Million Dollar Question

The Next Morning...We stopped by Olivia and Beverly's Duplex/Office with the appeal that Sofia and I had written...We had been up until four in the morning..working on it..We had written it and rewritten it four times before we finally finished it...

I must have been tired because I didn't crash with Bee Bee...I went up to my room and crashed..

Kahlil was already asleep in Sofia's bed by the time we had finished

and Ms. Jade had gone across the street to her apartment..

''Bee was a little hurt that you went upstairs and went to sleep..

She wanted a cuddle buddy.."joked Sofia..

''Was she really?"I asked...Sorry that I didn't cuddle with her and hoping I didn't hurt her feelings.

''Just a little,

She slept like a log..If you had of stayed you'd of been trying to kiss on her and feel on her and the next thing you know you two would've been doin the hibbity bibbity and you'd of gotten even less sleep."said Sofia..

Which was true...It's very rare that I'm in the bed with Bee Bee that I'm not trying to get it on with her...

"Oh, you and my man didn't do nothin?" I said and gave Sofia the side eye..

"Not last night...He was snoring when I finally got in bed...and within minutes..I was asleep too.."said Sofia..

''Can I get you guys some coffee?" asked Alfreda Johnson....Beverly's mother and Liv and Bev's Office Manager..who had just entered the room..

I had hoped she hadn't heard our conversation....

"PLEASE!!" we both said in unison..

"You kids up all night workin on that appeal?  You need your rest.."said Alfreda..

"Normally I'd agree Ms. Alfreda...but our client has less than two weeks to live..."I said.

"That's why we came by here...We know Olivia and Beverly have saved a couple of people on Death Row..Actually won new trials..We wanted them to read our appeal before we argue before Judges tomorrow."said Sofia..

As Alfreda served us coffee..

Olivia ,Beverly, Nelson and Donnie Ray came in...

 ''Heyyy Guys...We just read your appeal...It's very good.."said Olivia..

Ms. Yvette had told us that Olivia used to model to make extra money when they were in law school...I could believe it ,She was always sharp...Dressed to the nines...

 "You covered everything.."said Beverly...Who was equally sharp and sexy as hell...I mused...

 "This is a rare day that I'm off and home..What's up Keith...Sofia?"said a smiling Nelson..

''Hey guys...I can see you two haven't had much sleep.."said Donnie Ray...

''Keith and I are arguing before our first Judge tomorrow.We don't have a lot of time.."said Sofia.

"We've been there...Haven't we Auntay?" said Beverly, who looked as if she felt sorry for us..

"Yesss...Now you guys are doing the boring but very necessary grunt work that real lawyers do...The stuff that never gets seen on Television...And you did well."said Olivia, smiling at us..

"That what Ms. Yvette tells us...She says it's what wins cases..." I added.

Olivia smiled ...''She's right! Do you know why our death row cases were victories?" asked Olivia..

 ''Because you guys are the bomb!"I said..Sounding like a fan boy...Bee Bee was wearing off on me..

"You wrote great appeals.."said Sofia..Which was the correct answer.

Beverly laughed..

"You all are sooo cute!  No...because all four of our clients were actually innocent and we were able to prove that...Your client was already in jail for one murder and he escaped with two other guys and they killed a cop, while robbing  a sporting goods store....Not the stuff winnable cases are made of...You have to have something to work with...And I hate to say this..You guys don't have much."said Beverly...

"Yeah, I know, I know it looks pretty grim, but our guy didn't pull the trigger..The actual shooter has been executed already.."I said..

"Doesn't matter..He was part of the hold up crew...He's an escaped convict...That and the fact that he is already a convicted murderer...and now a cop killer to boot is not going to sit well with even the most liberal judge..I don't envy you guys trying to reverse this conviction.."said Nelson...

"He was convicted under a little thing called The law of parties...which allows for a person to be criminally held responsible for another’s actions if that person acts with “the intent to promote or assist the commission of the offense and solicits, encourages, directs aids, or attempts to aid the other person to commit the offense… If, in the attempt to carry out a conspiracy to commit one felony, another felony is committed by one of the conspirators, all conspirators are guilty of the felony actually committed. I have long thought this law was unfair.."said Olivia..

''So what we should do is challenge the very law he was convicted under.."I said.

"Right!!....Why don't you two go home..get some much needed sleep and start again...You're welcome to come here and use our resources if you need to...but go get some sleep.."said Beverly..

"How is Josie doing

 on that Willie Childs Murder case?"asked Donnie Ray..

"Ms Yvette called Josie a godsend and told us to tell you thank you for lending her assistance.."said Sofia..

"Things are slow around here..We could afford to let her go for  few days..."said Olivia..

"Knock on wood"said Beverly..."I miss my Jo.."said Beverly...

"We might catch Vettie in action tomorrow.."said Olivia..

"She's up against her old supervisor...Miles Ellis..He's an ADA now!" I said.

"Interesting!"said Olivia..

''We are going and get some shut eye...We'll be back around 4:00, is that alright?" asked Sofia..

"Of course...We should be here.."said Beverly...

"After you get some sleep, you'll feel a lot better, be a lot sharper."said Donnie Ray...

Sofia and I left and headed home...

"They are so cool."I said..

''Aren't they though?" said Sofia as we headed back to our apartment.




II-

The next few days of the trial saw a complete turn around....

Yvette was playing ever so subtly on the fact that after three long weeks this jury was weary and wanted to go home...She wove a brilliant but simple story of why her client Willie Childs was innocent...He simply wasn't at the scene of the crime.. Not one so called eyewitness could place him there , Not one of the many forensic experts could place him there, There was no DNA, Fingerprint or other forensic evidence.. and one or two witnesses might have even perjured themselves...

Bee Bee was no doubt relentless in tearing both witnesses stories apart...comparing early police statements with later statements they made...

Miles Ellis, who personally liked Bee Bee was merciless on cross examination ,trying to save his witnesses and trying to paint Bee Bee as over bearing, over dramatic and over rising...but the damage was already done..

Kahlil was equally ruthless in questioning several of Willie Child's cell mates who claimed he'd confessed to them that he killed the victim...Even to the point of getting one to admit he had never actually talked to him, He had just took the word of one who said this was their way of getting out of jail...

Josie was like a sponge, sucking up everything and continually passing writs and notes to Yvette...

 Ms. Jade sat in the back watching the entire proceeding and whispering to Ms. Yvette during the intervals..

By week two of the defense and week five of the trial...It was quite obvious the jury was shifting...

Miles Ellis was furious...but at the same time...He was incredibly turned on....

Yvette...The thought of her and the way she looked in her tailored skirts and business suits was driving him out of his mind with lust....

Bee Bee and Josie were driving him off the edge too...Such fine women...

Still he had a job to do.....

To make matters worse....His nemesis, Micheal Pratt, a partner at Yvette's law form was sitting in the back of the courtroom everyday watching the trial...

Yvette noticed him too!

"Ms. Yvette, that's Micheal Pratt...What is he doing here?" asked Kahlil...

"That is the Million Dollar Question...We can't worry about him ...We've got a trial to run.."said Yvette..

"He's a nice guy...but him being here makes me nervous.."said Bee Bee..

"Don't be nervous Bee...I'm here with you.."I said..

"KEITH!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" asked Bee Bee, who was smiling and blushing at the same time...

I took her in my arms and hugged her...

I kissed her...We tried to devour each others lips...

She was uncharacteristically getting emotional... The past few days ,We saw each other in passing..She headed for her trial and Me and Sofia headed towards ours...

"Heyy, Heyyyyyyy maintain...I just came by to see how everything is going.."I said..

 She kissed me again...She felt good...She felt very good...I found myself getting aroused...

Bee Bee smiled at me salaciously....She knew what she was doing..

Sofia was in Kahlil's arms too!

"I'm glad to see you baby.."said Kahlil...

"How is your case going?" asked Yvette.

III-

It hadn't been going good for us...

We did go back to Olivia and Beverly's and the two of them and Nelson

 worked with us on drafting another appeal...One that would challenge the very law our client was convicted of...

We took our argument before six state appellate court judges in the next few days and all six practically laughed in our faces...

We then moved to four state appellate court judges that Olivia and Beverly recommended... They were a little more sympathetic, but in the end...they too turned us down...

We were now planning to petition the State Supreme Court and the Governor of Pennsylvania...It didn't look good....

"Oh My God babies...I feel so sorry for you...but you are getting quite the education aren't you?" said Yvette..

''An education in futility."said Sofia..

"We decided to take a break and come down here and see you guys today...Tomorrow we are right back into it.."I said..

''Let me and Kahlil look at those papers...Fresh eyes...."said Bee Bee...

''Yeah.."said Kahlil..

"Let me have a look see too..I remember a couple of Olivia and Bev's cases that nearly mirror your case.."said Josie..

Miles Ellis was going to walk over , but he stopped when he saw Micheal Pratt walk over to Yvette..

''Ms. Yvette..You guys are doing well in there...I've been coming everyday..."said Pratt..

"I see...Any reason why?" asked Yvette..

"Just observing you at work...You've trained your attorneys well....You got two about to argue before the State Supreme Court...Heady stuff for such young attorneys and you've got this case in the bag.." he said..

"Glad you think so...I'm closing tomorrow...."said Yvette..

"Nice...You've done in two weeks what the state took three weeks to do.."said Mike Pratt..."Good Job Ms. Yvette...After this trial is over...Stop by my office...I want to see you.." he said.. He looked at us and smiled.."Good Job guys...All of you." and he left...

''What was that about?" I asked..

"That is the million dollar question.."said Yvette..

Miles Ellis walked over to Yvette...

"A word counselor.." he said..

"Only if you are planning to dismiss all charges....Other than that...We have nothing to talk about.."said  Yvette...

"Then I guess...We have nothing to talk about..That's not going to happen."said Miles, feeling anger for the first time at Yvette..

Still ,he was aroused ...Very aroused...Yvette was too sexy for words...Her fragrance...That whispery voice...Her legs, her smooth skin...her luscious kissable lips..That Mini Skirt, the black sheer pantyhose...The matching pumps...He couldn't stand it...He wanted her so bad...

He turned and walked away....

IV-

We all went to Sam Mother's Diner at work days end...

We chowed down on Cheeseburgers and Fries and Cokes...

Bee Bee sat in my lap....Her body was so warm and felt so good next to me...No way she was not going to have a cuddle buddy tonight...or the next few for that matter..

Sofia and Kahlil were feeding each other fries...

Yvette, Jade and Josie sat at another table..

 "Liv and I used to come here when we were in law school..."mused Yvette..

 "This is a nice place...Warm and Homey..." said Jade...

"Liv, Bev, Donnie Ray, Nelson and I still come here after court...It feels weird not being with them this week.."mused Josie..

"You'll be back with them soon enough...We are closing tomorrow....We've done a great job of destroying the State's case...If we lose...I've got an automatic appeal planned..."said Yvette..

As they chowed down on their cheeseburgers, fries and cokes..

Back at the courthouse..

Miles Ellis,perhaps a bit angry that he couldn't get anywhere with Yvette was taking it out on Lt. Tragg...

"I thought you had an airtight case...There is more holes in this case than the Titanic...Yvette and her team are tearing me apart...You've got no forensic evidence and now two of your so called eyewitnesses may have perjured themselves..." said Miles..

"Listen, it's all conjecture...They don't have solid proof to the contrary....I'm tellin you,We got this guy cold..He's your killer...Just stick with your original argument...You got this.."said Tragg..

"I've got a feeling they're about to close...Go out recanvas...Do something..Find me something.."said Miles Ellis..

"Relax will ya? Okay..I'll go back out...You got this counselor...trust me.."said Lt. Tragg..

Miles watched him leave...

All he could think about was Yvette and how hot she was...He also wondered just what Micheal Pratt wanted with her..He saw them talking...

At our apartment....

Josie did stop over and she and Bee Bee and Kahlil

did look over our  appeal and offered constructive criticism , which we used...

But Josie left soon afterwords..

Bee Bee took me by the hand and led me to her bedroom....

''Sofia girl...We'll see you in the morning.."she said and winked..

Sofia laughed...She dimmed the lights, Took her pocketbook and her keys and followed Kahlil

upstairs to his apartment...

The lights were off soon in both of our apartments...

Serious lovemaking was going on....Sofia and Kahlil had been seeing each other...off and on...I hadn't been with Bee Bee in a week..We were making up for lost time...All that night...

And at Gary's house...

Yvette was giving him all he could ask for...Almost as if she felt she owed it to him...

For what she felt was about to happen...

There was a full moon out tonight..

Assistant District Attorney Miles Ellis

was camped out outside Yvette's apartment complex..

Her car wasn't there..It was obvious she wasn't home...Obvious still she probably wouldn't be home tonight..

"Hmmmmm looks like I'm going to have a nice long talk with my colleague , Rockland Cambridge tomorrow..." he said...


(TO BE CONTINUED)