Making a Difference ~Book 2 of The Difference Series~ [BWWM] (Major Editing)

「Eight」

Leo met his client, Maria, first in prison. She didn't look like your average criminal that ended up in jail. Even though she wore the orange jump suit, her nails were still filled down nicely and painted a pink color. Her long raven hair was pulled into a pony tail except for the few strands that fell on either side of her face. Her green eyes caught mine as her frown made a one eighty as Leo made his entrance.

There she sat at the table with one leg thrown over the other while her entwined hands rested on her knee. Leo made his way over and sat on the other side before placing a folder on the table. The folder is what held the paperwork and pictures of the case. "You're not my original lawyer," Maria replied.

"Yes. Sorry about that. He had a family emergency. So I'll be taking over your case. My name is Leo," he said introducing himself before opening her folder. "It looks like he was working on taking you to court, but, after digging a bit deeper, I found some information that I was able to use to get you a pretty good plea bargain. You may not like the circumstances though."

Maria quickly unfolded her legs and leaned forward on the table with her palms flat on the surface. He had her attention fully now. "Tell me. I'll do anything to get back to my daughter."

Leo took a deep breath. "You would need to testify against your boyfriend-" He caught her shaking her head before he could even finish the statement. Still, Leo continued. "And tell them what kind of drugs he was trying to sell to the cops."

"No," Maria hissed. She jumped up from her seat and paced back in forth. There stood a guard in the corner who watched her pace with their eyes following her back and forth.

"Admit your faults and pay a fine. Then you'll have you daughter back in no time." Leo was unsure of telling her this. From the case file, the daughter was better off without her mother, but it wasn't his job. He would lose his license if he called CPS and tried to open a case on his client.

Maria exhaled heavily as she ran her fingers through her hair. She looked back at her lawyer before having a seat back at the table. She leaned forward once against with her hands together on the steel cold table top. "Whats the ultimatum?"

Was she serious right now? She was getting off easy with no jail time and a simple fine when she was being charged with endangerment and an accomplice to selling drugs. "This is the best plea bargain ever. The only reason they're offering it is because the cops had butterfingers and let your boyfriend slip through their fingers giving him an opportunity to hide the drugs were they couldn't find it. Without your testimony, you both get at least two years in prison," Leo hissed.

Maria sighed. "Fine. I'll take the bargain."

xxx

Maria had to pay a thousand dollar fee before she could get out of jail and get back to her daughter. The state kept a close eye on her until it was time for her to testify.

Leo showed up in the court room when it was time for Maria to testify. Maria sat near the judge as she stared at the prosecutor. "Can you tell us about the day your boyfriend, Rodrick, got arrested."

Leo caught a glimpse of the defense and noticed the black male dressed in orange sitting near his lawyer before quickly looking back at Maria. "I was begging Rodrick to get a job for the hundredth time,"she began in her Hispanic accent. "I told him we needed money to support our daughter. That we running low on diapers. Before he could answer, our daughter begin to cry." Maria chuckled nervously. "He hated her cries. Every time he cried he would grab her arms tightly and tell her to stop. I would always get him to let her go though," she rushed to add immediately to defend her actions. "I only stayed because, other than that, he's an awesome father. Anyway, that day he left the house and came back a few hours with a handful of cocaine. He told me he had planned to sell it for money and, if I wanted half the money, I needed to drive it to his usual spot to sell it. So, I budged because my daughter needed more diapers."

Leo sat there and watched as the defense lawyer took his turn to try to make Rodrick seem like a good guy just trying to support his daughter. Leo knew he wasn't trying to get the father off. Leo knew the lawyer's plan was to get the bastard as little time as possible.

It only took an hour before Rodrick was found guilty. Leo caught a glimpse of Maria taking her daughter from her friend. Leo thought things were over until a red headed woman came over. "Maria Garcia," the woman said.

Maria looked at her and nodded. "Yes?"

"My name is Hannah. I'm with CPS. I'm here to inform you that we will be taking your daughter into custody."

"No!" Maria cried holding her daughter closely.

"Please don't make this harder then it needs to be," Hannah sighed with tired blue eyes. It was such a routine for her and she too, as Leo, had learned to turn off her emotions when working. Maria looked down at her sleeping daughter before slowly handing her to Hannah. "Do you have any family members?" Hannah asked.

Maria slowly shook her head slowly as she sniffled. Her heart broke in a million pieces without letting her eyes leave her daughter. "I'm an only child. My parents died from old age and, coincidentally, they were only children too."

"What about her father?" Hannah asked looking over catching a quick glimpse of Rodrick before he disappeared out the door where he would be detained.

Maria scoffed as she hugged herself. "They're either drug dealers or dead. They're all filled with criminals." She shrugged. "I sure know how to pick them."

Hannah held the baby a little tighter. "Well, it seems we'll have to put her in foster care. Reunification is always the key goal so we'll do everything we can to get you two back together as long as you follow the program."

Leo couldn't listen anymore as he disappeared out of the court room. What was he doing? How could he defend someone who knew what was happening to their kid and still put them in a bad situation.

Leo watched as Hannah walk out of the court room carrying the little girl. From there an older woman ran up to her. "How long until my daughter can be reunited with her daughter? She's really trying to turn her life around. She could have had a better life for Nikita if that woman hadn't tried to get custody of her. She's had it rough," the bitter old woman hissed.

Hannah sighed. "Look, the woman had a right to try. Your daughter left Nikita with her for six months total with no money or visits. This situation is rough for both women. Just imagine how hard it was to let go when the woman probably grew attached to Nikita. Your daughter will just need to prove she's different."

A woman passed and Leo figured this was the woman the grandmother had a bad taste in the mouth for when she gave her an evil eye. Leo considered her gorgeous. There was something about her that made him want to get to know her more. He tried to follow her out, but lost her in the semi-crowd. When he finally made his way outside, she was gone. What he didn't know right at the moment was he'd meet her again.

Between the two cases, Leo had made a decision. He was going to quit his job and open his own law firm. That way he could choose the clients he deemed worthy of his services and deserved good defending.