Alex didn’t answer, staring out the window as they drove down familiar streets to the courthouse, past her neighbors, past the coffee shop where she stopped every morning on her way to work, past the grocery where she stopped on the way home to pick up something for dinner, past the restaurant she and Bonnie went to so often they had their own table, and past the bar across the street they’d go to afterward to sip wine, listen to cool jazz, and hold hands. Past people, places, and things that were part of her. She pressed her hand against the window as if she could touch them one last time as they passed from view.
When they reached the courthouse, she was more at ease than she’d been in months. She had taken a man’s life, though not without reason. How could she not be held to account? Would it have been better if Dwayne had raped Bonnie and been caught and he was the one about to go on trial? The answer was easy. She’d done the right thing then and she was doing the right thing now.
Another media gauntlet greeted them, Mason shepherding her by them and into the courthouse. She emptied her pockets, passing through the metal detector, grateful when one of the deputies whispered, “Good luck.” They took the elevator to the fifth floor. Claire was waiting for them outside Judge West’s courtroom and motioned them into a witness room across the hall.
“Is it done?” Alex asked.
Claire shook her head, her face grim. “I’m sorry. Ortiz said the deal is off the table.”
“Why?” Mason asked. “What if she agreed to do ten years?”
“It isn’t the number of years. Patrick told me that there’d be no deal of any kind.”
“I don’t get it,” Mason said. “He offered the deal last week. What happened?”
“Whatever happened, it’s big enough to have his whole office buzzing. If I had a dollar for every smirk I saw, I’d be rich.”
Alex leaned against the wall, one hand on her belly, her insides jumping.
“What we do now?” she asked.
Claire squared her shoulders, looking Alex in the eye. “We go to war.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Claire sat at their counsel table, making notes and ignoring the chatter of the people who’d crowded into the courtroom, some of who had waited in line for an hour to get a seat. She didn’t raise her head when Patrick Ortiz and his assistant, Mark Berger, another criminal law professor, took their seats.
Alex kept her back to the audience, rounding her shoulders, trying to disappear. She took slow, measured breaths to calm herself. The realization that this was finally happening threatened to overwhelm her. She gripped the edge of the table with both hands and held on, letting go only when Claire gave her arm a reassuring squeeze.
She took another deep breath and swiveled around to face the crowd, looking past the many familiar faces, searching for Lou Mason. She’d spent as much time with him over the last six months as she had with Bonnie. He’d been through his own crucible, coming out on the other side with his life and dignity intact. He’d stepped up, taken his lumps, and moved on. Or so it seemed to her. She hoped it wasn’t an illusion, because the image she had of him gave her hope that she might land in a similar place.
She found him in the back of the room talking to Kate Scranton, an attractive, slender woman with long dark hair and intense eyes dressed in a business suit, a laptop tucked under her arm. Kate was their jury consultant. Claire had recommended hiring her, touting her unique ability to read micro facial expressions, which revealed as much about people as what they said and did. Bonnie wrote the check for her services, just as she had for Claire’s fees, one more debt Alex wondered if she’d ever be able to pay.
Alex had met Kate on the one visit she’d made to Kansas City from her home in San Diego. When she asked Alex to tell her about the case, Alex couldn’t escape the sensation of being put under a microscope. Later, when she asked Claire what Kate had said about her, Claire smiled and told her that Kate liked her and thought she’d be a good witness if it came to that. Alex didn’t press for more, afraid of what Kate might have seen in her involuntary expressions.
Mason led Kate to a seat in the row of chairs inside the rail directly behind their counsel table. Alex smiled at her and they shook hands, Alex quickly turning away, wanting Kate to focus her dissecting gaze on anyone but her.
Everyone quieted and rose as Judge West entered from his chambers, gaveled the case to order, and directed the parties to state their appearances. Claire didn’t waste any time, striking as soon as the ritual was completed.
“Your Honor, if I may, I have a preliminary matter that I’d like to take up before we begin jury selection.”
Judge West, swathed in his black robe and filling his high-backed, leather-bound chair to capacity, looked down at her.
“We’ll get to you in a moment, Ms. Mason. Ladies and gentlemen,” he said to the audience, “this is a courtroom, not a social hall, and this is a murder trial, not a happy hour. Keep your phones and cameras turned off. If I hear a phone ring or a shutter click, you’ll be buying a new one on your way home. Keep your comments to yourself and you can stay until you can’t take those wooden benches any longer. Violate these simple rules and you won’t be here long enough to warm your seat. Now, Ms. Mason, what’s on your mind?”
“Thank you, Your Honor. Mr. Ortiz listed a witness named Gloria Temple. His disclosures state that he doesn’t know her whereabouts or the substance of her expected testimony. I’d like to know if there’s been any change in her status so that we can have adequate time to prepare for cross-examination.”
Patrick Ortiz rose before Claire had finished speaking.
“Your Honor, the state understands its obligations to disclose this information and will act accordingly.”
“Satisfied, Ms. Mason?” Judge West asked.
“Not even close, Your Honor. If Mr. Ortiz knows the whereabouts of this witness and/or the substance of her expected testimony, now is the time to tell us. It’s not sufficient to say that he’ll follow the rules. I want to know now, not when she walks into the courtroom.”
“Your Honor,” Ortiz said.
Judge West held up his hand. “Not necessary, Counsel. Ms. Mason, the special prosecutor has told you all he’s required to tell you. Rest assured that I will give you ample time to prepare for this witness should that become necessary. Are there any other preliminary matters before we get started?”
“None for the defense.”
“The prosecution is ready to proceed.”
“Very well, then. Ladies and gentlemen, this courtroom is about to get pretty crowded. We’re going to bring in sixty potential jurors. We’ll put twelve in the jury box and the rest are going to sit where those of you on the left side of the courtroom are sitting. So you’ll have to squeeze in on the right side or stand along the wall or get back to work.”
Judge West nodded at his bailiff, who went to retrieve the jurors. The audience shuffled around, making room for them. Claire, Alex, and Mason huddled at their table.
“Well,” Claire said, “I thought Ortiz might have found Gloria Temple and that she told him something good enough to change his mind about making a deal. That’s why I pushed him on his disclosures.”
“Doesn’t mean that she isn’t the reason,” Mason said. “They may have a line on her but haven’t caught up to her yet.”
“I know. Do you think Blues can find out and maybe get to her first?”
“Depends on how much of a head start the cops have. I’ll go call him,” he said and left.
“What do you think’s going on?” Alex asked Claire.
She looked around the courtroom, drumming a pen on her legal pad.
“I don’t know, but I don’t think I’m going to like it when I find out.”
