For the People Chapter 70

Ryan points to a building up ahead. That's it! That's Yesenia's address. But what the hell is going on there? It looks like moving day."

"Except that the truck is unmarked and neither of the guys carrying anything has even a hat with the name of a moving company," Esposito points out. "Looks like a rip-off to me. And it's our duty as law enforcement officers to intervene if we think a crime is taking place."

"You're right," Ryan agrees. "At the very least, we can ask to look at the paperwork." A grin spreads across his face. "Which may tell us where Yesenia is going."

Esposito jumps out of the car and approaches the movers, with Ryan not far behind him. He raises his badge. "NYPD! You men, hold up! What are you doing?"

A man carrying several boxes shrugs. "No hablo ingles."

Esposito repeats his inquiry in Spanish and demands to see the authorization to move the items. The mover explains that he and his men were given cash and told to do it. Nothing was written down.

"Sounds suspicious to me," Ryan opines as Esposito translates. "The apartment they're taking these things from could be a crime scene. We can't just let a possible robbery proceed under our noses. We need to document the situation and put all this stuff into evidence. I'm calling for backup."

"Yeah," Esposito agrees, "you do that."

When the two movers drop their boxes and start running, the detectives give chase. Ryan snaps the cuffs on the man he tackles to the ground. "You know, it really pisses me off when suspects try to run away from me, especially outside. I have to get my pants cleaned and everything, and my wife gets upset if I rip something."

"No hablo ingles," his collar responds.

Ryan points at Esposito. "That won't bother him. And you know what? He gets even more pissed off at suspects who try to run than I do."


"The two men you're holding for grand larceny had no mens rea," a public defender argues to Esposito. "That means guilty mind."

"I know what it means," the detective retorts impatiently. "I've probably spent a lot more time in court than you have. How long have you been out of law school?"

"Nine months, but you wouldn't believe my caseload. I spend plenty of time in court. And we both know my clients had no idea they were doing anything wrong. A judge is just going to kick them loose anyway. So why not let them go now and save everyone the trouble of going to court?"

"I could do that," Esposito considers, "but I need them to be straight with me. I want to know who hired them. If they don't have a name, I want a description. I also need to know where they were going to take the stuff they were moving and what they were supposed to do with it. If you get them to tell me that, they walk out of here free as birds and your caseload goes down by two."

"I'll see what I can do," the young lawyer agrees.


Kate stuffs a stack of files into her briefcase. She hadn't expected to go before Judge Larissa Bingham for another week, but as it turns out, she has four minor pleadings to dispose of in Bingham's court. None of the cases is complicated, but she'll have an opportunity to get the lay of the land, as Rick might say.

Kate has to wait through several other cases, a shoplifter, a porch theft, and a woman charged with prostitution. On the first two, Bingham accepts the pleas without further comment, taking less than a minute per case. Her treatment of the charges against the alleged hooker, however, is completely different. She demands details, and when the prosecutor in the case offers too few for the judge's satisfaction, Bingham grants a defense motion for an evidentiary hearing. Kate notes the judge's shift in attitude with curiosity but has no time to analyze it before her cases, none of them involving women, are called. Bingham swiftly reactivates her judicial conveyor belt, and Kate is out of court in ten minutes.


"So, Judge Bingham gave every consideration to a woman charged with hooking?" Rick recaps Kate's description of her day. "There's a story lurking in the background somewhere."

"That's what I figure," Kate agrees.

"I wonder if it has anything to do with why she left Simpkins, Waller, and Stratham," Rick muses.

"Maybe she represented a falsely accused client," Kate suggests.

Rick shakes his head. "Why would that cause her to leave? But if she was falsely accused herself…. Kate, now that I have an idea of what I'm looking for, I'm going to dig more deeply into the Larissa Bingham story. If I'm right, Thomas Milcham's lawyer shouldn't have any trouble bringing in Amelia's testimony as to mitigating circumstances for her brother. But Bingham may not be too crazy about you."

"If she's as smart as I think she is, she'll know why I'm bringing in the lesser charge. And I'm not about to oppose Amelia's testimony. Bingham will get the picture. And the whole dirty business will be crystal clear when I charge Jason Jordan with assaulting Amelia and raping other young women."

"If my guess is right, I hope you draw Bingham when you prosecute that sonofabitch."

"We'll see. Are you going to do your search tonight?"

"Unless you need me for something more pressing."

"I want to catch up on Temptation Lane, and Carnation Valley has me hooked now too. But later, we could get pressing together."

"I look forward to it."


Esposito uses a scope to watch a warehouse near the docks. "Yesenia could send in a boat to pick up her stuff any time."

"Or if we get really lucky, she could be on it," Ryan offers. "Her clothes were some of the things she hired our suspects to move, weren't they?"

"Yeah, they were," Esposito confirms.

"She might not want to be separated from her wardrobe for too long. You know how calm Jenny usually is. But I remember when the airline temporarily misplaced Jenny's suitcase with her favorite dress in it. I thought she was going to explode right there in the airport. Hey!" Ryan responds to a poke from Esposito's elbow.

"Enough family stories. I see a boat, and it's coming in pretty fast. You keep watch. I need to check that everyone on our team is in place."

"Will do," Ryan agrees, taking the scope.

Yesenia shivers slightly in the breeze as she stands on the deck of a swiftly moving craft. Damn! She wishes she hadn't left her cashmere coat behind. But she'll have it soon to keep her warm on the trip down the East Coast and around Florida to the Gulf of Mexico. From there, she'll have a choice of destinations, and she can pick whatever calls to her. Even if the idiots on the NYPD can ever figure out what happened to Geraldo, she'll be out of reach. And with a satellite connection, she can run the family business from anywhere. She can even pick a different spot every week. She stares ahead, straining for the lights that should appear at her destination. It won't be long now. She'll have her coat and all the other things she loves. And with Geraldo out of the way, there will be no one to stop her from enjoying all of them.