Elizabeth sat patiently in Maura's empty office, pressing her lips together as she waited for her mother to arrive, preferring to bob up and down on her knees where the court file rested. Strangely, the detective felt she was waiting for the principal to come and give her a proper reprimand. Or waiting to be grounded by Maura as she had been when Maura had learned that her daughter had smoked pot for the first time.
The detective nervously slid into her seat and wiped her clammy hands in her cloth pants.
She frowned deeply, wondering at that moment what she was actually nervous about; after all, Maura's office had failed to honor the agreement between Nikki and her.
Elizabeth heard her mother's footsteps in the hallway and knew even then that Maura was not necessarily in the best of moods. In her childhood, she learned to pay attention to Maura's footsteps from a distance to gauge her mood. Occasionally she was wrong, but most of the time, she was right.
"We haven't had this topic once; we've had it several times, Pedro," Maura said energetically as she approached her closed office, and at that moment, Elizabeth noticed another pair of feet also approaching Maura's sanctuary.
Elizabeth frowned deeply and slid in her seat again, wondering if today was a perfect time to see her mother about a trifle that could have waited until the weekend to be discussed quietly at the weekly family dinner. Still, she also knew that the current case was highly explosive and didn't know if the dinner would even be with her. After all, it was up to this BodyCounter to decide whether to give himself and his pursuers a short pause. And psychopaths in this form were not known for having a regular routine.
She gritted her teeth and decided to remain seated until Maura entered her office and immediately retreated with an excuse to leave Pedro and her mother alone. Her request was not that urgent.
The detective knew Pedro Villa. He had started at the DA's office four years ago and initially had a budding career as a prosecutor ahead of him. The emphasis was on the beginning. After two years, mistakes began to creep in. From delays in court to Pedro 'accidentally' forgetting internal memos in files of evidence that would have led to a 100% conviction, had been sent to the defense and, in some cases, would have led to devastating court sentences that forced the prosecution and police agencies to appeal and put even more time into the investigation to stick a proper conviction.
Pedro Villa was a charismatic guy who usually dismissed the blame, and usually, the assistants who worked for him then took the fall.
But these coincidences became increasingly frequent, and Villa got into Maura's crosshairs. The experienced lawyer knew from her own experience that mistakes could creep in after working through the night, that court delays were not uncommon, or that files could be misfiled or forgotten in the office. However, Villa's mistakes were increasingly playing into the hands of the defense.
Lots of cop started to distrust Villa, especially Nick, and Elizabeth, knowing that Villa tended to drive the court process against the wall, especially when high-profile city or state names were involved.
This was precisely what put Maura on high alert as well. Especially after it made the rounds in the office that Villa had received a lucrative offer from Goodman, Tedesco & Shaw, one of Boston's most highly regarded law firms.
"Maura --" the detective heard Villa's baritone voice, which made him even more charismatic.
"In my office," the senior DA said in a commanding tone. "Now!"
When she heard the pitch, Elizabeth made a face and sank into her chair for a second. She knew that that tone meant many things, just nothing good.
Elizabeth looked at the door as it opened and frowned deeply when she saw the two lawyers and, a short distance behind them, her daughter, who looked frightened, no, intimidated.
Automatically Elizabeth's protective instinct stirred, and she got up from her chair to go to Nikki, but she resisted it and remained sitting in her chosen chair with clenched teeth.
Maura walked toward her desk tensely and gave her daughter a quick glance to indicate that she had taken note of Elizabeth's presence. "Close the door, Pedro," she said in a voice that left no room for dissent.
Elizabeth cleared her throat and was about to get up from her chair with a furrowed brow. "I think I'll let you three --"
"Sit back down," Maura abruptly interrupted her daughter, giving her an admonishing look. Her eyes wandered to the file lying on Elizabeth's lap. "Is that the court file on the Mesic case?"
Elizabeth cleared her throat again and nodded slowly. "Yes, ma'am," she said, sinking back into the chair without even thinking about objecting. From experience, such a thing would have been disastrous in this situation.
Maura looked at the detective closely as she sat on the edge of the desk and folded her arms across her chest. "How did you come into possession of the court file?"
Elizabeth cleared her throat a third time and took a deep breath. She never minded giving her statement to the prosecution or even being questioned in court by lawyers; after all, it was part of her job, and she performed her duty conscientiously. She knew that lawyers, especially defense lawyers, were out to challenge her credibility. However, it was not uncommon for even the prosecution to question her investigative style and put her through the wringer; Pedro Villa, in particular, was prone to do so, which often played into the defense's cards but still yielded little profit for the accused, as Elizabeth and her team could deliver 95% of the evidence without any gaps.
It was well known that once you got into Elizabeth and Nick's crosshairs, there was little doubt that the accused was the perpetrator.
The detective could relate well to just about any employee of the DA's office but hardly to Maura, who always had an ace up her sleeve to make it so crystal clear that there was little chance of wriggling out of a precarious situation. For this reason, Elizabeth was glad that Maura only appeared as a spectator in the courtrooms and no longer as the accuser.
Elizabeth took a deep breath and pulled the corners of her mouth down. "I assume that said file was taken home by Nikki to do further research in the case to bolster the case against Suzana Mesic," she said.
Maura's gaze darted to Nikki, who nervously chewed on her lower lip. "Is this true?"
Nikki nodded slowly. "Yes, ma'am."
The lawyer was now propping herself on her desk, frowning a little. "And how did you come into possession of this copy of the Mesic file?"
Nikki pressed her lips together and looked uncertainly back and forth between Villa and Maura without answering the question.
Elizabeth gritted her teeth and breathed deeply while watching her daughter closely. "Veronica," she said quietly but firmly, and Nikki looked to the detective. "Please answer the question."
Nikki still seemed undecided about whether to answer the question, but the teen took a deep breath and said, "Mr. Villa asked me to check the file for completeness. At the end of my shift, I told him I didn't get to do it because I also had things to do for the other attorneys, like running errands around the house. Mr. Villa said it wasn't so bad, and I could take the file and all of his notes home and do my work there as long as the file was on his desk in time for the trial to start."
Maura's lips narrowed, and she gave her granddaughter a stern look. "Was this the first time such an incident had occurred?"
Nikki lowered her head a little and gritted her teeth.
Elizabeth took another deep breath and, making eye contact with her daughter, murmured, "Chin up."
Nikki complied, raising her head again and shaking it. "No, ma'am."
Villa laughed and took a step toward Maura. "Come on, Maura. We all use our assistants now and then to do the dirty work for us that we don't have time for."
Maura's gaze darkened, yet she nodded slowly as she rose from her desk. "Now and then, yes," she reluctantly agreed with him. She nodded slowly and took a deep breath as if thinking carefully about her following words and steps. "Now and then, we all do, Pedro. We all like to take the easy way out now and then and use the opportunity to make life and work easier for ourselves." She paused and took a deep breath before looking penetratingly at her employee again. A look she only used to look at criminals when she knew they were convicted without a doubt. "I've known about the job offer you received from Goodman, Tedesco & Shaw for some time," she said, and Villa gritted his teeth without saying a word. Apparently, he knew it was advisable not to try to minimize the situation and the facts. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and frowned deeply. "I will never interfere in the careers of my employees or hold a grudge against those who choose to move to the private sector. On the contrary, I look forward to and support those employees on the rest of their journey in the DA's office." She paused another time and raised her eyebrows. "That is, as long as they continue to do their best for the rest of their time in the DA's office." Maura's gaze darkened another time, and finally. "I can't say the same for you, though, Pedro."
"Maura --" Villa tried again but was abruptly interrupted by Maura's raised hand.
Maura rose from her desk, walked around, and sat in her chair, leaning forward with a sigh. "There have just been too many things going on in the past few months, the past year, to keep you employed at the DA's office with a clear conscience."
"You can't be serious," Villa said, stunned, his eyes wide.
Maura looked at him for a long time with a determined look. "I'm completely serious," she replied in a calm, matter-of-fact tone. "I want your office cleared out by tonight. Sinclair will take over your ongoing cases, so as soon as you leave this office, you will turn over your case files or court files and any notes you've made on them to him, no ifs, ands, or buts. Understood?"
"You --," Villa stammered in a rising voice, pointing an index finger at Maura. "You'll bitterly regret this."
Maura straightened in her chair and lowered her brows. "I'm already starting to regret hiring you in the first place," she replied in a dangerously lowered voice. "Now get out of my damn office! I'm only going to say this just once!"
Villa grumbled something unintelligible as he marched toward the door, slamming it behind him after exiting the office.
Nikki looked at the detective and the lawyer with wide eyes. "I ... I didn't want Pedro to get fired."
Elizabeth took a deep breath and stood up from her chair with a deeply furrowed brow. "He took care of that all by himself," she said, walking over to her daughter, putting a hand on her shoulder in a caring manner, and looking at Nikki urgently to make sure the teen heard and understood her following words. "You are absolutely not to blame for any of this. Do you understand, Nikki?"
Nikki took a deep breath and nodded slowly. "Yes."
Elizabeth smiled gently. "Good."