Bee Bee had just finished showering in my apartment and was attempting to get dressed....I was kissing her in the doorway..
"That's not fair Keith, I allowed you to shower and get fully dressed..." she giggled in between kisses..
"I know, but you know how excited I get when I see you.." I said in between more kisses
"Yes..I know..I'm going to start taking my clothes in the bathroom with me.." she said..
before she gave me one last kiss...
"That's my phone....Excuse me.." I said..
It was a text from Jade..
"DON'T DISCUSS THE CASE IN YOUR APARTMENTS AT ALL...YOU'VE BEEN COMPROMISED! GET DRESSED, QUIETLY LEAVE AND MEET ME AND MS. YVETTE AT THIS ADDRESS!" it read..
''Who was that?" asked Bee Bee, now fully dressed...
I made the shush sound with my finger...We grabbed our briefcases and headed into the hallway...
Kahlil and Sofia were sharing a sweet kiss in the doorway....
He whispered in her ear...
"I got a text from Jade...she said don't discuss the case in our apartment at all, we've been compromised...We are to meet her and Ms. Yvette at a disclosed location.." he said..
The four of us met in the hall way...We decided to take my car..
We didn't discuss the case in my car as we headed to the location Jade described..
The ominous van sat in front of Ms. Jade's apartment complex across the street from us..
Inside...Former FBI agent..Now Private Investigator, Bert Vandenburg gave the Judge a side eye..
"You had me out here all night...All I heard was what I could be doing..getting laid..Those four didn't say one thing about the trial.." he said.
"I can't believe it...They are too well prepared not to have discussed it... Witnesses, Witness statements, police reports...I can't believe it.." said Judge Mackelroy...
"They work downtown in a big corporate office...That's where they probably talk about it...They don't take their work home...Did you see those two girls? I don't blame those guys...The last thing I'd want to be talking about is work."said Vandenburg...
"Can you bug their office?" asked the Judge...
"I can, but it won't be easy....It's going to cost you.." said Vandenburg...
"Do it...I'll pay you."said Judge Mackelroy...
"I don't get you...You're a Judge damn it...What do you care one way or the next how this verdict turns out?" asked Burt Vandenburg..
"Just get it done." said Judge Mackelroy.
II-
We met at a Dunkin Donuts ,Miles from where we lived..
When we arrived, a plate full of Donuts and Bagels awaited us..
As well as tumblers of hot coffee...
"Good Morning Loves..Glad you got Jade's message...Hope you guys didn't discuss the case too much.."said Yvette..
''We didn't discuss it at all Ms. Yvette...I was with Kahlil and uh...We weren't discussing much if you know what I mean.."said Sofia with a wicked smile on her face..
''We were catching up on uh lost time.."said Bee Bee..
"I get it..."laughed Yvette..
"You said we were compromised...I take it our apartments were bugged.."said Kahlil..
"Yes and possibly our office...When I came home, this strange van was sitting in front of my apartment complex..
with tinted windows...and it just sat there...all night...I took down the license plate number and ran it..
It came back Bert Vandenburg....He's an Ex-FBI Agent....Now a Private Investigator..Works for a lot of attorneys.." said Jade.
"I know who he is.."said Yvette..
"Wow! He bugged our apartments...and possibly our office..."I said.
"Oh My God...He heard some of our most intimate moments." said Sofia..
"He can't use that against us.."laughed Kahlil.... Sofia was a very loud and expressive lover..especially when she was enjoying herself as she did last night.
''Whoever is really interested in what we have planned. Not our love life!"said Bee Bee.
"Let me tell you what I think...We might as well stop avoiding the elephant that is in the room or in this case in the courtroom. I can't prove it yet...but I think Judge Mackelroy is involved....I think he was involved with that woman, Connie Rubello… He married well, He's loaded in addition to his judges salary...He has the money to pay for that condo and her education...Not only that...HE OWNS AN APARTMENT DIRECTLY ACROSS FROM HER CONDO!" said Yvette..
"You know this?" I asked.
"Yes....His name is on the lease...Plus we found one of his suits in the closet...but that was all...There was absolutely nothing else in the place...The Manager says he's owned the place since November."said Jade.
"So he just recently purchased this spot."said Kahlil..
"I'm bettin baby girl didn't know he was over there..."said Bee Bee..
"He could look right into her room and see her in bed with your cousin, Keith.."said Sofia..
"It all fits.."I said..
''Except that we can't prove any of that...We can't prove he was bank rolling her condo or her education...He's covered up the money trail....We can't prove he was her jealous Sugar Daddy or Sugar Papi…"said Yvette..
"The Judge asked you to pull us from the case and he went over your head to aske Mr. McCluskey to pull us from the case...Isn't that proof?" asked Bee Bee.
"It's suspicious, but not proof....."said Yvette..
"Maybe we can prove Vandenburg was hired by him..."said Sofia..
"Good Luck with that...Vandenburg will never tell and by law, he doesn't have to.." I said..
"No but Vandenburg has to be paid...I'm betting the Judge isn't using his Caymen Islands Account."said Yvette..
"I'll look into that."said Jade.
"The closer ADA Spade is to closing, it appears the more desperate he is getting for intel.." said Bee Bee.
We began chowing down on the bagels and doughnuts.
and drinking the coffee...
While across the street from the Dunkin Donuts...The ominous van sat...
and inside...The Judge was worried.
''Why did they all meet in here?" he asked.
"Breakfast maybe?" said Bert Vandenburg sarcastically.....
''Don't be a wise ass..They do their strategizing in here...It has to be...It's far away enough for them to talk and not be overheard..."said the Judge..
"I can't go in there.....Yvette Jones and her investigator ,Jade Lee both know me...I suddenly show up and it's a dead give away...." said Bert Vandenburg...
Suddenly there was a knock on the Van door..
It was Bee Bee..
"Hi Bert!...My boss, Ms. Yvette Jones figured since you guys were sitting out here..You should have some refreshments.."she said with a smile and passed them each a tumbler of coffee and one for the driver as well as sugar and creams...
"Oh Hi Judge Mackelroy!!." she said with a smile...
Bert Vandenburg was astonished...He couldn't believe he'd been made..
Judge Mackelroy was mortified.....
Inside Dunkin Donuts..We all howled with laughter...
"BINGO!!!!"laughed Yvette.
"We got Him Now!" I said.
''Wow we caught a break on this...Glad you noticed the van Ms. Jade."said Sofia.
"They should have never followed us." said Kahlil..
"Were they both in that van Bee Bee?" asked Jade..
"Oh Yes....Bert Vandenburg looked like he swallowed a Canary and Judge Mackelroy might need some toilet paper."said Bee Bee..
We all busted out in raucous laughter...
"I got what I need....I'm going to the Board of Ethics!"said Ms. Yvette.
III-
The next day...ADA Joquin Spade finally closed..
with a snarky bitter sumnation that turned at least half of the jury off....He hadn't really proven our client's
guilt one way of the other..
We hadn't exactly proven his innocence either...
We had a few days off before we began our defense..
Judge Mackelroy was very subdued...He couldn't look us in the face..
Yvette approached him.....
"Sam...I am so disappointed in you....I can't tell you how disappointed I am in you....Suggesting to me that I should pull my guys off this case...Then going over my head after I refused and trying to get my boss to pull them...That was bad enough....but then hiring a Private Investigator...bugging their apartments and then following us to Dunkin Donuts....I don't know if you have skin in this game or you're working directly for the prosecution...but it's bias as hell and I'm going to ask YOU to recuse yourself...It's the only decent thing to do."said Yvette.
"You've got some nerve Yvette...I will not!" he said..
"Then I have no choice but to go to the Ethics Board with what I have....It may be only a little, but it's enough to make them start asking questions.."said Yvette.
"You are walking a very dangerous line missy...Very dangerous!" said Judge Mackelroy…..
"Oh and that apartment across the street from the murder victim's Condo....That just a co-incidence or did you know her? Were you watching her?? Just how much were you involved with her?" asked Yvette.
"You're more creative than Speilberg Yvette...You might think of a second career as a Screenwriter."said the Judge, who walked off tersely...bur he was worried...Yvette had struck a nerve...
I walked up to Ms. Yvette...
"Is he going to recuse himself?" I asked.
"He says he's not....but the trap has been set..He's nervous now...In between now and when you guys begin your defense...He's going to do something to hang himself....Just wait. Just watch." said Ms. Yvette."
"Gee Ms. Yvette, you really know how to play someone into a hole.."said Sofia..
''When people are playing Checkers Mamasita...You have to be playing Chess." said Yvette.
"Always a step ahead right?" laughed Bee Bee..
"That's right." said Yvette...
"Tonight we work on our defense strategy....One, our client left her alive and has no real motive to kill her...Two, She was involved with someone else who paid for that condo and her education...and three...If she was cheating on that person, that person had more of a motive to kill her." said Kahlil.
"He'll just kill it...Spade shoots us down and the Judge tells us to move on everytime we go there."I said.
"Yes...This is true.." said Sofia.
"You've got enough evidence to call the judge as a witness...Let's see if he lies under oath." said Yvette.
"Can we even do something like that?" asked Bee Bee...
"You can if you have the evidence and you do have a little bit... It was done in Stassen versus Harris and in the People Vs. Casey....Look them up..." said Ms. Yvette.. "In both cases a Judge was called to testify...A Judge who was actually trying the case.."said Ms. Yvette.
''Wowwww! "said Bee Bee..."You are my hero..." she said..
"I thought Olivia and Beverly were your heroes.."laughed Sofia..
"All three of em are...I want to be like them all when I grow up...."said Bee Bee.
"There are parts of you that are VERY well grown up.." I whispered in her ear..." And I like all of them." I added...
Bee Bee blushed... "Oh Hush up horn dog!" she said, laughing and blushing..
Ms. Yvette giggled...
"Playin Chess ,while the opposition is playing checkers huh Ms. Yvette?" said Kahlil..
"Exactly..." she giggled..
At Curly's Bar...
ADA Karen Page is enjoying a Citris Martini
and talking to her friend and colleague, ADA Joquin Spade..
"I closed today....This is the damndest case....I wish I didn't have it and now...I'm not even sure of my clients gift.....Your friend Yvette has trained those four young attorneys well,
they've been kicking my ass on this case... Your friend Lt. Tragg
hasn't helped..He did the sloppiest investigation ever...Left more holes in the case than Swiss Cheese and those guys knocked a bigger hole in every piece of the cheese..They're good."said Joquin Spade..
''So is the Great Jocquin Spade about to lose his first case?" asked Karen...
He frowned...
"I hate to say this...but I just might....And the Judge...Judge Mackelroy….
He is the most irritating and meddlesome judge I have ever seen...You would think he is prosecuting the case...I mean he's been helping, but he's making it so obvious that he swings my way that he's turning the jury off and garnering sympathy for those four young attorneys.." said ADA Spade..
''Poor baby..and they begin their defense next week..."laughed Sharon as she quaffed her drink..
''I know...I think I've seen their hand...but I just hope they don't come up with anything new...."said ADA Spade...who saw Lt. Tragg walking their way...
"Here comes Tragg...I can't stand to be in his presence right now...Gotta go babes.." he said as he got up..
"Joq please..."pleaded a laughing Karen Page.
''Where is your boyfriend tonight?"asked ADA Spade.
''Taping and Editing his show.." sighed Karen...
"I'm paying for our drinks...but I gotta go.."said ADA Spade.... "I owe you one love." he said and exited before Lt. Tragg could get to the table..
"Karen... How are you? What'cha drinkin?" asked Lt. Tragg..
"Oh I'm finishing up...Joq paid for my drinks.. We've been here awhile.." she said..
"What was he in such a hurry for?" asked Lt. Tragg...
"Hot date." she sighed...
"He's been taking a beating in court...Yvette's little upstarts are giving him all he can handle.."said Lt. Tragg and the goofy Judge
meddles in the case so much that he's actually making the jurors feel sorry for Yvette's kids
..Shame because I think this guy is guilty.."laughed Lt. Tragg..
"Do you really?" said Karen...
Lt. Tragg ran his hand across her leg and a little up her dress....
"Like I'm guilty of being crazy about you..." he said...
She smiled and softly removed his hand.
''Excuse me...I have to go to the little girls room.." said Karen and she got up..She walked through the crowd and past the Ladies room, straight out the side door..Never intending to come back...
The Parking lot was right across the street...She crossed the street . She got in her car and pulled off... IV-
MIDNIGHT IN CENTER CITY-
Few people noticed a white man going into the apartment complex across the street from the Condo where our murder victim Connie Rubello last lived....
It was Judge Sam Mackelroy and he was carrying a suit and a pair of shoes out of the apartment and
putting it in the trunk of his car...
Unaware that he was being photographed by Ms. Jade...who sat across the street.....
He put the suit and the shoes in a trash can and lit a match...
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