Gabriella's Prosecution [The Black Iris Club 3] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic)

by Skye Michaels

  “Yes, I have reviewed the original video and the slides. The accused is using the American Sign Language alphabet to communicate in Spanish.” The PowerPoint presentation began on the screen at the front of the jury room. “You can see each letter at the side of the picture. The accused is spelling out the words ‘mata la hija de puta hoy’ or ‘kill the daughter of the whore today.’” There was a quiet gasp from the seated jurors.

  Gabby dismissed Mrs. Fuentes and asked her to remain outside as well. She continued her presentation outlining the past and present criminal activities of the Los Mara Toros Rojas, the numerous convictions of prior gang members, and the pending actions currently on the court dockets for narcotics trafficking, gun running, and other criminal activities. “The Los Mara Toros Rojas gang is clearly an ‘ongoing criminal organization’ as defined in the Federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970 as adopted by the State of Florida as Florida Statute 895. They have and are continuing to commit gang-related crimes. Therefore, we ask that you return a true bill indicting Ramón Gonzalez and the members of the Los Mara Toros Rojas gang as set out in the information submitted to you.” The grand jury foreman polled the jury, and they elected to deliberate immediately.

  * * * *

  Gabby and her assistants left the jury room and joined the witnesses waiting in the hall. After a few minutes, the jury requested that Kaylin return to the room to re-screen the original video as well as the PowerPoint stills with the interpretation of the hand signals and to answer several additional questions. When she returned to the hall, she looked relieved but confident. “I think they are leaning our way.”

  Miguel called his secretary and had her order sandwiches and drinks to be brought to an empty waiting room near the grand jury chambers. “I know we are all a little anxious, but we need to eat. They may take twenty minutes or several hours to reach a determination. There is no way to know.”

  Everyone else was standing by the windows overlooking the courtyard of the courthouse several floors below as they waited for the food to be delivered. Miguel reached out and squeezed her hand. “I know you did a fabulous job, Gabriella.”

  “How do you know that? You weren’t allowed in the room.”

  “Let’s just say I have ultimate confidence in your abilities.”

  “Thank you, Miguel. That means a lot to me.”

  They had finished eating when Gabby was called back into the jury chamber. She came out a few minutes later with paperwork clutched in her hand. She walked up to the group and handed the papers to Miguel. “We got everything we asked for. An indictment of Ramón Gonzalez and Rafael Gonzales on charges of first degree murder and arson, as well as indictments of the Gonzalezes and all of the known members of the Toros for racketeering and conspiracy under the RICO act.”

  Miguel picked her up and kissed her hard and then spun her around while whispering in her ear, “I knew you could do it, querida. I’m very proud of you.” And apparently he didn’t care who saw him.

  * * * *

  Courtroom B of the Circuit Court, Criminal Division, Broward County Courthouse, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Wednesday afternoon, February 11, 2015.

  Gabby and Don Mason were sitting at the prosecution table while Mayra, Chloe, Kaylin, and Del filled the bench behind the railing. The jurors had not yet been seated in the jury box. The bailiff addressed the court. “All Stand. The Honorable Judge Marvin Bonoff presiding.” The judge took his seat on the bench and addressed the court. “I believe we have some motions to hear before we bring the jury in.”

  Bradley Levine stood up. “Your Honor, we would like to make a motion to dismiss the case against the defendant at this time. The prosecution does not have sufficient evidence and is not prepared to go forward.”

  The judge looked at the prosecution table. It was obvious that he was hoping they would object to the motion. Gabby stood up. “Unfortunately, Your Honor, we have no objection to that motion.”

  “The defense motion to dismiss is granted. Bailiff, advise the jury that it is dismissed with the court’s thanks. The defendant is free to go. Court is adjourned.” One unhappy-looking judge shuffled some papers on the bench and was about to return to his chambers.

  Levine clasped Gonzalez’s hand in congratulations, and his homeboys surrounded the defense table pounding Ramón on the back and generally causing a commotion. Miguel approached the group with a sheaf of papers in his hands. “Before you leave, gentlemen, I have something for you here.” He handed the sheaf of papers to Levine. “You’ll see that is an indictment issued by the grand jury yesterday. We are charging your client with first degree murder, arson, conspiracy, and racketeering under the Florida RICO Act. The deputies will take him back into custody.”

  The gallery on the prosecution side of the courtroom burst into applause, and the judge could be seen grinning as he quickly exited through the concealed door behind the bench.

  Levine blustered and fumed as his client was slapped back into handcuffs and led back to jail. “We’ll see about this, Gatto. We’ll see.”

  “Yes, we will. Present your motions for discovery, and then you will see the evidence we have. We haven’t decided whether the prosecution will be willing to entertain any plea bargains in this case. I’d like to put your boy away for the absolute maximum time allowed by law. That old lady should be bouncing her grandchild on her knee right now, not occupying a slab in the morgue.” He turned around and walked back to join Gabby and Don Mason.

  Ramón Gonzalez and his brother Rafael were looking daggers at the prosecution table. Ramón was furiously making hand signals to the gang members in the gallery as he was being led away. Little did he know that his gestures were being caught on video yet again. After Gonzalez had been removed from the courtroom, the sheriff’s deputies were very busy taking all of the Toros members currently in the gallery into custody. The Strategic Investigations Division deputies would be making a sweep of the county looking for the rest of the known gang members over the next several days.

  * * * *

  Quixote Acres, in Southwest Ranches, Florida, Wednesday evening, February 11, 2015

  Miguel was tossing a salad and getting ready to put some steaks on the grill. Gabby was out in the barn feeding and grooming Quixote. He knew that after the day she’d had, the barn chores would help her relax. They always did it for him. The phone rang, and he picked up the kitchen extension.

  “Miguel. This is Del. We analyzed the video of Gonzalez leaving the courtroom today, and he signaled his boys to ‘pick up the bitch prosecutor.’ We don’t know if all of the gang members were taken into custody in the courtroom today. There could have been newer members that are not known to law enforcement. You need to let Gabby know there’s a problem. There was no answer at her boat.”

  “I have private security at my ranch, and I will advise the company of an imminent threat. Gabby is down in the barn grooming my horse.” Miguel looked out the window over the kitchen sink toward the barn. “Del, call in some BSO deputies as backup. I’m going down to the barn to get Gabby.”

  “Will do.” They both hung up. Miguel took the Glock Nine he kept in a kitchen drawer and tucked it into his waistband, hit the panic button, and went out the back door at a run.

  He stayed in the shadows as he entered the barn. He went down the center aisle where he found Gabby in Quixote’s stall quietly murmuring to him as she brushed his shiny coat. “Gabby, let’s go back to the house. Del just called. It seems that Ramón was up to his old tricks at the courthouse this afternoon. He signaled for his boys to pick you up. We need to take cover in the saferoom. Del is calling in some BSO deputies, and I hit the panic button as I left the house to alert the security detail.”

  As Gabby picked up Quixote’s grooming box and prepared to leave the stall, Miguel looked out Quixote’s window. He saw the lights in the house go out briefly. After a short delay the backup generator kicked in and the lights come back on. A minute or two later he said, “Shit. I see
two guys in dark clothes moving down the shrubbery next to my driveway. There’s no time to get back to the house.”

  Apparently the few moments of darkness while the security system was down were all the time the Toros men needed to climb the wall and enter the property. Gabby struggled as Miguel rushed her toward the hidden door to the dungeon. “Don’t argue with me. I’ll come back and get you as soon as it’s safe.” He followed her into the dungeon and grabbed the dragon-tail whip off the wall. “Lock the door after me.”

  Gabby looked scared. “I want to come with you, Miguel. I can help. I don’t want to just cower in here while you are out there in danger.”

  “Gabriella, let me handle this. I have help coming, and you might get in the way.” He could see that was the wrong thing to say as soon as the words were out of his mouth, but he didn’t have time right now to correct his mistake. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Bullets may be flying here soon, and I don’t want you to be in the crossfire. Please, querida, don’t argue with me right now.”

  “No problem, Miguel.” She looked pissed. “I’ll save the arguing for later.”

  Madre de Dios. He knew he was in for a raft of shit no matter how this turned out.

  Miguel heard the lock on the steel door click behind him, and he turned out the barn lights. This terrain was as familiar to him as his own bedroom, and he didn’t need lights to know where he was going. He hoped the Toros were not equipped with good night vision. He left the barn and again stayed in the shadows. He saw the two men coming around the back corner of the house heading for the door to the mudroom.

  He moved quietly until he was about ten feet behind the second man. He snapped the whip Indiana Jones style, it curled around the Toro’s chest, and he pulled him off his feet. Before he could cry out, Miguel used the heavy handle of the whip to hit him in the back of the head and knock him out. The man dropped soundlessly to the ground. Miguel dropped the whip that had wrapped around the Toro’s chest and moved up behind the other guy. He pulled his gun from his waistband and jammed it into the first man’s neck. “Going somewhere, cerote? You assholes should know that it isn’t smart to try to take my woman.” He hit him hard in the back of the head with the barrel of the gun. “I hope you bastards wake up in jail with the mother of all headaches.”

  Miguel ran back to the barn and grabbed up some hay strings from the floor outside the feed room. He rushed back to the two men and had them tightly bound hand and foot within minutes. He heard the sound of sirens out on the street and reached inside the door of the mudroom to open the front gates for the squad cars. He left the two unconscious men on the ground outside the back door. He again rushed back to the barn. He wasn’t sure these were the only two bad guys on the property, and he wanted to make sure Gabriella stayed in the dungeon.

  Before he unlocked the dungeon door, he called out. “Gabriella, it’s me. I’ve got two of them down, but I don’t know if there are more. BSO is just pulling in through the front gate.” When he opened the door, he saw his woman standing there with a short whip in one hand, a small-caliber handgun he kept in the toy armoire in the other, and a determined look on her face. When she saw him, she dropped the whip and rushed into his arms. “You stupid man. You could have been hurt. And don’t think you won’t be hearing more about that ‘in the way’ crack.”

  “Are you threatening your Dom, querida?”

  “You bet that cute ass of yours I am. Don’t you ever think you can shut me out like that again. I’m not some stupid, scared little woman who can’t stand up beside her man and fight.”

  “I’ll definitely keep that in mind for the future, Gabriella.”

  “You’d better.” And then she burst into tears. He pulled her into his arms and held her close. Both of their hearts were pounding double time. His cell phone vibrated in his pocket, and he took it out and answered. It was the security company’s guards.

  “Where are you, sir? We went in to secure the house where we thought you would be at this hour.”

  “We’re in the barn, and I am armed. Two men are tied up outside the kitchen entrance. I don’t know if they were alone. You should check the property for more intruders. BSO is on the way in the front gate right now, so be careful you don’t shoot any deputies—or that they don’t shoot you.”

  “Right. They know we’re here.”

  “Querida, are you going to be okay? I should go out and meet the deputies.”

  “Don’t you dare go out there. You might get in the way and get shot in the crossfire.” He had to admit the irony of hearing his own words repeated back to him.

  “Okay. I had that one coming, so you get one free shot.”

  “You have a lot more than that coming, Miguel.” He walked to the antique chair, sat, and pulled her into his lap for a tight hug. “And I want to be on top once in a while.”

  He burst out laughing. “You are going to be the death of me, woman.”

  * * * *

  The security men and deputies swept the ranch and the surrounding properties while a BSO helicopter hovered overhead illuminating the ground. No more Toros were found, and the two that Miguel had disabled were bundled into a squad car for a trip to the Broward County Jail. The head of the security detail told Miguel, “We’ll be on the property patrolling until morning, sir. Please lock up and set your alarms.”

  While Miguel was dealing with the security men and the deputies, Gabby went back into Quixote’s stall to finish brushing the big, gray horse. He knew that nothing settled a horseperson’s nerves like the feel of a smooth coat beneath their hands and the smell of horse and fresh pine shavings in their nostrils. He knew the scents and textures of a horse barn always worked for him, so he let her spend some time in the stall.

  When the BSO deputies had left to return to town, Miguel went back into the kitchen to finish their dinner preparations. Gabby sat at the kitchen island and watched him work. He looked at her. “Are we going to talk about this elephant in the room, or are we just going to let it go this time? That would be my preference, querida.”

  “I guess we can let it go this time as long as you promise to not be such a jerk again.”

  “Are you calling your beloved Master a jerk?”

  “Who says you’re beloved?”

  He laughed at her consternation. “I do, querida. You know you love me. I know you love me. I love you. It’s time for both of us to just admit it and decide what we want to do about it.”

  “Right now, I want to eat that steak that is starting to smell really good. And then I want to take a long, hot shower. And then I want to go to bed with my beloved and make love all night long. What do you say to that?”

  “Good plan.”

  Epilogue

  Jack Dalton Brown’s apartment in the penthouse of the JDB Building, Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Friday evening, February 20, 2015

  Gabby and Miguel had joined Chloe and J.J. Temple as well as Kaylin and Jack Dalton Brown on his private deck. The expanse of rooftop held a large lap pool, outdoor barbeque kitchen, and comfortable seating area around a blazing fire pit. Several space heaters had been set out to combat the chill of the February evening. The deck boasted full-size palm trees and flower beds planted with tall, lush grasses and ground-cover plants and had a view out over the city, Port Everglades to the south, and the darkening Atlantic Ocean in the distance. The view was stunning from twenty floors up.

  This was the first time Gabby had been to Jack’s apartment or to The Black Iris Club, which they were all planning to visit after dinner. Gabby and Miguel had had a busy week and a half following up on the new Gonzalez-Toros RICO case. Miguel had told her that many of those cases were settled by plea bargain.

  Kaylin took a sip of her mojito and said, “So tell us what’s going on with the case. We’re all dying to know.”

  Miguel frowned. “I really didn’t want to plead this one out, but a RICO prosecution would be extremely lengthy and expensive. Once the defense saw our evidence, they wer
e anxious to avoid the needle. I hated to plea bargain the Gonzalez brothers down, but pleas would result in putting them in prison for substantial sentences and alleviate the necessity for expensive and possibly risky trials. In gang prosecutions, one has to take the mystique of the gang into account. Civilian victims are afraid to testify because they fear gang retaliation. Rival gang members don’t want to testify because they want street retribution. Sometimes prosecutors have to do the expedient thing. Nonetheless, the Gonzalez brothers are both going down for thirty years, and we have already pled several of the other gang members to sentences of fourteen or fifteen years.”

  Jack said, “Well, all in all that seems like a good result. I would personally have liked to see them depart this earth in a very timely fashion, but as the song says, ‘you can’t always get what you wish for.’ Thirty years is good.”

  “We’re happy with it. There are still a few Toros who have eluded BSO’s net, but most of them have been rounded up. They have lost their street cred, and their infrastructure is destroyed.” Gabby smiled wide. “I love it when a plan comes together.”

  J.J. looked puzzled. “Did you ever figure out how the Toros knew where to find you, Gabby? I thought Miguel’s place was off the grid so to speak.”

  Miguel looked furious. “Apparently Rafael put some pressure on one of the secretaries in the office, and she was able to access my emergency info. After she gave out the information she was too scared to come clean.”

  “Is she still there?” Chloe looked worried.

  “No. Actually she quit before we even had it figured out. It made firing her unnecessary. I would not have liked having to do that.”

  After cocktails and dinner, although Miguel drank only sparkling water, they changed into club wear, and they all wandered over to The Black Iris Club for an evening of play. Gabby already knew that once they had gone over to the club, they would simply ignore each other and do their own thing, whatever that might be. She hoped she wouldn’t embarrass anyone by being a credulous newbie.