The beat cop approached Miles’ vehicle and came up to the window, rapping on it with his knuckle.
“Da-yum! My Angel always know when to show up. Ima need somethin’ from you first. You gon’ have to call off the dogs, my man. Yo, hold up, hold up.” He pushed the button on the driver’s side, the window slowly disappearing into door. He pulled his shades down his nose and looked directly into the cop’s eyes. “Yo, occifer, Ima need your badge numba, brotha, ‘cause I just got my get-out-of-jail-free card.”
Martinez became frustrated on the other end of the phone. “Damn it, Miles!”
“Yo, take down this numba. I got some bidness to take care of after I roll up outta here. Meet you at our regular for lunch, a’ight?”
After writing down the officer’s badge number, Martinez returned to the lobby and entered the code into the door lock leading to the station. He went straight to dispatch and ordered Lacy to call off Officer Smith who had Miles pulled over. Once that was handled, he walked across the hall to municipal court. Walking into the court lobby, he saw China finishing up with someone. As soon as she was done he went over to her. “Hey, China, how’s it going?”
Giving him a flirtatious look and flexing her eyebrows at him she said, “Hey, Martinez!”
“Is Liz around?”
“Yeah, she’s here. She’s probably in Traffic making copies.
“Thanks!” He spun around and walked past the probation department to the Traffic office where most DUI offenders went to receive their instructions. Peeking in the door he saw Elizabeth at the copy machine. He leaned against the frame and watched her wishing they weren’t at work.
Upon feeling his presence, Elizabeth turned to the door and caught his eyes. Her stomach fluttered and her body tingled at the sight of him. She smiled wide. “Hey, you.”
He leaned his head against the doorframe. “Hey yourself. You gotta second?”
She continued to look at him while pushing buttons on the machine as if she was preprogrammed. “Of course. I was going to look for you when I was done here. Just let me finish this up, okay?”
Giving her a head nod, he continued to admire her.
The copier continued to push out paper until Elizabeth realized it seemed to be producing more than she may have needed. She looked at the screen that read ‘100’ copies. She frantically began pushing buttons trying to make it stop. “Shit. Shit!”
In full on defense mode he ran to her rescue. “What happened?”
Giggling, she said, “I think I hit 100 instead of ten! Oh shit, it won’t stop! Ha ha!”
They both continued to hit the buttons on the copy machine until it stopped spitting out paper. “Holy crap, thanks! I really don’t think my victim has 100 places she visits regularly. Ten copies should do it!” Catching each other’s eyes, she said, “Let me drop these off and I’ll be right back okay?”
Elizabeth met a young girl in the lobby and explained to her to keep a copy in her purse, in the glove box of her vehicle, and to give a copy to work and any other place she frequented on a regular basis. She explained, “If you need to call the police due to him violating the protection order, you want to make sure there is always a copy available. Be prepared and make them do their job. Don’t give them any excuses to overlook it. This is a court order and he has to obey it. So do the police. Okay? I’ll talk to you soon.” The girl thanked her and went on her way.
Martinez hung out in the background watching every move she made and hung onto every word she spoke. When she walked up to him, he said, “You know, you’re really good at what you do.”
She rolled her eyes. “Maybe. I just wish it made as much of a difference as I think it did.”
“I think you’d be surprised. You know, you do a lot for those women.”
Being modest, she said, “I sure hope so. So, what’s up?”
They began slowly walking away from the courtroom to a quiet part of the building. Hanging his head shamefully, he said, “Sorry I was tied up all weekend.”
She shook her head. “It’s okay. I hung out with China most of the weekend. It’s been a while since we’ve had some girl time, and I really needed it, so no worries.”
Rubbing the scruff on his chin, he wasn’t quite sure how to bring up the subject. He stopped her in the middle of the hall. “Liz, I should have been there for you this weekend and I wasn’t. I’m sorry.”
Breathing in deeply, she knew she wouldn’t be able to hide it from him for long. She backed up against the wall and held her files close to her. “I take it you heard?”
He placed his hand against the wall above her head, his body hovering over her protectively. “Of course I heard. One of the biggest dealers in town is getting paroled, Liz. Not only that, Chief Holden gave me his file months ago when Johnny Warren started harassing you. Of course I’m going to get word of his release. The question is how are we going to handle this?”
Letting out a deep breath she explained, “He’s getting out. What’s there to handle?” There was a concerned crease in his forehead that made her melt. Shaking her head she looked into his deep brown eyes. “I can’t do it, Angel.”
He titled his head in a begging manner. “All day long you talk these women into protecting themselves, yet, you can’t do that for yourself? I don’t get it.”
Relaxing her grip on the files in her chest, she became surefooted. “What you and China seem to forget is that the women who walk through those doors need protection from men who currently live in their homes. The men and women China deal with don’t live with each
