Stopping her work at the computer, Elizabeth sat back and placed her arms on the branches of the chair. “It pretty much ended in a stalemate. But no monkeys were circling, so there’s that. Peggy basically tried to tell Marilyn I was insubordinate for going to the funeral and Marilyn wasn’t seeing it her way. I guess when Chief Holden called Marilyn about the complaint, he went to bat for me.”
China’s eyes glowed. “Wow, no kidding. I need me one of those detective thingies!” She laughed out loud at her own comment.
Tilting her head she batted her lashes and flicked a lock of her hair flirtatiously, Elizabeth said, “Don’t hate.”
“I’m sure it would be a different story if you crashed the funeral or something.” She shook her head out of frustration. “It’s not that serious.”
“I just don’t get why Peggy is so hell-bent on trying to get me in trouble with Marilyn.”
“I told you Liz, she’s jealous. Plain and simple. You’re a threat to her. We both are.” She shrugged her shoulders.
“So where did you go after court anyway?”
Flexing her eyebrows, she gave Elizabeth a devious grin. “I had my own pretrial with a sexy defendant. Putting that man away for any amount of time, not being able to please a woman, should be a crime in itself.”
Elizabeth scrunched her nose. “Eew. I think I need a shower now.” She shuddered. “Okay, now that I have that thought out of my head.”
“What? Just stating facts. Too bad I can’t talk to the judge. Try and get him off, ya know?” She pulled a mirror from her purse and checked her lipstick. “Oh wait, I just did!” Laugher rumbled from the bottom of her belly.
Smiling, Elizabeth looked down and placed her forehead in her hand, shaking it from side to side. Glancing back up at China and giggling she said, “You need serious help. But I still love you. And actually I’ve decided to take some of your advice, believe it or not.”
Her face turned from surprised to excited. “Really? You decided to try that little trick I told you about with Martinez, didn’t you?”
“No! I swear is that all you ever think about?”
She sat for a moment contemplating.
“Forget I asked.” With a slight giggle, she put her hands up and redirected the conversation. “No, I decided to listen to you and Martinez and renew my CPO. He said he would hand deliver it to Steve himself. We’re pretty sure I wouldn’t have a problem getting it with the phone call and everything that went on with Johnnie Warren.”
“Oh, I’m so glad, Liz! Look at you.” She graciously placed her hand on her chest. “Taking advice from me.” Becoming serious, she flung her bangs our of her eyes, crossed her hands back on her knees, and said, “I’m sure that Latin lover of yours plays a bigger role than I do. But, I’ll take it. So, when do we go to court?”
“It will have to be today or tomorrow considering he’s being released Friday. We just have to talk with Marilyn and let her know. And I’m sure she will want me to fill in Peggy and let her know what’s going on, considering she’s our ‘superior’ and all...”
Confidently walking into the prosecutor’s office lobby, Martinez smiled and waved at Andrea on the other side of the glass. She perked up when she saw him and hit the buzzer allowing him entry. Turning the corner, he leaned on the cabinet separating Andrea’s desk from the hall. He smiled wide. “How’s it going?”
“Hey, Martinez! How are you? If you’re looking for Elizabeth, she’s in her office,” she offered as she cheerfully turned back to her computer screen.
“Hey, thanks, I’ll get with her in a sec, but I was hoping Marilyn was in.”
Stopping what she was doing again, Andrea turned to him and mashed her lips together. “Hmm. I’m not sure exactly. I heard the door earlier but feel free to go back.”
Walking past the secretaries, Martinez offered his hellos. He stood at the threshold of Marilyn’s office and tapped his knuckle on the door. She looked up from her scattered desk. “Hey kiddo. Whatcha got for me,” she asked as she continued to look for something in the sea of papers.
He took a seat across from her and propped his right foot up on his opposite knee. “I think Brandon DeFranco is good for killing his wife.”
She stopped shuffling papers and looked up at him. “Is that right?”
Excited at her response, he leaned over the desk and handed her a summary of his investigation to date. “I just wanted to run all this by you before I move forward. I still need to deliver the warrant to the Tribune, but I’m confident of the confirmation. And of course, Holden wants me to bring him in for questioning one more time, see if we can get any more info out of him.”
She studied the documents in her hand. “Seems to be in order. It’s circumstantial but I’ve gotten convictions on less. What do you make of the girlfriend?”
He rubbed his five o’clock shadow. “Well, she is his alibi. She could be lying to protect him. She could be involved. I’m going to try and bring them both in at the same time, pin them against each other if possible.”
Pulling off her glasses, she placed the end of the frame between her teeth and wrapped her thin lips around it. Twisting her chair back and forth a couple times, she said, “See if you can get anything out of them. I mean, the more we have the better, of course. But I think
