“Nobody in the picture on any of these cases right now.” Sabre picked up her files, her petitions, and the reports. “Let’s go find our clients.”
They walked out of the closet the county called an attorney’s lounge. It was originally a storage room, but space was so tight now they needed every nook and cranny to use as a courtroom. A lounge for the attorneys was the least concern to the county. Bob watched a large breasted woman with a low-cut blouse walk across the hallway.
Sabre flicked his arm. “Hey, you’re a married man.”
“I’m married, not dead.” He grinned at her. “Nice tie, by the way,” Bob said as he sauntered away.
Sabre received her first Jerry Garcia tie as a present from her brother, Ron, when she entered law school. He teased her about holding her own in a male-dominated profession, but if she was going to do it, she should have the Grateful Dead by her side. Sabre wasn’t sure if he ever meant her to wear the tie, but as a tribute to her brother it became the first of a large collection.
Sabre walked across the floor where the information desk used to be, catching her three-inch heel in a rough spot on the floor and almost turning her ankle. Another wardrobe staple, the heels stretched her to a full 5’7”. She reported the spot on the floor to the desk and they quickly placed a caution sign on it to avoid further incident.
Sabre stopped in the restroom. The stalls were full and she turned toward the mirror while she waited, taking a rare moment to just breathe. She looked slim, well-dressed, not unattractive. It seemed she needed to reassure herself these days. She smoothed the jacket on her suit, took her sunglasses off, and ran a brush through her shoulder-length, brown hair. She pushed her sunglasses back on her head, using them as a barrette to hold her hair off her face.
Moments later, Sabre was back in the crowd. The room was filled with people, some trying to get their lives in order, others just fighting the system. She saw a couple leaning against the wall entwined in each others arms. The woman was dressed like a hooker and was obviously high. The man wasn’t in much better shape. His hair looked like it hadn’t been combed in weeks and he was in serious need of a haircut and shave. Sabre smiled to herself.
There seems to be someone for everyone if they look in the right places.
For a brief moment she wondered if she’d find someone again. Her thirtieth birthday was fast approaching and she was still happily single … most of the time. She didn’t want to be married, and as much as she loved them, she didn’t plan on having children. She was satisfied with her work and passionate about the people she worked to help. But occasionally she wanted a relationship. Then she’d think of the last time she was involved and change her mind.
Sabre walked through the lobby until she found her client, Maria Hernandez, on the drug baby case. She was young. It was her first baby and her drug activity seemed to be fairly new. Maria agreed to enroll in all the programs and Maria’s mother was willing to help out with the baby. The social worker recommended detention with the grandmother as soon as the baby was released from the hospital and was willing to let Maria stay there as long as she was active in her court-ordered programs. Sabre saw Bob talking with grandma and knew he’d be okay with the recommendations if he was comfortable that grandma could protect the baby. When everyone worked toward what was best for the child, the cases were easy. Sabre believed this was one of those cases.
The two of them left the courtroom just in time to witness an arrest at the metal detector. A twenty-nine-year old woman emptied her pockets into the tray and walked through the machine. The sheriff picked up the contents of the tray, opened a vial containing cocaine, and placed the handcuffs on Karen Lecy.
“Uh oh,” Bob chuckled and shook his head. “Stupid woman.”
“What is it?” Sabre followed Bob toward the arresting officer.
“That’s the mom on the detention. The one with the out-of-control teenager.”
“Gee, that might explain some of the kid’s problems.”
“Excuse me, Jerry,” Bob said to the sheriff. “That’s my client. Can I talk to her?”
“I’ll put her in an interview room after we book her.”
Bob turned to Karen Lecy. “Don’t say anything until we talk.”
Sabre stared at the woman being taken away. “She’s the mom?” Sabre asked, not really expecting an answer. “She looks like a teenager herself. She’s so young.”
The crowd in the room had stopped buzzing as they stood around and watched the arrest. Some were probably feeling bad for her; others appeared glad to have the attention off themselves, even for a moment, but everyone was gawking as the woman was taken back to the holding tank.
“You ready on the Johnson detention?” Sabre asked.
“Yeah, mom’s denying everything. She swears she doesn’t know anything about any rituals, satanic or otherwise.”
“And how does she explain the goat blood and chicken feet?”
“She can’t explain the goat blood, but she has a very plausible explanation for the chicken feet.”
“I can’t wait to hear this.”
“It’s simple really. They eat them,” Bob said with a straight face.
“Ewww … what’s to eat on a chicken foot? There’s no meat on them
—
just dirty, scaly-looking skin that’s been walking around in chicken feces.”
“Really, Sabre.” His voice serious. “I think she may be telling the truth. She’s having a tough time making ends meet and she can get chicken feet free. She said her mother used to make them when they were kids.”
“And you’re buying this?” Sabre looked at Bob, her face quenched in disbelief.
“Leanne Johnson is either a really good liar or she’s just trying to feed her kids. The part that got to me was that even though she’s devastated about losing her children, she knows they’ll have food.” Bob shrugged. “I don’t know. See what the kids say.”
“I will. I’ll go to Polinsky this afternoon and see them. I have to see the Lecy girl, too. Now that her mother has been arrested, we have another issue to deal with on that case.”
2
Sabre walked up the brick walkway leading to the Polinsky Children’s Center, reading some of the names on the bricks as she went. She had dedicated a brick herself in honor of some friends who had lost a child a few years ago. She still hadn’t seen the brick with his name on it but she knew it was there somewhere. One day she would take the time to find it. But not now. Now she had to determine what was going on with the Lecys and the Johnsons.
The clerk recognized Sabre when she entered. She exchanged some pleasantries and then placed her ID on the counter and requested to see the Johnson children.
“All of them at once?” the clerk asked, her eyebrows rising quizzically.
Sabre looked at her petitions. “Bring me Cole first. In about ten minutes bring Hayden, and then I’ll see Alexandria, Blake, and Wyatt all together.”
Sabre waited in the lobby, reading through her reports until a counselor showed up with a tall, lanky, eight-year-old boy with brown hair that fell below his ears. Sabre watched his body language as he approached. He carried himself like he was in charge, yet he appeared guarded. The counselor called Sabre aside while Cole waited.
“I just thought you’d want to know. Cole has been hoarding food. He puts apples, bananas, chips, or whatever he can into his pockets and takes them back to his room.”
“What’s he doing with the food there?”
“At first he was saving it for his siblings, but even after he knew they were receiving plenty of food, he still wanted to keep it with him. This morning one of the counselors saw him offer a bag of chips and half of a sandwich to his mom.”
Sabre took a deep breath and walked back to her client. She introduced herself and took him into an interview room for privacy. They sat on a small sofa with about a foot between them. She explained who she was and assured him that anything he said was confidential.
“Do you know why you’re here, Cole?”
“The social worker said we needed to be here to be safe, but we were safe at home.”
“What was it like at home?”
“I dunno.” He shrugged. “Good, I guess.”
“Does anyone else live with you besides your mom and brothers and sister?”
“Nope.”
“Do you have any other family around?”
“Sometimes my Aunt Ella comes and stays the night.”
“Does your Aunt Ella live nearby?”
“No, she lives in Riverside.”
“That’s about an hour and a half away. Do you see her very often?”
“Nope.”
Sabre watched as Cole sat very still answering her questions. It bothered her that so many of the children she interviewed seemed so grown up. “Cole, do you like school?”
“Yup.”
“How do you get to school?”
“We take the bus, and then I drop Hayden and Allie off at their classes and I go to mine.”
“Allie? Is that Alexandria?”
“Yup. We call her Allie, but sometimes we call her Sissy because she’s the only girl.”
“What grade is Allie in?”
“She started kindergarten this year. Mom has to pick her up because she gets out too early, but Hayden rides the bus home with me.”
“It says in the report that you’ve all been missing a lot of school lately. Is that true?”
Cole looked directly at Sabre as if he were trying to figure out the correct answer. “We’ve missed some. Mom’s been sick and I’ve had to help her with the babies.”
“Has anything unusual been happening at your home?”
Cole shook his head. “Nope.”
“What’s it like here at Polinsky?” Sabre asked.
“Good. The food is good.”
Just then the door burst open, and a sinewy little six-year-old boy with his hair standing straight up in the back burst into the room.
“I’m sorry,” the counselor standing in the doorway said. “Hayden didn’t give me a chance to knock.”
“It’s okay. Come on in.”
Hayden ran up to Cole and pounced on him, pulling him off the sofa onto the floor. “Hayden, stop!” Cole tried to push him off, but Hayden held on and soon they were rolling around, Cole a willing participant.
Sabre spoke to the counselor. “Why don’t you bring me the other siblings. I’d like to see them all together.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, please.” Sabre smiled
Sabre watched the two boys play for a bit. She tried introducing herself to Hayden, but he ignored her.
“Is he always like this?” Sabre chose her words carefully. “So active?”
“He’s a pain in the tush,” Cole said adamantly, as he held his arm straight out against Hayden’s head to keep him from attacking again. Hayden just smirked, ducked, and grabbed Cole around the legs.
Sabre had them just about calmed down when the door opened and Allie and Blake stepped in, followed by the counselor carrying Wyatt. As soon as Hayden saw Blake walk in, he turned and wrestled him to the floor. He was too forceful, though, and before long, Blake was crying. Cole stepped in and separated them. Then Allie quickly gave Blake a kiss and led him over to some toys in the corner of the room.
Sabre took Wyatt from the counselor and carried him around, introducing herself to each of the children as best she could. She wondered if she should be concerned about Wyatt’s safety, although he seemed to have survived the first year and a half of his life amongst these “active” children well enough. He was the only one of the five that had any extra weight on his body.
The dynamics of this little family were interesting to watch. After a while, Sabre called for the counselors to come take the children back. A sigh of relief overtook her when they all left. She had learned a lot from her encounter with the Johnson sibs, not the least of which was to see them individually next time. Perhaps then she could ask about the chicken feet.
3
Tired and irritable, it probably wasn’t the best time to meet a teenager, but Sabre read through the report while she waited for the counselor to bring Bailey Rose Lecy to the interview room. There wasn’t anything too surprising in the report. Bailey had run away several times, her grades had started to drop last semester, and by spring she hadn’t attended school at all. From her behavior, the social worker suspected drugs, but no real evidence supported the theory.
Sabre closed her file and laid it down on the table when Bailey walked in. Her dyed-black hair made her aqua-blue eyes more evident, almost frightening. Bright red lipstick on her full lips added the only color to her pale skin. In spite of the cover-up, Sabre could see a natural beauty under her gothic disguise. Her features were perfect—a small nose, straight teeth, clear skin, and a tiny dimple in her left cheek. She wore a green sweat shirt and khaki pants that Sabre assumed were Polinsky issue, since the report indicated she only wore black.
Bailey stepped inside and stopped a few feet from the door with her arms folded.
Sabre took a step towards her. “Please come have a seat.” Sabre motioned to the sofa.
Bailey stood still. “Do you have a cigarette?” She asked.