by K. C. Turner
“Really?” Remembering what Shawn asked of her, she decided to try and take one for the team. Setting the evaluation on the desk in front of Lydia, she said, “I think Pamela DeFranco gave me this for a reason.”
Picking up the document, she reviewed the highlights. “Nice. But you know we can’t use this?”
“What do you mean? His wife gave it to me. Obviously, she’s concerned.”
“It’s confidential. His wife shouldn’t even have it. Come on, Liz, you should know that. Give it back to her. You can’t keep that in your file.”
She let out a frustrated sigh. “So what should I tell her?”
“I’m offering to drop the disruption of public service if he pleads to the misdemeanor domestic violence. At least if he’s charged again with a DV it will be a felony but, I’m guessing this was a one-time-thing. He can go through anger management classes and be put on probation for the next six months. I’ll meet with him while you talk to her and see how he wants to proceed.”
“I doubt it was a one-time-thing, but I’ll let Pam know. Thanks Lydia.”
Elizabeth returned to the lobby and took a deep breath before sitting down next to Pam. She looked as tired as Elizabeth felt and it wasn’t even time for lunch. “I just talked with Lydia, the prosecutor, and she’s going to offer Brandon a plea deal. If he pleads guilty to the domestic violence charge, she will drop the other charges. Of course, this means he will need to complete anger management classes and be on probation for the next six months as well.”
The expression on her face was a mixture of disbelief, anger, and confusion. “But – I’m not pursuing anything. I’m here in support of him. Didn’t you tell her that?”
“Of course I did. I told her the two of you are working things out. She’s well aware you are not interested in pursuing anything.”
“Then why do they have it out for him so bad? You know, his articles about the police department and the entire system in this town in general are important. His work is important.”
Growing impatient, Elizabeth took a breath and tucked her hair behind her right ear in an attempt to calm her nerves. I think it’s time for a happy pill. This one is wearing off. “Pam, no one has it out for your husband, but he certainly hasn’t made any friends here. You have to remember, just because you changed your mind since your original call to the police, they still have a job to do. Every case is reviewed the same. Not every case has the same outcome. You are free to change your mind, but when it comes down to it, you mess with the bull, you get the horns. It’s that simple.”
A tear streamed down her cheek out of frustration as she bit the side of her lip to hold back her anger. Grabbing her purse beside her, she gracefully stood up. “I’m sorry, Elizabeth, but this is nothing but pure backlash for the important work my husband does. When all this began, you told me you would be here until I no longer wanted you to be.”
Seriously lady? “And I stand by that,” she said in an attempt not to show her own frustrations.
“Good. Because I no longer want you to be.” With that she stormed off into the courtroom to be with her husband.
She stretched out her neck before paying Lydia a visit to fill her in. “It’s all yours, Lydia. My work is done here,” she said as she fanned her hands in the air. Lydia thanked her for her time and looked at her with sympathy. “Hey, Liz, good luck today. We’re all thinking about you.”
With a half grin, she nodded her head and walked into the clerk’s office just outside the judge’s chambers. Feeling a little embarrassed yet again she thought, Does everyone know about this? Taking another deep breath, she attempted to concentrate on herself for a moment rather than a victim in distress. She needed a drink of water and a pill. The lobby seemed quiet enough, but her heels made an unwelcome echo on the marble floors. Reaching in her bag, she pulled out the prescription bottle. Looking at it curiously, she wondered when she could just toss them in the trash.
Popping a Valium in her mouth, she washed it down with ice-cold water from the fountain and pulled her phone from the front pocket of her bag. She already had a text from Martinez, ‘In the parking lot on the side, meet me out here when you’re done.’ She smiled and headed out to meet him.
As the handicap accessible door swung open upon her pressing the button, she saw Martinez standing next to his black Impala. He was dressed in a black T-shirt and dark jeans, the sun gleaming off of his badge, which was attached to his belt. He was a sight for tired, sore eyes. But it was surly a rough week for him as well. The little patch of hair under his bottom lip was blending with the remainder of his unshaven face and his grown out, military haircut. He smiled as she walked out the door and at that moment, it was all she could see. When she reached him, he wrapped his arms around her waist and greeted her, “Hola, bella.”
Looking up at him she responded with a greeting of her own. “Hola, guapo.”
His brown eyes shimmered with excitement. “Nice! Learning a little Spanish, are we?” She rolled her eyes flirtatiously. His expression became sober. “Are you ready for this?”
Pulling away from his embrace, she made her way to the passenger side of the vehicle and opened the door. “I am not ready for this. What I’m ready for is a warm bath and a nice glass of Chardonnay.” Though she was happy to see him, the reason for their meeting kicked her back to reality.
Realizing how stupid his question sounded after the fact, he quietly retreated to his position in the driver’s seat and started the engine. Elizabeth barely spoke during the entire trip to Mansfield and Martinez refused to force conversation. She stared out the window the entire time watching the curves of the white lines on the road sweetly embrace the rolling plains.
As they entered the Mansfield city limits, her heart began to race. It had only been an hour, but she felt as if the Valium she gulped down at the courthouse was wearing off, again. After a few more turns in the road, the prison was in view. Martinez took his eyes off the road for a moment and glanced at her. The tension grew the closer the vehicle came to the entrance. He reached over and grabbed her sweaty palm as a reassurance. She squeezed his hand, her eyes fixated on the barbed wire fence surrounding the compound while she practiced her breathing techniques.
Martinez flipped the turn signal and began to turn the vehicle onto the prison property. Elizabeth looked at the back of her eyelids and slowly took a deep breath, clinching his hand for dear life. “I don’t think I can do this.”
Pulling the vehicle off to the side, he placed it in park and turned to her. Peering into her eyes with the strength she was lacking, he promised, “I told you, I’m not leaving your side. He can’t hurt you anymore, Liz.”
With another deep breath she nodded her head, “Okay, let’s do it.”
Placing the car into drive, he continued on to the guard shack near the entrance where he was to meet Investigator McMurphy. He pulled up next to the window with his identification ready to give the gray haired guard. “How’s it going?”
The man’s eyes looked up over his wire-framed glasses while his hunting magazine rested on his belly and he replied in a gruff voice, “’Nother day ‘nother dollar.” He placed the magazine on his small desk, took a glance at Martinez’s ID, and searched for his list of visitors.
“We’re meeting Investigator McMurphy. Detective Angel Martinez and Elizabeth Strong.”
Searching the list through his bifocals, the man shook his head back and forth. “Sorry, Detective, I don’t have either of you.”
“I’m afraid you may be mistaken. Could you have another look?”
“Look, Detective, I’m sorry. I-do-not-have-you.”
Elizabeth and Martinez looked at each other with mutual shock. “Let’s just go back,” Elizabeth pleaded. “This is not a good sign.”
Martinez turned back to the guard who was eagerly waiting to get back to his daily reading material. “Hey, I know you’re just doing your job but this is extremely important. Investigator McMurphy is expecting us. Could you giv
e him a ring and we can straighten this all out? Please?”
The guard looked at him again from beneath his glasses and pursed his lips. Without responding verbally, he picked up the phone, hit a number, and had a short conversation. “Go on through. Investigator McMurphy will meet you at the entrance to your left.”
“Thank you! Have a wonderful day, Sir.” He patted Elizabeth on the leg and found a parking spot past the guard shack. They exited the vehicle and walked towards McMurphy who was waiting for them at the door.
Martinez put out his right hand and gave a firm handshake as he spoke. “Investigator McMurphy, good to see you again. This is Elizabeth Strong.”
Elizabeth reached out to shake his hand as well. “Investigator, nice to meet you. Thank you for setting this up with Detective Martinez, I do appreciate it.”
“Detective, Miss Strong. I apologize but I’m confused as to why you’re both here?”
Martinez looked perturbed. “Where is the confusion? I set this up with you weeks ago and sent in my confirmation Monday just as you asked.”
Remaining calm, Investigator McMurphy said, “I never received that confirmation, Detective. Actually, I got word they were moving the hearing and I sent you an email with the new date and time. I assumed, since I still heard nothing, that Miss Strong here had changed her mind.”
Elizabeth felt a small sense of relief while Martinez became agitated. He grabbed his chin and paced towards the car, then turned back around to McMurphy. “So you never received my confirmation?”
McMurphy shook his head, “Negative.”
“I didn’t receive your email, Investigator.”
“I can only assume the email went through with no issue. I did not receive a Mailer-Daemon informing me otherwise.”
He grew more agitated, his dark brown eyes turning a deep yellow gold. “So when was the hearing pushed back to?”
“I’m afraid the hearing was held yesterday afternoon, Detective. I’m very sorry. I wish there was more I could do.”
Martinez bowed his chest and crossed his arms, cupping his unshaven face with his right hand. He took a deep breath before speaking. “I apologize for all the confusion, Investigator. I do appreciate you coming out here to let us know personally. We won’t take up any more of your time.”
After exchanging their goodbyes, Elizabeth and Martinez settled into the front seat of the Impala. “Damn it!” he yelled as he slammed his hand on the steering wheel, making Elizabeth jump. Her eyes scanned the perimeter; the steel doors, the guard shacks, the armed towers and the high fences with barbed wire. The pill she had taken earlier was definitely beginning to wear off.
“Can we please just get the hell out of here?”
He wiped the stress from his face with his hands and turned to her. “I’m so sorry, Liz. I messed up.”
“This wasn’t your fault. Why would you say something like that?”
“Actually, it is my fault. I depended on someone else to do my shit, to have my back.” He started the engine to the car and put it in gear. “That’ll be the last time.”
During the trip back to Silverton, Martinez explained how he asked Johnson to handle the request for him and had no idea what happened. He was furious that he hadn’t taken care of it himself or made the effort to try and confirm that the request had been sent and received. So much so, the entire hour long drive, he did nothing but continue to apologize. Finally pulling into the parking lot at the courthouse, Martinez parked next to Elizabeth’s worn Beamer.
With both hands still on the steering wheel, he looked out the windshield in disgust. “I’m such an idiot.” He looked over at her; she was gazing at him empathetically. “I’m sorry, Liz. Really, I am.”
Tucking her hair behind her ear, she shook her head. “Will you please stop saying that?” She took his hand from the wheel and held onto it. “Look, whatever happened, it happened. There’s nothing we can do about it now and frankly, if you couldn’t tell, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about going in the first place.”
“Yeah, well, Johnson has some explaining to do.”
“Maybe he got busy and it slipped his mind. Maybe the Chief snagged him up right after you that day and sent him off on some other wild detective outing. I’m sure there’s an explanation. Either way, it’s done. I’m sure we’ll know the results of the hearing soon enough. At least we got out of the office for the afternoon, right?” She smiled.
He squeezed her hand and smiled back, shaking his head. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
“I’m amazingly exhausted. I gotta get back to the office and then I’m going home and have plans with a nice hot bath, some music, and some wine.”
“Hmm, sounds like you might need some assistance,” he said flexing his eyebrows flirtatiously.
“I think I got it covered. But it is tempting.” It is so tempting!
Somewhat discouraged from being shot down, he understood. “Can I call you later?”
She leaned in closer to him for a kiss goodbye, “Of course.”
Chapter 6
Dragging herself down the hallway to the office lobby, Elizabeth reached the front desk. Andrea glanced up at her from behind the bulletproof glass window and buzzed her in. It seemed like a quiet afternoon. Everyone was too busy in their offices to notice her entrance. She didn’t much feel like explaining her ordeal anyway. Of course, she could never sneak past China. Today, she didn’t even try. Holding onto her bag strapped across her torso, she reached China’s office and leaned on the doorway. Feeling a presence, China spun around in her chair. She was pleasantly surprised.
“Hey! What are you doing back so soon? How did it go?”
Melting into the chair on the other side of China’s desk, she sighed and rolled her eyes. “It didn’t.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means it didn’t go. We drove all the way there, I swear I felt like I was going to vomit the entire drive, only to get there and find out the hearing was moved.”
“Awe honey, I’m sorry. So, when did they move it to?”
“Yesterday,” she said matter-of-factly.
“WHAT? I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you right.”
“Apparently there was an issue with the request getting there and an email got lost, I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t really care at this point. I obviously wasn’t meant to be there.”
China was beyond irritated, her eyes appearing black behind the slits of her eyelids. “How the hell do you lose an email? I call bullshit.” She looked at her watch; it was almost 2:30. “You wanna have a cigarette? You look like you could use a cigarette.”
Leaning her head back and gazing at the ceiling, she thought for a moment. “What the hell. Then I think I’m going to take off and go home. I have some personal time and I’m over it.”
They both rose from their seats and started down the hall to let the secretaries know they were taking a break. Before they could reach the door, Peggy called out to them from her office.
“Elizabeth?”
They both stopped just past the opening of Peggy’s office door and China whispered an expletive. Elizabeth took a couple steps back, her eyes locked with China’s as she lipped ‘Oh my God!’ She turned away and poked her head in Peggy’s office. “Yes, Peggy?”
“I need to speak with you. Have a seat, please.”
Turning back to China for a moment she rolled her eyes out of Peggy’s view.
“Cankles,” whispered China.
Elizabeth held in a laugh and shook her head before stepping into the dragon’s lair. Peggy sat at her desk with amazing posture and looked down her nose at Elizabeth. She wasn’t an ugly woman. She had a smaller waistline and fuller in her bum and legs with shoulder length, bottle blonde hair, but her snobbish demeanor was off putting and made her less desirable.
“So you had the pretrial for Brandon DeFranco today?”
“Yes,” said Elizabeth as she nodded her head.
“Well, I’m
afraid we have an issue but I wanted to get your side before I took this to Marilyn.” She moved the mouse on her keyboard to wake up her computer screen.
My side? What the hell is she talking about? Elizabeth realized Peggy was on the website for the Silverton Tribune. Brandon DeFranco had a busy afternoon. The entire conversation she had with Pam at the pretrial was now online for the world, or at least the entire city of Silverton, to read. What the fu…
Peggy scrolled down to a line that was highlighted. “I need to know if this is what you said to Mrs. DeFranco.”
In her fury, Elizabeth read the passage:
* * *
‘Victim advocate, Elizabeth Strong, did not hold back when asked why SPD and the prosecutor didn’t seem as if they wanted to work with a first time offender. She specifically said, “When you mess with the bull, you get the horns.”’
* * *
Shocked and humiliated, her mouth agape, Elizabeth didn’t know how to respond to the question. She felt betrayed while she silently searched for a way to best word her response. “Peggy, I – I don’t know what to say.” She sighed in discomfort.
“Right now, you just need to answer the question I asked you. Did you say this to Mrs. DeFranco?”
Her heart began to beat a little faster and the look on her face became defensive. “No – well, yes – but – it wasn’t like that. This is totally being taken out of context!”
Peggy cocked her head and spoke through her nose with more authority. “When it’s written down and then read, there is no other context but what the writer wants there to be. The article, as written, makes it appear that SPD and the prosecutor’s office has it out for Brandon DeFranco due to his past articles about us and he uses your words to verify it. This isn’t good, Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak and stopped herself. She sat back in the chair and shook her head, frustrated. With Peggy’s demeanor and tone, she was seemingly uninterested in hearing Elizabeth’s defense. “I don’t know what else you want me to say, Peggy. I said that to mean the same thing as ‘don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.’ I can’t help the context in which he wrote it.”