The Advocate - 02 - The Advocate's Betrayal by Teresa Burrell Page B

usual.
    “Good afternoon,” Elaine said as she handed her a stack of phone messages and her mail. “What happened to Betty?”
    “She’s still in custody. I couldn’t get bail ordered.”
    “That’s too bad.”
    “Anything urgent in here?” Sabre held up the bundled messages.
    “You received a couple of calls on the Breton case for tomorrow. I think the father is back in custody and the mother tested dirty.”
    “Damn it.” Sabre swatted the side of Elaine’s desk with her mail. “I had such high hopes for those parents, and those kids really want to go home. Stupid, stupid people. If they loved their kids half as much as they did their drugs, the kids wouldn’t have to go through all this.”
    She walked back to her office mumbling about the idiocy of parents. But that wasn’t all that was bothering her. She was eager to talk to Betty about her background check, but that would have to wait until tomorrow. She set her files down and started through her mail. She threw away the junk, put the mail that Elaine would take care of in a bin, and set her personal mail aside to deal with later. She pulled out the Breton file and returned the phone calls from the social worker.
    “What’s Dad in custody for?” she asked the social worker.
    “He was busted for possession.”
    “Possession of what? He’s supposed to be the one who doesn’t use. Was it the hard stuff?”
    “No, he had a joint in his pocket. He claims it wasn’t his, and I’m not sure it was.”
    “So, those kids aren’t going home tomorrow, but this sounds like something that can be worked out down the road. Right?”
    “I agree, but Mom can’t handle those kids by herself and obviously she isn’t ready anyway. They need to do this as a couple.”
    “So, you don’t think Dad is going to be back?”
    “He was with a hooker when he was busted. Not just any hooker, either. He was with Sunshine.”
    “That’s the same one he was with before.”
    “Yup, and Mom isn’t going to take this lightly.”
    “What the hell is the matter with these people? I’m so sick of their stupidity.”
    “You okay?” the social worker asked.
    “Oh, yeah.” Sabre picked up her briefcase and threw her files inside, slamming it shut. “I’m fine. Just lots of things going on with me and I’m very concerned for those kids. Did you see them today?”
    “No, they don’t know yet that they won’t be going home, but I’ll go by there in a little while and talk to them.”
    “Thanks, I’ll see you in court tomorrow.”
    Frustrated, Sabre dived into the other cases she had on the calendar for the next day. She read over the report for the detention hearing on a molest case, the information for a disposition on a domestic violence where a three-year-old was shot, and several reports on old cases that were up for review. Sabre was deep in thought when Elaine rushed into the room.
    “You need to take the call on line one. It’s Las Colinas.” Elaine looked frightened.
    Sabre picked up the phone. A moment later, she hung up, grabbed her purse, and rushed toward the door.
    “What is it?” Elaine called after her.
     

12
     
     
    The crowded emergency room smelled of medicine and body odor. The chairs were filled with people waiting to be treated, many of them with infants and small children. An hispanic man with a gash on his arm wrapped in a bloody towel stood up to let a feeble, old woman sit down. The line at the information window numbered about ten people, all sick or hurt or with someone who was. Sabre reached in her purse and took out a Zycam chewable and popped it in her mouth to protect her in the germ-filled room. A woman in front of her coughed without covering her mouth. Sabre turned to avoid her just as the man behind her sneezed. She felt a mist hit the side of her face. She shivered. She hated hospitals, nothing but sick people there. She couldn’t afford to catch something and fall behind on her caseload.
    Twenty-five minutes later,