The Love Man

 The Moving vans moved our things to our new building...

A Building we were familiar with.. The Bridge at Penns Landing.. We had eaten lunch there , had tried cases in it's ultra modern conference room on the 5th floor.

and had friends who worked in the building.

For instance on the ninth floor...

Our neighbors,  Jazmine "Jazzy" Coley and Kayla Bennett-St. Jacques law firm had almost the entire floor.. THE WRONGFUL CONVICTION  UNIT , had a small office space right across from them, where ADA Karen Page worked alone with no staff, but a lot of good attorneys on speed dial she could call.

Right down the hall from them was the local branch of the INNOCENCE PROJECT... Where 

Where Slim Johnson and his talented attorneys, Jessica Sanchez-Burrows and her husband, Charles "Chip" Burrows, also our friends and neighbors worked.

Below them on the 8th Floor ,both Jazzy's husband, Dabnis Coley's law firm, and Kayla's husband Ray's law firm shared the same floor..

Both of their law firms had just moved in...The competitive rent and the attractive and modern building was very attractive..

So on the 10th Floor, our new office and conference room was located..

Ms. Yvette's new office was incredible..

And Bee Bee, myself, Sofia and Kahlil all had an office to ourselves as did Jade.

"WOWWWWWWWW , MY OWN OFFICE!" gushed Bee Bee..

"Pretty nice huh?  We just got out of law school three years ago...We are at this big firm,making more money than many of our classmates and now, we got our own offices with a view of the river and Penns Landing...Could any of you have imagined this?" I gushed.

"I sure couldn't have....Wowwwwww, I'm so glad we all stuck together and got married and bought homes...and now this...This has been a great year for us." said Sofia.

"It sure has..."said Kahlil as he fixed up his office..

"Even when I was a cop, I didn't have an office, I sat at a desk out in the open in room with several other detectives..no privacy.." said Jade.

"You guys are more than just employees, you're my friends, my family....I wasn't going anywhere without you guys...I wouldn't have been happy. In the meetings ,I specified that you all have your own offices.. Until I hire an office manager..you'll have to file away your own cases ,like you've been doing.." Yvette laughed. She was the new Managing Partner of McCluskey/Cozen/Connor & Pratt and this was her office.

"Nice digs babes...."said her husband ,Gary , squeezing her tight..

''Wowwwwww I like this.." said Lt. Danny Ho., Jade's husband..

We had no idea we'd be settled in so quickly...

"Hi Neighbors " said Kayla.

"Hey Guys, we uh brought you something for your office.." said Dabnis..

Who Presented Yvette with a Bouquet of White Roses..

"Ohhhhh Myyy Thank youuuuu!" said Ms. Yvette.

"Hey Ms. Yvette, this suite is beautiful.." said Jazzy..

"We brought you something for your office too." said Ray.

They gave her a bouquet of Blue roses....

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh Myyyyyyyyyyy ,Thank youuuuuu!" said Ms. Yvette..

"Let me get some water and a vase for both of them." said Bee Bee.

"Hola Neighbor." said Jessica..

"Howdy Neighbor. we didn't bring flowers , we brought Champaigne." said Chip.

He produced a bottle of champaigne...and 20 glasses...

"Now that's an office gift  I can get behind.." said Gary...

Danny Ho , Kahlil and I all laughed.

Sofia put her arms around Ms. Yvette , who was moved to tears

She was burned out and uninspired before these four kids, 

fresh out of law school were put under her care and they gave her a  needed shot in the arm and a new lease on life...

Gary had chased her for years and she finally gave in and gave him a shot and it proved to be a very good decision.,He was her husband now...

She was grateful for all of them being in her life and how far she had come...

"Heyyyy Girrrlie!" came the unmistakable voice of Olivia Bennett-Alexander, her best friend..

"I'm impressed...Wowwww." said her husband ,Donnie Ray...

"Now when we come down here, we have more people to visit." said Beverly, gushing..

"Nice digs guys.." said Nelson, looking around..

'We brought this for your office Ms, Yvette.." said Josie.

who brought a bouquet of Yellow Roses....

Bresha looked around, She had a vase...She ran some water and stuck the roses in the vase and presented them to Ms. Yvette.

"Awww thank you...Thanks everybody.." said Ms. Yvette, tears streaming down her face..

ADA Karen Page walked in...

She presented Yvette with a bouquet of white and red roses...

"Heyyyy Vettie...welcome to our building....I'm sooo happy to have you here..." she said. and hugged her..  " Hi Liv, Beverly.." she said.

We all enjoyed a delicious lunch in the building's cafeteria...We didn't have a cafeteria in our old building..Now we did and we could have a hot meal every day...This was going to be great...I had to pinch myself ..I couldn't believe it was true.

Unknown to us...Just a few blocks away, a new drama was unfolding..

A car was being removed from the river...

and the body of a woman was being removed from the car and the water.

"She's been in the water about two to three hours tops...We see what looks like one gunshot wound to the the lower torso..." said a CSI man looking over the body....

" Hmmmmmm, it's a fresh gunshot wound..." said Dr.Hazel Baylor, Deputy Coroner and Forensic Investigator.

"I don't see any other damage to the body, just the one gunshot wound, through and through.." said Dr.

Marcy Martin, also a Deputy Coroner..

A few feet from them, a young man was struggling with two policemen who were struggling to handcuff him..

''Come on guys...Come onnnnnnnnnnnnnnn...I didn't do this.. Artie..you know me...I've been workin at the courthouse for years...Come onnnnnnnn."

''Sorry Barney...but what are you even doing here? You smell like a saloon and I even smell marijuana on you....Plus, that's your car...." said Lt. Arthur Tragg.

"Artie....to tell you the truth...I don't know how I got here....and that is my car...but I didn't kill her...We were sleeping together...We had been for months....I swear...I didn't kill her..I had no reason..." argued the man, a Bailiff in the courtroom named Barney Dresher.

'Tell it the judge Barney." said Lt. Tragg.

The young man was put in the police car and driven off..

"You know the drill guys, get me the autopsy report as soon as possible." said Lt. Tragg.

Lt. Tragg and three uniformed police officers got in his car and pulled off..

''Alright guys, let's get her bagged up and tagged." said Dr. Hazel Baylor.

The woman, identified as Brenda Hatfield was put in a white bodybag and strapped to a gurney and rolled off into a van...a van taking her to the morgue..

Meanwhile back at our new office...The six of us sat in our new conference room/law library....and just breathed in our new good fortune.

"Close your eyes guys and open them up...If all of this is still here...It isn't a dream." gushed Ms. Yvette.

"It's real ..." I said, smiling.

"The Best Kind of Real." said Kahlil..

"The Very Best..." said Bee Bee.

"Yes indeed!" said Sofia.

"Yes Indeed." said  Ms. Jade.

II-

24 HOURS LATER-

Ms. Yvette sat in her chair, behind her new desk and spun herself around giddily... She looked at her new title, "YVETTE JONES-LOCKWOOD, MANAGING PARTNER" She still couldn't believe it...

It was a day she never thought was coming.. She had made partner, had gotten a major bump in salary, had been able to get the five of us a major bump in salary and our own offices... She was ecstatic...

She was breathing in the moment and enjoying it...

She still needed to hire an office manager.. She pondered asking Olivia, if Alfreda could work for them for two days of the week until she could find someone.. Decisions, Decisions...she thought.

Our very first visitor walked into the office...Judge Martika Anderson

"Ms. Yvette Jones-Lockwood...well howdy doo.." she said and laughed.. "Congratulations girrrrrrl, look at youuuuuu!" she said , hugging Ms. Yvette.

"WHYYYY THANK YOUUUUU!" said Ms. Yvette..." You're my first visitor." said Ms. Yvette.

''And I'm uh bringing you , maybe your first case....I'm sorry...but I need a favor and the Philadelphia Court System is willing to pay..." said Judge Martika Anderson

"Uh Oh!" laughed Yvette... "It's alright...It's what we get paid for." said Ms. Yvette.

"It's one of our Bailiffs, Barney Drescher.. He's one of our best...Always on time, Uniform is perfect...Perfect decorum in the courtroom and always helpful...He's been arrested yesterday and charged with First degree murder of a young woman....I don't know the particulars..but I've worked with Barney for five years and I know in my heart, he's no murderer...A womanizer..Maybe...But no murderer...I am uh wondering if you and your guys could uh find it in your hearts to uh...Well go talk to him represent him???....Like I said...We all love him at the courthouse..and we are willing to pay his legal fees. He didn't do this." said Martika.

"On your word Martika, we'll go visit him...You're among Olivia and I's favorite Judges..." said Ms. Yvette.

''Shhhhhhhhh, don't say that too loud!" laughed Martika... Then she got serious and began to whisper.

"Look....not that I mean to gossip, but I thought I'd tell you this ahead of time.." she said, looking around.

"Bailiff  Bernard "Barney" Descher had a sterling record as Baillif's go...He was among the best and hoped to go to the police academy one day...

Outside of court he had another reputation....He was nicknamed.. "The Love Man" Among his sexual conquests... a who's who of court officials...

ADA Diane Baranski 

Former ADA Billie Lawrence

Former ADA ,Dr. Julie Bourdain

ADA Jennifer Thomas

Assistant District Attorney , Abigail Sleet." said Judge  Martika Anderson.

"Oh Myyyyyyy, so he's hot stuff eh?" laughed Yvette..

"That's just the ones I know about...There are others, not so famous... They say he was a walking erection, but that's out of court...In court , he was the consumate professional, which was why I want you guys to rep him..."said Judge Martika Anderson..

To Ms. Yvette's surprise..We knew who Barney Drescher was..

"Barney!  Yes, I know him...Quite well..He's funny..."said Bee Bee.

"He was a little too funny and flirtatious with Bee...I almost had to step to him once." I said, Noting that was two years ago and he never did anything again.

''That's how I knew Hot Stuff here really loved me..He was jealous of another guy showing me attention.

"He then turned his attention to Mamasita here, but I shut that down quickly....Other than that, he was a pretty nice guy." said Kahlil.

Sofia blushed a bit and laughed uneasily....

''We'd better go see him first thing in the morning..I'm sure he's had his fill of Lt. Tragg." said Yvette.

''As have we all."laughed  Ms. Jade.

III-

AT THE CONDO OF ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY , APRIL TAYLOR..

That Night at the Condo of ADA April Taylor. Lt. Tragg was over her house as soon as he heard her flight had come in..She'd been gone for two weeks.. He had missed her somewhat...

He had made up for it by finally having sex with 

Attorney Brenda Jordan...who he had chased for about two years...

She was the defendant in a federal Jury Tampering and Bribery Case. Her License to practice , her reputation and 15 years in prison was looking her in the face...She was depressed, drunk and horny..

She needed a release..He provided it!

Luckily, she was defended successfully by Olivia  Bennett-Alexander, her niece, Beverly West-East, and their stellar crew of Donnie Ray Alexander, Nelson East, Josie Boyd and Bresha Billips.. They got her acquitted...They saved her!

He and Brenda Jordan celebrated a second time, two nights before the trial began in a friend's jacuzzi.

And one more time, the night after she was acquitted..

Making sweet love until the morning sun came up at her condo.

They both kind of knew this would be the third and final time they would hook up...

"Are you going to continue to stare at me Arthur or are you gonna do something about it?" ADA April Taylor  asked him seductively...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM ARTHURRRRRR"

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU APRILLLLL!! OH MY GOD!"

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU OUU WOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

"GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZZ"

Lt. Tragg and ADA April Taylor were standing in the doorway of her bedroom kissing passionately..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU I'VE MISSED YOU ARTHUR....OUUUU, DID YOU MISS ME?" she asked.

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSS" Lt. Tragg moaned as he ran his hands down into her panties ,squeezed her butt and kissed her passionately

in her living room...

"OUUUU MISTER HANDSY....OUUUUU"she cooed..

"WOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU........OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUWEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"she cooed

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH........AWWWWWWWWWW GEEEEEEZ!"he moaned....

as they made love on the living room floor.

Til finally the bed...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH LORRRRRRRRRD!!!"he moaned.

"OUUUUUUUUUUU..WOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!! OH MY GOODNESSSS!"she said.

.

"OHHHH ARTHUR!" she cooed..

"OHHHHHHHHHHH HO HO HOOOOOOOOOO APRIL!" he moaned as he sat on the side of her bed and she eased herself down on him...

"VA VA VA VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" he cried out! Nearly delirious!!!

"OHHHHHHH ARTHUR..I WAS SOOOO HORNY! I'M SO GLAD YOU CAME BY TONIGHT!!!" she said..

"SOOOOOOO WAS I, I WAS LOSING MY MIND...." he moaned..

"WELL I'M HERE TO TAKE CARE OF THAT..OUUUUUUUUUUUUU! ALL OF THAT!! OUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!" she moaned as she rode him, moving up and down slowly....

NINE TO TEN HOURS blew by seamlessly...

 Lt. Tragg came like a gusher, exploding ........

and April Taylor had an intense orgasm, both legs shaking..her head turning back and forth and tears streaming down her face....

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" he howled....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUU...WOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!  MEOWWWWWWWWW!" she cooed...

..

It was early morning...They were both exhausted and sweaty....The Sun was coming up!

They took a hot shower in the morning and got dressed...

"Sooooooooooo what have you got going on today Arthur?" asked April as he helped her get dressed by zipping up her dress up...

He loved the way she smelled, her soft skin..she enthralled hm as much as Brenda Jordan did.. Having had sex with both women in the past 72 hours had taken his mind off police work and had actually made him mellower.

''Oh..I arrested one of the bailiffs from the courthouse.. Barney Drescher for murder yesterday...I'm going to brace hm this morning." he said non-chalantly..

"I know Barney....I can't believe he killed anybody..He 's a nice guy.." said April.

who remembered him well at a Christmas party...

The two of them drunkenly sharing a kiss in the coat room of the hotel where the Christmas party was held..

and him being as handsy as Lt. Tragg, who she hadn't met yet....

He had her dress off and had her stripped down to her underwear before she came to her senses and stopped...

Put her dress back on , gathered her coat and politely left him in the coat room, with a stiff erection and a case of blue balls.. She was not going to be one of his many conquests.

"Yeah , well Mister Nice Guy murdered a married woman he was sleeping with....." said Lt. Tragg.

"Wowwwww!" said April as they headed to their jobs.

In "The Fishbowl" , the nickname, the police gave to the interrogation room... 

"Artie, you know me mann, How long have you known me???... I'm a lover ,not a killer man...Come onnnnn, this aint me...." protested Bailiff Barney Drescher..

"One thing I've learned as a Homicide Detective Barn is that people kill for many reasons and anybody is capable of killing if put in the right situation and hot snatch will get you put in that situation faster than most." said Lt. Tragg.

"That's three things Artie... Artie..I didn't kill her...I swear..." said Barney Drescher.

"Barn, we got your gun....It passed Ballistics...It's the murder weapon baby!  Now what do you say to that?"

said Lt. Tragg laying Barney Drescher's registered weapon.

"You'll say nothing else." said Yvette...

His eyes lit up...

"Ms. Jones...heyyyy, you're my lawyer?" he said, eyeing her up and down...

"That's Mrs. Jones-Lockwood...I got married since you last saw me and so did my associates."said Yvette.

He looked leeringly at Bee Bee's cleavage and then looked at her and my matching wedding bands

and corrected ascertained that we were married to each other.

He did the same with Sofia and Kahlil, seeing their matching wedding bands  and ascertained that they were a married couple.

He even noticed Jade's wedding bands.

"You all got married...wow! It has been awhile." he said.

"We have an appointment for you to be arraigned tomorrow morning....So Sit tight.. Say Nothing and we'll see you in front of a judge tomorrow." said Ms. Yvette.

"Works for me." said Barney Drescher, smirking at Lt. Tragg.

Lt. Tragg ,who would usually be fuming and telling us what a loser case we had surprisingly said nothing..

He was soft spoken as he called for the guards to take him up to the holding cells.. His face wasn't beet red..In fact he shocked us.. He didn't say a word to us..

His mind was on  

April Taylor and Brenda Jordan, two women he had slept with in the past 72 hours...

He said nothing to us and he didn't slam the door, he simply left.

"Wow....That sure was different.. I expected a lecture and gnashing of teeth and doors slamming/"said Kahlil.

''Maybe he's in therapy." laughed Bee Bee.

"Or Maybe we are dreaming all of this." said Sofia.

"Nah, the man has something on his mind." I said,

"Since we are here, let's go to Sam Mother's and get some dinner." said Yvette.

"Yeah, let's go while it's safe." joked Jade.

IV-

We walked over to Sam Mother's diner..

We had Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes and Hot Coffee.. Comfort food ...

"Soooo what do we know?" asked Bee Bee.

"The Dead woman is Mrs. Lola Stevens, A court Reporter... Her husband is a cop, Officer Todd Stevens, They are said to be estranged." said Yvette.

"And yet the husband isn't questioned or brought in..Typical Tragg investigation." said Sofia.

"The murder weapon, which they have is a gun registered to Bernard Drescher...."I said.

"No prints or DNA is on the gun ,so anybody could have shot her."said  Kahlil.

"I'm going to get the results of his urinalysis first thing in the morning." said Jade.

"Good ." said Yvette.

That night we went home on the train... Our car was filled with our friends and neighbors,

Jazzy and Dabnis, Kayla and Ray and Jessie and Chip in front of us.

and behind us...

and Bresha's husband, Tony Billips and Josie's Husband, Paris behind us.. We were all laughing and talking and having a good time.

'This is kind of kool huh boss lady? All of us together." said Jade to Ms. Yvette.

"It is...Of course it won't be like this every day...but it's nice that it's happening right now..Today." said a contented Ms. Yvette.

When Yvette put her keys in her door and entered ,she found her husband, Gary, waiting....

"There's my sweet girrrl." said Gary

who passed Yvette a hot cup of organic tea...

"Awww thank youuuuuuuuuuu!"

She sat on his lap as she drank her tea...

'So How is it being Managing Partner, Sexiest Partner at the firm?" asked Gary, squeezing her tight.

"It's good.. we even picked up our first case under my administration today." said Yvette.

"Enough about my case.. I want you to be on MY CASE!"said Yvette as she kissed Gary softly.

Soon Yvette was undressed and she and Gary were in bed, making sweet love..

Case or No Case, she couldn't have been happier at this moment.

(TO BE CONTINUED)