Mother Load (18 page)

Maria sat at the defense table with her hands folded and chin poised defiantly. Now was not the time to show remorse or shame, Lily had told her. The jury needed to see a woman who had acted decisively to protect her children, a woman who would do it again.

“Mr. Samuels will call witnesses to tell you that Miguel Esperanza had turned his life around, and had moved on from his troubles with his ex-wife. We’ll show you a man who defied a restraining order to threaten her…to make her sorry.” She paused again so people could study on the threat as Maria saw it. “We shouldn’t even be here today. Maria Esperanza sensed a threat from a threatening man who was taking her children from her home against a court order. How many stories have we read of men who did unspeakable things to their own children in order to make their ex-wives sorry? The defendant wasn’t going to let that happen to her children. She acted to protect them, and that isn’t a crime. It’s an instinct.”

Anna turned off her office light and skipped down the stairs to the media room, where Andy was engrossed in a sales film for the 760Li sedan, his grandfather’s car. “Let’s go, pal. I’ve made us late.” They were meeting the family at Empyre’s to celebrate Hal’s birthday, but she had been dragged into an e-mail spat between co-chairs of the Chamber’s awards committee and lost track of the time.

Their new family routine was working out just fine. Andy loved spending afternoons at the dealership, and her father didn’t mind at all cutting out for a few minutes in the afternoon to pick him up from school. Since neither she nor Lily had to pick him up from the Big House after work, they all had an extra half hour together at home. Her on-the-job kitchen training was coming along nicely too. She had even mastered Andy’s favorite dish, macaroni and cheese, and she no longer took for granted the opportunity to eat out in a nice restaurant.

“Did you get your homework done?”

Andy clicked his seat belt and stretched his neck to look out the side window. He loved riding in the Z8 because he got to sit in the front seat. “We don’t have homework on Friday.”

They caught every stoplight between the dealership and Empyre’s, which made them ten minutes late. A young valet, dressed in dark shorts and a crisp white shirt with gold piping on the shoulders, sprang to greet her as she pulled into the circle. He was new to Empyre’s, something she took as a good sign—businesses were hiring again.

Andy dashed ahead as soon as he spotted the others at the big round table in the back. Lily had saved his seat between her and Jonah, as well as the one on the other side.

Anna leaned down and eyed Lily apologetically. “Excuse me, madam. Is this seat taken?”

Lily gave her a sidelong look. “I’ve been saving that for someone but she’s very late. Go ahead and take it. We’ll teach her a lesson.”

The waiter took their drink orders, sparkling water, iced tea and sodas for the boys. For three years now the whole clan had passed on wine and cocktails whenever they gathered. They drank at home and out with others but never in Lily’s presence. Though Lily insisted it didn’t matter, Anna appreciated her family’s gesture very much.

Her father immediately became engrossed in his grandsons while Martine entertained Alice in her high chair. Getting together with their parents gave the four of them a parenting vacation of sorts, since they could turn their attention to each other without worrying whether the children were being watched. It wouldn’t be so easy to leave twins under her mom and dad’s care, at least not for two or three years, but every set of hands and eyes lightened the load. She had learned that from her sister, because every time she showed up for a visit, Kim took a few minutes of time for herself.

Hal tapped his glass with his knife for everyone’s attention. “We have something to celebrate today besides me getting older. All four dealerships posted profits in February. Sales were eight percent higher than last year—which isn’t saying all that much since they were in the toilet—but now that we’ve adjusted our workforce we’re happily back in the black.”

Anna had been sneaking peeks at the numbers and had a feeling things were looking up. It was a relief to get his confirmation. “How are we trending?”

“Up three months in a row. And March is on pace to be our best month yet.”

She stretched across the table to touch her glass to Hal’s. “I would be willing to get older too for news like that.”

No sooner had the waiter delivered their entrees than Alice pounded the table from her high chair, demanding something to eat. Kim set down her fork and began tearing off pieces of bread and bits of cheese. “Enjoy it now, you two,” she said, directing her remarks to Anna and Lily. “Life as you know it is about to change.”

Anna dug into her piping hot souvlaki. “At least you don’t have to worry that your Greek salad will get cold.”

“And you think that’s an accident? I haven’t ordered hot food in five years. Babies have a sixth sense about these things. They get hungry the minute your plate comes, they wake up the second your bathtub is filled, and they wet themselves the instant you fall asleep. Without fail.”

Hal nodded along. “She’s right, you know. You probably think you’ve got this handled because there are two of you, but you’re having two kids.”

“Go home and go to bed now while you still can,” Kim added.

After dinner they gathered in the parking circle. “Andy wants to ride with me because I drive the cool car,” she whispered to Lily.

“Just wait till I get my Routan. He’ll be begging me to take the long way home.”

Anna handed her ticket to the valet, who looked at her with confusion.

“Do you have a red ticket?” the young man asked.

She felt her jacket pocket for a ticket she knew wasn’t there, noticing with a sinking feeling that his sleeves didn’t have gold piping like the other man’s. “No, he gave me this blue one.”

“Who did? I’m the only one working tonight.”

“The State calls Serena Langdon.”

Lily gave Maria a look of consolation at seeing her sister take the stand as a witness against her. Samuels had scoured social service records and found a reference to a threat Maria had made four years ago to kill Miguel if he ever laid a hand on her children. The context was a custody issue, in which Serena argued that Sofia and Roberto needed to stay with her until the relationship between Miguel and Maria calmed down. They listened patiently as Samuels cherry-picked her testimony from the report.

Then it was Lily’s turn. She didn’t care that Maria had threatened to kill Miguel, and she didn’t want the jury to care either.

“Mrs. Langdon, you’re a state-certified foster parent, are you not?”

“Yes, I was certified when social services asked me to keep Roberto and Sofia.”

“Can you tell us the circumstances of those occasions on which you took your sister’s children into your home?”

“The first time was when Maria had to go to the hospital because Miguel broke her cheekbone.”

Serena’s recollections opened the door for Lily to present the court with all four police reports and a wide array of photos that depicted a battered Maria.

“Objection, Your Honor. Miguel Esperanza isn’t on trial here. He’s dead because the defendant killed him.”

The objection was absurd, but Lily understood Samuels’s intention. He needed to disrupt the focus on the damaging photos and testimony of abuse, even if only for a moment, to lessen their impact. Unfortunately for him, it gave her the opportunity to underscore Maria’s state of mind. “The deceased’s propensity toward violence is the reason his threat was perceived as genuine, and also the reason he is dead.”

“Overruled.”

She released the witness and gave Judge Anston a pleading look.

He slapped his gavel. “Twenty minute recess.”

Anna drummed her fingers on her desk as she waited for Lily to pick up her cell phone. They had programmed unique ringtones for urgent calls, but this she dialed through the usual shortcut in case she was still in court, wanting only to commiserate about her stolen car.

“Hey, sweetie. I was just leaving court. One of the jurors started throwing up and we called it a day.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t follow suit.”

“Tell me about it. I thought the bailiff was going to lose his lunch too, and that would’ve set off a chain reaction that would’ve shown up on the Richter scale.”

Anna laughed at the mental image. “How did your case go today?”

“We’re holding our own. I like it when the prosecution witnesses make our arguments for us.”

“Speaking of making a case, I just got off the phone with the police department. The good news is that my theft system worked.”

“They found your car?”

“No, they found my theft system. It was in a dumpster in Burbank. The detective said it looked like the work of a car ring they’ve been tracking for a couple of years…mostly high-end sports cars, like Ferraris and Lamborghinis.” Anna let out a dismal sigh. “Most likely it’s on a transport well on its way to South America by now.”

“Aw, Anna.” Lily sounded genuinely sympathetic. “I know I made a lot of jokes about you getting rid of it, but I know how much you loved that car. I’m really so sorry.”

“It was just a car,” she said drearily, not even convincing herself. It was a special car, just like the 850 that had been crushed in the parking garage during the earthquake six years ago. “I called Marco over at the VW dealership. They have a couple of Routans, but not with the package you want. They can’t keep them on the lot.”

“I guess I don’t really need all those things. I just thought as long as—”

“Of course you need those things. Getting a new car is supposed to be special. You want something that catches your eye in the parking lot, something you can drive and know people are looking at you and admiring it. You learn how to play with all the new gadgets. You sink your butt into that leather and make it your own. You don’t settle on a new car.”

“Okay, I can certainly wait at least a couple more months until you get the one I want, but tell Marco to put my name on it. What about you though? What are you going to drive in the meantime?”

“I don’t know…something.” She heard Andy and her father on the steps outside her office. “I’ll ask Andy to help me pick something out. See you at home.”

Of all the cars on her lot, the new 650i convertible was by far her favorite. The downside was it was a coupe, and she couldn’t drive it with the top down with two babies in the back. If the top was up, it would be nearly impossible to get in and out of the backseat to manage the car seats. Besides, it came only with an automatic transmission and she liked driving too much to buy a car that practically drove itself.

From her office window she looked down the row of gleaming 7s like her father’s. Behind it were 6s, then the SUVs, the hottest vehicles on the lot. Not one of them offered what she wanted, a six-speed manual transmission.

Andy walked in behind her and dumped his book bag in the corner where he kept his toys and school supplies.

“Hey, pal. Let’s go pick out a new car.”

His face lit up. He often pretended to play car salesman and was delighted to have the chance to do it for real.

“Why should I get a BMW?”

“Because they’re the best cars on the road,” he answered, not hesitating even a second. He led the way down the stairs and outside to the lot. Then he put his hands on his hips and turned. “You look like someone who likes to drive.”

She almost laughed aloud as he invoked her father’s favorite line when a new customer came onto the lot. “As a matter of fact I do. What I really like is changing gears. What’s the best car you have in a four-door with a six-speed manual transmission?”

Andy hung his finger on his bottom lip as he studied the rows of cars. Finally he pointed to the 7s and said, “Automatic.” Then the 6s and SUVs. “Automatic.”

She followed him toward the rear of the lot, chuckling to herself at his serious expression. One day he would make the most fantastic car salesman in all of California. When he reached the row of 5s, he turned in. Methodically, he stood on tiptoes and shielded his eyes to peer inside at the console of each.

“This one!” He proclaimed, pointing to a Tasman Green Metallic 550i with natural brown leather interior.

Anna grinned with pride. There weren’t many five-year-olds who could have zeroed in on exactly the right vehicle the way he just had. “May I take it for a test drive?” She used her code to open the lockbox and the keys fell into her hand.

“I have to ride in the backseat.”

“That’s right, but just until you’re six years old. Then you can ride up front with me.”

She navigated the heavy traffic on Wilshire Boulevard before finally pulling north onto the 405. The car responded to her every impulse, even more so than the Z8, she admitted reluctantly. It was cushier too, much kinder to her thirty-seven-year-old bottom. And the smell…positively exquisite.

“We find the defendant guilty,” the forewoman said, glaring angrily at Maria Esperanza.

The case had turned on the testimony of Eduardo, who tearfully described his brother as a gentle and loving father, thwarted at every turn by his vindictive ex-wife. He feared for his children’s safety, especially after learning Maria had acquired a gun, and wanted only to rescue them from their mother’s volatile temper.

Rod Samuels sneered smugly, the price tag still hanging from—

“Hey, sweetie. I didn’t want to wake you, but Andy’s about to go to bed and I thought you might want to say goodnight.”

Lily struggled to sit up as she got her bearings. She was still wearing the suit she had put on this morning for court, where Rod Samuels had wrapped up his case. Eduardo had done a fair job of painting his brother in a positive light, much better than she had expected.

“We had Chinese takeout for dinner, but I thought you might like something on the comfort side since it’s so late.” Anna indicated a glass on the dresser. “So I brought you a strawberry smoothie.”

“Sounds perfect.” Using both hands, she pushed herself off the bed. If she was this encumbered at twenty-nine weeks, how would she even be able to move in a couple more months?