A/N - This chapter is dedicated to a very special person, 1818, as today is her birthday. So Happy Birthday 1818... i hope you had a lovely day and your amazing girlfriend made it special for you, haha xxx
"Franks, I know she's your friend, but she's in for life, for the murder of two people, for attempted murder on another... who now happens to be dead, she escaped prison to murder one of them too... no parole board in their right mind is going to put her back on the streets" Jane stated seriously as she pushed her empty coffee cup further into the table and debated asking the approaching waiter for the wine menu. She had listened patiently as her paralegal explained the situation she had been asked to resolve and really felt for her new friend.
"I know its not going to be easy... but I have to try... look I owe this woman my life, literally, she carried me out of a burning building, I wouldn't be sitting here right now if it wasn't for her, I cant just say 'Nah sorry you've gotta rot in there" Frankie sighed, she had hoped her boss would have had some trick up her sleeve that could have helped her.
"then you buy her some flowers and a thankyou card, or if your feeling really generous you... i don't know, get your hot girlfriend to take her in a box of chocolates, you don't put yourself in a position to do the impossible" Jane sighed, making her mind up she got the attention of the waiter, ordered a large bottle of Moscato for the two of them and returned her attention to her friend.
"Look if you really want to look into this, there's nothing I can do to stop you, but it's in your own time and not at the office" Jane frowned, she knew Frankie well enough by now to know the girl was damn stubborn and often like a dog with a bone.
"Of course, I wouldn't let it get in the way of any of our cases or my workload, I give you my word" Frankie smiled in to her wine, knowing that she was getting at least somewhere with her first task.
"I suppose you'll be needing my help to make some requests?" Jane grinned at Frankie's smirk. "That's why I am here right? You knew the case couldn't be taken on by our firm, but need help in some places?"
"You caught me" Frankie grinned. "I will do all the work... I may just need your name on some of the paperwork to begin with. Once I have passed the bar exam and am able to actually practise law and not just be a paralegal I can do it all myself, I will just need some help till I get there..." Frankie trailed off hopefully. She knew she was being over positive about her future, but right now she couldn't afford to be unsure of her own capabilities.
"Fine, you win... just let me know what you need and I will help... but it cant get in the way of the office work ok?" Jane said seriously. The young woman before her was growing on her, when she first took the plunge in offering the ex criminal the job, she was unsure whether she was making a huge mistake that could affect her own career, but something about the short brunette had spoken to her, filled her with a sense of promise, that if she just gave this woman a chance, she would flourish and she wouldn't regret it. She looked thoughtfully at the woman in front of her who at the same time looked so self assure of herself and so convinced that she could pass the bar the first time and was willing to take on what would probably be one of the hardest cases in Australian legal history, yet at the same time she looked scared, nervous that she would be able to achieve any of the things she was trying to achieve.
"I promise I wont let you down" Frankie assured.
"I know you wont, but you have to be open and honest with me about everything. We cant have a repeat of the Shayne drama" Jane stated honestly, she had known Frankie felt terrible about putting herself and her career and parole on the line, but understood why she had done it. Sometimes you had to do the hard things for the people you cared about.
"Completely open and honest, I swear" Frankie's eyes were filled with a promise that Jane would have to be blind not to see, and so she nodded her approval.
"Ok so where do we start?" Jane asked.
"We?" Frankie smiled.
"Oh come on, do you honestly think I'm going to just sit back and let you have all the fun here? I'm so used to just doing parole hearings, and cases about breaking parole... this is the kind of thing I dreamt about doing at law school" Jane grinned.
"So your in?" Frankie grinned in shock, she had expected Jane to offer her name on paperwork, but not this.
"I'm in... now tell me where we are starting, Your in charge of this so just tell me what your thinking and I will guide you where I can and help where I can... I make no promises, but if its possible to get the life without parole revoked and her sentence reduced by a year or two, we will try ok?" Jane took a long gulp of her wine, she didn't know why she was offering to help, she knew this was going to be no small case, but she couldn't resist the allure of trying.
"Well I guess we start by collecting all the information we can, police statements, witness testimonies, court scripts, her lawyers notes, everything we can to start working out where we can start and what we can do" Frankie frowned, suddenly feeling very out of her depth now that the ball was beginning to roll.
"And Miss Smith, she still has no memory?" Jane asked with a nod, pleased with Frankie's response on where to start, the young woman would make an excellent lawyer one day.
"No, Gidge has said that she has had a few memories here and there, nothing too important. She cant tell me much because of doctor/ patient confidentiality, but Bea has given her permission to pass along snippets of what she has remembered so far" Frankie answered, wanting to make it very clear that Bridget wasn't breaking any rules by talking to her about Bea's recovery.
"Well that's something I suppose, but its not going to make our job very easy when we cant even question the client..." Jane trailed off as she wondered how they were going to be able to pull this off. Everything was against them.
"Well see, I was thinking about this, I wanted to speak to Gidge and get her thoughts on it, but perhaps that could actually work in our benefit. I mean if we can get this to trial, Gidge will have to make a statement, so perhaps we can start by asking her to keep some form of diary on Bea's recovery, then ask Bea to provide permission to use this diary during the trial. It could go some way to helping if we have evidence of her frame of mind, her recovery, her remorse... that kind of thing. If anything else, it will just give me some ammunition when I ask the judge to reduce her sentence based on the mental anguish caused to her by the prison services fuck ups" Frankie thought out loud.
"That's an excellent idea. You think Bridget will be ok doing that? And that Bea would allow us access to it and to use it in her defence?" Jane asked, impressed at the way her protégée's mind was working.
"She asked me to look into this, so I think she would be willing to agree to anything to be able to get out of that place on her own feet and not in a coffin, for the first time since her daughter was murdered she has something to live for, something to hope for. If she wants a future with the woman she loves, she needs to have a release date to work towards" Franky said honestly as her mind buzzed around how to get Jane inside to meet Bea for herself and see why Frankie was so adamant about helping her friend.
"Right, so that's our goal, to get her sentence reduced from life without parole to having a release date, regardless of how long it is, just to be clear... that's what we are aiming for?" Jane asked.
"Yep, that's the goal... then it's up to Bea to keep her nose clean and get parole with good behaviour as soon as she can"
"You realise that she will still likely be facing a long time inside?" Jane frowned, not wanting to get Frankie's hopes up.
"Oh I know, but trust me, when your on the inside a release date means everything, it gives you hope even if it is 6 years away" Frankie's answer provided Jane with a little more insight to her friends own experience, she smiled sadly and patted the brunettes hand across the table
"Right well, lets get together next Friday night and talk further about this. Put in a request for all the paperwork and I will sign it off if anyone requests authorisation. Just make sure your doing this after you clock out at the office from your laptop at home, that way if anything gets back to the firm you have time stamps on everything and IP addresses from the requests to prove your not doing it on company time... I've gotta head, Brad is waiting for me at the restaurant for our anniversary meal" Jane stood up and began to grab her things.
"Will do, you have a great meal, and have a fantastic weekend away yeah... don't do anything I wouldn't do" Frankie grinned cheekily, glad that she was lucky enough to have such a welcoming and understanding boss.
"Well that doesn't exactly leave me much I cant do, does is?" Jane laughed as Frankie shrugged her shoulders in amusement.
"No Comment" Frankie grinned, waving her boss off as they parted ways at the exit and making her way to her car.
"Hey baby, how did your meeting go?" Bridget grinned as she heard the front door open and close, and a few moments later she felt two arms circle her waste as she stood looking through the fridge for inspiration on what to make for dinner.
"Good, very good in fact. Jane has agreed to help me look into Bea's case, just as long as its not on company time. Which unfortunately means I'm going to be working from home on a night a lot in the next few weeks" Frankie answered as her lips found Bridget's neck and she began tracing kisses from her ear to the back of her hairline. With a guttural groan, Bridget leaned back towards Frankie's embrace, her eyes closed tightly as the lips eased away all pressures of the day and wiped her mind empty.
"That's ok sweetheart, I like watching you work anyway, your very sexy when your all serious. I cant wait till you pass your bars and come a lawyer, I want to see you in court one day with your serious face on, all powerful and sexy..." Bridget trailed off as she felt Frankie's hands on her hips pulling her arse against the brunettes pelvis.
"You could be waiting a while to see that Gidge" Frankie grinned as her actions had the wanted response, she loved it when she could stop Bridget from talking mid sentence, or when she made her hitch her breath, or moan. Really she just loved being able to illicit any reaction from the taller blonde.
"Well your nearly finished your course, two more modules then your able to take your bars. No pressure but I reckon you'll pass on your first attempt, you know your stuff Miss Doyle" Bridget purred suggestively as she spun around to face her partner, dipping her head slightly to catch the lips she had missed all day.
"I do, do I?" Frankie grinned, knowing exactly that Bridget wasn't referring to knowing her stuff about law, and in fact was referring to knowing her stuff about making Bridget weak at the knees.
"I'm often blown away by your amount of knowledge... like you're the most knowledgeable person there is, and your so... so good at being so knowledgeable" Bridget grinned against Frankie's lips, trying her hardest to resist just kissing her. She loved the banter between them, the way they spoke to each other and drove each other crazy. She loved that Frankie could have such an effect on her without even touching her, and knew by the look in Frankie's eyes that her words were having an effect on the shorter brunette too.
"Perhaps we should go lie down and I can get a few hours of revision in" Frankie suggested, leaning forward and kissing Bridget deeply, waiting for the taller woman to give in and lean back into the kiss, before pulling away teasingly, she adored seeing that look of pure desire in Gidges eyes, there really was nothing that turned her on more than knowing Gidge was turned on.
"Just a few hours?" Bridget asked breathlessly, trying not to show Frankie her annoyance at the teasing.
"All night" Frankie said, leaning in for another kiss, waiting in the middle for Bridget to meet her, when Bridget's face began to edge forward, she ducked away from her and ran to the bedroom laughing. With a shake of the head in frustration at Frankie's antics, Bridget grinned and chased her lover, entering the bedroom to find Frankie already naked and laid on the bed, a smirk on her face that took Bridget's breath away.
"Oh your in so much trouble now Miss Doyle" Bridget grinned mischievously.
"I can only hope so" Frankie grinned as she curled her finger, beckoning the beautiful woman stood waiting in their bedroom door hole.