Cause of Death (Det. Annie Avants Book 1)

by Renee Benzaim

  "I never said I didn't have feelings, Jesse. I just don't want to be boxed in and forced to be what someone else thinks I should be. I'm still going through that with my family, and I have no intention of going through it with you."

  "Annie, I never said I wanted to change you. I just want to see if there is a chance we can make a relationship work."

  "And I said I'm not ready to commit to a relationship. Why can't you just leave things the way they are and we can remain friends? If you keep pushing a relationship, you may ruin our friendship."

  "I would never let that happen, Annie, believe me."

  "OK, do you have a minute and I'll give you the bare bones of what we saw at the crime scene?"

  "Sure, let me get my pen and legal pad. OK, what did you find?"

  Annie spent the next few minutes going over what they observed at the scene.

  "That's a wrap up for the moment. We can talk more at lunch, even though there isn't much more to tell."

  "Thanks, Annie. Where do you want to have lunch?"

  "Is Wool Growers too far away for you? I haven't eaten there for a while and on Monday the ribs are excellent."

  "That's fine. I'll meet you in the parking lot at 11:45 AM so we can beat the rush. See you there."

  CHAPTER FOUR

  FOUR DAYS EARLIER

  Thursday, 9 August 2012, 11:00 AM

  Detective Annie Avants left the stand in disgust. The defense attorney managed to convince the jury that the evidence in her case was tainted. The chain of custody of the evidence was broken somewhere between the crime scene and the Court Room. Annie knew that this happened from time to time, but it made her work harder when other law enforcement people were to blame.

  Annie's good friend, Noura Zapata, was the lead paralegal for defense attorney Mitchell Stephens, the attorney of record for the defendant, Manolo Alcantar. Annie knew that the firm was conscientious and Attorney Stephens was not one of those defense attorneys who tried to get their clients set free when the evidence was stacked against them, and their guilt was obvious. Some defense attorneys looked for every little loophole they could find, more interested in a win then in serving justice. Annie knew the firm where Noura worked wasn't like that. Still, it aggravated her that this kind of mistake could happen.

  Annie liked her work as a Detective in the Robbery/Homicide Unit of the Kern County Sheriff's Office, and she did a good job. Fortunately, the case at hand was a robbery, not a murder, and the statute of limitations - in this case four to six years for robbery depending on the particulars of the crime - would most likely expire before enough new evidence could be gathered to bring the case to trial again.

  What really annoyed her about this day in court was Jesse Greyeyes, the Deputy District Attorney who was prosecuting the case for the People. When he called her to the stand to testify about the chain of custody of the State's evidence, he would barely look at her or let her explain what happened.

  "Was there a break in the chain of custody of the evidence, Detective? Was there a time when no one knew exactly where the evidence was located?" Jesse said.

  "Yes, there was a period of time when we needed to produce the evidence and it couldn't be immediately located in the evidence room. That doesn't mean . . . "

  Jesse cut her off. "A simple yes or no will be sufficient, Detective Avants," he said, as he turned his back on the bench and the witness chair.

  "But, the evidence . . ."

  "Yes or no, please."

  "Yes, there was a gap in the chain of custody of the evidence."

  "Thank you, Detective, that will be all," Jesse said, turning back around to face the bench.

  Annie couldn't believe his attitude. He was questioning her like a defense attorney, not a prosecutor. She could tell he was upset. She knew his office put in a lot of hard work on this case, but that was no excuse to be so rude.

  As she left the stand, she glanced over at the defendant, sitting smugly at the defense table. She wanted to walk over and knock the smirk off his face. She knew he was a member of the Southside Bakers gang that hung out in the area south of Ming Avenue, by the Fairgrounds. He was guilty as sin, and she knew it, but now there was nothing physical to tie him to the scene of the crime.

  When the jury returned a verdict of not guilty, Annie left the courthouse and returned to her office. She didn't even stop to speak to Noura, because she was too frustrated. She felt a headache coming on and all she wanted to do was get back to her desk. She wasn't looking forward to telling her partner the outcome. He worked just as hard on this case as Annie.

  This was a continuing problem throughout law enforcement and Annie needed to make certain that it didn't happen with one of her cases again. It wasn't good for her career, it wasn't good for the department, and it definitely wasn't good for the victims of the crimes. Moreover, what really got her dander up was the fact that the media loved it when this happened. It almost seemed like they gave it more coverage than a conviction.

  Nope, she wasn't sure what she could do, but she would talk to Tom and make sure they were on guard so this didn't happen in the future.

  * * *

  Noura Zapata slowly began to gather up her Trial Binders and put them in the storage box she used to lug them back and forth to Court. Their law offices were in the Bank of America building just across the street from the Kern County Superior Court. She watched as her boss and his law clerk grinned and accepted congratulations from their peers in the Courtroom.

  She turned and looked towards the doors that led to the main corridor out of the Courtroom in time to see Annie push the doors open and storm out. She could tell that her friend was upset by the tight way she held her body and the jerky way she moved. She knew Annie, Tom and Jesse put in a lot of hard work to prepare this case for trial.

  "Noura," her boss said as he turned to her, "some of us are going to the Bell Tower for lunch, would you care to join us? You've worked hard on this case - your Trial Binder was perfection - and you deserve a treat."

  Noura thought for a minute. The last thing she wanted to do was join in their celebrations. "Thank you, Mitch, but I'm meeting a friend for lunch. Maybe some other time."

  "OK, your loss. Their food is some of the best in the County."

  "I know and I appreciate the invite. I'll just run these boxes to the office and then head out for lunch," she said.

  She was pleased with the jury's decision because she truly felt in her heart that the defendant, Manolo Alcantar, was not guilty. He was a good friend of her younger brother, Tito. It broke her heart to think about Tito because the gang mentality, so prevalent in Kern County, had appealed to him at a young age. She didn't talk about him to anyone and, as far as she knew, none of her friends or co-workers knew about his gang connections. Annie didn't even know she had a brother named Tito as Noura kept her extended family private. The only members of Noura's family that Annie knew were her husband, Jorge, and her son, Estefan.

  Nevertheless, she loved her brother, and when he came to her begging her to help his friend, because he swore he was innocent, she believed him.

  "Please, Sis, you've got to help him. He won't last long locked up," Tito said.

  "I always do the best I can on my cases, you know that, Tito," Noura said, not liking the way the conversation was going, "and I'll do the same with this one."

  However, as the case headed for Court, the evidence against Manolo Alcantar was stronger than anything the defense team had to convince a jury of his innocence. He didn't have a solid alibi for the time of the robbery and the Prosecution had his knife, with his prints on it, found at the scene inside the residence. It was their main piece of evidence to place him inside the house and he fit the description of the person the resident of the house saw running away. In a line up, the victim had been 'almost' positive that Manolo Alcantar was the same person.

  With the mishandling of the evidence - the knife - the People's case didn't have any physical evidence to stand on. As a consequence, the J
ury found that the case, as presented, didn't fit the concept of 'without a reasonable doubt'. They found Manolo Alcantar not guilty.

  Noura unfolded the cart on wheels that she used to transport her boxes, placed the boxes on the cart, and strapped them down. She headed for the door, her shoulders sagging and her steps slow. Her guilt and doubt preyed on her mind. She didn't know if she had done the right thing.

  She stopped at the doors and looked back into the courtroom - at the Judge's bench, and the flags, and the grandeur and solemnity of it all. I love this place, she thought. And all that it represents. I cannot believe what I have done.

  Right now, however, she owed her cousin, a Bakersfield Police Department Officer, lunch. Somehow, someday, she would make up what she had done to her friend, Annie.

  * * *

  Annie rarely set foot inside a bar by herself, but since she was still dressed up in her blue spaghetti strap dress, minus the jacket she wore to Court, she decided - what the heck - and stopped at the FoxFire Inn & Tavern for a glass of Merlot at 6:00 PM.

  After her terrible experience in Court, Annie returned to the Detective Bureau and sulked. Her partner, Tom Weston, had stayed home sick that day with some kind of flu or whatever, and that didn't help her frame of mind. She needed someone to vent to and Tom was her ventee of choice. She tried calling Noura, but the call went straight to Noura's voice mail.

  So, here she sat on a barstool feeling totally out of place.

  She sipped her wine and toyed with the end of her braid. She glanced around at the other patrons and that's when she saw Jesse Greyeyes walk in. Oh, God, just what I need, she thought.

  She glanced at him again. Well, he certainly cuts quite a figure, she thought. Six feet tall, long legs, tight blue jeans, denim shirt, leather belt with a large silver buckle.

  He stood in the doorway of the semi-dark room, outlined by the light coming in behind him. In Court, he wore his hair back in two long braids or a ponytail at the base of his neck, and tucked it under his jacket. He kept the length of his hair low-key. But now his hair hung loose and, as much as she hated to admit it, it was gorgeous. Straight, shiny black, halfway down his back. His Indian features were strong - high cheekbones, prominent nose, well-defined mouth just begging to be kissed. And he probably has half the girls in the County doing just that, she thought.

  She ducked her head when she realized he had spotted her and was heading her way.

  "Hey, Annie," Jesse said as he sat down on the stool next to hers.

  "Hello, Counselor. Slumming?" she said as she turned her back to him.

  "Ah, Annie, don't be that way. You have such cute shoulders there in that little dress, they don't look good with a chip on them."

  "Counselor Greyeyes," she said, emphasizing his name, "you have a lot of nerve coming in here kissing up to me after the way you treated me in Court this morning."

  He feigned a hurt look. "I was just doing my job, Annie. I'm the prosecutor and someone messed up the chain of custody of the evidence. It looked better for us to admit it up front than to have the Defense Attorney hammer you about it."

  "You wouldn't let me explain," Annie said. "The evidence wasn't lost, it was just misplaced. We found it soon afterward. It never left the evidence room."

  "Annie, wait, hold on a minute. Nevertheless, it was 'lost' for a time. That compromises the chain of custody. It was redundant to sit there in court making excuses. It didn't change the facts."

  "But, couldn't you take into account the circumstances? Does everything have to be so black and white?"

  "No, it doesn't. However, my job is to present the facts that prove someone committed the crime of which they're charged. And that's what I was doing. It's the defense attorney's job to prove their innocence, or bring up extenuating circumstances. That's exactly what Mr. Stephens did, rightfully so. The Jury just went along with what he said. The main evidence against the man, the knife with his fingerprints, was compromised."

  "I still don't understand why you wouldn't let me explain when I was on the stand. You just kept cutting me off. You really treated me awful. I hope we never meet up in Court again. Or anywhere else, for that matter."

  She got up to leave. Jesse grabbed her upper arm and swung her back around to face him, anger etched all over his face. They were starting to attract attention.

  The bartender asked, "Hey, Lady, need some help?"

  Jesse dropped Annie's arm and backed up, lifting his hands palms out in front of him in the gesture of surrender.

  "No, I'm OK, thanks," Annie said.

  She just stared at Jesse, waiting for some kind of explanation.

  "Look, Annie, I'm sorry. Just come sit down with me for a minute and we'll talk. I admit I'm off on the wrong foot with you."

  Against her better judgment, Annie felt herself softening towards Jesse. He seemed sincere.

  "OK, we'll talk for a minute," she said.

  Jesse led her to a booth at the back of the attached restaurant and ordered two coffees. They talked for a few minutes, but Annie was still angry with him and it showed.

  "Hey, come on, don't be so glum," Jesse said. "Let's dance."

  "With you?" she said. "I don't think so."

  "Oh, come on, what can it hurt?" He slid out of the booth and stood up, reaching his hand out for her.

  "I don't think so, Counselor, I'm not in the mood."

  This made him laugh. He reached down, took her hand, and pulled her to her feet.

  "I'll get you in the mood," he said and tugged her out onto the tiny dance floor.

  He pulled her close as they started to move around the floor, and he sang softly into her ear along with the music.

  'you see this guy, this guy's in love with you'

  She moved her head away from him so he wouldn't be so close to her ear. It was irritating.

  'yes you're the one who makes me feel the way I do'

  "Look, Jesse, if you want to dance, then dance. Cut out this blowing-hot-air-singing-in-my-ear crap."

  He just laughed.

  'tell me now, is it so, don't let me be the last to know'

  He pulled her closer. A funny feeling started in the pit of her stomach and crept down her legs.

  'my hands are shakin', don't let my heart be breakin'

  Good gracious, I don't need this, she thought. Jesse looked into her eyes and it was as if they were breathing together, becoming one out on the dance floor.

  'cause, I need your love, I want your love'

  Annie's knees felt weak. Jesse held her tighter. She didn't try to resist. His hand moved up her back, pulling away the band at the bottom of her braid. Slowly he ran his hand through her long, dark hair, unbraiding it, releasing it all around her shoulders and down her back. She swung her head from side to side until her hair enveloped them.

  She glanced over at the bartender and saw him smile and shake his head as he polished the bar glasses and set them on the shelf.

  'say you're in love, in love with this guy, if not, I'll just die'

  Jesse nuzzled Annie's ear, took a little nip of her earlobe. She groaned and pressed closer. This isn't me. This isn't how I was raised or how I act. But. . .

  All of a sudden, Jesse spun her away from him and twirled her around, laughing, her hair flying everywhere.

  "See, I told you I'd get you in the mood."

  She jerked away from him and ran to their booth, picked up her purse and rushed out the door, her face red with humiliation. How could I have let him make such a fool of me? Why did I even let myself respond to him the way I did? She hopped into her Jeep Wrangler and headed home, thanking God that she wouldn't have to face him again in the near future.

  * * *

  Friday, 10 August 2012, 9:00 PM

  Jesse picked up his phone and dialed Annie's home number. What he was about to do went against the grain. The ladies called Jesse, not the other way around. At least that's how it was before Annie entered his life.

  His marriage to a District Attorney's
Office Investigator several years ago ended in a mutual divorce. He admitted that his career was more important to him than SueEllen, his wife, but he came in a poor second to her career aspirations also.

  They were both shallow, self-centered individuals, and why they married in the first place still puzzled him. After the divorce, she moved on to bigger and better career opportunities in San Diego.

  Nevertheless, the trophy women he surrounded himself with after his divorce weren't much in the way of improvement. He just couldn't seem to break the habit.

  He hadn't paid much attention to Annie when she worked in the Rural Crime Unit, but when she was promoted to detective in the Robbery/Homicide Unit in January 2010, he found her 'down home' accent and view of life amusing. At first. After he worked a few cases with her, however, he came to respect her intelligence and her abilities as a Robbery/Homicide detective. Her values pulled him back to his roots and the way his parents and grandparents raised him on the reservation in Cherokee, North Carolina.

  When did I drift away from my roots? When did making points with the powers that be become more important than being true to myself? he wondered.

  Even though he recognized this flaw in his character, he didn't make a 180-degree turnaround. His less-than-sterling character attributes reared their ugly heads when he least expected them. Usually when he and Annie were together.

  They went to dinner from time to time, but he always seemed to let his ego get in the way. Instead of relaxing and being himself - someone she would respect and admire based on his Native American values - he acted like the kind of self-centered smuck guaranteed not to impress her. As soon as he dropped her off at her home, he wanted to kick himself for being such an ass. He just didn't know what to do about it.

  Now, he was calling her to apologize for his behavior at the FoxFire Inn yesterday evening after Court. He decided, after giving it a lot of thought, that he would make an effort to change his behavior. He was ready for a relationship with someone 'real', someone with the values he held dear, but had let slip away. He just wasn't sure she would give him another chance. She was really pissed when she stormed out of the FoxFire Inn last night.