Page 84 of Fake it With Me

“No! That picture is fake!”

Darek slowly turned to look at me. Hell, everyone was looking at me, but I stared directly at the judge. I challenged her, begged her to let me prove my statement.

Then there was a low hum. I realized people around me were whispering. Sasha and her lawyer had their heads together as they whispered.

Oh shit.

What had I just done?

The judge’s gavel came down with a sharp crack that made me jump. “Order! I will have order in this courtroom!”

Everyone fell silent, and I became acutely aware that every single person in the room was still staring at me. The judge, the lawyers, the court reporter, the handful of observers in the gallery. And Darek, his eyes wide with a mixture of shock and something that might have been hope. And also maybe a little irritation. His whole life was hanging by a thread and my outburst might have just been the tiny little weight that snapped it clean.

Judge Morrison fixed me with a look that could have frozen the ocean. “Sit down, ma’am.”

“But I’m a whale scientist,” I blurted out, then immediately wanted to die. That was what I led with? That I was a whale scientist?

The judge’s expression shifted from stern to confusion. “That’s… interesting. But I don’t see how that’s relevant to today’s proceeding. One more outburst and I’ll have you removed from my courtroom, miss, whale scientist or not.”

“I’m sorry, your honor. I apologize.” I sat down quickly, my face burning with embarrassment. Darek’s attorneys looked at me like I had lost my mind. Sasha’s lawyer looked smug, probably thinking I had just tanked Darek’s credibility. And Darek was still staring at me with that expression I couldn’t quite read.

I leaned over and put my mouth close to his ear. “The picture is totally fake. Put me on the stand. I swear, I know. Not a feeling. I know.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ll explain, but you need to trust me. The picture has been altered. I can prove it.”

Before Darek could respond, Aaron stood up. “Your honor, may I request a brief recess to confer with my client?”

Judge Morrison looked annoyed but nodded. “Fine. Fifteen minutes. But no more funny business, Mr. Brennan. When we reconvene, I expect this proceeding to continue in an orderly fashion.”

That last bit was said directly to me. I grimaced and offered an apologetic look. I was always the good student. I never made a fuss in class. It was not my nature to make a spectacle of myself.

“Of course, your honor.”

“Court is in recess.” The gavel came down again, and Judge Morrison stood and disappeared through a door behind the bench, presumably to her chambers to have snacks or coffee or whatever judges did during recesses.

The moment she was gone, Aaron scowled at me. “What the hell was that?”

I glanced over and noticed Sasha, Grant, and their attorney had left the courtroom.

“I can explain. Look at the picture.” I rushed to the monitor where the image was still displayed, Darek and his lawyers following me. “Look at the background. Way out in the water. Do you see those shapes?”

They all squinted at the grainy image.

“Those dark spots?” Sarah asked.

“Yes! Those are humpback whales spouting. That’s when they blow water out their blowholes after surfacing. See the mist pattern? That’s distinctive to humpbacks.”

I looked around at them expectantly. Eh? Eh? Was anyone getting this? I expected there to be fireworks. Applause. Lightbulbs going off above their heads. I cracked the case. It was the big moment you always saw on those legal shows.

I did it.

Unfortunately, there were no fireworks or lightbulbs and there was definitely no applause. They all stared at me blankly.

“Yes, gorgeous,” Darek said gently, like he was trying to humor someone who’d clearly lost their mind. “I know you love whales. But maybe now’s not the time.”

“No, you fools!” I pointed at the whales more emphatically. “Daisie’s birthday is at the end of February, right?”