bad...He was right, but he'd be hard pressed to prove it...

Whether he had or not...He had still prosecuted an innocent man with tainted and contaminated evidence ,when there was evidence practically staring him in the face that someone else was guilty of the crime...

We never did get to eat with District Attorney Bell.....Instead, the five of us dined at the Seafood Bistro he had taken Josie to by ourselves...

''Josie, this food is incredible...You really made an impression on the D.A., For him to have just met you and brought you to a place like this.."said Olivia..

''And I love this Citris Martini...I'm going to see if Josie's has this when we get home.." she added.

"I'll say...A guy brings a girl to a place like this on a third or fourth date ,when he's about to close the deal.." said Beverly...

"Yeah like when I took you to Bottom of the C." laughed Nelson...

"You took me to a Sixers game!" said Beverly....

Josie and I and Olivia busted out laughing.... She sipped her Citris Martini...

and simply said- "Touche'

I had enjoyed Seattle...but I was ready to go home now!

EPILOUGE-

Margaret Ellis drove us to the airport the next morning...After we turned in our rental....

"Thanks again Liv...You and your team righted a tremendous wrong.."she said..

"Speaking of which....You leaked the information to the press about the Super Pac paying us....They didn't even know we were in town or re-opening the case..."said Olivia..

"Yes...It was me!"said Margaret...

"That could hurt your boss in his bid for re-election.."said Olivia..

"It won't hurt him too bad..Just enough to make him uncomfortable...Knock that smugness out of him."she said with rancor..

"Something happen between you guys?" asked Beverly....

"Not enough!" she said..  "I tendered my resignation...Yesterday....by mail....I got a nice offer from The District Attorney's Office in Atlanta...Last month....I just decided to accept it... I've shipped most of my things to Atlanta already." she said..

She showed us a one way Airline Ticket...

"I'll be leaving tomorrow morning...by the time Ethan gets his mail and reads my resignation...I'll be in the air...on my way to Atlanta..

''WOW! This appears to be so sudden " I said.

"It was a long time coming...I need to be in a city with more Black people..A new city where I don't know all of the playas and the beer runs cold and long." said Maragret...

''Sounds like something I once said." I said and smiled..

"You just wanted to be with me.." said Olivia, smiling...

"Yeah, you weren't foolin nobody."said Beverly....

Margaret laughed...

"You're a lucky woman Olivia...You have a good man and an efficient and supportive staff.....I need that in my life...

"Good Luck to you Peggy!" said Olivia...

The five of us were soon in the air,headed back to Philadelphia....

District Attorney Ethan Bell was reading his mail, hours later...

"WHAT? She resigned???? WHAT??" he said...He called her cell phone, but it had been disconnected..

He raced to her Apartment....but it was empty.....

As Margaret had said...

She was on a plane herself...Headed to Atlanta and a new life!