Free Alibi II by Teri Woods Page A

took her time and filed out the double doors of the courtroom.
    Lance’s mother, who hadn’t missed one day of the trial, also followed the line of folks out the door. She, too, being an older lady, a single mother of two, took in the testimony of Bernard Guess and listened with remorse at what her son had been accused of. And to think, the man who took her son’s life had beaten the murder case. Justice, for her, had no name. The trial had taken its toll and the truth of her son being a would-be burglar lay heavy and brought her heart a sea of emotions. The thought of raising a son who would turn out to be a cold-blooded murderer was too much for her to bear. Ms. Robertson had no intention of returning to the courtroom, even though the defense attorney had asked her to be present at the sentencing and wanted her on the stand to speak on behalf of her son. She didn’t think she could do it. What could she say that would make a difference? She honestly believed there was nothing more that should be said. Now, thank God, it was done and over and everybody could just put it all behind them.
    Tommy Delgado and Merva Ross watched as the courtroom dispersed. He walked toward the front of the courtroom, an uneasy smile spread across his face.
    “What the hell happened? That guy is just gonna walk, scot-free?” said Delgado, not so much angry as he was disappointed and ready to pounce all over Zone. Ross held his arm, making sure her partner didn’t end up in trouble.
    “What can I say? I thought we had it. I was wrong. Once we had the girl, and her testimony, I assumed the case was in the bag. Look, I know you guys work hard out there, risking your lives to keep the streets safe, but we can’t win them all, right?” Zone shrugged, not really caring one way or another.
    His disconnect was apparent and Tommy faded for a moment back to the house on Somerset Street, to where the bodies of Saunta Davis and her son, DaShawn, lay sprawled in pools of blood, the little boy already dead, the mother barely breathing.
    “Come on, Delgado, you see it every day out there, right. They just keep killing each other,” Zone said, a confused look on his face. “Don’t worry, we’ll get ’em next time,” he quickly added, patting Tommy on the shoulder as he grabbed his briefcase off the rectangular table and headed toward the doors. He knew the media would be waiting for him. Win or lose, he still got his name in the paper.
    “Yeah, next time, you fucking piece of shit, why don’t you do your fucking job,” Tommy muttered to himself before he and Merva walked out the doors of the courtroom to a pack of thirsty reporters.
      
    As usual, Liddles was parked in back of the lot across from City Hall. Karla-Jae crossed the street, got into the van, and reported of the events in the courtroom to her brother as she usually did.
    “He beat the case after all,” sighed Liddles.
    Liddles’s smile spoke a thousand words. He was glad Nard beat the case for killing the guys who were responsible for killing his brother. But, even with justice playing her merciful part, it wasn’t enough. Poncho was still gone, his mother’s heart was still broken, and his pain was no less.
    Liddles had spent every day following Wink. Like a peeping Tom, he was watching carefully. Wink could forget about it.  Liddles  had Wink’s entire itinerary, drug house, drug stash, baby momma’s crib, baby momma’s job, momma’s home, momma’s job, sister’s school, brother’s wife’s mother’s cousin’s house, the whole family had been scoped out.
    Then there was the other one, Lance Robertson, Jeremy Tyler’s cohort. It turned out, Lance was a loner of sorts, and the only family he had was his mom’s, Mrs. Robertson, and Liddles already had her ammo. He knew where she worked, where she went to school, what time she ate dinner, what time she left the house every day. He had followed her enough to know how and when to make a move on her if he wanted to.