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“I told her to pull herself together before court. Obviously to her, that translated to calling you.”
He breathes out as if my words are a relief. “I hope so. Okay. Go win. I need her back.”
He needs her back.
Or he needs her money?
I nod and exit the office, shutting the door behind me. I cut right and start walking, and as expected, Savage falls into place with me. “I take it I don’t need to intimidate the fuck out of him for you?”
“Not yet,” I say.
“Not yet. Interesting response.”
“His asshole father, as he called him, died two years ago. I need you to find out the details.”
“On it,” he says. “I’ll intimidate the fuck out of whoever I have to to get the facts.”
I cut him a look. “That doesn’t sound ethical and I am ethical.”
“Pretend you didn’t hear and murder isn’t exactly ethical though I must say, sometimes it’s necessary.”
Royce appears at the end of the hallway as we’re about to exit. “Who’s with Cat?” I ask.
“She’s in the courtroom and I have a man at the door. Debbie is nowhere to be found. We checked the cameras and she left right after you spotted her.”
“I’d like to say that means she didn’t expect me and headed out when she saw me, but this trial is big news, and she’s crazy, not stupid. I don’t feel good about it.”
“I would agree,” Royce says. “I did run her record and she’s had no activity to be concerned about. Additionally, we pulled her medical records, and there’s no indication of a psychological issue.”
I don’t even want to know how he got her medical records.
“But,” he adds, “that doesn’t mean much. Often people aren’t diagnosed with a mental health issue when they should be.”
“What now?” I ask.
“You go back to work and win your case,” Royce says. “We insulate you, protect you, and get you answers.”
It’s not the answer I want to hear, though aside from arresting Debbie, for basically nothing at this point, it’s the only one that works right now. I nod and step around Royce to head back toward my client and team. I need focus and the one thing that allows me to shift gears is knowing that Cat will be in the courtroom with me. She’ll be safe.
Cat
I sit in the courtroom, waiting for Reese to return and there is no question that I’m shaken. I need to talk to Lauren. I want to talk to Reese, but everything I’ve feared has happened. A pregnant woman is distracting him during his trial and she’s not me. It not only hurts him and his client, by way of the distraction, it shadows our baby news. This isn’t how I wanted us to be pregnant and for the first time since taking that test, I might regret it. I want a baby. I want to be a mother to Reese’s child but I want it to be a joy we celebrate. The action in the courtroom begins to kicks off again and I set aside the personal, to focus on the case. Besides, maybe Debbie Miller was here by coincidence. It could happen. It probably didn’t happen but Reese walks into the courtroom and I set that aside. I swear my stomach still flutters when that man claims a room.
The minute he’s behind his table he turns and looks for me, his eyes finding mine, the connection delivering a punch of awareness, that is so many things—attraction, friendship, love, a bond no one can break—and in Reese, I sense relief. He needed to know that I’m okay. He seemed to need to feel the connection between us that we’re in this together. I don’t know why he would doubt this and I won’t let him doubt it again. I can deal with whatever is thrown at me, as long as we’re in it together. I nod, letting him know that I’m fine, that I’m here for him. Whatever this Debbie Miller thing is, we’ll deal with it. I just wish it wasn’t happening now. Not now.
Reluctantly it seems, Reese turns back to the courtroom, and I hate the distraction that his actions spell. His distraction expands into concern in me and I find myself scanning the room, ensuring Debbie isn’t here and she’s not. She’s not here. I want to feel relief, but I don’t. She’s not gone. She’s going to stick around and muddy up my baby news. I don’t know why I know this, but I do. Debbie Miller is a problem that isn’t going to go away, but she doesn’t get to ruin our baby news. I’ll find a way to make it special and I’ll find the right time to tell him, that protects him and his client. I can ensure this part of the equation, but it’s up to Reese to find a way to focus on his case, to win, even when he’s mentally and emotionally split in different places.
The judge enters through the right far doorway and we all stand, but I know that my husband can and will own this courtroom. He is the one everyone will be watching. He is the one that will win this case. He has to. Dana’s life is on the line.
Chapter fifty-two
Cat
Milton Wicker, the prosecutor, begins his case by calling Martina Hernandez, the housekeeper who found the body, to the stand. Martina is short, a bit plump, with dark hair streaked with gray. She’s in a plum-colored dress and sensible shoes. She claims the seat before us all and even from here I can see her visibly shaking. Considering she found her employer dead, and the world is now watching, this reaction shouldn’t feel off to me, but it does. There is something off and I don’t know what.
The prosecutor steps in front of her. “Please state your name for the court.”
“Martina Anna Hernandez.”
