If I Ever Find Myself in Trouble

 PROLOUGE-

NEAR MIDNIGHT- PENDELTON INVESTMENTS...

"Ohhhhhhhhh Lee, Let's call it a night huh? It's almost midnight...We've been working all night.." laughed Sherry Stevens

''Yes we have... I think these figures are straight...We can turn them in to the committee tomorrow and everything should add up." said Lee Hester, an Account Executive at her company...

He leaned over and gave Sherry a soft kiss...

for a minute she returned his passion, then she moved away...

"Leeeeeee you're bad!!!...You never stop do you?" laughed Sherry..

"You're irresistable..." he said and leaned in to kiss her again.

"I'm married...." she giggled..

"Most irresistable women are.." he laughed..

She laughed and kissed him again...This time longer, slower, softer.....

"Leeeee ,I'm  very, very married , you know that...and you know my husband, doesn't like you.." said Sherry.. "You've been trying to get in my panties since before I married John .." laughed Sherry...

''Yes...And you've been telling me no for just as long.. How is The Assistant U.S. Attorney? He put anybody in jail lately?" he whispered..

"He's trying to...Some Little Russian Kid..." laughed Sherry...

"I heard about it....

Olivia Bennett-Alexander and her niece, Beverly West- East are defending the kid...Ohhh boy...When he loses...He's going to lose more hair...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"laughed Lee.

"Leee, stop it...you're so bad..He takes his job very serious.."said Sherry..

''I know...So Serious, he neglects you...Ummmmmmm which I would never doooo...Ohhhhhhhh" he moaned..

They kissed a little longer, a little more passionately....

"Ummmmmmmmmmm, I know you wouldn't....Ouuuuuuuuuu!" she cooed...She was getting aroused...

"Ummmmmmm Lee, this isn't right.. OUUUUUUU!" she said.. She was getting aroused....

"Then tell me to stop...Tell me you don't like it.." he said...

"I can't..." she said as they continued to kiss.. "I can't tell you, because...I do like it...I like it a lot..Ohhhhh!" she moaned in spite of herself..

He slipped her panties down...slowly...

"LEEE!!! YOU ARE BADDDDDDDDD!!! OUUUUUUUUUUU!" she said incredulously..

"Tell me you don't like it...Tell me you don't like it." Lee whispered quietly...

He spread her legs, dropped his trousers and boxers, lifted her up on his desk.. and entered her slowly..

"WOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU OUUUUUUUUUU WOUUUUUUUUUU!!! OHHHHHHHH I LIKE IT A LOT....A WHOLE LOT...WOUUUUUUUUUUU!! OUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed..

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!" he moaned as he slowly moved in and out of her....

"I've wanted to do this for so long..." he moaned..

"I knowwwwww...I know you have....OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!! MEOOOOOOOOWWW!!" she moaned and cooed....

He didn't know if he was coming or going and neither did Sherry, who had one quick orgasm after another as Lee continued moving in and out of her soft  and wet center with wild abandon....

THREE HOURS LATER!

Sherry left her office building alone...She walked toward the corner to hail an Uber..

Lee ran after her... " Sherry, Sherry....You left these...Don't want to go home without these."he said

and passed her panties to her..

She laughed...She was obviously embarrassed...She put them in her pocketbook...

"Oh My God....Thank you for remembering.. We wouldn't want anyone to find these in the office,,,besides...I paid good money for these." she said..She hailed an UBER..

"Let's share an UBER, You're going partially my way." said Lee..

''Why Not? We share an Uber every night.." Sherry laughed...

And they kissed passionately on the corner...

An Uber drove up to their corner.. They both got in....and were whisked off into the night...

It would be the last time either of them would be seen alive!

The Next Morning...BIG FED..The Federal courtroom...

"I love trying a case in this courthouse..." gushed Beverly...

"Imagine if you had become a U.S. Attorney, you'd be trying cases in this kind of courthouse in D.C. I've been in that courthouse..It's bigger than this one." said her husband, Nelson..

"Yeah I know...but a courthouse is just a courthouse..I don't regret helping to start this law firm one bit..and being with you all trumps all of that." said Beverly..

"Awwwwwwwwwww you love us, you really do." laughed Josie, back from her honeymoon and with us for the first time in weeks...

"I'm sooo glad you decided to stay and get this law firm together.."laughed Bresha, Now Mrs. Bresha Billips...Her first case back with us since returning from her honeymoon..

I smiled.. My wife, and lead attorney Olivia Bennett-Alexander was jockeying with the  Assistant U.S. Attorney we had just finished going up against..

"Olivia, you and your team have been a challenge to go up against and believe me...I have wanted to match wits against you for years...I finally have and while I must give you credit...You guys were very prepared, just like I thought you would be...You've lost this one..There is no doubt in my mind, you have lost... " said AUSA, John Stevens...

''I don't think of these contests as sporting evens the way some of my male counterparts do, I rather think of these as life and death battles..for my clients...and I don't believe we've lost..." said Olivia..

"You never faced an attorney like me... I had the FBI at my disposal...Your husband, I'll give him this much was pretty good..damn good..but you're not dealing with Lt. Tragg here...you were dealing with me... and the law of averages says it's time for you guys to lose one.." said Stevens..

"Liv , the Jury is back with a verdict." said Nelson..

"Well Counselor, now we'll find out." said Olivia...

As we walked in with our client...Mikhail  Arkady,A Russian-American immigrant we believe was falsely accused of  Wire fraud and Conspiracy to transport a controlled substance (illegal opiods)

We felt as though the evidence against him was circumstantial and that he was being squeezed by the feds to get him to roll on his cousin , a Russian Mobster, to whom he said he had little to no association with.

After a contentious 10 day trial.. It had finally come to a head.

Federal Judge Christine Steele certainly hadn't been a friend to us during this trial..She  acted as if  we were a bunch of prima donnas and certainly treated us as such, ruling against us on nearly every motion.

AUSA Stevens was not the toughest Prosecutor we had ever faced... He would like to think so and he was as prepared as we were on all fronts...but Olivia and her staff gave a very impassioned and factual argument on behalf of our client..

''Well guys, here we go." said Olivia , who sounded eerily confident..She believed she had gotten to this jury..

Beverly held her aunt's hand.....

"Yup, here we go.." she said.. She had been to this place before..Many times with her beloved "Auntay..."

So had Nelson...who held his wife's other hand...but said nothing....

Mikhail Arkady, who had never been in any kind of trouble before, stood , trembling...

Josie held his hand....

"You Okay Mr. Donnie Ray?" asked Bresha..

I smiled at her and softly rubbed her back...

''Sure am."I said. I had done my best investigating on this case.. The FBI had beat me to the punch a few times..but I was able to talk to a few people, who wouldn't talk to the Feds...

Nelson had been a great help...He spoke Russian fluently...So rather than take Shortcake, his wife with me. I took him..It was a great advantage..

The FBI were watching me and I willingly shared a lot of information with them.. It was definitely not like dealing with Lt. Tragg.

Judge Steele called out to the jury foreman...

''Has the Jury reached a verdict?" she asked.

"We have Your Honor..."said the Jury Foreman..

"Baillif, bring me the verdict." she said..

The Baillif brought her the verdict...She read it...Her face showed no emotion at all..

''Read it!" she said blandly..

"IN THE MATTER OF UNITED STATES VS. MIKHAIL ARKADY ON THE CHARGE OF CONSPIRACY AND INVOLVEMENT IN A CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE...WE FIND THE DEFENDENT, NOT GUILTY!!!

ON CHARGE TWO -WIRE FRAUD, WE FIND THE DEFENDENT, NOT GUILTY

AND ON CHARGE THREE, TRANSPORTATION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, NOT GUILTY

AUSA Stevens demanded that the jury be polled... They were and to a man (and woman) they all said

"NOT GUILTY"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh I don't believe this...I-I-I just don't believe it!!! I can't believe it!" he said and slumped down in his chair..

"Thank You...Thank You so much." Mikhail said in Russian.

"You're welcome...Good Luck to you man." said Nelson in Russian to him...

'We Did It Auntay!" said Beverly, high fiving her aunt..

"I told you we had this one Niecey Poo....I could look in those jurors eyes and tell they weren't buying AUSA Stevens story..."said a jubilant and vindicated Olivia..

''Let's get some food guys." I said..

''Great Idea."said Josie...

''Lead the way." said Bresha..

As we all headed for the elevator....

"Tough Break Johnny...I was rooting for you...I know I shouldn't say this...but everybody raves about how good those guys are...calling them the "best defense attorneys money can buy." I hate celebrated attorneys like them...I always like it when they get taken down a peg and you were putting it to them for awhile..even though I gotta hand it to them...They weren't surprised by much... They really were well prepared and versed.." said Judge Steele..

''Yeah..They were... If I ever find myself in trouble..they're the guys I'd want defending me.."said AUSA  Johnny Vent..High Praise indeed.

''How's Sherry? I heard you two were in couples therapy..."said the Judge..

''She didn't come home last night.. She told me she was working late...Nobody works that late...I think she was with that Lee Hester....I know they are fooling around...She swears they aren't...I tell you Judge..If I ever found out they were, I'd kill him..I swear...I might Kill both of em.." said a very angry AUSA John Stevens..

"HEYYY HEYYYYY...Johnny, watch that...The wrong person overhears you saying that and it could be used against you.."cautioned Judge Steele...

"I haven't killed them yet!" laughed AUSA John Stevens...laughing maniacally...

A Chill , A cold chill went down Judge Steele's back.....She looked at AUSA Stevens and shook her head in disbelief as he walked away and headed to wards the elevator himself..

II-

We loved the dining facility in Big Fed...

They had a huge variety of mouth watering dishes..

"This food is sooooo good." I said..

"You earned  every morsal baby...You were our ace, our secret weapon." said Olivia.

Giving me a slow soft kiss.

"I mean , out maneuvering Lt. Tragg is one thing, but the FBI???? Wow!!!!" said Beverly...

''Wasn't quite that way Shortcake.. A lot of times we were finding the same information...And unlike Tragg, they were willing to share information with me as long as I agreed to share, which I did.." I said.

"Maybe we just got lucky this time guys.."said Nelson as he chowed down...

"It wasn't luck...This was skill...You guys did your research...you came prepared  everyday and well versed and even though it seemed like the Judge leaned the prosecutions way a lot...It was the well picked jury that sifted through everything and picked out the truth..."said Olivia.

''Stevens just couldn't convince them our guy was this big Russian Mob figure that he was trying to make him out to be.."said Josie.

"I don't even think he really wanted him..He was trying to scare him, squeeze him into leading them to a bigger fish."said Bresha.

''When we got involved...It became an ego thing...He wanted to crush us..And now having failed to do that...He'll look to other means to get whoever it is they are trying to snare.."said Beverly...

"I'm just happy it's over...Happier that we got our whole crew together for the first time in weeks..." said Olivia, staring lovingly at Josie and Bresha.

"Mrs Boyd.." she said as Josie blushed...She and Paris were finally married

 and were living in their new home..across the street from us.

"And Mrs. Billips."she added, smiling...Bresha blushed too..She and Tony were also newly married and

 living two or three doors down from us..

"Tough Break today Johnny...I was pulling for you." said AUSA Todd Dellums , who gave us a good run for our money a few months ago in this same courtroom...We had three hung juries going up against him, before we finally got an acquittal in the fourth trial..

"Yeah, Yeah ,Yeah....No Answer...Sherry didn't come home last night..." said John Stevens..

I tried her phone...It went to voice mail....and I called her job...Nobody has seen her or that damn Lee Hester.. Todd, I think they've run off together..." said  John Steele, who was  nearly in tears..

"Nahh man, come on...They didn't ...They didn't run off...Maybe she worked late and crashed over a girlfriend's house."said Todd.

"I called both of her close friends...They haven't seen or heard from her since yesterday afternoon when they left work..They said she was in Lee Hester's office working late...WORKING LATE EH???YEAH I'LL BET!!!! " screamed AUSA Stevens, furious....

"Let's stop by the job and then we'll stop by Hester's place...Come On Johnny.." said Todd..

''Well guys..Gals...It's 2:30 pm... You are all done for the day...I'll see you tomorrow morning at Nine...Unless you want Breakfast at our house.."said Olivia..

"YESSSSSSS! Breakfast at 8:00!" laughed Beverly...

"Don't worry, we'll call first!" Joked Nelson..

"Yes Please and Thank you." said Olivia , who looked at me.. "You make the pancake batter tonight and crack some eggs.." she said..

"Don't worry...I'm on it." I laughed..

"This is sooooo cool ,,living across the street from you guys...I'm practically there." said Josie..

"Yesssssss" said Bresha, who lived three doors down from us now!

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Vent walked over to our table.

"Great case guys...Hey listen...Do you guys handle divorces?" he asked.

''We can, why are you thinking about a divorce?" asked Olivia.

"I'm pretty sure I will be..." he said..

''Beverly, Nelson..One of you, pass him our business card...I've got to get some more printed up for me." said Olivia..

Beverly and  Nelson fumbled for a business card..

AUSA John Stevens raised his hand...

"No Need for that...I know where you guys lay your heads...I'll stop by in a week or two, depending on what happens.." he said..

"Heyyyy guys.."said AUSA Todd Dellums, waving at us as both men left..

''He looked troubled." I said.

''Yeah, he did." said Josie..

"If we leave now...We can catch the train." said Bresha..

We got on the train and headed home...

III-

A WEEK LATER-

"We got a second one....." said one of the men..."This one is a man." he said..

"Put him over here, next to the woman." said another Crime Scene Investigator...

''Well Hello Mrs. Martin." said Hazel, who hadn't seen Marcy, since she returned from her honeymoon...

''Hiiii Hazel.." said Marcy.. "What a way to meet up huh? on a double." laughed Marcy....who went through the woman's purse...

Her Drivers License says her name is Sherry Stevens...She's a Financial Analyst...Pendelton Investments.

"If she's missing her panties , here they are...In her purse..." said Marcy....

."Yeah, she is." said a CSI guy...

'This man worked for Pendelton Investments too..He's also a Financial analyst, His name is Lee,

Lee Hester....His boxers are on.." said Hazel with  a wry smile.

Everybody laughed..

''She has a wedding band on..She was married and I'm guessing , not to him." said Marcy.

Two Police cars drove up , facing opposite directions... Four uniformed officers got out.

An Unmarked police car drove up.....

The laughing stopped

Lt. Arthur Tragg the third got out of the car and walked up to the scene..

" Two floaters huh? " he said..

"Yes sir, a man and a woman...They appear to have been shot... From decomp, they've been in the water at least a week..." said a CSI man..

"They got names?" asked Lt. Tragg.

"The man is Lee Hester, He's a Financial Analyst with Pendelton Investments... and the woman is his co-worker, Sherry Stevens, also a financial analyst with Pendelton Investments..."said Hazel..

Lt. Tragg looked at her hands...

"She was married...and I'm guessing...This aint her husband." said Lt. Tragg...

"We found these in her purse Lieutenant.....She wasn't wearing any panties when we fished her out of the water..I'm guessing they are hers." said a CSI man..

"VA VA VA VOOOOOOOOOOOM! Hmmmm I'm guessing her and Mr. Hester here were uh doing something naughty." said Lt. Tragg with a salacious smile and she forgot to put her panties back on, so she stuffed em in her purse.." he said with a wry smile..

"Annnnnnnnnnd how would you know all of that Lieutenant? Any of YOUR girls forgot to put their panties on?" whispered Marcy Martin, assistant coroner in his ear.

"Well uh, YOU NEVER DID...but you had a couple of nice pairs I uh wish you had left behind.. Heh heh heh!" he laughed, speaking of their brief relationship before she got married..

"Freak!" laughed Marcy...

"Can we remove these bodies?" asked Dr. Hazel Baylor..

"Yeah...Bag em and tag em...Get me the autopsy reports ASAP!" said Lt. Tragg..

Both bodies were put in body bags and strapped to gurneys and carted to the M.E.'s van.

At that moment, we were sitting with the Husband of the decedent, Assistant United States Attorney, John Stevens in our office..

''Real Nice set up you got here Olivia.  Law firm here on the first floor and you and your husband and Your niece and her husband live upstairs....Niceeee...If you don't mind me asking..How did you swing this? I heard you used to work at the Public Defenders Office" he asked.

''Yes I did and after that I went to work for Bach and Roach, Attorneys at Law..My First Husband, Elwood Barnes 

was a big time Corporate Litigator..He was nearly a millionaire and we lived in a big house out on the main line.. When we divorced...This being a community property state..He had to give me half of our home.. That was more than enough to buy this property lock ,stock and barell and furnish it.. Plus I got and sold four of his very expensive antique cars... It's what I call divorcing well." said Olivia.

John Stevens laughed loud and hardy...

"And you brought your niece and her husband , who you worked with at the Public Defenders Office in with you...

Married again to an ex-cop, who got himself a P.I. License 

added two additional attorneys and an office manager..

and the rest is history..." said John Stevens,looking around the office at us..

''Sooooooo..You want a divorce on what grounds Mr. Stevens..?" asked Olivia..

"Infidelity and Abandonment..I am certain she's been carrying on with a man named Lee Hester, who works with her...They work late hours Three nights a week..When I say late ,I mean 2:00 and 3:00 am in the morning... I'm a U.S. Attorney and I DON'T WORK THAT HARD OR THAT LATE!" said John Stevens.

"You said you're sure of...but you don't know...Why don't you let me do some investigating and find out for sure if she's having an affair?" I asked.

"Well, if you could find her...that would be fine...I haven't seen her in a week... You remember the day the verdict came in ,in our case? That was the last time I saw her.. She didn't come home that night and no one..No one at her job or anywhere else has seen or heard from her since...I called her phone..It went to voicemail..I left messages and texts...No answer...I've been to her job, Pendelton Investments..Nothing..I've even been to that creep Hester's place. No answer there either.."said John Stevens.

"Hester? Who is Hester?" asked Beverly..

"Oh that would be Lee Hester, The man she's having an affair with....He's also a Financial Analyst with Pendelton Investments...He's been trying to get in my wife's panties since the time when the two of us were just dating...I came close to decking the guy on several occassions..Now it appears they have run off." said John Stevens..

''You say you haven't seen your wife in a week? Did you call Missing Persons?" asked Nelson.

"I wasn't gonna at first...but then I said, the hell with it.. I'll call em..So Three days ago I filed a Missing Persons request."said John Stevens..

''How Long have you been married?" asked Josie.

"Five years." said John Stevens..

"Has the entire five years been bad?" asked Olivia.

''No...we had three good years...She doesn't understand or respect my work and lately we had been in couples therapy...That wasn't doing any good and I did miss a few sessions because of my work...And then there was this Lee Hester...always buzzing around like a pest..Taking her car to get an oil change, fixing a tire...Going shopping with her..I know he was trying to get in her panties...I know he was..And it looks like he has not only succeeded but has run off with her."said John Stevens.

"You don't know that yet...Why don't you let Donnie Ray look into it further and just keep your options open...I know this sounds strange, but there just might be a logical explanation for this." said Bresha..

''We are not trying to just take your money...We want you to make sure..this is what you want..."said Olivia.

Our doorbell rang....

Alfreda walked in ..

"Liv...you have a visitor." she said.

It was Detective Sgt. Sam Smith of Missing Persons..

"Hi Liv, Beverly, Nelson, Donnie Ray, Josie and you Ms... John I was at the Federal Building and they told me you were here on a legal matter... We found your wife!" he said..

"Where was she? In a cheap motel with that damn Lee Hester?" snarled John Stevens..

"John...She's dead!!!  So is Lee Hester!  They were both fished out of the Schuylkill River a few hours ago...They were murdered...Shot to death!!!" said Detective Sgt Sam Smith  "I'm sorry John." he said solemnly...

Olivia, Beverly and I, Nelson Josie and Bresha all looked on in horror.

''Oh My God!" said Olivia.

"Wowwwwww!" said Beverly...

"Murdered?" I asked.

"I wasn't expecting this to end like this."said Nelson...

''Who would do something like this and why?" asked Josie.

"I knowwwwwww, right?" said Bresha.

..

John Stevens mumbled..

"Murdered?  Murdered??   I-I can't.... Who?  Why?" he said..

Alfreda looked on in horror..

Detective Sgt Sam Smith of Missing Persons shook his head and stared at the ground..

IV-

14 DAYS LATER-

We found ourselves in court again, awaiting a verdict in yet another high profile murder case... I stood with my wife Olivia, Her niece, Beverly and our client, Alvin Toppler, accused of murdering his supervisor. 

"I'm certain we got this one in the bag, more certain than I was last case." I whispered to Olivia..

Olivia was in a good mood.. She joked..

"You'll say anything to get some won't you?" she laughed...

"We got this Auntay!" said Beverly.

Alvin was nervous awaiting the verdict..He held Bresha's hand... his palms were sweaty..

"They always want to hold my hand...They're going to have to stop this.. I'm a married woman now."said Bree..

"Yeah, but you're still fresh." Joked Josie as the two women ,who had developed a real camraderie smiled at each other.

Nelson smiled.. He felt good..

Judge Reynolds addressed the jurors...

"Madame Forewoman has the jury come to a decision?" he asked..

"Yes Your Honor, we have." she said and passed the decision to the bailiff...

He read the decision and then passed it to the bailiff..

"THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA VS ALVIN TOPPLER ON THE CHARGE OF MANSLAUGHTER FINDS THE DEFENDENT, NOT GUILTY..

"THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA VS ALVIN TOPPLER ON THE CHARGE OF 

SECOND DEGREE MURDER FINDS THE DEFENDENT , NOT GUILTY

"ON THE CHARGE OF USING AN INSTRUMENT OF CRIME, WE FIND THE DEFENDENT,

NOT GUILTY"

AND ON THE MOST SERIOUS CHARGE OF MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE, WE FIND THE DEFENDENT, NOT GUILTY!" HE READ..

ADA Cal McCafferty hung his head...

"I don't believe it!!! I didn't believe you could screw up a case like this...A Slam dunk case any worse than you did...But once again you have proven to be the most inefficient, detective on the Philadelphia Police Department." he said to Lt. Tragg..

who was livid and who glared at us with an icy red hatred...

Our client was over the moon....

"OHHHHHHHHHHH THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!" he said and grabbed Bresha

and gave her a slow passionate kiss in the lips..Something I suspect he had wanted to do for a long time..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUU, WOUUUUUUUUUU! WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU? I'M A MARRIED WOMAN!" she said and slapped him hard..

"Uh...I'm sorry...I uh got a little carried away.." he said..

"WOW!!" said Nelson...

Beverly cracked up laughing...

Josie cracked up laughing too..."Freshie." she said..

Olivia and I were really kissing in the corner by the Judges Chambers..

ignoring everyone else...

Lt. Tragg stomped his foot and stormed out of the courtroom...

That afternoon...Another trial finished....we were relaxing in our domicile..

Beverly, Nelson, Josie and Bresha 

were all out somewhere..

Olivia and I were in the kitchen, really kissing passionately...

"Ummmmmmmmm I couldn't wait for us to be alone and I know you couldn't wait either.." said Olivia

"No I couldn't.." I said, taking her in my arms and kissing her passionately...

"Ummmmmmmmmm."  I moaned..

I was slipping her pantyhose off...

when her phone rang...

"I'm gonna answer that, then I'm turning it off and putting it on the charger." Olivia whispered to me.

"Olivia, it's me...Assistant U.S. Attorney John Stevens..You won't believe this..but I've been arrested..

Arrested and charge with the murders of my wife and her lover, Lee Hester...I always said if I ever find myself in trouble..you were the guys I wanted representing me...I'm at Central Booking...This was my one phone call!" he said.

(TO BE CONTINUED)