The Advocate's Ex Parte (The Advocate Series Book 5) Read Online Free PDF

the beating,” he said in more of a statement than a question.
    “Maybe. Anyway, by the time they arrived the guy had a broken nose. Blood had spurted everywhere. She’d beaten him with a Mickey Mouse lamp, of all things. The oldest child tried to stop her, but he got kicked in the face and ended up with a black eye.”
    “And none of the neighbors did anything?”
    “Not at first. Even when they did finally intervene, they didn’t stop the fight, but one of them picked up the two-year-old boy and held him so he couldn’t see what was happening.” Sabre stopped talking when she heard the front door open. She started to stand up. “That must be the food.”
    JP beat her out of her seat. “I’ll get it,” he said and walked out of her office.
    Sabre wasn’t sure if he was anxious to keep her from paying for the food or if he was concerned that it might not be the delivery. She heard an exchange of a few words between JP and another male voice, and a minute or two later JP returned carrying a white paper sack that smelled of shrimp, ginger, and garlic. He set the bag on Sabre’s desk. She retrieved two paper plates, a couple of spoons, a fork, and two sets of cream-colored plastic chopsticks from a cupboard. She handed JP a plate. “Chopsticks?”
    “No, thanks.”
    Sabre laid the other utensils on the desk. They dished up their food and for a moment ate in silence, JP with his fork and Sabre with the chopsticks.
    “Why do you use those when you eat Asian food?”
    “Actually, I use them for other food, too. At home, that is. It feels better than the taste of metal in my mouth. I learned to use them when I was a kid. My mother would get annoyed at me because I would eat so fast. She constantly told me to slow down because it wasn’t healthy and it was bad manners. I think the manners thing bothered her the most. One day my father came home with a beautiful set of chopsticks with mother of pearl embedded on the handles. They were gorgeous. After a great deal of practice and my brother’s harassment and teasing, I mastered using them. Now, they trigger pleasant memories for me.”
    JP smiled and for a second Sabre saw wonder in his eyes. She couldn’t decide if it was out of fascination, admiration, or just curiosity.
    “I could teach you how to use them.”
    JP shook his head. “There’s no use trying to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and it annoys the pig.”
    She laughed. “Fair enough.”
    JP finished eating before Sabre. He threw his plate in the trash and picked up his file again. “So, back to Martinez. You were saying a neighbor helped with the youngest child.”
    “She finally tried to get the other two children away from the parents, but the oldest boy kept trying to stop the fight and the little girl just stood there screaming. The neighbor’s contact information is in the report.”
    “How old are the other children?”
    “The girl is five and the boy is seven.”
    “Same father for all three kids?”
    “Yes. And according to the father’s attorney, he puts up with the mother’s behavior because of the children.”
    “Any drug or alcohol abuse on this case?”
    “Of course. Mostly alcohol, I think. That’s the common denominator on most of these cases, isn’t it?” Sabre didn’t wait for him to answer. “Both of them drink quite a bit, but the booze really sets the mother off. Apparently, she’s pretty bad to start with and impossible with the help of her friend in the bottle.”
    JP made some more notes on his pad about Martinez, turned the page, and wrote King. “So, what is this one?”
    “Physical abuse. Two boys, ages two and twelve. The dad beat the older boy, who is his stepson, with a belt. Left some pretty nasty bruises. He spent the last year in prison for a probation violation on an earlier assault charge.”
    “And the violation was for?”
    “Drug possession with intent to sell.”
    “And Tran ?” JP started a new page.
    “Neglect. The mom left her