Free The Child Comes First by Elizabeth Ashtree Page A

as he passed out Quizno’s sandwiches that he’d had to pick up for them. They weren’t going to be allowed to stop for dinner on the way to Ellicott City, and they’d already missed lunch.
    He’d canceled his afternoon appointments again to take care of these three women. If he kept this up, Tiffany would be his only remaining client after all the others had departed for more attentive counsel. But Jayda had cleared her calendar for the child defendant and Simon could do no less. Besides, he felt responsible for Tiffany ending up with the ankle monitor. If he’d tried harder to reach someone at the state attorney’s office, perhaps he could have avoided this ordeal.
    At last, an officer came to put the ankle bracelet on Tiffany. “It’s tight,” she whispered, and there was an edge to her voice.
    â€œYou won’t even notice it after a while,” Simon assured her.
    â€œIt’s tight so you can’t wiggle out of it.” The officer’s name was Curtis, and he said it casually, but the comment rankled Simon. He could feel his anger rising again, just as it had when he’d seen Tiffany come into the courthouse in cuffs.
    Jayda caught his eye and gave him silent encouragement, then turned to Tiffany. “Hey, I bet you can’t guess what the nickname for this ankle bracelet is,” she said. “It’s like one of the Muppets.”
    Simon knew the answer, saw that Curtis did, as well, and gave the guy a warning glare to keep quiet. It was good of Jayda to banter like this with Tiffany while they waited for the monitoring people upstairs to do their tests and connect the new bracelet to the system.
    â€œUm, Snuffelupagus,” Tiffany said right away. The gleam in her eyes told Simon she was teasing.
    Poor Curtis looked perplexed for a moment, then grinned.
    â€œClose,” Jayda said without missing a beat. “You want another try?”
    Tiffany smiled and thought. “Cookie Monster,” she tried, clearly aware that this couldn’t be right, either.
    Jayda made a show of mock exasperation, then looked at Barbara. “You want to guess?”
    â€œOscar,” Simon’s other tried. When Jayda and Simon shook their heads, she shrugged. “We give up. What’s it called?”
    â€œELMO,” Curtis announced triumphantly. “Short for electronic monitoring device.”
    â€œBut, no one ever guesses that,” Jayda admitted. “I have to say I’ve never had anyone guess Snuffelupagus before, so that’s a first for me.” She grinned at Tiffany. Simon was happy to see the child smile back, despite her obvious weariness.
    â€œIt’s kind of a good name,” Jayda added. “Elmo is cute and sweet and looks out for others. So just think of this bracelet as your Elmo. It’ll keep watch over you, so you can go home with Barbara.”
    â€œJust don’t go more than twenty feet outside of the house without permission first,” Officer Curtis warned.
    â€œWhat about going to the store or out to the backyard?” Barbara asked. “Surely she can do those things?”
    Curtis looked at her. “We’ll set up a schedule that allows for visits to take care of court matters, but other than that she has to stay within about twenty feet of the house. Sorry. On the good side, if things go well, maybe you can get it taken off during the trial. Sometimes that happens, because by the time the trial starts it’s usually obvious the offender won’t run off.”
    Tiffany’s eyes had shadows beneath them, and her face had gradually paled as the day had worn on. Simon wanted to get the child home, even if the circumstances weren’t ideal. “Let’s get going. Jayda and I will follow you in my car and the monitoring people will follow us in their van.”
    But all the way there, he worried that he was already feeling far too protective of his youngest client, now