Warning: shameless ripping off of movie dialogue ahead (continuing from the equally ripped-off dialogue from the first chapter).  Also shameless mocking of actors through characters.  And some mild swearing.  Let's see…yep, that's it.

Disclaimer: Well, it's not like anything I could say here would keep anyone from suing me, if they really wanted an out-of-date laptop and a large keychain collection that badly…

Part Two – B, I, Double L, Y

Billy walked back to his office triumphantly, with a spring in his step.  He found himself whistling a strangely familiar tune.  There were some words that popped into his head, too—something about "I don't care about expensive things".  He quickly smacked the side of his head a couple of times.  There.  That almost always took care of it.  Damn music.  He wondered again where it came from, and decided once again to cut back on his workload.  The music wouldn't have bothered him quite as much if it weren't so ridiculous.  Come on.  As if he didn't care about appearances.  Speaking of which…he did a quick check in the mirror.  The hair dye was holding up nicely.  No gray showing.  Good.

Now that he'd gotten that Connell girl off, it was time to hook some more bait.  Not that he was some kind of ambulance chaser.  Oh, no.  First class all the way.  He turned on the police scanner that schmuck Profaci had sold him back in '88.  Most of the traffic was routine; traffic stops, a drug bust, a couple of sting operations.  He settled in and started skimming through the paper as he half-listened.  Hmm…woman arrested for killing her boyfriend the night before last.  That could be promising.  He was checking the obituaries when the phone rang.

"Office of William H. Flynn and associates", he answered.

"Billy, it's Sharon.  You got a minute?"

"For you?  Always" he replied with a grin.  Sharon was another one of Billy's sources.  It paid to have friends at Rikers.  It paid very well indeed.

"You hear about the murder up on 98th two nights ago?" she asked.

"Sure, I was just reading about it."

"Well, I've been talking to the lady they arrested for it.  She's scared.  Hell, she's terrified.  I told her I'd see if you would help her out."

"Good, good.  What was her name again?" he asked.

"Roxie Hart."

"Roxie?  What the hell kind of name is that?"

"Don't ask me.  I just keep 'em in line" she laughed.

"Well, I was going down there this afternoon anyway.  I'll keep her in mind and see if she's worth my time.  You think she can pay?"

"Hard to tell.  She will if she can, though.  Oh, and she's nice looking, too.  Small, blonde, just your type."

"Oh, come on, now, my type is the rich ones."

"Anyway, I promised I'd give you her name.  So my work is done here."

"Thanks for the tip.  I owe you."

Sharon laughed.  "Yeah, I'll add it to the list.  Bye."

Billy hung up and smiled.  This could be promising.  He put his glasses on to read the article on Roxie Hart more carefully before leaving for his appointments.

The traffic was awful that day, and it was almost two o'clock by the time he got to the prison.  At least he wouldn't be late for his appointment with Velma.  The woman was certainly paying enough for his attention.  He walked into the central visiting area and scanned the room.  There she was.  The one wrapped in black silk, going through newspaper articles.  He let himself take her in for a few seconds before walking up to her.

"Velma.  So what are they saying today?"

She looked up from her papers.  "Oh, hello, Billy.  Not much today.  But there was an article in People."  Her New York accent always seemed a bit too thick to be real to him.  But she always insisted she'd been born and raised here.  Billy figured it wasn't his problem.

"Really?  Not bad.  What'd they say?"

"Oh, it was about how hard it is being a singer, family life on the road, that sort of thing.  How I was driven into a horrible situation where my sister and husband were having an affair."

"You couldn't buy that kind of publicity", Billy assured her, thinking that she sounded awfully smug about the supposedly horrible situation. 

"Right", she answered, sounding unconvinced.  "You have any news for me?"

"The evidence hearing on the gun is Thursday", he said.  "The judge is Dawson.  Don't worry about it.  She's the biggest pushover for the defense.  We'll get that done with, and we'll be in trial by the end of the month.  Just let me take care of it."

"Hey, I'm the one who's on trial here", Velma commented.  "Have you been working on the witness list?"

"It's all taken care of.  You want your mother to testify?"

"Oh, definitely.  I was always her favorite." Velma grinned.

Billy grinned back.  "I went down the rest of that list you gave me.  Looks good for now."

"Great.  You got anything else for me?"

"Nope", Billy told her.

"Okay.  Great.  Keep at it."

"You bet."  They shook hands, and Velma turned back to her clippings.  Billy walked away feeling good.  Velma was refreshingly decent for such a high-level client, even if she had killed her husband and sister.  As if that was what he cared about.  He was strolling back to the security doors when an unfamiliar voice called his name.  Billy turned to see who it was and saw a young woman, skinny, not more than thirty, with short blond hair pushed to the side of her face.  She walked up to him.

"Um, hi, I'm Roxie Hart.  Somebody said they'd refer me to you?"

"Right, right.  I remember."  He looked her over.  Not bad.  He tried to remember her case.  Nothing much remarkable about it—another stupid-criminal story.  Still, it might be fun.  "My fee is five hundred thousand up front.  Beyond that, we'll talk."

Roxie looked scared.  "Damn, that's a lot of money."

Anyone who said that wasn't worth his time.  He turned to go, muttering  "Sorry about that" over his shoulder.  Then he felt the tug at his sleeve.  Sheesh.  He turned around, ready to give the lady a piece of his mind.  The expression on her face, though, looked determined not to be given any such thing.

"I'll have the money", she snapped.  "And if I don't…we can come to some sort of arrangement?"

Ha.  He looked her over again.  No, not even close.  "You'll have the money", he told her, and he turned and left.

After leaving Rikers Billy stopped back at his office to check up on things.  A couple of briefs were waiting for him, and there was that hearing in front of Judge Dawson to think about, so he got to work.  It was then that the intercom from his secretary buzzed.  This had better be important, he thought.  I got better things to do right now.  Like getting the hell out of here at a decent hour.  "Yeah?"

"Guy named John Hart, or Jim, or something wants to see you…he says he wants to talk to you about some new case of yours."

"Yeah, yeah, send him in." He sighed.  This Hart lady was more trouble than she was worth already. 

A moment later the door opened, and a shortish, dumpy-looking guy walked in. 

"Mr. Hart?" Billy asked.

"Yeah, hi.  I…um…I was wondering if you'd taken my wife's case.  I heard you were considering it?"

Good lord, was this guy psychic?  This case was starting to creep him out.  It was as if Roxie had arranged some kind of conspiracy.  "I am.  There's just the matter of my fee."

"They told me.  Can I write you a check?  I swear I'm good for it", the man said earnestly.

Billy checked out the man's clothes.  The suit looked almost as old as the furniture in the office.  Not a good sign.  "You sure."

"I'm sure.  I'll make it happen."

Billy decided to give in to the conspiracy.  Temporarily, of course.  Remembering that Roxie was pretty good-looking.  And maybe he could make something out of it.  Soap opera killings were often promising.  "It is nice to see a guy defend his wife like that.  I'll give you two weeks before I deposit this.  How's that?"

John, or whatever his name was, broke into a grin.  "That's great.  Thanks so much.  You won't regret it."

I better not, Billy thought.  I had damn well better not.

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

Thanks for the support!  I'm posting the chapters as I write, plus I'm heading into the end of the semester at school, but I'll keep going as fast as I can (while still having it be good).  I do know that Roxie's husband's name isn't Joe, but, well, to be honest, I don't like the name Amos that much.  Besides, he just seems like a Joe.  Amos isn't a common enough name now.  As for the cast, I agree that it would be fun to have two Jerry Orbachs, but my humor is more subtle than that…oh, wait…never mind.  It just seemed so much more fun to use the movie cast.

Speaking of cast—quick reader poll: should Claire or Jamie be in the later chapters? 

Next chapter, back to the Law & Order craziness!  Stay tuned!