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“My mother set this up a couple months ago. I wouldn’t have heard the end of it if I didn’t show up. I’d already rescheduled at least twice.”
“You can do better.”
“I can?” She turned and looked at me.
“Much better. Would you like to have dinner with me?”
“Haven’t you eaten already?”
“No, I wasn’t hungry, but now I am.”
“I’m starving, so yes.”
I smiled.
“Where is that waiter?”
Samuel
For the next month, I sat back and watched Averie work. I offered her an office to use, but she said she felt more comfortable in the “war room,” as she called it, so she spent most of her time there. She didn’t permit many people to enter the room. She conducted meetings in the conference room.
She and I spoke with every employee who worked on the case. She created a checklist for each employee to fill out while they re-reviewed the files they’d looked over. After another review, some of them came back with new findings which helped our case. She was intentional when it came to praising people for their work. I knew that was an area I could use some work in. The employees loved working hard for her because they knew it wouldn’t go unnoticed.
Countee installed the cameras and assigned one of his team members to review the footage daily. I’m glad I took my father’s advice and let her lead the team. Even though I relinquished control of the case to her, she still runs all of her decisions past me.
We frequently worked late and had dinners delivered to the office. I’d even asked Skip to bring her favorite chicken and red velvet waffles. She smiled as soon as she opened the container and didn’t stop smiling until she left for the evening.
We’d worked hard every day in preparation for this trial. We’d found all the experts and character witnesses necessary to refute theirs. We’d even found evidence to discredit the prosecution’s “secret weapon” that they thought we didn’t know about. If Barry hadn’t been so proud of himself, they might have gotten that one over on us.
“You ready?”
I looked up from my hourglass collection and saw Averie standing in the door of my office. She had a fresh hair-cut and natural make-up. She favored this tan colored lipstick that excited me every time she wore it. It drew my attention to her full lips more than the red lipstick, but I liked both. She wore a tailored cream, knee length skirt and matching jacket. Her leopard print pumps completed the outfit.
I looked at my watch and saw we had about forty minutes before the first day of Princeton’s trial began.
“Good morning. Yes, I am ready.”
I put on my black suit jacket and grabbed my briefcase. I met her at the door. She adjusted my tie and slid her hands down the lapels on my jacket.
I wanted to pull her closer and capture her lips, but I practiced self-control.
“You look nice, Counsellor.”
“You too, Counsellor,” I smiled. “Princeton and Deyshonda will meet us at the courthouse. Morris and Xavier are waiting downstairs.”
* * *
I gavemy opening statement to a captive audience that was the jury. Xavier and Morris did well on their selections. The prosecution pulled out every trick they had and some new ones in the hopes of winning the case against my brother. I questioned all the witnesses and cross-examined all of the prosecution's witnesses for three days. The expert witnesses Xavier found did an amazing job of disputing all the findings the DA presented. The last day of the trial, the DA called their “secret” witness whom we had already figured out was the dirty cop, Tremaine Wilkins. Countee found out through some of his sources the prosecution had offered him a deal to hide him and give him immunity on his dirty deeds as a police officer in exchange for his testimony against Princeton and Deyshonda. We’d already agreed Averie would handle Wilkins and handle him she did. By the time she finished poking holes in his stories, he wasn’t sure if he’d witnessed what he said he’d witnessed. She talked about his infidelity and the children he had that his wife knew nothing about. He was stammering and sweating buckets by the time she finished with him. Barry yelled out objections after almost every question she asked. The judge threatened him with jail time if he kept disrupting with absurd objections. After Averie drilled Wilkins with so many questions, he finally eluded to the fact he planted those drugs in Princeton’s office but specifically Deyshonda’s desk to make it appear that she was doing something on the side. He’d planned on telling Princeton about the drugs in hopes that Princeton would break things off with Deyshonda, leaving room for Wilkins to move in. I watched Averie move from the jury box to the witness stand to the middle of the room with confidence. I was transfixed, mesmerized and thoroughly impressed. I couldn’t take my eyes off her even if I tried, so I didn’t try. She was superb.
Both the DA and I gave our closing remarks on the fourth day, and the judge handed the trial over to the jury.
“You were amazing, Ms. Patterson.”
I spoke to Averie as I helped her into the car.
“Thank you, Mr. Valentine,” she responded once I settled myself in my seat.
“How long do you think the jury will be out?”
