Chapter 4
Frank and Henry's House
Bay Ridge, New York
"I truly do feel for Mr. Sorenson's client, I just don't like the tactic he is using to try and get the case dismissed." Erin stated the Reagan Sunday dinner. A bounty of rolls, mac and cheese, barbequed ribs along with mixed vegetables filled the table. "He's going after the chain of custody and handling of the evidence."
"If you can't attack the actual evidence, attack the way its handle." Frank replied wiping his hands. He looked at Erin. "Is everything about the evidence being handled according to procedure?"
"As far as I know, yes it is." Erin answered the question as she picked up her water glass.
"Then you're fine." Frank said leaning back in his chair.
"Why does it matter?" Sean asked as he looked around the table.
"If you can't attack the actual evidence because the evidence is good, you attack the way it's handled by the lab." Jamie replied as he bit down in a dinner roll. He had thought about bringing up the exam, but the family was on Erin's problem. "The goal is trying to discredit the process."
"You see boys, it's not like on TV." Henry said leaning forward towards his great grandkids. "It can take sometimes days or weeks to process evidence. The goal of what the lawyer is trying to do is get a crucial piece of evidence tossed."
"Exactly right boys, and it may let a suspected killer go free." Danny finished the line of thought that his grandfather was on. "As a detective I just investigate and look at the evidence once lab processes it, but the lab rats, they are the ones that face all the scrutiny if a piece of evidence gets tossed if they don't do their jobs right."
"For the most part." Frank added getting nods from around the table.
"Uncle Danny it was nice to see Aunt Linda at church today." Nicki said changing the subject off the potential evidence dismissal to her mother's relief.
"Yeah, she seems to be moving better now." Jamie also added.
"Well thankfully for her, the church has a ramp. She still hasn't reach the top of the stairs yet." Danny answered. He took a big bite of mac and cheese, which he washed down with some water. "She was hoping to be here today, but she didn't want to risk falling."
"I hear that." Henry remarked. He still wished the suspect that shot Linda and killed her patient would do max time, but he agreed to testify and received witness protection. "It took me a while to get up the stairs too, but I didn't have bullets shot into me." Everyone nodded as the rest of dinner passed quietly.
"Jamie, how come you don't bring your partner to Sunday dinner?" Henry asked his grandson who was helping do the dishes following Sunday dinner.
"What?" Jamie said in surprise at the question, to which he nearly dropped a plate.
"We've seen you with her and both of you seem very close. We know that you two spend a lot of time together." Henry replied to his grandson's shock, and he chuckled at the look on Jamie's face. He handed him another dish to dry. "What, it's not like partners don't have dinner at their family's houses. I brought them around all the time. Bring her on by."
"Pops, it's not like that. First dad is Eddie's boss, so it probably not appropriate." Jamie said drying another dish that Henry handed him. He thought about his next words carefully. "Second, she wouldn't want it to seem that she was trying to gain favor with her boss by going to dinner with the son."
"You light up every time you are with her Jamie, we are not blind." Henry stated with a smile. He grabbed his scotch and sat down at the table. "I know about the rules, hell I helped write some of them, but at least as partners bring her by."
"He can't pop because it is inappropriate, so he is looking out for her as partners do." Frank said walking into the kitchen and taking a chair. He looked at his son. "But pops is also right son, you do light up every time you are with her. So if you would like to bring her by one day for dinner, I think I can look past the rules once."
Jamie leaned against the counter thinking about what his father and grandfather said. Frank and Henry decided not to push the issue further.
Danny and Linda's House
Staten Island, New York
Danny, Sean and Jack walked into the house after arriving back from Frank and Henry's. Linda was there sitting on the couch with another friend from the hospital watching TV while waiting for the family to get back.
"You two upstairs and finish the homework I know you didn't do Friday. I will be checking." Danny told his boys who went upstairs amidst their grumblings. "Hey Babe."
"Hey, how was dinner?" Linda asked after Danny walked over and gave her a kiss. She saw the container that Danny handed her. She looked inside. "Oh I have to get back there. This is so unhealthy looking."
"If you don't want it Linda, I'll take." Her friend Sandra said reaching over for a piece of rip.
"Back off. " Linda said with a smile as she was handed a fork by her husband. She dug into the food. "Oh this good."
"Thought you like that." Danny said with a grin towards his wife as his phone went off. He ran his finger over the screen of his phone. "Reagan."
"Hey it's Baez. No location yet on Adara. Fred didn't have the number that contacted the network. He said Trevor arranged the whole thing with someone from his work." Baez said from the squad room at the precinct. She had come in as soon as Fred contacted her. "And phone records for Trevor show only one number around the time that Fred left the office and that came from a burner phone."
"Great, so we got squat again." Danny said with exasperation in his voice. He saw the look on his wife and her friends face. "Thanks Baez."
"Bad news Danny?" Linda asked wiping off barbeque sauce off her mouth. She handed a piece of meat to her friend Sandra.
"Yeah my case is going nowhere." Danny replied to the question sliding down into a chair next to wife. He rubbed his hand over his head. "My victim arranged for his childhood friend to go into abused wives underground."
"Why did he do that?" Sharon asked. She usually didn't pay too much attention when Linda's husband talked about work, but this peaked her interest.
"She was put in a arrange marriage with someone from hers parents country, and the husband was abusing her." Danny replied to the question looking over towards the couch.
"I still don't understand why people still do that." Linda remarked setting her food down on the coffee table. She shifted with some grimace on her face. "In this day and age you would think that ancient practice would be discarded."
"Different culture, and different mindset babe." Danny stated. He took his wife's hand and smiled at her. "Sometimes it's for protection, status or money that they the arranged marriages."
"Danny, this wife in your case, is she a suspect or a witness?" Sandra asked shifting in her seat. Linda and Danny's eyes went to her.
"As of right now a person of interest until I can talk to her. All I have is her identity being erased, and she was placed in the underground." Danny replied to the question letting go of his wife's hand. He leaned forward in his chair and looked at Sandra. "You know something about this network don't you?"
"I'm not saying yes, and I'm not saying no." Sandra said feeling the pressure now. She knew she would be taking a big risk here. "But if I can get you the women in question, how will you protect her?"
"If she had nothing to do with the murder, I'll talk to Erin and see if I can work out some kind of witness protection." Danny stated.
"Not good enough Danny. These women are afraid that they will be returned to their abusive lives." Sandra replied. She leaned forward into her seat and looked at him. "They don't trust the cops, but I trust you because you have been honest in almost everything you've done."
"Look if I talk to her and she provides me something that I can use, I will do everything in my power to help her." Danny answered as truthfully as he could. He looked over at Sandra. "Meet me at the courthouse tomorrow morning and we'll talk to my sister. That's the best I can do Sandra without talking to her."
"Sandra, come on you know Danny. You can trust him." Linda said turning with some pain to look at her friend. "Look I understand your reluctance, but won't the friend want justice for the victim?"
Sandra looked at her friends. She trusted Linda and she knew Danny was a man who would do everything to keep his word. "Let me make the call and see what they say."
This was the shortest one of the chapters i have wrote so far but it reveals some important points. Please keep the reviews coming. I thank everyone who is reading the story.
