by KG MacGregor
“Mrs. Langdon, you’re a state-certified foster parent, are you not?”
“Yes, I was certified when social services asked me to keep Roberto and Sofia.”
“Can you tell us the circumstances of those occasions on which you took your sister’s children into your home?”
“The first time was when Maria had to go to the hospital because Miguel broke her cheekbone.”
Serena’s recollections opened the door for Lily to present the court with all four police reports and a wide array of photos that depicted a battered Maria.
“Objection, Your Honor. Miguel Esperanza isn’t on trial here. He’s dead because the defendant killed him.”
The objection was absurd, but Lily understood Samuels’s intention. He needed to disrupt the focus on the damaging photos and testimony of abuse, even if only for a moment, to lessen their impact. Unfortunately for him, it gave her the opportunity to underscore Maria’s state of mind. “The deceased’s propensity toward violence is the reason his threat was perceived as genuine, and also the reason he is dead.”
“Overruled.”
She released the witness and gave Judge Anston a pleading look.
He slapped his gavel. “Twenty minute recess.”
Anna drummed her fingers on her desk as she waited for Lily to pick up her cell phone. They had programmed unique ringtones for urgent calls, but this she dialed through the usual shortcut in case she was still in court, wanting only to commiserate about her stolen car.
“Hey, sweetie. I was just leaving court. One of the jurors started throwing up and we called it a day.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t follow suit.”
“Tell me about it. I thought the bailiff was going to lose his lunch too, and that would’ve set off a chain reaction that would’ve shown up on the Richter scale.”
Anna laughed at the mental image. “How did your case go today?”
“We’re holding our own. I like it when the prosecution witnesses make our arguments for us.”
“Speaking of making a case, I just got off the phone with the police department. The good news is that my theft system worked.”
“They found your car?”
“No, they found my theft system. It was in a dumpster in Burbank. The detective said it looked like the work of a car ring they’ve been tracking for a couple of years…mostly high-end sports cars, like Ferraris and Lamborghinis.” Anna let out a dismal sigh. “Most likely it’s on a transport well on its way to South America by now.”
“Aw, Anna.” Lily sounded genuinely sympathetic. “I know I made a lot of jokes about you getting rid of it, but I know how much you loved that car. I’m really so sorry.”
“It was just a car,” she said drearily, not even convincing herself. It was a special car, just like the 850 that had been crushed in the parking garage during the earthquake six years ago. “I called Marco over at the VW dealership. They have a couple of Routans, but not with the package you want. They can’t keep them on the lot.”
“I guess I don’t really need all those things. I just thought as long as—”
“Of course you need those things. Getting a new car is supposed to be special. You want something that catches your eye in the parking lot, something you can drive and know people are looking at you and admiring it. You learn how to play with all the new gadgets. You sink your butt into that leather and make it your own. You don’t settle on a new car.”
“Okay, I can certainly wait at least a couple more months until you get the one I want, but tell Marco to put my name on it. What about you though? What are you going to drive in the meantime?”
“I don’t know…something.” She heard Andy and her father on the steps outside her office. “I’ll ask Andy to help me pick something out. See you at home.”
Of all the cars on her lot, the new 650i convertible was by far her favorite. The downside was it was a coupe, and she couldn’t drive it with the top down with two babies in the back. If the top was up, it would be nearly impossible to get in and out of the backseat to manage the car seats. Besides, it came only with an automatic transmission and she liked driving too much to buy a car that practically drove itself.
From her office window she looked down the row of gleaming 7s like her father’s. Behind it were 6s, then the SUVs, the hottest vehicles on the lot. Not one of them offered what she wanted, a six-speed manual transmission.
Andy walked in behind her and dumped his book bag in the corner where he kept his toys and school supplies.
“Hey, pal. Let’s go pick out a new car.”
His face lit up. He often pretended to play car salesman and was delighted to have the chance to do it for real.
“Why should I get a BMW?”
“Because they’re the best cars on the road,” he answered, not hesitating even a second. He led the way down the stairs and outside to the lot. Then he put his hands on his hips and turned. “You look like someone who likes to drive.”
She almost laughed aloud as he invoked her father’s favorite line when a new customer came onto the lot. “As a matter of fact I do. What I really like is changing gears. What’s the best car you have in a four-door with a six-speed manual transmission?”
Andy hung his finger on his bottom lip as he studied the rows of cars. Finally he pointed to the 7s and said, “Automatic.” Then the 6s and SUVs. “Automatic.”
She followed him toward the rear of the lot, chuckling to herself at his serious expression. One day he would make the most fantastic car salesman in all of California. When he reached the row of 5s, he turned in. Methodically, he stood on tiptoes and shielded his eyes to peer inside at the console of each.
“This one!” He proclaimed, pointing to a Tasman Green Metallic 550i with natural brown leather interior.
Anna grinned with pride. There weren’t many five-year-olds who could have zeroed in on exactly the right vehicle the way he just had. “May I take it for a test drive?” She used her code to open the lockbox and the keys fell into her hand.
“I have to ride in the backseat.”
“That’s right, but just until you’re six years old. Then you can ride up front with me.”
She navigated the heavy traffic on Wilshire Boulevard before finally pulling north onto the 405. The car responded to her every impulse, even more so than the Z8, she admitted reluctantly. It was cushier too, much kinder to her thirty-seven-year-old bottom. And the smell…positively exquisite.
“We find the defendant guilty,” the forewoman said, glaring angrily at Maria Esperanza.
The case had turned on the testimony of Eduardo, who tearfully described his brother as a gentle and loving father, thwarted at every turn by his vindictive ex-wife. He feared for his children’s safety, especially after learning Maria had acquired a gun, and wanted only to rescue them from their mother’s volatile temper.
Rod Samuels sneered smugly, the price tag still hanging from—
“Hey, sweetie. I didn’t want to wake you, but Andy’s about to go to bed and I thought you might want to say goodnight.”
Lily struggled to sit up as she got her bearings. She was still wearing the suit she had put on this morning for court, where Rod Samuels had wrapped up his case. Eduardo had done a fair job of painting his brother in a positive light, much better than she had expected.
“We had Chinese takeout for dinner, but I thought you might like something on the comfort side since it’s so late.” Anna indicated a glass on the dresser. “So I brought you a strawberry smoothie.”
“Sounds perfect.” Using both hands, she pushed herself off the bed. If she was this encumbered at twenty-nine weeks, how would she even be able to move in a couple more months?
She put on her cheeriest face and walked into Andy’s room, awash in guilt that she hadn’t seen him all night. He was already tucked in, but she pulled the covers back so she could stroke his chest. “Hey, sweetie. I’m sorry I slept through dinner and didn’t get a chance to talk to you about your d
ay. Did you have a good supper?”
“I had chicken and noodles, and Mom said there was enough left over for me to eat again tomorrow so I won’t have to eat fish.” Anna had finally struck a deal with Andy that he wouldn’t have to eat fish if she didn’t have to eat macaroni and cheese.
“Your mom takes good care of us, doesn’t she?”
“And Grandpa.”
It surely was only an innocent remark but it cut Lily to the bone to think she wasn’t also on his list. “I’m almost finished with the case I’ve been working on. Then I’m going to take a long vacation from work, which means I’ll be the one picking you up after school. We can come home and play together, and you can help me fix dinner for Mom like we used to do. Would you like that?”
“Will I still get to go to the dealership too?”
“Sure, sometimes.” It was silly but she couldn’t deny she was jealous of the new bond between Anna and Andy. “But here’s the deal. Your mom and I both like to be with you so we’ll have to learn to share. That means you can be with her some days and me some days.”
When he fell off to sleep she ambled back to the bedroom and downed her liquid dinner, bone tired despite her two-hour nap.
Anna had changed into shorts and a long-sleeved T-shirt and settled into her reading chair with a magazine. “Did he get to sleep okay?”
“He did, but not before letting me know he didn’t have to eat fish tomorrow night.” She sloughed off her suit and let a soft cotton gown fall over her bare skin. Then she added fuzzy sleep socks to counter the persistent chill that came from her drop in circulation. “I know you find this look irresistible but control yourself if you can. I need my beauty sleep if I’m to have any hope of sustaining this sexiness.”
“You ask a lot,” Anna said, dropping her magazine. She guided Lily to the foot of the bed and stretched out behind her. With the heel of her hand, she began a firm massage of her lower back.
“You’re doing a great job, Anna. Andy’s really happy that he gets to spend so much time with you.”
“We’re getting by okay. Dad helps out a lot.”
A sore point, but one Lily wouldn’t belabor. “I feel like I’m not holding up my end anymore. I told Andy I was taking a vacation from work and his first reaction was to ask if he’d still get to go to the dealership. He must feel like we just hand him off when we have other things to do.”
“It isn’t that way at all. Dad and I both have been bending over backward to keep him entertained down there, but he’ll love it once he’s back home with you.” She dropped a warm kiss on Lily’s shoulder. “Everything’s in an uproar right now. It’s possible he’s feeling a little neglected, but it’s not something you can help. When you finish your case you’ll be able to rest all day, and you’ll have lots of energy to play with him when he comes home from school.”
“But not for long. What’s going to happen when the twins come? I won’t have any time at all then.”
“Yes, you will, because I’ll take my turn with the babies so you and Andy can have your own time. And there will be lots of times when all five of us are here together.” She snuggled closer and tucked her arm between Lily’s breasts. “You aren’t going to lose Andy.”
Lily sighed, remembering a conversation she’d had with Maria Esperanza about being separated from her children. “Things got wild in court today. Samuels came to me after he rested his case and offered to lower the charges to manslaughter, but he wanted Maria to do at least a year in prison. She said no, that she couldn’t stand being away from her kids that long, that they were depending on her now. When Miguel went to prison for a year she and her kids finally got a chance to relax without all the disruption and she started feeling like a good mother for the first time in her life. She’s willing to risk a twenty-year prison sentence not to lose another day from them.”
“That’s a scary thought.”
“Tell me about it. It made me so nervous I went back to the office today so Tony could look over my defense plan again. It’s solid but you can’t ever tell what a jury’s going to do. It’s all going to come down to whether or not they really believe the kids were in danger. I wish we could prove Miguel had a gun but it never turned up.” Anna’s fingertips tickled the hollow of her throat and she brought them to her lips. “The last thing I need to be thinking about is work. Tell me about your day.”
“Nothing out of the ordinary…work, Chinese takeout, sexy woman in my bed.”
“Do you honestly expect me to believe that?”
“I can prove it. I still have two cartons of chicken lo mein in the fridge.”
Lily didn’t feel sexy at all this week, but that had to do with her growing discomfort, not with Anna. The desire was always there no matter how it played out. With her pregnancy they had been forced to find new ways to be intimate. One of her favorites was to hold Anna and whisper to her while she touched herself.
“You know I think you’re the sexiest thing walking,” Anna said. “You need to quit making up things to worry about. How long has it been since you went to an AA meeting…a month?”
Too long, Lily thought. She hadn’t been tempted at all to drink but being around people in the program made her feel more in control of her life. “Virginia called me a few days ago. She’s like a shepherd going after strays in her flock.”
“Isn’t that what a sponsor is supposed to do?”
“I guess. I told her I’d try to make some time next week, but honestly, I don’t know when it would be.” She was dangerously close to talking about work again. “I still haven’t ridden in your new car.”
“We can fix that this weekend. I’d like to take it up over the Grapevine, put it through its paces.”
“Do you like it so far?”
“Love it, except my window fell off the track. That hardly ever happens in new cars, so I had them order a whole new assembly. Those things aren’t that hard to pop off and snap back on, but who wants to do it all the time?”
It was interesting to hear of her problem in light of Eduardo’s testimony that Miguel had the same problem with his car. “They really come off that easily?”
“Sure, if you have the right tools.”
Lily sprang up and located her cell phone. In moments she was introducing herself to the desk sergeant at the LAPD. “I’d like to have Officer Joey McElroy meet me first thing tomorrow morning at the impound lot.”
Chapter 10
Lily looked up each time someone walked by the door of the small conference room in the courthouse, and checked her watch again with growing annoyance. They were due in court in only thirty minutes for the opening of her defense. With her was Officer McElroy, who looked like he had lost his best friend.
“I don’t know what to say,” the officer mumbled, shaking his head. Clearly he didn’t, since he had repeated that no less than a half dozen times since they left the impound lot. Four days ago he had testified for Samuels about the thorough search of Miguel’s home and auto, which had turned up no gun. Now he was back, humbled by his error.
“We all make mistakes. What matters is that we correct them whenever we’re given the opportunity.”
Samuels finally entered and dropped his briefcase in a chair with a thud, grinning smugly. “Having second thoughts about my plea offer?”
Lily lifted her eyebrows and tipped her head in the direction of the police officer.
“What are you doing here?”
It occurred to her that her expression was probably smug too as she pushed the clear plastic evidence bag across the table. “As you can see, we found Miguel’s gun. Turns out it was hidden in the doorframe of his car, where Officer McElroy had not previously searched.”
If the contortions on his face were any indication, Samuels’s stomach just flipped over. “It doesn’t change the fact that your client shot an unarmed man.”
“It’s going to change how the jury sees it though. This gun matches the description my client gave to Officer McElroy when she firs
t reported that Miguel had threatened her. The jury will believe her now, and they’ll put it all together the same way she did. Miguel intended to kill their children. That’s how he was going to make her sorry, and that’s why he showed up at the house in violation of a court order to take them. If she hadn’t shot him, your first felony case would’ve been a child killer, not a mother protecting her own.”
All the bluster left his face and he slowly sank into a chair. “What kind of deal are you looking for?”
She snorted. Did he honestly think he had any cards left to play? “I’m not looking for a deal, Rod.” She used his given name for the first time, hoping it would diffuse his competitive impulse. “We want dismissal. Nothing less.”
He shook his head adamantly. “I can’t do that. Your client killed someone. We can’t just let people whip out their guns and go after someone who scares them. Ask Officer McElroy what happens when one of his fellow officers uses deadly force. We hold them accountable. We make them prove it was justified.”
“In the public eye maybe, but not in court. Here the burden is on you to prove it wasn’t.” She turned to the officer, sensing she could take advantage of his remorse. “What do you say, Joey? If you’d heard Miguel’s threats and known for sure he had a gun, what would you have done if he had tried to take his children?”
“I would have dropped him right where he stood.”
The ominous words hung for several seconds before the fight finally left Samuels’s face, replaced by a growing redness that was either anger or embarrassment. “It was a good case given the evidence we had.”
Lily saw no point in arguing. If he actually believed that, someone in the DA’s office had been blowing smoke up his ass, probably someone who resented his meteoric rise and wanted to see him get humiliated in court.
Anna flipped back through the first quarter financial report to make sure she was reading it right. “Please tell me this isn’t an April Fool’s joke.”
“Nope, April Fool’s Day isn’t for a couple of weeks,” Hal said, leaning in her doorway with his arms folded. “I thought you’d like that.”
