37Chapter One - Not Guilty
"Have come to your verdict?" Judge Mahoney asked the foreman of the jury.
"Yes, we have, your honor. On the charge of attempted murder we find the defendant not guilty."
Olivia and Nicholas Barrington smiled at each other in relief and hugged each other, behind the defendant desk.
"Thanks so much, Olivia. I owe you," Nicholas whispered in her ear.
Olivia smiled, "I might take you up on that."
The District Attorney, Joseph May, scowled at Olivia and packed all of his papers into his briefcase.
The judge, the police men, and the jury members left the room, glad they were finally able to go home.
Olivia packed all of the briefs up and threw them in her briefcase. "Well, what are you waiting for, Nicholas? You're free, go home!" she motioned with her hands.
Nicholas laughed. "Remember, I owe you," he pointed at her, and began walking away backwards.
Joseph walked over to her, and stood in front of the desk. "Great job, Olivia."
"Now, what are you talking about?" She asked, exasperated.
"You and I both know he killed that man. He did it out of revenge for firing him!" Joseph said emotionally.
Olivia sighed and sat back down in her chair, "So what? The man was a bastard. He deserved whatever he got."
Joseph looked at her appalled, "So he deserved to die? Your job is not to defend low-lifes who murder people!"
Olivia stood up, face red with anger, "No you're wrong, Joe. My job is to win. If winning means lying to a judge who couldn't give a fuck wanting to be here or jury members who all they want to do is go home and sleep and forget about whatever happened today, then I'm all for this." she slammed the chair at the desk, and began walking away.
"You make me sick, Olivia! If you want to know why people always criticize lawyers, then look in the mirror!" Joseph called out to her.
Tears were forming in her bright blue eyes, her long blonde hair flying in the wind, while walking out to the parking lot. Just Ignore that jackass, she thought to herself, he lives in a dream world.
She stepped into her silver corvette and began to drive home to house. She opened her glove compartment and took out her Justin Timberlake CD. She kept on skipping to number six.
Don't be so quick to walk away
Dance with me
I wanna rock your body
Please stay
Dance with me
You don't have to admit you wanna play
Dance with me
Just let me rock you
Till the break of day
Dance with me
Got time, but I don't mind
She stopped singing along to JT and began to think about the trial. Of course she knew Nicholas killed David Malloy. David was Nicholas' boss and fired Nicholas because he constantly came to work either drunk or high. But fortunately for Nicholas, his father was a big movie producer, and filthy rich. Eugeine Barrington, Nicholas' father, begged Olivia to defend him, paying her one grand every hour. She needed the money, so she agreed to it.
I'm actually surprised they didn't convict Nicholas, Olivia thought, he looks like a criminal. Shaved hair, piercing on his eyebrows, nose, and about ten on each ear. Black T-shirt, black jeans, and a big dog collar around his neck.
Maybe they just thought his big ol' daddy would do something to them if they came up with a guilty verdict. Or maybe daddy even had a hand in the not guilty convict. It did take them three days to come up with it.
Olivia shook her head and turned off the engine, parking in her two-car garage. Her house, or should I say mansion, was on a very nice street. All the residents on Palm Springs Drive were all rich and powerful.
She dug in her purse and found her keys. She unlocked the door and entered her house.
"Taila!" she yelled for her young Hispanic maid/secretary. "Did I get any mail or any new calls?"
Olivia, herself, has only been a lawyer for a year now. Her father, Don Michaels, was a movie director here in Los Angeles and insisted he'd pay for everything until she earned enough on her own.
Taila came rushing in, wiping her wet hands on her apron. "Yes, ma'am. Your fathered delivered flowers for you, a big card that says 'CONGRATS HONEY' on it. Your boss Mr. Murnano called, saying he has a new case, and the police called. The Arizona Police."
Olivia stopped in complete surprise. "The police? Arizona? Are you sure?"
Taila looked offended. "Yes i am sure."
"Oh, okay, well I'll take the calls in my office," she smiled politely to Taila.
She walked into her office and went straight to her leather chair. She picked up the phone and called the Arizona Police Department, still at lost why the police would have called her.
"Police department." A curt voice said.
"Uh, yes, hello my name is Olivia Michaels. You called sometime today while I was at trial?" She asked questionably.
"Oh yeah, Michaels. Please hold, I will go get Detective Jaymes."
Detective? Why would I need to talk to a Detective?
"Hello, this is Detective Jaymes. You are Olivia Michaels?" A stern voice asked.
"Y-yes," she stuttered.
"I'm sorry to inform you that your brother has been killed." his un-emotionally voice stated.
She almost dropped the phone. She felt like she was choking. "Wh-wh-what happened?"
"He had a car accident. His truck ran into a telephone poll. He was drunk."
Surprise, surprise, she thought.
She loved her big brother and all but he was a certified creep. All he ever did was do heroine and drink scotch. His wife left him when right after his youngest child was born. Olivia also had another older sibling, her sister, Alesandra, but she was a prick. She was snobby and hated every normal working person. Cocktail Parties were the way to go, was her saying. She lives in Ireland with her Aristocrat husband, Leonardo. The threes mother left them when Olivia was the age around three years old, and never talked to their mother again.
"I don't know what to say," she said.
"Well, it would be really nice if you and your -," she could tell he was looking at some papers, "your father and mother and sister could come down here and identify the body."
"All the way to Arizona? Well, Detective, all of us work. My father is a director and travels all the time, we haven't talked to my mother in almost twenty years, and my sister and her husband are in Ireland."
The Detectives voice suddenly became cold. "Don't you think your brother's death is a little bit more important than work?"
Olivia shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "Of course, of course. Have you reached daddy yet?"
"We were unable to contact your father, mother, or sister. We would greatly appreciate it if you could get a hold of them for us," the voice now sounded like a machine.
"Yes, yes, I'll try. Um, but what exactly would we do if we went down to Arizona?" She asked, shakily.
"First, identify the body. We're sure it's him but we still need family consent. Second, you guys must decide which one of you are going to take in his children-"
"Wait a second! What? Take the kids?" She interrupted.
"Jake Michaels has three children. Matthew is fifteen years old, Ethan is eleven years old, and Emily Marie is six years old. The only living relative of your sister-in-law is her parents. They offered to take the children in but they are in no physical shape to take care of three young ones, also we feel it would be better if someone younger would. Preferably, you or your sister and her husband. If you decide not to, then we will have to give the children to their grand-parents or social services." The monotone voice rambled on.
"Okay," Olivia's head was turning, "Well, I will reach my father as soon as i can and we will call you right back."
"Ma'am we feel it would be best-"
"I will call you back!" she slammed the phone down.
She sat there for a couple of minutes, pondering.
I'm the only one who would be able to take the kids in. Daddy is way too busy in Hollywood, Alesandra and Leonardo would never ever take the kids in. 'Poor blood' they would probably call the poor kids. I guess it's me or their grandparents.
She miserably slammed her head down on her desk.
*x*xx*x*xx*x*xx*x*xx*x*xx*x*xx*x*xx*x*xx*x*xx*x*xx*x*xx*x*xx*
Hey, what do you think? I love this story so much, I think it's going to turn out great. Well, the next chapter you will meet the kids. If I get some reviews, I'll post it up soon. Thanks!