Trial Junkies

'Look,' she told him, 'Tom called me earlier tonight and I know I'm the odd man out now. I know you came here thinking you could change my mind about her, but trust me, it isn't going to happen.'

'And why's that?'

'Because I know the real Ronnie, okay? You share a room with someone, you tend to get to know them better than anyone else.'

'That was ten years ago.'

'She's no different now than she was in college, and back then she was a manipulative little bitch. Not to mention borderline psychotic.'

'Come on, Nadine, that's ridiculous.'

'Is it?' She took another sip of her drink. 'Did I ever tell you about the night she nearly shot me?'

'What?'

'Okay, to be fair, it wasn't a real gun, just one of those air pistols that looks like the real thing. You remember that kid she dated for a while? Liam?'

'The one who wanted to be a cop?'

She nodded. 'He used to carry one in his backpack and pull it out every once in a while, flashing it around like he was Mel Gibson or something. One night he left without his pack and Ronnie fished out the gun and started waving it at Jenny and me, saying, 'Watch out, girls, I'm armed and dangerous.''

'That's it?' Hutch said. 'That's nothing.'

'Yeah, except later that same night-or I guess I should say early the next morning-I woke up and saw Ronnie sitting on the edge of her bed, playing with the gun again. I don't know if she knew I was awake, but all of a sudden she gets this look in her eyes, then points it at me and pulls the trigger. It wasn't loaded, but still…'

Hutch thought about this a moment, then shook his head. 'That's all you've got?'

'You didn't see that look.'

'It's a wonder you did-unless you sleep with a light on.'

'We were on the far side of the house, remember? A lot of moonlight coming in through the window.'

'Uh-huh,' Hutch said. 'You're not exactly convincing me here.'

'I know what I saw, and it scared the hell out of me.'

'Then why didn't you say anything?' He shook his head again. 'I have a feeling it scares you more now than it did then. Back then it was just a stupid prank, but you're filtering the memory through what's happening today and reading all kinds of significance into it-whether it's warranted or not.'

She raised her glass. 'Thank you, Dr. Hutchinson.'

'I'll send you a bill.'

He knew he could stand here and debate with her all night, but she wasn't about to budge. Unlike himself, she wasn't a flip-flopper, and he had to give her that. There was something admirable in her ability to take a stand and stick with it, even if they disagreed. Even if it isolated her.

Another trait she shared with Jenny.

She drained the glass and got to her feet. 'You sure you don't want something to drink?' She teetered slightly and he suspected the one in her hand wasn't the first of the night. Far from it.

'I think I'll head out.'

She squinted at him. 'I'm sorry, did I scare little Ethan away? You just got here.'

Hutch shrugged. 'Like you said, I came to change your mind, stop you from testifying against Ronnie. But I can see that isn't gonna happen, so what's the point?'

'We can talk about something else. About Jenny, if you like. I'm sure you're feeling pretty guilty lately.'

That wasn't the half of it, but he had no interest in discussing it with her. 'I'm done talking. Time to start doing.'

'Meaning what?'

'I wish I knew. But despite what you think, Jenny's killer is out there somewhere and I feel like I need to do something about it.'

Nadine balked, a mocking tone in her voice. 'Like what? Play detective? This is real life, Hutch, not one of your movies.'

He turned and started for the door. 'Thanks for the reminder.'

'Stop letting your dick do your thinking for you.'

He paused mid-step, turned. 'I beg your pardon?'

'It's all right there in the photos.'

'I told you, it's not what it-'

'You can protest all you want,' she said, offering him an inebriated, know-it-all smile that annoyed the hell out of him. 'But words don't really matter, do they? Your body's saying something completely different.'

Then she dismissed him with a wave and crossed to the bar to pour herself another drink.

— 28 -

He caught the train back to the courthouse district, needing time to decompress, not wanting to take the direct route home. He stood on the platform waiting for his connection, and thought about heading down the steps, stopping in one of the nearby bars and ordering himself a single malt. Preferably Jameson.

He wasn't sure why he suddenly felt the urge. Maybe it was seeing Nadine well on her way to that special place where everything in the world seemed so crystal clear, even as it swirled around you. Where the doubts melted away with each sip, and the instinctive being took over-the one without fear, the one who knew right from wrong, fact from fiction, and didn't hesitate to express himself.

The invincible drunk.

But Hutch had seen that guy immortalized on video enough times to know that, beneath the cocky exterior, he was pretty much an inbred idiot. Their friendship had been brief, fruitless, and often destructive, and Hutch had no desire to revisit it.

So he resisted the urge and quietly waited for his train. Fished a cigarette out of the crumpled pack in his pocket and lit up, thinking it wasn't much of a substitute for booze, but it would do.

He stood there wondering why Nadine hated Ronnie so much. She had always been fiercely protective of Jenny, but there seemed to be more to it than that-and the incident with the air gun was complete bullshit. Not even worth considering.

Had something else happened between them back in college? Something only the girls had known about?

Jenny certainly had never talked about it. But then Hutch and Jenny hadn't spent a lot of time discussing the other people in the house. Especially not in their first year or so together. They were too caught up in the excitement of a new and blossoming relationship, and external conflicts rarely caught their attention.

And when Hutch thought about it, if Nadine had a problem with anyone, you'd think it would be Jenny herself. They had been best friends when Hutch came along, and Nadine had been promptly relegated to third wheel. Not intentionally, of course, but that was just the way things worked.

Still do.

If anything, Nadine and Ronnie should have bonded at that point. Because Ronnie had been Hutch's friend and had suffered a similar fate. Why they hadn't immediately become BFFs was a mystery to him.

A clash of personalities, he supposed. Although it seemed to have worked for Matt and Andy.

As he stood there, wondering about all of this, these thoughts were forcefully wrenched from his brain when two things happened simultaneously:

First, his train, the green line, came roaring to a stop in front of him, its doors hissing open. And at that very same moment, he saw a familiar figure scurrying up the steps to the train platform.

It was the creepy guy with the crew cut and thick black glasses, his ever present book bag slung over a