The Life She Had Imagined

 ONE WEEK LATER-

Olivia had been right...We weren't going to win this case during the preliminaries....

She had prepared Khadijah for a long trial..

"Outside of the real killer showing up and confessing...I wouldn't bet on us winning in the preliminaries.."said Beverly.

ADA Nicole Edwards was very good and her young assistant ADA Chelsea Lake was also very good.

She spent a great deal of time removing Lt. Traggs hands from underneath her short skirts and off of her legs... She stopped wearing skirts and dresses and began wearing pants suits.. This helped a little bit..

He had a pleased as punch look on his face....and was a s red as a beet....He liked Chelsea Lake.. He had asked her out to dinner a few times, but she had declined, saying that she wanted to get through this trial.

He was pretty pleased with the way the trial was going.. We had been through the preliminaries and now Khadijah was being held over for trial on first degree murder charges..

He looked over at us...

"Last week was very telling...We saw what the prosecution strategy is...but they didn't see too much of what ours is."said Olivia.

'Right..and that was good strategy on your part Auntay of letting Bree and Josie do the lion share of the arguing..One..They need the experience and two they acquitted themselves well, didn't give too much of our strategy away and tied both Nicole and Chelsea up in knots a few times." said Beverly.

"I was proud of both of them..They did a damn good job and I told them both so."said Nelson.

Khadijah's mind was off in space, thinking of another time, another place..

Josie chatted with Bree about unrelated matters..

"I saw some new shoes I can't wait to get to...After court today, wanna go with me to the shopping center?" she asked Bresha.

''Sure...We can do a little Early Christmas Shopping while we are at it."said Bresha..

I was still looking into this Angel Peterson person...I had asked around, but I hadn't approached her directly...I didn't want to tip her off and mostly, I didn't want her to flee..

Zoey wasn't exactly part of the defense team, but she felt close to Khadijah as the Attorney she was interning  under...She asked to sit with us as support.. How could we say no?

Khadijah had been saving a lot of money...This was a nice paid internship that allowed her to put a lot of money in the bank...Zoey and Lem were allowing her to stay with them and weren't charging her anything for room and board..

Through Zoey, she got to work cases with Olivia and Beverly's cousin Kayla and Mrs. Jasmine Coley...

She really liked "Jazzy" as they called her.. She came from her exact same background and worked hard and became a very successful attorney who dressed to the nines and had shed her "Project Chick " background completely..

She loved ADA Karen Page of the WRONGFUL CONVICTED UNIT...She was so down to earth and so cool... They nicknamed her "White Girl wasted." clearly out of affection..

She spent a few days with Married Attorneys, Jessica Sanchez-Burrows and her husband Charles "Chip" Burrows who worked down the hall at THE INNOCENCE PROJECT...They were a lot of fun..

Likewise Jazzy's husband, Dabnis

and Kayla's Husband, Ray were lots of fun to work with too..

Bresha's husband Tony, new there himself was very kind and helpful...

Her best time was a floor up, Ms. Yvette's office..

Ms. Virginia, the office manager told her how she was at one time a big time attorney herself, who got caught up in a murder...Disbarred and convicted of Manslaughter...She was sentenced to 10 years to life.. She thought she was buried.. Paroled after 7 years...Ms. Yvette gave her a job as Office Manager and Consultant, didn't judge her and brought her into the fold...

Ms. Yvette, a sharp dresser herself was a room mate of Ms. Olivia in Law School...She was at her firm almost since she'd passed the bar....She had only worked one other place before.. She started as associate attorney, worked her way up to Sr. Associate and was now Managing Partner...with her own office... and she handpicked four recent Penn Law School grads as her staff.. Attorneys Keith Jones, his wife, Beatrice "Bee Bee" Evans, Sofia Garcia-Ahmed and Kahlil Ahmed.

Kahlil told her that he used to sell weed in High school, got pinched...Did his whole 11th grade year in Juvie.. Got released, by some miracle got back into Central High and got himself together, graduated, went to college, Law school and was now an attorney...

"It aint where you start at Khadijah, It's where and how you finish." he told her.. She'd remember that.

Ms. Jade , their investigator was an immigrant, former Homicide Detective in Tokyo...Came here and Yvette and her crew helped her get her citizenship and hired her...

Her time with them was the best and all of them gave her a stipend..

Even Ms. Virginia's husband, who now worked in the building with the Legal Ethics Board talked to her for a few days...

She Spent a day in City Hall with  Ms. Alfreda's husband, ADA Rockland Cambridge and his investigator, Ms. Yvette's husband, Gary Lockwood.

she was building a nice resume...(Each wrote her a glowing reccomendation) and a nice tight bank account..

Elon Gentry was threatening to dilute her bank account with his demands for money due to Blackmail...but with him dead...She now had enough money for an apartment..and possibly a used car...

Her internship with Zoey was almost over and she had three job offers..One at The Public Defender's Office, another one at the Women's Law Center and a third one at  McCluskey/Cozen/Connor & Pratt, main office... 

All of that could come to an end if she was convicted and sent to prison for life....She had come so far...was so close to the life she had wanted for herself..

"DAMN ELON GENTRY!!! DAMN HIM!" she thought...Why couldn't he stay away???...Why couldn't he leave her alone???..

.Her fiance Chris Jenkins was dead because of him... The life she had imagined and was building for herself was now in jeopardy....DAMN HIM....Even though she didn't kill him...SHE WAS GLAD HE WAS DEAD!!

Jury selection began between Nelson and Nicole Edwards...She had studied us...how we operated..and she seemed prepared to go toe to toe with Nelson in Jury selection...but alas , he had been at this a lot longer than she had... and in the end..We got 9 jurors we wanted to her three..

Beverly, Olivia, Josie, Bresha and Zoey all gave him a thumbs up!

Nelson was happy, he had done better than he had thought he was going to do against her.. Nearly everything was breaking our way...

Khadijah felt a little better..

''Alright folks , We have a jury.. Trial will begin Monday...at 9:00 AM...Be on time and be ready for trial...Court is adjourned." said Judge Keith Morrison.

This was it...The trial was on....at last.

II-

I was at the Stock Exchange..

I had snapped photos of " Angel Peterson"

I discovered, just as I thought.. That the Non-existent Angel Peterson was actually Christine Lee Barrett, born and raised in Atlantic City , New Jersey... Unlike Khadijah, she came from a two parent family...A Middle Class Family that moved to Pleasentville, New Jersey... She graduated with honors from Pleasentville High School. She did her undergrad at Princeton University...and then matriculated to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business where she studied and got her MBA.

She took a job as a Book keeper and Accountant at the Bordega Casino in Atlantic City...in 2019 she vanished with 50K in cash, never to be seen or heard from again..

There was an outstanding  warrant for her arrest in Atlantic City County, New Jersey... Somehow or another , she wound up in Philadelphia, working at the Stock Exchange...She had enough money to help somebody get her a connection and a job at the Stock Exchange.

It was then that Christine Lee Barrett ceased to exist and "Angel Peterson" was born.. She had a new birth certificate, a new drivers license and she lived in a Tony Condo.

Her bank account was 25K and then some until a few days ago...It had increased at least 25K more in just a few days...the same day that the dead Elon Gentry's account  became 25K short... she had made the transfer and I could prove it..

She had visited him on three occassions with a briefcase at his hotel.. He was blackmailing her...He had discovered who she really was and was threatening to expose her.. This could lead to up to 7 years in a Federal prison and the loss of everything , the life she had imagined for herself. She was the one.. The 

missing woman...

NIGHTFALL-

Angel Peterson sat at the bar alone and ordered her second drink..

A Citris Martini...

"That's my drink of choice... I first had it when I was in Seattle...I loved it...I've been drinking it ever since.." said Olivia, sitting next to her..

Two more Martin's were ordered..

"You know , I like Citris Martini's too..and like my auntie...I've been drinking them since I was in Seattle. My Husband is partial to the Mango Martini. I love that Fragrance you're wearing what is that?" said Beverly

"It's called "My Voyage"by Nautica." said Nelson..

"Your Husband is correct....He knows his women's fragrances." said Angel..

"Oh My God...He's an expert in everything related to me.. He buys me Lingerie, Perfume...He knows it all..."laughed Beverly...

Angel smiled.. "He's a good man to have.." she said.

"He is Angel..." said Olivia..

"How do you know my name? Wait a minute....I know who you guys are... Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Beverly West.....The lawyers." said Angel.

"And we know who YOU Are Angel...or should I say Christine Lee Barrett.

Before she could move, I put the subpoena in her lap..

"That's a subpoena Chistine... We need you to testify in the trial of our client.. Khadijah Barnes... She's from Atlantic City...Just like you.. She's being tried for a crime she did not commit..She's already lost a lot..Her fiance, murdered by Mr. Gentry...and is in danger of losing the life she had imagined for herself..She's innocent.. Do the right thing. Chris....Do the right thing.. You know and we know she didn't kill Elon Gentry..." I said.

She turned around..

She saw the rest of our staff and their significant others  sitting outside in the heated pits...enjoying drinks and the night air.. Josie and Paris, Bresha and Tony, and Alfreda and Rockland.

just sitting around , enjoying drinks..not even looking her way.

Also sitting near the bar was some other of our friends.. Jazzy, Dabnis, Kayla, Ray, Jessica and Chip

and Yvette and Gary, Keith and Bee Bee, Sofia and Kahlil, Jade and Danny and Virginia and Jetty...

From a distance , she saw  our client..

Khadijah, the girl who was on trial for murder...a murder she knew this girl didn't commit...She felt a wave of shame....

She saw her sitting with two people she did not know... Zoey, the attorney she was interning under and

her husband, Lem...

She could have run...but what was the need.. The cat was out of the bag... Nobody here was asking her for money or blackmailing her..but these people knew..They knew who she really was..

She remained at the bar drinking... No one said any more about the matter or engaged her in anyway..

Across Town at CURLEY'S BAR, the same night-

"LT. TRAGG WILL YOU PLEASE!!! TAKE YOUR HANDS FROM UNDER MY SKIRT...I CAME HERE TO RELAX AND ENJOY SOME DRINKS ALONE....YOU INVITED YOURSELF TO MY TABLE AND YOU'VE BEEN HANDSY HANK ALL NIGHT....NOW PLEASE LEAVE MY TABLE!" asked Chelsea Lake rather loudly...

"Come on baby, loosen up...loosen up..You got a big trial comin up...Let's move to another table..order us some dinner... They serve steaks in here this thick." he said making a motion with his thumb and fore finger.. A little dinner, I'll order us a bottle of wine, a little quiet conversation..." he said.

It was as if he hadn't heard a word she'd just said.

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!! YOU ARE IMPOSSIBLE" she said and got up, grabbed her purse and her drink and walked over to ADA Nicole Edwards and Judge Newton Cowley's table.

"Artie bein a pain in the ass Chelsea?  If Newt wasn't here , he'd have his hands up my dress.."said Nicole..

"And I'd deck his ass." said Newton...

"I'll see you guys Monday."said Chelsea who gulped down her drink , went to the bar and paid for it and promptly left..

III-

MONDAY MORNING- COURTROOM A- 9:00 AM

Judge Keith Morrison was presiding... we had the jury we wanted... The trial was beginning..

He was pretty lenient...He allowed us to have a huge table with a couple of extra chairs... We had our coffees , bottled water and laptops spread out on the table.. Olivia, Beverly, Nelson, Myself, Josie , Bresha, Zoe and Khadijah all sat at the table..We looked very comfortable..

We talked casually before the trial began.

"Bev, if your father had seen you in that scandalous dress Friday night, he'd of hit the ceiling...Be glad he's out in California."laughed Olivia, talking about her older brother, Beverly's father, Jimmy.

"Well he wasn't here and my hussssband loved it!" laughed Beverly...

"LAWWWWWWD Have mercy..."said Nelson to me..

I smiled.. I knew how he felt..

"I KNOWWWW HE LOVED it...So did a number of other men there.. One guy tripped and fell and another guy bumped into a table looking at you...Freshie." joked Olivia.

"Liv you were breaking a few necks yourself.."said Josie,laughing...

"Yeah, I caught a couple of guys staring at my boobies... That place is like a meat market.. Everybody was on the make. You wouldn't have thought it"said Bresha.

''A Couple of guys slipped me their numbers..Unfortunately for them...All of my tomorrows may very well be accounted for." sighed Khadijah..

"Think positively....You're going to be acquitted. I know it."said Zoey...

"Look at em, got Coffee and Water and a bigger table...laughing and talking..They're gonna feel so foolish when they lose this case." said Lt. Tragg looking at us and shaking his head..

He had a pleased as punch look on his face....and was a s red as a beet....he liked Chelsea Lake.. he had asked her out to dinner a few times, but she had declined, saying that she wanted to get through this trial.

"LT. TRAGG WILL YOU PLEASE!!! TAKE YOUR HANDS FROM UNDER MY SKIRT.." protested  ADA Chelsea Lake.

"Nicole , sit on the other side of me.."said ADA Nicole Edwards... She stared at Lt. Tragg..

"Now we aren't going to have a problem with you putting your hands under my skirt are we Artie..because I'm not playin that.." she said.

He stared at her balefully..."You aint gotta worry about that!" he thought to himself.

''Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, let me tell you a story , A story about the American dream...The defendent is not a bad person...Not at all...In fact, her story is kinda sorta admirable....but she did a bad thing ,well several bad things..Born in Atlantic City to a single mom...Her Father was a deadbeat who had a child by another woman on the very same block she and her mother lived on.. a male, a year and a half older than she was...

Educated in Atlantic City Public Schools ..She was a very good student....THEN! her Brother was a drug dealer...worked for a couple of the local dealers got himself shot and killed  for his troubles...She wound up being an exotic dancer , which led to her eventually being a hooker...and in time , a high priced one. Going for $1000.00 to $3000.00 a night... Yeah Atlantic City Bunco Squad knew all about her...She was arrested shortly after she graduated from Atlantic County Community College, but the charges were dismissed...I imagine a Judge , A couple of crooked Assistant District Attorneys didn't want their names to come out so they dropped the charges..." she said.

The Jury howled with laughter. she continued.

"Her Father got himself killed shortly after and her mother got sick...Her medical bills were paid up until she died and the defendent vanished.

Amazing  that a young lady like Ms. Barnes  went straight through college  and law school with no student loans... She was financing her education  on her back. 

She was arrested  again and then just like before, the charges were dismissed... Probably for the same reasons..

She finished law school at Rutgers and passed the bar and then you ran into the victim , Mr. Gentry in Camden of all places.....Elon Gentry..an Atlantic City man who knew of her  background. I suppose he wanted something for his silence...Money, sex, both?  

"By now she had fled Camden where she was interning for a Judge and she surfaced here in Philadelphia , interning for that young Attorney over there ,sitting with her defense attorneys , Attorney

Zoey Easter-Anderson...and she found love with a man named Christopher Jenkins...A very popular young and successful Real Estate mavin...They got engaged...Only problem was her fiance was a degenerate gambler who owed money to, wait for it...Mr. Elon Gentry of Atlantic City....He surfaced again, He knew who she was and he wanted his money from her fiance...At some point Mr. Gentry shot and killed her fiance and was demanding money from her.. He had totally destroyed the life she had imagined for herself.. In a state of rage...She went to his hotel room...He was expecting a payoff... Instead of a pay off he got two shots,one to the head and a double tap to the chest...

I don't care how sorry you may feel for Ms. Barnes... She committed murder and there is no justification for that." said  Nicole Edwards in her opening statement.

"Ladies and Gentlemen , I will not rehash the life of my client...I don't condone what she did to get out of that enviroment that she came from.....but I admire her genuine dedication to her mother and her education...Despite her background , She made something out of herself...she became an attorney...She moved from Atlantic City to Camden...Everytime she tried to live the life she imagined for herself.. The victim, Elon Gentry, a twice convicted criminal.. a career criminal kept showing up and spoiling the life she had imagined for herself.. He followed her into Philadelphia, blackmailing her and putting pressure on her fiance to pay his mounting gambling debts...He murdered her fiance...He was taking money from her...She couldn't afford an apartment...She is living with my good friend, Attorney Zoey Easter-Anderson.  She certainly had justification to kill Mr. Gentry... but she did not..She could not and I challenge the prosecution to prove that she did!" said Olivia.

The Gloves were off...It was War now...

ADA Chelsea Lake called the three eyewitnesses who claimed they witnessed the murder....

Armed with the Police report of the incident and the Medical Examiner's report and the original witness statements... plus my testimony. and Beverly's eyewitness testimony 

They went hard on these "eyewitnesses" and got everyone of them to admit that they hadn't seen anything, that they had heard the gunshots and showed up only in time to see the back of what they believed was a woman leaving out of the back door...

Nicole Edwards attempted to cross examine Beverly....

Josie and Bresha ,taking their cue from Jazzy, who had come by after work and talked to them and gave them pointers on the law surrounding this particular type of cross examination.. tied ADA Nicole Edwards up to the point that her frustration was boiling over...

She tried another tact, Cross Examining me...I wasn't an attorney, I was fair game...

Olivia and Jazzy had prepared me for this...but I was an ex-Homicide Detective..I had testified in hundreds of trials..I was ready and not intimidated in the least bit.

I answered as honestly as I could..  "Khadijah Barnes came to us...She told us that she was being blackmailed.. We had seen Mr. Gentry manhandle her in Sam Mother's Diner the day before.. She said he was shaking her down for close to $1000.00 a month...It was the reason she hadn't made a down payment on an apartment, she couldn't save enough money from her multiple paid internships..I'm an ex-policeman...I was going to see Mr. Gentry to tell him to cease and desist...when Mrs. West-East and I got off of the service elevator..We heard two gunshots, they were loud... I didn't see who shot Mr. Gentry, but I did see his corpse before we departed... I called the police anonymously while on my way home from the scene.I said.  I was asked if I saw Ms. Barnes.. I responded that I couldn't be sure.. I only saw the backstairs door fly open and close. " I said.

She allowed me to step down..

"I'm arresting both Donnie Ray and Beverly immediately after court adjourns today and pulling his license."said Lt. Tragg.

"On what charge? They walked up on a crime scene, they left like anyone with sense would do....He said he called the police...What else was he supposed to do?  And Beverly did nothing wrong.. He wisely brought her along to make sure he didn't cross any boundaries. Leave them alone....What's amazing is that you didn't know they were there until they admitted it just now.. You didn't vet these eyewitnesses...They just made me look like a fool..They couldn't get their stories straight...I don't know if she was there or not...You really screwed the pooch on this one." said Nicole Edwards..

He used to like her, when she was a cop....Not so much now he thought!

Chelsea Lake showed the jury photos of the crime scene and paraded the policemen and Crime scene Investigators and Medical Examiner employees to the stand..

Olivia, Beverly, Nelson, Josie and Bresha weren't trying to discredit them, but they had clearly studied their statements and questioned them on cross making sure they got the central facts straight, that there were no fingerprints or DNA evidence belonging to the Khadijah Barnes on the scene  and that none of them had seen her...

It frustrated Chelsea Lake to no end.

"I told you they plan well...I think I've made my point...Time to close this show."said Nicole..

So after three and a half days ADA Nicole Edwards made her closing remarks and asked the jury to find

Khadijah Barnes guilty of either 2nd Degree Murder or Manslaughter.

"Now...We do our thing next.."said Olivia confidently..

''We did a good job of harpooning their case..They couldn't even prove you were there." said Beverly.

"I knowwwwww!" "said  Khadijah.

"The Jury is 7 to acquit and 5 undecided..."said Nelson..

"But none to convict...That's a good sign..."I said.

"I'll take it."said Josie.

"I will too! I figure we can flip a few of them into our category once we present our defense." said Bresha.

"I figured our hostile witness, Angel Peterson was going to try and flee..."laughed Olivia.

"I did too...,That's why I tipped the FBI off about her true identity...

The FBI picked her up at the Airport with a one way ticket to Montreal and a phony passport and will deliver her to us when we need her.." I said.

Nightfall, a light rain fell....

What better to do on a rainy night,..but make love..

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" I moaned..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"cooed Olivia in between slow, butter soft kisses..

"You've been on me all day...Kissing my neck and squeezing me..." she said.

"I couldn't help myself." I said.

"Donnie Ray, take my clothes off...nowwww..." whispered Olivia in my ear,....

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...I WANT TO BABY....BUT I CAN'T LET YOU GO!" I moaned..still kissing her passionately...

"UMMMMMMMMMMMPH!" I moaned..

Olivia took her top off and unhooked her bra herself while still kissing me....

I eased her beautiful matching  panties down slowly...

"OHHHHHHH MY GODDDDDD! I don't know how I miss you getting dressed in the morning." I moaned..

"A girl had got to have some privacy, got to surprise you every once in awhile." she laughed.

I lifted her up...and entered her slowly and softly.

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU HOOOO HOOO HOOO HOOO HOOOOOO, Aye...Ayeeeeeeee, Ayeeeee, Ay yi yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii….OH MY GOD DONNIE RAYYY!...OUUUUU! YOU ARE ALL UP IN THIS..OUUUUUUUUUU WEEEEEEEEEEEE!!" she screamed.

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU HOOOO HOOO HOOO HOOO HOOOOOO, Aye...Ayeeeeeeee, Ayeeeee, Ay yi yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii….OH MY GOD ...OUUUUU!  ayyyee, aye yi yiiiiii" she screamed.

I placed her on top of the bathroom sink, spread her legs and slowly and silently entered her again..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...I've really got to clean this top off with Comet in the morning...As much as we've done the nasty on top of this...OUUUUUUUUUUUU!"whispered Olivia in my ear in between slow, soft kisses...

"OHHHHHHHHHH OLIVIAAAAAA I JUST LOVE YOU SOOOOO DAMN MUCH!" I moaned..

"I love you too...I love you too Donnie Ray." she whispered..

We sat on the side of the bed and she rode me like a surfer rides the waves..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU HOOOO HOOO HOOO HOOOOOOOOOO

UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, OH MY GODDDDD, YOU ARE SNATCHING MY SOULLLLLL...WOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed...as she had yet another intense orgasm ,making her body tremble like crazy, her head move from side to side and tears just stream down the side of her face..

By the time we made it to the bed, She was having yet another orgasm... Her body trembling..Her head moving from side to side and tears streaming down the side of her face.."OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" I moaned. ,collapsing on top of her.

"YOU ARE A BEAST!  ARE YOU ON SOMETHING DONNIE RAY? VIAGRA, CIALIS???" she asked.

"No not yet...Maybe in a few years!" I said , trying to catch my breath.

We made love for the next  NINE TO TEN HOURS.....As the rain poured down....

The floor below us, Beverly and Nelson weren't wasting anytime either...They were in their new couch, kissing ,making up for lost time..

"Ouuuuuuuu baby, we said we weren't going to screw on the new couch...Let's go to the bedroom...I'm not going anywhere...but into your arms.."said Beverly, trying to ease out of Nelson's embrace, but failing..

They continued kissing passionately..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" he moaned...

Beverly eased away from him...They fell up against their refrigerator door...Kissing...

They finally made it to the bedroom where they undressed...Nelson eased her panties  down...

Nelson bent her over the bed where he entered her doggie style..

"OUUUUUUUU..OUUUUUUUUU..UMMMMMPH YOU DIRTY DOG!! OUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned as her body trembled... 

She rode him cowgirl style and continued kissing him....

They sat on the side of the bed, Beverly continuing to ride him and kiss him...

and finally in bed where they made love with unbridled passion for the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS...

IV-

The next day we began our defense.. Olivia opened with her initial statement..

"Ladies and Gentlemen , I will not rehash the life of my client...I don't condone what she did to get out of that enviroment that she came from.....but I admire her genuine dedication to her mother and her education...Despite her background , She made something out of herself...she became an attorney...She moved from Atlantic City to Camden...Everytime she tried to live the life she imagined for herself.. The victim, Elon Gentry, a twice convicted criminal.. a career criminal kept showing up and spoiling the life she had imagined for herself.. He followed her into Philadelphia, blackmailing her and putting pressure on her fiance to pay his mounting gambling debts...He murdered her fiance...He was taking money from her...She couldn't afford an apartment...She is living with my good friend, Attorney Zoey Easter-Anderson.  She certainly had justification to kill Mr. Gentry... but she did not..She could not and I challenge the prosecution to prove that she did!" said Olivia.

Beverly said to the jury...

"The prosecution wants you to send this woman to jail for the rest of her life.  They can't prove she was there at the scene..They had three so called eyewitnessess, you saw them last week..They couldn't get their stories straight..You heard this..They haven't produced a fingerprint, not one...nor any DNA evidence...Not one thing placing my client at the scene. They have a motive, yes...but so did two other people...One who was killed by the victim, a twice convicted criminal, who they want you to feel sorry for..a miserable man who made his fortune blackmailing others  and collecting gambling debts for the juice men in Atlantic City." she said.

Khadijah smiled a bit..

Zoey whispered to her. "The Prosecution's job was to provide proof...They failed to do that...Liv and Bev are bringing it home...Their sumnations are brilliant." she said.

Nelson was reading the jury...

''We just put three more jurors in the acquit column..."he said.

I whispered to Olivia, Beverly and Nelson... " I hope you have something good for our hostile witness...She's already been arrested for Embezzlement and is awaiting extradition to New Jersey..She doesn't have to cop to murder." I said.

''We are one witness away from a dismissal." said Olivia.

"Or an acquittal" said Beverly.

"Get ready for the real show stopper." said Nelson.

I had known these three and been in enough trials long enough to trust their judgement.

Josie and Bresha called all 16 of our charactor witnesses...We wanted to make our client as sympathetic to this jury as possible...

They hadn't cross examined them during the arraignment, but they certainly had questions for them now on cross examination...

but Josie , Bresha and Nelson had prepped them and anticipated their possible questions.. They were ready with objections based on Simular cases, Predicates and current laws...

Judge Morrison smiled..He was impressed with how well Olivia prepared all of her attorneys and how well her witnesses were vetted and prepped...

"We just added another juror to the acquittal team." said Nelson, smiling.

"Good! Now for the end game."said Olivia. She called "Angel Peterson" to the stand.

She sat staring blankly at Olivia.

"Angel Peterson state your actual name please.."said Olivia.

"Christine Lee Barrett." she said.

"Ms. Barrett , You're under indictment for Embezzlement aren't you???...In Fact there has been a warrant out for your arrest, A Federal warrant for Interstate Flight to Avoid Prosecution for embezzlement for about three years hasn't there?" said Beverly.

"Yes.. but you knew that when you subpoened me." she said.

"This man, Elon Gentry, he knew who you really was didn't he? He was Blackmailing you..

Blackmailing you to the tune of 25K wasn't he?" asked Nelson showing her and the jury a still photo of the murder vicitim, Elon Gentry.

"Yes he was..."she admitted.

"You stood to lose everything...Your job, possibly your freedom and a lot more money because Blackmailers never stop asking for money...so you killed him didn't you?" asked Olivia.

"NOPE!" she said. We were surprised..We expected her to confess.. I knew she wouldn't. The prosecution had even less proof that she was at the scene.

"Perjury is a serious crime Ms. Barrett...I have bank statements here that show you transferred 25K of the 50K you embezzled into his account and four people who will testify that they saw you in his hotel on 4 different occassions."said Josie.

"They saw me there and I did give him money...but I didn't kill him. Nobody can say they saw me on the day of the murder." she said defiantly.. She was right! No one could!

"I have a bank statement here...You transferred your money, 25K out of his account six hours after his death,,,back into your account...The news wasn't in the papers yet...How did you even know he was dead?" asked Bresha.

" News travels fast  and bad news travels even faster.  Yeah, I did.. I transferred MY MONEY back into my account, but I didn't kill him and you and nobody else here can prove that I did," she said.

She had us up a barrel, Just like Khadijah...We had no physical proof that she had killed him either.

Olivia decided to cut her losses and close her case... She felt we had done enough to point to our client's innocence.

ONE HOUR AND TWENTY MINUTES LATER-

"Has the Jury come to a decision?" asked the Judge..

"Yes Your Honor, we have."said the Jury Foreman...

" Bailiff, bring me the verdict.." he said..

He read it...His face betrayed no emotion.. 

"Would the Defendent and her defense please stand." he said..

"I've been waiting for this moment for years.. Olivia and her crew are about to lose...They're about to lose, they are about to lose...They were too damn cocky...This time...This time...They are going to lose and I'm so going to enjoy this."said Lt. Tragg, giddy with excitement.

"Relax baby girl, I'm certain we got this."said Olivia.. she was disapointed that she couldn't break Christine Barrett down...but she still thought we had done enough to win this case.

Khadijah said a silent prayer...sweat was running down her back.

Beverly held her hand....

''We got this..I read the jurors..It was 12 to acquit." assured Nelson..He was seldom wrong,

"I trust you.I trust your judgement Nelson."said Josie, rubbing Nelson's shoulder.

"I do too!" said Bresha.

I didn't say anything...I actually thought that Christine Barrett had a shred of decency in her and that she might confess...but then why did she have to? Her secret was out..Her job was gone and she was headed back to New Jersey to stand trial for embezzlement. The Life she had imagined for herself was all but gone now!

I held Zoey's hand..She was shaking..

"Baillif , read the verdict." said Judge Morrison.

"THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA VS. KHADIJAH MARIE BARNES ON THE CHARGE OF MANSLAUGHTER, WE FIND THE DEFENDENT, NOT GUILTY!!! ON THE MORE SERIOUS CHARGE OF SECOND DEGREE MURDER, WE FIND THE DEFENDENT NOT GUILTY!" he said.

"I'd like to thank the jurors for their time and attention to the details of this case...I release you and you can get your checks at the door. Court is adjourned." said the Judge.

"Oh well, win some , lose some." said Nicole Edwards.

"It was a pleasure working with you Ms. Edwards." said Chelsea Lake.

"Same here Chelsea." said Nicole as both women left the courtroom together.

Beverly and Olivia leaped into the air-

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" they proclaimed, high fiving each other.

"OH MY GOD!!! MY LONG NIGHTMARE IS OVER!!! I'VE GOT MY LIFE BACK!!" exclaimed Khadijah...

"I told you...I told you ,I told you they'd get you off."said Zoey, hugging her...

Nelson and I, Josie and Bresha all hugged her and smiled, Tears running down their faces..

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT...I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!" said an astounded Lt. Tragg. He stomped his foot.

"I hate to gloat Lieutenant, but once again, you've arrested the wrong suspect..." said Olivia.

Christine Lee Barrett, surrounded by FBI agents walked over to Khadijah...

"I'm happy your attorneys were able to get you off....I would have hated to see you go down for something you didn't do....Good Luck to you." she said.

"Good Luck to you as well." said Khadijah.

The FBI Agents marched her off.

"Crimminy....It was her!!!" said Lt. Tragg.

"Yup! That's what we figured...but we couldn't prove it and couldn't compel her to confess." said Beverly.

"Maybe you'll do better...You ARE THE DETECTIVE After all...." I said.  "Come on guys, let's get out of here..I know a place where they prepare steaks this thick! " I said making a motion with my fore finger and my thumb... "And the Martini's are dry." I said.

"Sounds good to me." said Olivia.

"I'm all for it." said Nelson.

"Me too! I could use a cold one and a nice steak." said Josie.

"Well what are we standing here for? Let's get out of here."said Bresha.

"Come on...I've got some news for you anyway baby girl." said Zoey.

"Hope it's good news."said Khadijah..

"But of course...Today was full of it." said Zoey.

EPILOUGE-

Christine Lee Barrett was tried and convicted of Embezzlement in New Jersey and sentenced to 7 years 

in a Federal Penitentiary...she made full restitution.

After she served her seven years, She was released and dropped out of sight.

 She was never indicted for the murder of Elon Gentry...Today, his murder remains, unsolved and still open...even though we know she did it!

We returned to the tony rooftop bar where we served Christine Barrett her subpoena.

We ordered Eight nice thick steaks 

and eight nice Martini's...

"I would have liked it if Christine had of confessed. But I see why she wouldn't... Her life was ruined, Her true identity exposed.. Arrested by the Feds and about to be extradited to New Jersey to stand trial for embezzlement on a three year old federal warrant. Why throw gas of the fire???."said Olivia.

"In her shoes, I wouldn't have confessed either." admitted Nelson.

"Donnie Ray, how much time do you think she'll get?" asked Beverly.

"Oh from 7 to 10 years... If she makes full restitution...probably 7...It's her first offense."I said.

"Well, we didn't get her for murder, but she'll serve time for something at least."said Josie.

''She'll still be a young woman when she gets out. She can go somewhere else start all over and maybe live the life she imagined for herself... Without having Elon Gentry hanging over her ,blackmailing her." said Bresha.

"I've got good news for you... Picked up your mail today...I hope you don't mind that I opened it.

You have three job interviews..One with the Public Defenders Office, Another with The Women's Law Center and one with McCluskey/Cozen/Connor & Pratt. Look at that!" said Zoey.

We all clapped...

"Oh and one from Sepia Morris, the realtor.. She and Bonita Foxworth have found you a nice apartment.. They want you to come in Monday and look at it." said Zoey.

"Oh My God..  An Acquittal and all of this.... Today was a good day!" said Khadijah.

"Now you can start to really live the life you imagined." said Olivia.