Olivia Rolls The Dice

A WEEK LATER-


The Second Murder trial of Austin Worthy, Celebrity Attorney though totally unrelated still was controversial and drew comparisons to the first...

It was a media sensation which played right into Lt. Tragg's hands...

He was always good for a good quote and once again being the arresting officer in the middle of a controversial case, put him in the forefront...He was on the news more than anyone else in the case , for awhile anyway...

 Olivia and Beverly , who defended him before as now were also in the news...Though Olivia would only say..

"My Client is innocent of all charges.."

 Beverly parroted her aunt's lines...

''After the trial...All of this will come out and you'll see our client is totally innocent."she said , but nothing more..

Because he was her husband, Nelson got his share of air time too...

He smiled and said....

''Cover the trial...It'll all come out.."

I smiled at Josie...

"We are Marlon and Tito Jackson.."

Josie just busted out laughing..

ADA Ron Harper did not like any publicity at all..He wouldn't talk to the press...and he wished that Lt. Tragg wouldn't talk to the press as much as he did..

So did Judge Marshall who told him..

''Watch it with your inflammatory rhetoric....You're depriving the man of any chance for a fair trial regardless of what you may believe."

'All right your honor.."said Lt. Tragg...

But Austin Worthy , now the defendent, who could be just as bad as Lt. Tragg when it came to liking to see and hear himself on Television was quite talkative to the press himself..

"I am totally innocent of all charges and as my astute and quite beautiful attorneys have stated..After the trial it will allllll come out, everything...and you'll see once again what a jackass Lt. Tragg is...How he often rushes to judgement and arrests the wrong guy and then gets in the press and holds another trial ,only to have egg on his face afterwords...That's all boys..."he said.

The Press loved it..They ate it up...

Our surprise witness, Peggy shook her head...

"God, Austin is a brilliant attorney you know..but all the things that make him brilliant make him a collossal asshole...He needs to cool it..." she sighed..

"You're right...We don't need to get into a pissing war with Lt. Tragg/"said Olivia..

"Especially since he has nothing to do with the case."said Beverly....

Nelson, Josie and I cracked up...So did Peggy...

II-

At our office, ADA Rockland Cambridge stopped by...Alfreda was there by herself since we all were in court...

"Shouldn't you be in court?" she asked as she retreated to the kitchen to make some coffee...

"I don't have court today...I've won my last four cases...That brings my total to 99....Hopefully I don't face your daughter and her aunt or my ex-girlfriend and her four snot nose charges...I'll have won 100 straight cases..."he said..

"It's not a sport...It's people's lives we are talking about.." said Alfreda..

"I try to only put bad people away Freda." he said..

He kissed her passionately for about FIFTEEN MINUTES......

"Ouuu Rockland..." she said...She discreetly felt the crotch area of his trousers...

"You're as hard as a brick...Do you stay hard like this all day?" she asked.

"Of course not.. Only when I'm thinking of you or I'm in your prescene.."he said.

"That just earned you another kiss.." she said..

They kissed some more...

"Rockland....Rockland? What are you doing...?" she asked.. She heard him unzippering his trousers.. and heard them drop to the ground...

''You're wearing a skirt today.." he said..

''Thank you for noticing...Rockland pull your pants up...Somebody might come in the office and here you are ..all big and hard..and out there..whooooooooooooo look at you.." she said and stroked his penis softly...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.."he moaned silently.....

"You've got to calm yourself down.." she said...

"Ummmmmmmmmmmm I can't calm down..." he moaned..

''Wait, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" she asked..

He slipped her panties down and turned her around....

"Rockland....oh my goodness.." she said..

He entered her from behind...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Rockland..."she moaned..as he thrusted inside of her....

"Ohh my goodness...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..HELLO!!!"she moaned...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FREDA...YOU FEEL SO DAMN GOOD BABY!"he moaned..

Rockland didn't know if he was coming or going....Alfreda was having an intense orgasm... and shaking...

"Ohhhh Rockland....I just love you....don't stop...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.. Don't stoppp...Oh my god!!! whoooooooooo!"she said..

"You mean that?" he asked..

"Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssss...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh baby I love you..."she said.

TWO TO THREE HOURS slipped by before Rockland came and came hard...Shaking and trembling..

Alfreda was in a daze....

"I love you!" she whispered in his ear...

Alfreda watched as he fixed his clothes....She had already fixed hers..

She kissed him softly for a long while...

"Aren't they going to miss you at work?" she asked..in between slow ,soft kisses...

"Nah...I plan to stop by court and see how Olivia and your daughter are doing in their big murder trial." he said..

"You wish that was you don't you? In the spotlight.."asked Alfreda..

''Actually I don't...And with that bone head, Lt. Tragg involved...I know Harper wishes he wasn't in the spotlight either.. I feel sorry for him...He's actually a damn good attorney...but Olivia and Beverly are going to eat him alive.." said Rockland..

Alfreda kissed him softly...

"I want to eat you alive...I love you....You don't even understand how much." she whispered...

"I love you too..." whispered Rockland...

"You'd better go back to work before I beg you to stay.." said Alfreda..

"You don't have to beg you know.." he said..

''Silly....Go back to work.." she laughed..

III-

The trial began with all of the fan fare...

ADA Harper gave a brilliant sumnation, citing all of Attorney Austin Worthy's accomplishments and Television appearences and the early success of his law firm...He talked about all of the things he and his partners, The Late Stephen Jameson and Henry "Hankie" Henrikson had accrued over the years..They all had Boats and Private Planes and Flashy cars and nice portfolios for awhile and then the bottom fell out...

"The rent wasn't paid on their suite, bills weren't paid...a series of bounced checks and soon one partner was in bankruptcy , the office was forced to shut it's doors and meanwhile Mr. worthy here took a big chunk of money and partnered in a new eating establishment...The old Mermaid Club...Now the Mermaid Crabhouse and Bar. When his partner  discovered he was cooking the books and stealing money...He killed him to shut him up!" he said..

Olivia, dressed in a beautiful white laced dress gave her opening statement....She stated that none of this was true and she intended by the time this trial was over to prove that it wasn't and that her client was innocent...

Naturally, the first few days..Police who were on the scene, CSI and Medical Examiner's Office people testified...

This testimony was boring and we didn't cross examine or question any of them...

Beverly ,however asked one policeman where he found the murder weapon...

"Oh in Mr. Worthy's desk drawer." he said..

''So I'm going to shoot and kill my partner in the office and put my loaded gun in my desk drawer with my fingerprints on it and leave...Does that make sense to you?  I'm just asking.." asked Beverly..

The policeman was dumbfounded..

"Answer the question officer.."said Judge Marshall, who smiled at Beverly...

"No....It ..It doesn't make any sense.." he said..

Lt. Tragg was beet red..He shook his head in disgust....

Josie passed some files to Nelson who looked them over ..

He called Lt. Tragg..

He asked him when did he find out about the shooting?

" A call came in from the office..about 30 minutes after the shooting." he said..

''A call from that office? That office that had been emptied...An office no one was working in where the murder occurred...So who made the call?? The Killer?? Mr. Worthy? who??"asked Nelson..

"How the Hell would I know?" he asked..

Olivia stared at him ...Then she smiled..

"Mr. Worthy was eating with us the entire afternoon...and my staff isn't the only eyewitness...We have several.."said Olivia, who presented photos , time stamped photos of Austin and all of us at his new restaurant/bar...

"Maybe..Maybe he had someone do it.." blurted Lt. Tragg..

ADA Harper dropped his head in disgust...That was the wrong thing to say...What a stupid man he thought...How did he get to be a Lieutenant? How did he make Detective?? He thought..

"If you're going to make THAT charge, then you definitely have to drop First degree murder charges against my client.."said Olivia, grinning from ear to ear..

Lieutenant Tragg had just lost the case for the ADA in just that one minute...He realized it and felt like kicking himself...That damn Olivia...She tricked him..

I smiled...The best was yet to come...

In the coming week...

Olivia ,Beverly and Nelson cross examined  former Administrative Assistants who worked there and all of the accountants the prosecution presented...They called handwriting experts who testified that that was not Austin Worthy's handwriting on the bounced checks...

They presented so much reasonable doubt...that by the time..

Ron Harper closed...His case was a shambles...and he knew it..

"Not the slam dunk you thought it would be huh ADA?" I asked.. I didn't usually jeer an ADA, but this one I did considering the sexual interest he had in my wife..

He didn't say anything to me.. He just walked away...

Olivia and Beverly began their lengthy defense of Austin...

Attorney/ Forensic Accountant, Lawrence Stephenson was called as a defense witness...He broke down how to explain the financial mess in language the layman could understand...

Realizing how boring this could be...

Josie was able to borrow some  40 inch monitors from her school for the trial...and with the assistance of Olivia, Beverly and Nelson..

created an animated POWERPOINT presentation that explained everything...

Judge Keith Marshall was impressed and he watched with rapt attention as the five of them explained just what happened and how it happened to the jury for four days ,keeping them engaged...

 ADA Harper looked on in disbelief ,He questioned the relevance several times....but was over ruled..

It was quite obvious the Judge and the Jury was spellbound by the presentation...

Lt. Tragg kept saying...'We got the murder weapon with his fingerprints on it..They can't dispute that...This is all a distraction...A Horse and Pony show. Olivia and Beverly know they have next to nothing."

When Margaret "Peggy" Davis walked into the courtroom, everyone gasped. She was the Para-legal...She knew everyone's secrets....

Olivia and Beverly talked to her about her many years at the firm and her working relationship with all three men, Austin Worthy, Henry ''Hankie" Hankerson and the late Stephen Jameson...

ADA Harper had done his homework and he brought up the fact that she had been romantically and sexually involved with both Jameson and Hankerson at different times and engaged to Stephen Jameson... He smiled slyly..Certain he had slowed us down...

Except that I knew all of that and we had discussed that with Peg before trial...Long before Trial..

 Beverly countered that her relationship with Stephen Jameson and their engagement had been seven years ago...before either of them was affiliated with the law firm and that their relationship ended amicably...

A fact that Peggy co-signed to...

Nelson said that her "relationship"with Hankerson was no more than a couple of one night stands and that she no longer had any interest in him in anyway whatsover...That had been three years ago...It was water under the bridge..She admitted that because she worked with them, she kept a professional but close relationship with both men...

She presented the real books or her copy of them that proved that Austin Worthy did not skim from the company coffers, but probably had no idea at all that the company's finances were in such disaray until it was too late..

Handwriting experts testified that he did not sign any of the checks.. She said that according to the books, it was not Austin who had been robbing the company blind, but someone else...Henry "Hankie"Henrikson, who had transferred a lot of money into an off shore account in the Virgin Islands...

I had uncovered the actual account, which was surprisingly in his name...I suppose he never expected anyone to look...

''So when you two looked at the actual books it made Stephen Jameson have a change of heart right?" asked Olivia..

"Yes , he was going to drop the law suit the next day and he was going to apologize to Austin and tell him who had been robbing us blind...unfortunately he was killed that day...I don't know why he went back to the empty office..but he did and shortly after he died, the company's books vanished...Our Accountant, August Miller had a copy.....I tried to warn him to be careful, but I was too late and now he's dead..." said Peggy...

ADA Harper...I'll give him credit...Did his best to grill her...but she would not budge from her story....

A very shaky Henry ''Hankie " Henrikson was brought to the stand...

Nelson, Beverly and Olivia attempted to question him about his finances and his activities regarding the company...He took the Fifth several times....

"You've already incriminated yourself Mr. Hankerson....You know what I think? I think you killed Stephen Jameson to shut him up and I think you killed August Miller and stole his copy of the books...I think you attempted to kill Ms. Davis because she had the only other copy of the company's books...That's what I think."said Olivia.

"You have no proof of any of this..No proof at all!" he said quietly....

ADA Harper in closing brought home the point the even if Austin Worthy was innocent of any financial malfeasence , there was still the fact that the victim was suing him and that he was shot to death with his gun, with his prints on it...He asked the jury to find him guilty of First Degree Murder..

Olivia asked the question....

''Would any of you shoot and kill someone and then knowingly leave the gun with your fingerprints all over it in a drawer..a drawer that used to be your desk?  Come on..Give Mr. Worthy more credit than that, He like myself is a defense attorney...He knows better and so do you." she said..

We waited in the hallway...

"I don't know that that was my best closing argument...I don't think we defended the gun thing well enough..."said a suddenly worried Olivia..

"Auntay, I think we hit a home run...We had an intelligent jury...I think they bought your argument.."said Beverly..

"I think we convinced all of them...I think we had them from the time we began our defense..Relax Liv, we did fine.."said Nelson...

I walked up...

"You won't believe this...but the jury is back."I said.

"BACK? It's only been 15 minutes."said Beverly...

"What do you think?" asked Josie..

"I think I'm a little worried...I've never had a jury come back that fast.."said Austin..

"I've never seen one come back that fast either..."said Peggy...

"I think I just won this one by the skin of my teeth.."said ADA Harper..

"Piece of cake.. You got this counselor.." said Lt. Tragg as we all headed back into court...

IV-

"Jury Foreman are you sure?" asked Judge Keith Marshall..

"Never been more sure your honor." he said..

"Alright Bailiff read the verdict.." said Judge Marshall..

'We the jury find the defendent, Austin Worthy NOT GUILTY  on the count of MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE!

On the count of USING AN INSTRUMENT OF CRIME IN THE COMMISSION OF A CRIME WE FIND the defendent , AUSTIN WORTHY, NOT GUILTY..

On the charge of Conspiracy to commit MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE, We find the defendent, NOT GUILTY!" read the Bailif..

"POLL THE JURY, POLL THE DAMN JURY!!!"screamed ADA Ron Harper...but the results was no different...Every last one of them said without any mixed emotions...NOT GUILTY!!

"Well I'll be damned.." he sighed and dropped his briefcase and sunk into his chair...

"I don't believe it...I can't believe it..."said a very surprised Lt. Tragg...

 ''Auntayyyyy we did it again!"said Beverly high fiving her Aunt..

"This is one for the record books...I never had a jury come back that fast...Never.." said Olivia..

"I told you we had this one in the bag." said a jubilant Nelson....

''Wow...I must admit...I was a little nervous there for a minute...but you guys pulled it out.." I said..

 "I was never worried....I knew you guys had it."said Austin..

"Oh you did not.." said Peggy...

"Let's get out of here...Party at my joint...Invite some friends...We've got a private room you can party in.." said a jubilant Austin Worthy who addressed the press..

"I TOLD YOU THE ENTIRE TRUTH WOULD COME OUT AND I WOULD BE EXONERATED!" he said, laughing

as the cameras popped …..

Judge Marshall walked over to Olivia, Beverly and myself..

"That was some mighty fine lawyering....I need you to teach a class at Penn in the nearby future..both of you.."he said..

"Thank you your honor.." said a beaming Olivia..

"Thank You ,Your honor..."said Beverly...

"Your honor, This is my husband, Donnie Ray Alexander, Our Investigator..."said Olivia..

"Pleased to meet you...You sir are one lucky man...and a hell of an investigator.." said Judge Marshall..

"Thank you sir.."I said.

''And this is my husband...Attorney Nelson East.." said Beverly..

"You did a fine job son...You're also one very lucky man...You can try a case in my courtroom anyday counselor.."said Judge Marshall.

"Thank you sir.." said Nelson...  "This is our para-legal, Ms. Josie Boyd...She's currently in law school.."added Nelson..

"You're learning from the best.."he said..

"I am indeed.."said Josie..

Just then there was a noise and a crash....

"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!" said Lt. Tragg as he charged toward a reporter and fists began flying...

Lt. Tragg and members of the press were engaged in a fist fight...Several policemen and reporters were trying to get in between them and several people were either knocked down or had fallen to the floor..

"This is getting to be a thing.." sighed Judge Marshall.

A Disgusted , ADA Harper shook his head and quietly slipped out the side door..

He took one last look at Olivia...Sighed and kept on walking.. He thought about  a conversation they had had when the trial began..

ADA Ron Harper walked up to Olivia as she was getting ready to leave court..

"Olivia Bennett-my my my...if you aren't a snack!" he said lustily staring at her...

She hated being called a snack, especially by him...She had just gotten used to being called Sexy Auntie.

"Olivia Bennett-Alexander....I'm a married woman." said Olivia.

"Whatever.. Whatever .Are you sure you want to take this loser case? This is practically a slam dunk....We have the murder weapon, a gun legally owned by your client, who was being sued by the victim...and the gun has only his fingerprints on it.. We got motive, we got a weapon, we got it all...If you want to make me an offer...I can plead it down to Manslaughter...10-20 instead of First Degree Murder..."he said..

"Why would I make a deal like that when my client is innocent?" said Olivia..

"Look, Manslaughter  one, 10-15....He gets paroled after 5 years....You can't beat that Liv..."said ADA Harper..

"How about Not Guilty....He walks free, he doesn't get disbarred...?" said Olivia...

"Uh Uh...Not gonna happen..You sure you want to roll the dice on this one?" asked ADA Harper..

Olivia didn't blink...

"Yuppper.."she said..

Olivia was a hell of a poker player...She had rolled the dice on this one , he thought..

She had rolled the dice and once again come up a winner!

EPILOUGE-

In the coming weeks Henry "Hankie" Henrikson was arrested and charged with two counts of first degree murder in the cases of August Miller and Stephen Jameson...

Detectives Edwin "Duke" Baylor   and his partner,

Detective Angie Belton  Barlow. .made  the case....

with help from D.A.'s Investigator, Gary Lockwood

ADA Rockland Cambridge prosecuted and won his 100th consecutive conviction...He was a very Happy camper..

Hankie was sentenced to two life sentences...

We celebrated in style at the new Mermaid Crabhouse...

The place was packed from top to bottom..

 And everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves..

Immensely...

We took up three tables...

Olivia and I, Beverly and Nelson, Josie and Paris and Rockland and Alfreda sat at one table...


While at the even bigger table to the side of us...

Yvette and Gary, Lem and Zoey, Jade and Danny Ho, Keith Jones, Bee Bee Evans, Sofia Garcia and Kahlil Ahmed were seated...

Newly engaged couple, Kayla Bennett, Olivia and Beverly's cousin and her fiancé, Ray St. Jacques sat at a small table to the side of our two benches..

They kissed passionately in between sips of beer and cracked crabs....

Everybody had their share of crabs and beer and other drinks....

"Olivia...Thank you so much for getting me off again...I promise you I'll stay out of trouble this time.." said our happy host ,Attorney Austin Worthy...

"Promises, Promises"laughed Olivia..

''What will you do now?" asked Beverly....

"I'm going to start my law firm up again....There is office space on top of this ,,,That's going to be my new space for a time...and this little lady here is going to be my partner....She is in law school like your  Josie...when she graduates and passes the bar she will my Associate Attorney"he said ,smiling at Peggy Davis...

Who was glowing!

"Is that a ring on your finger?" I asked..

 "It is!" said Beverly...

 "Ouuu Girl, you're engaged..."said Olivia..

"Who's the lucky guy?" asked Josie..

Peggy pointed to Austin...

"He's the lucky guy...The Jury is still out as to whether I'm the lucky girl." she laughed.

We all laughed.

Apparently those two nights spent together at Josie's place were eye opening for both of them...

Both tables cheered...

''Another round of drinks...ON THE HOUSE!" said Avaricious...

"You know...."I said... "I like this guy.."

Gary Lockwood laughed..

''Me too!"


FOR SLC