##Chapter 18: Catching Up

The description of the crime scene made Elaine's stomach roil.

Grace had been so close to it all. Had had to witness the devastation. How many times would she be forced to recount the incident? How would the jury respond? The other prosecutors on the case? Would Grace be able to handle the stress of it all?

She would need to be prepared for that. Abigail could handle the case part, had probably had already, but she would help Grace to be more vocal in her emotions. She was such a shy girl, it would be near impossible to get her to open up about herself because she wouldn't want to burden anyone.

A mug nudged her. Elaine looked into molten hazel. Abigail had moved closer as the night wore on, unwilling to speak too loudly in case their voices woke Grace or the girl herself woke early for some reason or another. She was sitting inches away. Elaine could feel the heat of her body and smell her perfume.

It was a musky scent. Something from the ocean. Resisting the urge to bury herself into the woman's hair, she drew circles on the wood of the tabletop, humming to show she was listening. She had tons of questions to ask. It was hard to know where to start.

Abigail looked behind her, waiting until a particularly loud commercial came on TV before speaking.

"Do you have any questions about what I've told you so far? Anything that stands out to you that I missed? There's been something bothering me about this case, but I can't place what I'm so worried about."

Most of the crime scene was normal. Overturned boxes. Blood residue. The only thing that didn't make sense was the equipment and timing. How organized the group all seemed to be.

"I'm thinking about the sniper rifle bullets you mentioned being found. Where on earth would a group of thugs have gotten their hands on equipment like that so quickly? Wouldn't it have been suspicious to buy them?"

Abigail started pulling papers from her pockets. They were neatly pressed and crisp. She began opening and laying them on the table in order of their size. Elaine could see rows of handwritten notes.

"More than likely it was stolen weapons from a manufacturer. Drug cartels aren't shy about raiding shipments or will have plants placed on the inside willing to input false data for legal sales. There are also less scrupulous places willing to sell items to whoever has cash to buy them."

If they weren't handmade but created by a factory….

"Oh! Don't mass produced firearms come with serial numbers? Couldn't the police track down the one who sold the shipments based on that? Then you'd have company records for employees! Surely there aren't that many sniper rifle manufacturing plants in the state, or in the nation, who would have lost… well… never mind…. I know that isn't the case."

A paper was tapped. It had Elaine's thoughts underlined, including debate on the specific type of gun used in the crime based on the bullets found at the scene and the amount of residue left behind. Another paper was slid over.

"I managed to collect previous case files for Mr. Holiday's crimes before this incident, and all of them were solo crimes. The use of an alternate group to perpetuate his criminal behaviors is an odd choice for someone so involved as Holiday. More people means more chances for the crime to be prosecuted."

Elaine looked over the notes feeling her stomach knot tighter and tighter. So many young faces and names.

"So you think that Bobby Holiday ordered this group around directly then? Or had someone he gave orders to who then ordered this group? Who would that have been?"

Abigail pointed to the paper. Elaine kept reading, taking particular note of the fact that….

"We know that there haven't been any calls in or out of the center where Bobby is being held that are linked to him. There aren't any known gang members in the prison who have been in contact with him because he's been in isolation. If that's the case then.…"

The look on Abigail's face told her she was headed in the right direction. She had to be sure, though.

"Someone had to have been following you. Someone who wouldn't want Bobby to be in prison. Someone… on the inside of the district attorney's office or who's at least heavily involved in the trial or will be."

The tea was finished in a series of hurried gulps, and Abigail rose and walked to the sink to wash her cup.

"Precisely. It would have to be on my end more so than the fault of anyone you were to know. There is no telling how many people read the communications between myself and the police chief. There is no telling how many officers were contacted in the departments. It could even be an operator at the emergency call center."

Elaine tried to remember everything Grace had said about the group. Her eyes read over the line about the note addressed to them. Until they could collect all the information about the people involved and their communications, the best they could do was speculate. Better to move on for now.

"At least there's now evidence of handwriting. You can use that at trial, can't you? Force his thugs to write to show the judge that the same people did the crime? It would help prove their identities along, with Grace's testimony, and make it so there's not so much pressure on her."

The cup was doused in water multiple times before being put to dry. Abigail then started opening up the other cabinets. She didn't take anything out of them yet, just scanned over it all. Elaine kept a close eye on the stash of cupcakes hidden behind the napkins, hoping the lawyer wasn't hungry.

"Handwriting similarity is a hard thing to prove in court because of its generality. Many people can have similar styles. I would be challenged on the medium of blood being used. The fluidity would make it harder to provide a positive identification because the splatter could have altered the original shape of the lettering."

D**n there went that then. Elaine felt bad she hadn't been able to provide any new insight into Abigail's case but felt much better about being caught up. The remaining papers talked about fortification plans for the apartment and various trips to stores around town for supplies in the case of them leaving.

So much to do and not enough time to do it in.

There was the custody situation. She would need to apply before they left, if they left, and hope that the paperwork went through without complications. There should be nothing wrong with her taking charge of Grace, but she knew someone would think her bank account not full enough or question her work schedule.

She loved social work, but the amount of red tape involved in simple procedures was certainly her least favorite part. If they tried to appeal her custody, at the very least, they would have to go before a judge on the matter, and it may take more time to settle than the legal case against Bobby Holiday.

Chip bags rattled as they were lined up on the counter.

"How is Grace handling things?"

Finally, something she could help Abigail with!

"She's being incredibly resilient. She's scared but is hopeful that things are going to turn out okay."

Plastic wrap and plastic bags were set beside the snack foods. Did she mean to take them with them? Elaine knew she didn't have enough foodstuffs to last all three of them for days on end. They would need to make a grocery trip. No way was she having Grace eat "military rations from the camping store."

"Based upon that, I take it that Grace isn't aware her mother has passed on."

Was she that obvious?

"I was going to tell her in the morning. I didn't feel comfortable having her worried about something I wasn't sure about. I feel awful that we might have to drag her around after we tell her. Traveling is a great way to deal with emotions, but not when it is forced upon you."

The tea came down next. The bags were taken out and the boxes folded down and placed into the recycling bin.

"I can attest to that. What helped me the most after my mother's passing was just taking a night or two to myself and sitting down to just think things out."

Should she get up and help? Abigail had a good system going in here. Perhaps it would be best to make the barricades while she sorted out the food situation. Elaine leaned back in her chair.

"I wish there was some place where no one would be able to find us. It wouldn't have to be anything fancy, but we could all really use a break away from all this. All I can really think to do at this point would be to put on disguises and go buy camping equipment."

Abigail's eyes crinkled and she hid her smile behind pulling boxes of cookies off the cabinet shelving. It was the most playful Elaine had ever seen her be.

"About that…."