The relationship between Connie and Sierra is revealed to Mike, and I have also experimented with the underlying issues already existing in the main character's relationships in this chapter. Enjoy *^_^*
Disclaimer: I do not own Law & Order and its characters; they are the property of Dick Wolf and NBC.
Manhattan County District Attorney's Office, NY, Monday, 8:45am
Mike made his way briskly down the broad linoleum-floored corridor, briefcase in hand, laden with a cardboard tray holding two steaming cups of fresh coffee.
"Morning," he greeted Connie, who was sitting at her desk, her eyes glued to the brightly lit screen of the computer monitor in front of her. He placed one of the cups of coffee on her desk.
"Morning Mike," she replied, glancing up at him. She picked up the coffee, and smiled before taking a sip. "And thanks for the coffee, again. Prompt as always."
He smiled back, and continued to make his way towards his own office, Connie following closely behind. Once inside his office, he dropped his briefcase onto the floor, removed his coat and scarf, and hung them on the coat rack.
Connie folded her arms, and rested against the bookshelf positioned to the side of the room. "Lieutenant Van Buren dropped off Melani's Personnel file. Carmella Melani, Melani's daughter," she informed him matter-of-factly. "And I've arranged for us to meet her at Riker's with her attorney this afternoon, to discuss a plea bargain."
He took a seat at his desk, rocking back and forth as he listened to Connie, his glance steady on her. "Great, that's a start."
She approached his desk. "I don't think Van Buren has quite forgiven you just yet. You know, after that whole drama in the courtroom during the People vs. Robinson case?" Connie was referring to a case where Mike had brought up Van Buren's cancer treatment in public court during her testimony, without informing her or asking her permission prior, she having found it to be a flagrant betrayal and an invasion of her privacy on his part. He had assured the Lieutenant that it was simply a spare of the moment action, to secure his argument. But she wouldn't have it. She was aware that he was only using her to win his case, knowing not to expect anything less from any hard-driven lawyer, and it hadn't been the first time the ignoble Michael Cutter had taken advantage of one of his colleagues in such a way. He had only worn the fragile bonds of the professional relationship they shared even more thin by exchanging a drunken hug with her at a party her co-workers had decided to throw for her, in celebrating her recovery. She took it as nothing more than a cheap attempt to gain back her respect.
Mike leaned over his desk, and looked down sheepishly. He had been left walking on eggshells in Van Buren's presence ever since he so zealously humiliated her in court. "Why do you say that?" he asked with a discouraged tone, his voice almost deadpan.
"She left pretty early. Didn't even stay to run through the updates of the case with Jack. I'm guessing she didn't want to bump into you, and intended to leave before you got here."
Mike nodded. "Well that figures." He knew that a proportion of his colleagues harboured certain animosity towards him. Hell, what lawyer didn't? But he never would have considered Lieutenant Van Buren to hold a grudge. He was eager to change the subject. "So, how was your weekend?" he asked her.
Connie shrugged. "Same old, same old. How was your weekend, pretty busy? I tried calling you all day yesterday."
"Fairly," Mike replied in response to her question. "I'm sorry about that. Like I said, some things came up."
A mischievous smile played on her lips. "Like wine tasting?... Oh no! Was I not supposed to know about that? She remembered her cousin Sierra had briefly mentioned to her that she and Mike had planned on wine tasting over the weekend, but then realised too late that Mike hadn't said anything to her about it. He hadn't even revealed to any of his colleagues, least of all to Connie, that he had a girlfriend. It seemed to her that at this point in time, Mike wanted to keep this part of his private life private, or at least up until the Christmas Party. Me and my big mouth, and my belated memory! She cursed to herself, trying to figure out a way to weevil herself out of the awkward situation. She noticed the surprised look on Mike's face, his eyebrows arching, causing the lines in his forehead to deepen slightly.
Very odd, he thought. I don't remember ever saying anything about wine tasting to Connie. But then again, his mind had been so consumed by the current case, and Sierra, that he had lost track of what he said to people. "T-that's strange," Mike commented. "Did I tell you I was going wine tasting?"
Connie bit her bottom lip. She figured that he was going to stumble across the fact that Sierra and she were related, sooner or later, and she preferred him to know sooner, to get anything awkward that would come of it out of the way. "Sierra," she said simply, staring down at the floor.
Mike was a little startled. How did Connie know Sierra? He considered that he must have mentioned something about the wine tasting, but he knew that he certainly didn't mention anything about his current relationship status. He was lost for words, and for a moment felt his voice catch in his throat. "What about Sierra?" he managed to ask. He didn't understand how Connie knew about his relationship with Sierra. He felt that the only way any of his co-workers could know about the relationship was if he had been spied on. Had people in the office been spying on him? Had Connie been spying on him?
She glanced back up at him, his concerned expression harbouring puzzlement and a hint of vulnerability. "Remember outside the courthouse on Friday, when my cousin called me, asking to meet up on Saturday? It was her, Mike. It was Sierra. Sierra's my cousin," Connie explained as delicately as she could.
Mike stared down at his desk for a moment to collect his thoughts. Sierra did say she was going out with a cousin on the weekend. So did Connie. There was a hint of an amused twinkle in his blue eyes when he glanced back up at her, and she was relieved that he was smiling.
"She made a point that she was dating a lawyer, and that he worked for the District Attorney's Office. I asked her what his actual job was and she said the EADA, that's you," she continued. "I told her that I knew you, and that I worked for you."
He leaned back in his chair. "Well isn't that interesting? What a small world we live in," he said, still smiling. He grabbed his baseball off his desk and started tossing it up in the air and catching it in his glove. Despite finding the irony of the whole situation amusing, he felt an unnerving curiosity as to why Sierra failed to mention this discovery to him over the weekend. He put it down to her not seeing the significance of it.
"Yeah, it sure is," she replied with a sigh of relief. She suddenly felt foolish in thinking that Mike would react negatively to the coincidence. She paused for a moment. "You know, Sierra really likes you." She tried her best to hide her disheartenment.
He began to feel worried by Connie's words. He wandered just how much Sierra had said about him. He knew that Sierra tended to be a gossip, and he didn't want the details of his bedroom spread around, especially to people he worked closely with. He hadn't discussed this concern with Sierra, but he didn't think there was a need to. "Oh yeah? What did she say about me?" he asked coolly with a chuckle. "All good I hope."
Images of Mike and Sierra kept entering into her mind, and she found it difficult to stop them, after all the details Sierra had given her during their shopping trip. She shrugged. "Not a lot. Just that you and she are going to the Christmas party together," she replied casually.
Mike nodded. "Yeah, we are. Who are you going with?" he enquired.
"Lupo," she answered simply, not making a big deal of it. "He asked me on the weekend. And since I had nobody else to go with, I took him up on his offer."
"Oh, well that works out nicely." Mike noticed the sly smile spread across her face, as she glanced over at him. "What?"
Connie brought the conversation back to Sierra. "Don't you think she's a little young for you?" Her tone was slightly teasing.
His amused expression was replaced by an irritated frown.
Oh no, I've offended him. "Well, I mean she's only twenty..." she pointed out gently. She tried to think of a way to explain her concern without making him even more offended. "And you're not twenty, is all I'm saying."
"So, what's age got to with it?"
"Quite a lot, actually," she shot back quickly. "She's just starting her adult life, and you're a well established prosecutor. You're both at different stages. It could raise a few conflicts of interest down the track, I assure you." She heard herself rambling.
An amused smile played on his lips once again, this time for a different reason. He couldn't help but notice the elatedness of Connie's expression, and how her argument had suddenly turned erratic. Could it be that Connie is jealous of Sierra? It wasn't the first time he had noticed this type of behaviour in her, when he had received a little extra attention from other females. He reflected back on a time where a judge's clerk with a crush flirted with him, and Connie had confronted him on the issue, expressing her concerns about his relationship with the clerk. He didn't think he even had a chance with Connie as far as a romantic relationship went, and it wasn't as if he would have chased after her if he did. Either way, he liked to keep his relationships with colleagues professional. A knock at the door broke his thoughts.
Jack entered Mike's office, his reading glasses perched on his nose, holding Carmella Melani's personnel file in his hand. "I see you've added Melani's daughter onto your witness list." he observed, skimming through the details of the file.
He brought Mike and Connie's focus back to the case.
"Yes, to replace Mario Leone," Connie replied. "We're offering her a plea agreement in exchange for a testimony against her father."
Jack nodded in approval, closing the file and placing it on Mike's desk. "Well, like I've said in the past, sometimes a half measure of justice is better than no justice at all."
Riker's Island Correctional Facility
Connie hated the stern atmosphere of prisons. The visiting room at Riker's was always so dank and cold, with a slight reek of mildew that seemed to filter through the air, especially in the colder months of the year.
Connie and Mike glanced over at Carmella Melani who sat opposite from them, accompanied by her defence attorney, Mary Weller.
Mike opened the file sitting in front of him. "Now, Ms Weller, it has been established that Ms Melani has co-conspired in the murder of Roberta Leone alongside her father. Mario Leone reported that she has stood by his side every step of the way, and has shared equal animosity towards his Roberta Leone as her father," he began. "It would be really helpful to our case if she was to be added onto the prosecution's witness list."
"Don't come crying to my client just because your key witness couldn't handle the pressure of your case, Mr Cutter," she shot back sardonically. "You should have seen it coming. The man experienced severe emotional disturbance following the murder of his wife, so it's no surprise that he took his own life mid-trial."
Mike cleared his throat. "I know. You're right, Ms Weller," he replied, staring down at the papers in front of him. "We should have seen the signs earlier." He glanced over at Carmella. "But be that as it may, it is our duty to try everything in convicting Mr Melani to ensure justice. We are willing to offer a plea bargain, of course, in exchange for Ms Melani's testimony."
Carmella skimmed her eyes over Mike and Connie. "You expect me to incriminate my own father in court?" she angered. "You call that justice?"
Connie took a page from Carmella's personal file Mike had laid out in front of him. "Don't think you're doing yourself any favours by protecting your father," Connie said, before reading over the sheet of paper she removed from the file. "Because he's not protecting you. He claims that you were the driving force in this crime, that you were the one who told him to kill Roberta Leone. We know that's not true. There's something about your father that you're not telling us, isn't there?"
"They're trying to scare you," Weller said to Carmella. She exchanged a cold glare with Connie. "If you're aiming to make my client piss her pants, Ms Rubirosa, you really should have brought a mop and bucket," she shot back defensively.
Connie glared back at her with a seething fake smile.
Carmella glanced over at Mike, her expression slightly sultry, as her defence attorney gabbled on.
Mike felt a weight on top of his foot beneath the table, and knew that it was Carmella's foot. Oh god, she can't be. He gave her a discerning gaze, his expression bordering frustration. "What are you doing Ms Melani?" he questioned sternly.
"Playing footsy," she replied flirtatiously, her eyes seductive. She reached over the table to caress the back of his hands.
Footsy? Cutter cried out inside his head, shaken by her suggestion. What is this girl playing at?
Her voice turned deep an alluring. "It has been proven to be very successful in achieving one's goals."
He moved his hands away from her, and reared in disbelief. He turned his head toward Connie with a sheepish smile, trying to shield his embarrassment.
"Don't think you can play cute and playful with us, Ms Melani," Connie warned abrasively. "Or our offer may just be taken of the table."
Mike cleared his throat once again, trying to regain composure. "Ms Melani, if you're looking for a deal, your feet really shouldn't be playing a role," he told her. "Now, you can pout and batter your eyelashes all you want, but don't think hitting on a public prosecutor is going to get you and your father off the hook."
Weller gave Carmella a pensive look, shaking her head disapprovingly. "Let me handle this, Carmella." She turned to face Mike and Connie. "So what kind of deal are we looking at here?"
"We are offering Ms Melani fifteen-to-life, in exchange for a testimony against Mr Melani," Mike explained. "We are also taking into account the fact that Ms Melani was under the influence of amphetamines when she colluded with her father, the power her father held over her, as well as his egregious abuse of that power, influencing her involvement in the murder."
Weller took a moment to consider the proposal Mike had presented to her. "Throw in immunity for anything incriminating my client says about herself in court, and you may just have an agreement." She turned to Carmella, who nodded in agreement to the plea bargain.
Mike and Connie were relieved that Carmella had agreed to take the deal, and pleased that they finally had a new witness to replace Mario Leone.
"Done," Mike accepted.
"Hang on, wait a minute," Carmella interrupted. "There is just one thing I would like added to the deal." She whispered in Weller's ear.
Weller exchanged a glance with Mike and Connie. "My client would like myself and Ms Rubirosa to leave the room," she informed them.
Mike and Connie exchanged bemused glances.
"Come on Ms Rubirosa, let's wait outside," Weller encouraged, getting out of her chair. "It's what my client wants, and if you want Mr Melani convicted of murder as well as drug solicitation, both you and Mr Cutter will have to do what my client asks in order to seal the deal."
Connie couldn't help but notice he eagerness in Weller's tone. Connie glanced at Mike, her eyes concerned, suspicious of her intent.
"Don't worry Connie," he assured her. "I can handle this."
She grabbed her briefcase, and stood from her seat before following Weller into the corridor outside the visiting room.
"Well, doesn't this make the room a lot nicer? Just the two of us," Carmella commented. "So much less crowded, don't you think?"
Mike closed the file he had in front of him. "Look, I know you're game Ms Melani," Mike said sternly. "And if this continues, I could have you indicted for sexual harassment." He paused for a moment. "I take it that you wanted time alone with me to discuss your testimony."
"Oh, heartbreaker," she teased. She stared down at the table. "Right, the testimony."
"What did your father do, Carmella?" he pressed. "Tell me what you refused to tell the police earlier."
Carmella paused for a moment before she gave an answer.
Mike looked at her sternly, his eyes piercing through her.
"He wanted to get back at Roberta for taking things that she didn't pay for," she finally replied, still staring down at the table.
"And when you say 'things she didn't pay for' you mean drugs, don't you?"
"She ordered a case of narcotics from my dad, and when she turned up to our place without the money, he threatened her with a knife," she explained.
Mike removed a photo from his briefcase, and placed it on the metal table to show Carmella. The photo showed a metal knife sheath. "Did the blade of the knife look like this?"
Carmella looked closely at the picture. "Yes, I think so. But he didn't kill her that night. When he still didn't get the money a few days later, he went to Roberta's house, and that's when he killed her, with the same knife."
Mike listened intently as Roberta continued to reveal the happenings of the night of Roberta Leone's murder.
"I waited in the car while he went inside. He was only gone for about ten minutes, but when he came back, he was covered in blood."
"Then what happened?"
"He told me he lost control, and that we had to get out of town. I was about to drive us to the boarder, but we had to stop home first to get some stuff. After we got our stuff we drove off, but cop cars stopped us, and we were both arrested. Mario, Roberta's man, was there and must have seen the whole thing. He must have seen my dad's registration number through the window of their house, and called the police."
"Is that all that happened?" he asked, his tone serious.
"My dad also asked me to make threatening phone calls to Roberta, so I did."
After Mike had finished questioning Roberta, he met Connie outside the visiting room.
"How'd you're date go?" Connie teased, her tone bordering on facetious.
Mike smiled in amusement. "Surprisingly well, actually," he replied, as they started to make their way down the corridor of the prison. "She gave full details of the night of the murder." He stared down at the floor as they continued to walk alongside each other, sliding his hands into his pants pockets.
Connie chuckled. "That's good. As long as we've sealed the testimony." They started to make their way down the corridor of the prison. "But, was it really necessary for her to flirt with you the way she did? She did everything but grab your package," she berated. "Who'd have thought you'd be such a lady killer, Mike."
A self gratifying smirk emerged from his severe expression. Despite his beliefs against intimate relationships with colleagues, he had to admit, a wink in the workplace once in a while didn't go unappreciated. And, what further dawned on him was that he had received a lot of gestures of that nature lately. "Well, I have my moments. It's not every day a defendant hits on me, though," he admitted. He glanced back up at her. "What, are you jealous?"
Jealous? That arrogant son of a bitch! Connie recalled that it hadn't been the first time Mike had accused her of this. She almost scoffed in amusement. "Me? Hardly," she replied. "But don't forget, you do have a girlfriend now, and I'm sure she wouldn't like female prisoners ogling you."
They were both about to sign themselves out, when they noticed a tall redhead, dressed in a black pants-suit, prance confidently down the corridor towards them.
"It's Candice Harley," Mike observed, noticing that she was approaching them. "I wander what she wants."
"Afternoon, counsellors," she greeted, once she had caught up with them. She handed Mike a note. "You know that knife sheath your detectives found? Turns out it was obtained without a warrant."
Mike frowned, reading the note.
"A search warrant was issued," Connie retorted.
Harley shook her head. "Not until after the search of my client's home," she informed them.
Mike slapped the piece of paper on his thigh in frustration, pursing his lips. "Harley's right Connie, this note reports that the search was conducted before a warrant was obtained."
Harley smiled, seeming pleased with her discovery. "See you in court, counsellors," she said cheerfully, before making her way down the corridor towards the visiting room.
Connie took the note from Mike's hand to read it for herself. She shook her head with concern after realising the mistake detectives Lupo and Bernard had made.
After they signed themselves out and returned their visitor's badges to the front service desk, they continued to make their departure from the facility.
"This goes against the detective's credibility in the case," Mike said, his anger flaring. "How could they be so reckless?" He shook his head, annoyed by the detective's irresponsible conduct. He was especially angry at Lupo, considering that he was the first detective to report to Melani's house, and gave the other officers the go ahead with the search. Cutter tried hard to contain his temper.
Thanks for all the reviews you've left so far so far, xxx. I'm going to make it so that, at the end, everything that's going on between the characters will boil to a head at the Christmas party. Stay tuned;-)
What do you think? Feel free to comment! :-D