Party Favors

 True to his word, our new client,

David Ides Jr. met us in front of the federal building with six hot steaming tumblers of coffee

just the way each of us liked it.

"I like a man that keeps his word, that does what he says...That's why I married him." said Olivia ,pointing to me.

"How did you know how we like our coffee?" I asked.

"Yeah, how did you?" asked Beverly.

"I did my research ....Nah, Nathan told me...He had worked with you guys before and he knew who liked what." said David, smiling.

Nelson laughed...

''That's alright...It's the thought and effort that counts." said Josie.

Bresha smiled as we sipped our coffee's...

We took the elevator up to Todd's office..

''Welllllll, I must say, I'm surprised that he picked you guys to rep him...All of the others have lawyered up and they've all cut deals..What deal are you trying to cut Olivia?" he said sitting back..

I had to admit..He and the Feds had done a thorough investigation...Had made a great case and had taken down 40 people.. 39 of them had cut deals and would do time in a federal prison, at least five years... The Boss man, the string puller had killed himself rather than face the music.. That meant he had solid cases on all of them.

The only thing they hadn't done was recover 62 million dollars...but otherwise, this was a major win..A case that for Todd Dellums could lead to bigger and better things...Like a political career that he was already being groomed for.

He sat back in his chair and smiled.

''Well Olivia, what deal are you trying to cut?"he asked with that arrogant charm of his.,

"I'm not trying to cut any deal... He says he doesn't know anything about it or have any ties to the others..Why not call it a day and let him go?  "said Olivia.

"Let him go? Let Him Go?  Olivia please, he's the man's son, the man's number two...If anybody knew..HE KNEW!"said Todd.

"Look man, you won...You took down the whole group...All 39 of then are going to prison and you were spared a trial.. His father is dead...Come on man...What more is there for you to gain?" asked Nelson.

"What more? What More? There is the matter of 62 million dollars that these poor folks were bilked out of.. We never found that...and none of the people we took down had the money in any accounts..Apparently Junior and his dad bilked them out of their cut..They were still waiting to get paid."said Todd.

"Oh you can't be serious."said Beverly..

"I'm very serious Beverly...."said Todd.

"I don't have the money...I have very little money."said David.

"Stop it...Just stop it...Look at you...Your shoes go for $750.00 dollars..I know, I have the same pair..That shirt is $500.00, I know because I'm wearing one just like it.So come again Rich Boy." said Todd.

"Well , Maybe you have the money then." joked David.

Beverly, Nelson, Josie and Bresha snickered..

Todd Dellums was as thin skinned as Lt. Tragg.

"Oh you got jokes son? Well I've got victims who didn't get their money back and I've still got you..." he snarled.

"Oh come on Todd! You've got no case.." said Olivia.

"You of all people know me better than that...I've got 1100 pages of discovery Olivia.. My administrative assistant will hand it over to you...This isn't that murder case of the federal marshall , this is big and frankly...No insult to you and your great staff.. but this may be a little over your pay grade." he said.

"Huh? I'm a lawyer just like you...and I believe my aunt, my husband and I have been in the game a little longer than you, so what are you saying?" asked Beverly, who was getting a little testy..Especially when she thought her aunt was being attacked or put down..

Her husband, Nelson and her best friend, Josie stood on the side of her to calm her down.

''What my niece means is..This isn't our first rodeo."said Olivia.

"Olivia, Beverly please...I meant no disrespect.. I know you are capable lawyers..very capable..After all, you beat me...Three hung juries and an eventual acquittal...No mean feat...but I've got a staff of close to 22 attorneys working on parts of this.. You only have you five and not enough time to sift through this,.

Think of the time that will take out of your personal lives...You want to risk all of that? Does your staff??" he asked and rared back in his chair..

"I'm with you auntay." said Beverly.

''You know I'm there."said Nelson.

"There at the start, there until the end."said Josie.

"I'm down.You just say the word Liv and we can start working on this right now." said Bresha.

"You won't find a more dedicated staff...Sure you want to get into a fight like this?" I said to him. smiling and sipping the last of my coffee.

"I welcome it....My Administrative Assistant will pass you a copy of discovery...She can make copies for each of you if you need it..."he said and smiled. "Oh and Olivia..Do you ever hear from Aida?" he asked.

Aida was an Attorney friend of ours who he was once very enamored with.. She once worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney...Now she was with a private firm.

"She got married...She and her husband had a baby girl a few weeks ago.."said Olivia as we left.

He hung his head a little upon hearing that..

as we left his office...He stared out the window at the city.

We got on the elevator.. His Assistant had made us five copies of the 1100 page discovery...

"What's the game plan guys?" asked David Ides Jr.

"First off..We are going to get you straight...We are going to give you a Portal and and a Burner Phone 

You will communicate with us only through those two devices..You won't call our business or personal phones throughout the duration of the trial.."said Olivia who then looked at her staff.

Beverly, Josie, Bresha and Nelson...All fine young attorneys....All capable...but sorely outnumbered...

"I've got an idea.. He's got 22 federal attorneys working on discovery , and administrative assistants ...He's right he's got us outnumbered greatly...But we have friends...13 good friends who live across the street from us and down the street from us, 2 very good Office Managers/assistants and two great investigators.. If we all work together..We can match him and surprise him.." said Olivia.

"We can pay them as ''Consultants." at a billable rate.." said Beverly...

''Would they do it though?" asked David.

"They'd do it for free if we asked..But we are going to pay them."said Josie.

I smiled. I loved the way my wife's mind worked.

"I'll start making phone calls."said Nelson.

''Beverly, call your mother..We are going to make this fun." said Olivia.

As we left the courthouse.

II-

Olivia was right.. All of our friends agreed to help us..And were tickled pink that they were being paid as "consultants"  They all said they would have done this for free.. 

Starting Saturday Morning, They were at our door..and ready to get to work..

Alfreda did her thing..

She had a Catered Breakfast all lined up for every one..Pancakes, Eggs, Potatoes,Sausage, Bacon, Hot Coffee and Orange Juice. She and Rockland had spent the night...

I had a small grill out back..It was cold, but the heat from the grill kept us warm.

Gary, Paris, Danny Ho , Rockland and I started the grill and began fixing Dogs and Burgers...They'd all be ready by lunch time.

Alfreda's caterer supplied Soda and Beer..

Saturday and Sunday was like a big  cook out for us...

Jazzy, Dabnis, Kayla, Ray, Jessica and Chip sat on one side of the table with Bresha and Tony.

Bresha was ecstatic about getting to work with her husband, Tony..

This gave all of them a break from riding the train downtown to work.. They all got to walk across the street or down the street

To our house.

Josie, Beverly, Nelson, Keith, Bee Bee, Sofia and Kahlil sat on the other side of the table...

Virginia was there too.. Though no longer a licensed attorney , She knew how to go through discovery and sift through the important parts.. Her help was invaluable.

As Olivia and Yvette noticed.

Jade helped with the distribution...She and Virginia had made copies for everybody and made sure they all had a copy.

We had cool music playing while everybody worked.

"These guys are so fortunate to have been groomed and nurtured by you two, Liv, Bev...They wouldn't have gotten this in the dog eat dog enviroment the three of us came up in...I'm just glad to be able to help so many fabulous young attorneys.And most important, Attorneys of color."said Virginia.

"I'm glad for your help.." said Olivia.

"I am too!" said Yvette.

We all truly enjoyed each other's company.. This wasn't even work..It was kind of fun..

Everyday, Alfreda's caterer supplied a different themed meal.Chinese, Italian, Soul food.. everybody loved it..It made the work easier..

And we all worked from 9:00 am until 7:00 pm.. We hardly realized the time most days.. Everybody walked across the street or down the streets to their homes.. It wasn't like work..

 By Thursday, We were all done..We had been through Discovery thoroughly and had made our notes..

We would  miss having all of the guests at our place and the food.. But we were done and everyone was back to their normal jobs.

THURSDAY NIGHT-

That night...Olivia sat on the bed with her laptop going over figures..

''Let's see...Six days of consultant fees and Alfreda's Caterer....Hmmm not bad..It didn't cost as much as I thought and I can pay You, Beverly, Nelson, Josie and Bree time and a half.. Niceeeeee." said smiling.

"You figuring this all into his fee?" I asked.

"Oh of course...Regardless of what he says...he's got money...Lots of it. Even Todd noticed his expensive clothes and did you see where he lives?" asked Olivia.

"I did...and I checked his bank account.. He makes well over six figures and has a trust fund and inheritance...He lives well, but no sign of sixty two million in his or his father's bank account. "I said.

"One or both of them may have a pocket account somewhere...The Caymen Islands or in someone else's name."said Olivia.

"I'll check into it tomorrow baby." I said.. I closed up her laptop and put it on the dresser...

" Right now ,I'm checking into you.." I said..

"Ouuuuuuuuuuu, I like that kind of checking." she whispered..

And we lay on the bed kissing, doing a lot of kissing as she unbuckled my trousers and helped me slide them and my socks off and took my top off..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU LOOK AT YOU!!! YOU'RE ABOUT TO BUST OUT OF THOSE BOXERS...MYYYYYY GOODNESS." she said.

As we lie on the bed..kissing some more..

Soon we were standing up kissing...as I squeezed her behind..

as I unsnapped her bra and slipped her panties down...

I lifted her up and entered her as slow as I could..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU,,,WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" she squealed with delight.

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, GIRRRRLLL...I JUST LOVE YOU SO MUCH OLIVIA." I moaned..

"OUUUUUUUUUU I LOVE YOU TOO!" she moaned.

I placed her on the drawer near her laptop and plunged into her warm wet center...

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...OUUUUUUUUUUUUU HUSBAND!" she cried out..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYY GODDDD!!! OLIVIA!" I moaned.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...You make me forget how hard and costly the work is Donnie Ray..." she whispered in my ear...

"You do that for me too!" I said..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH DONNIE RAYYYYYY!! UMMMMMMMMM!"  she cried out..

FOR THE NEXT NINE TO TEN HOURS, we were enthralled with each others bodies..making sweet love in the bed...

Standing by the shower door, kissing...

and bent over the bathroom sink , going at it doggie style until I finally came with wild abandon...both of us trembling...

She wound up falling asleep on my chest....

We appreciated the help of our friends...We considered the work they did, Party favors...

III-

FRIDAY MORNING-

We were all at a Press Conference..

"I am totally innocent.. I knew nothing about my late father's dealings...I am doubly ashamed at what he and a few others did...but I was not involved at all...I am being scapegoated by a very ambitious Assistant U.S. Attorney who wants to campaign for some future political office and use my name as his stepping stone.. I have some great attorneys here and they are prepared and will prove my unequivocal innocence at trial.  I look forward to trial." said David Ides Jr. 

Olivia, Beverly, Nelson,Myself, Josie and Bresha made no statements...but we stood with David for Photo ops...

We also filmed a segment for our good friend,B.L. Benz to go on his T.V. talk show, HARD BOTTOM that night..

Lt. Tragg sat in Curley's fuming watching it that night..

"Any case..Any case with a little bit of controversy they jump on...Now they've jumped on this.. 39 of the others cut deals, this guy is either convinced by them or he has told them that he is innocent and they're forcing a trial...I don't believe it!" he said..

"Artie..They're lawyers...That's how they make their money....What should they have done, told him "No you're too controversial.. we can't take your money?  A crazy person would say that...Win or lose, if he's willing to pay and I'm certain he is...His old man was loaded.. I don't blame Olivia and Beverly for defending him..They might get him off too!"said Curley...

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" fumed Lt. Tragg.

Another person who was fuming was Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Dellums..

"There is no way Olivia and Beverly are ready to take on that case...Unless they had help going through discovery....He thought about it..  "Yes....They had help...

Yvette and her crew....They live right across the street, they've been close friends for years...IT HAD TO BE THEM, HELPING OUT..and those other lawyers who live on their block, who helped them out last year during that Crawley Law suit as well.

they helped them with discovery...It had to be them....They live across the street, they all work in the same building..Hell...I forgot about all of them." he mused.

Olivia didn't have 22 attorneys like he did..but what she had was good enough...

and probably two very good assistants and other outside help...

"Olivia didn't flinch because she knew she had the manpower to deal with the challenge." he scoffed.

"I underestimated her..I can't afford to do that again or lose to her again.." he said..

We weren't through yet...

Olivia and Nelson and I were looking at photos of the federal jury pool.  I had done work ups on most of them..

We were trying to decide what kind of juror we wanted and beginning to craft our argument..

Beverly, Josie and Bresha were doing their research in the adjacent part of our building..

Looking up laws, studying like cases, looking up predicates and 

with Nelson and Olivia looking closely at witness statements and the  transcripts of the other 39 who cut deals and avoided a trial for light prison time.. Not one of them got more than 5 years in the federal prison system.

"That is the real crime, that he just cut deals and got a bunch of convictions with light time, just to say he brought in a big case..He could give a damn about getting those people's money back.."said Olivia.

''He really didn't want a show trial...He wanted this guy to cut a deal...Now out of spite he 's putting 40 years on the table if this guy is convicted." I said.

IV-

MONDAY MORNING-

Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Dellums sat back and smiled..

"Olivia, Beverly...I didn't expect to see you guys again.Not so soon." he said.

"I'm here to ask you to drop these charges against my client...Your case is weak Todd, you know it and we know it.. Not one of those 39 people mentioned my client by name at all..NOT ONE...We've looked at discovery and we've gone through witness statements.. THOROUGHLY...You've got nothing...Why go through a needless trial?" said Olivia.

"I'm thinking maybe YOU guys don't have enough to prove he's innocent... I want that 62 million dollars back."said Todd.

"You have no proof that he has it... We checked..You know we would.. I would never come to you ,unless I was in a position of strength...You oughta know that Todd.." said Olivia.

"I hear you're a great Poker player Olivia.. I'll raise you and see you in court."He laughed smugly...

"Okay...That was my final offer..We'll see you in court."said Olivia softly..

"He's an arrogant, stubborn man." said Beverly.

"A smarter version of Lt. Tragg." said Nelson.

''Much Smarter." I said.

"Really? I see no comparison at all." said Josie.

"At least he's not annoying and unhinged." said Bresha.

Todd Dellums watched as Olivia, Beverly ,Myself, Nelson, Josie and Bresha left....

''Those are some sexy women Olivia has with her" he mused and smiled.

He put on a brave face, but deep down inside was a fear an all engulfing fear of facing us in court again... He remembered the three trials he thought he had won that wound up being hung juries and a hard fought fourth trial that he wound up losing...He knew that Olivia and her attorneys were always supremely well prepared, very rarely were surprised or rattled and thoroughly investigated every single angle of a case.

He really was in no mood for a protracted legal struggle with Olivia and Beverly, especially now when he was on the verge of closing perhaps his biggest prosecution.. It had all been so easy up until now..

There always had to be one..One who had to be stubborn...Always one.

I questioned a number of people in his neighborhood... I found one girl who knew him...

"You live in this building with David do you not?  You know him?" I asked.

"Yes, I've known him for ohhh about two years...We both moved in here around the same time..We had a short fling...but we are still cool." said the young woman..

"You know he's a lawyer right? But did you uh ever know him to flash an unusual amount of cash ? Did he ever talk about anything concerning money?" I asked.

"You a cop?" she asked.

"I'm a Private Investigator, I work for  the Attorneys who are defending David of the charges ,the federal charges against him." I said.

"Ohhh his father gyped a lot of people out of a lot of money...I uh don't want to be involved in that in any way!." said the girl.

''We think he's innocent." I said.

"I don't want anything to do with it...Sorry!" she said and walked away...

I watched her walk away.....

"Yo Buddy...You a cop? You're too well dressed, but you got that cop aura about you...Listen, I was here ,two nights ago,  before that kid's old man took a header off that building...Did he tell you his old man stopped by here?  Yeah , he did...and the two of them got in a car together...Two nights before... Now you check that out." said the man, who smiled and walked away...

I smiled and went home..

At home... 

We all looked at the street cam photos from two nights before David Ides Sr.'s suicide.

"Okay Nelson, right there..Slow it down." I said.

"Got'cha Donnie Ray." said Nelson.

"It's 9:59..." he said.

A Mercedes Benz drove up...

David Ides Sr. got out of the car...

"There's Daddy!" said Beverly...

David Ides Jr. walked out..

"And There's Junior.."said Olivia.

"David didn't tell us about this meeting."said Josie.

"He got into a car with his father...So what? "asked Bresha.

''At 9:59..10:00 pm at night???...It just doesn't look good in a case like this.."said Nelson.

"This is really a whole lot of nothing....Though we gotta ask David about this..But you know, there is a chance that Todd won't ever find out about this."said Beverly.

''We are not dealing with Lt. Tragg.. Todd will find out...If he doesn't already know.."said Olivia.

I agreed!

(TO BE CONTINUED)