Page 86 of The Best Lawyer
Emma’s face nearly shattered me. She had no idea that someone was her father.
Chapter 29
By nine o’clock that night,my body finally took control of my mind. I fell asleep in the car during the ten-minute drive back home.
“You want to head out on the boat? Clear your head?” Eric asked, startling me awake.
“Bed,” I said. “No talkie.”
He smiled, pulled me to him, and kissed me. “You need to eat, Cass.”
I shook my head. “Later.”
He frowned, but didn’t protest further. As soon as I got to the bedroom, I peeled off my skirt and blouse, kicked off my heels and crawled into bed in just my bra and underwear. I don’t remember anything after that.
Until my phone rang.
It jolted me. For a second, I didn’t remember where I was or whether it was morning or night. I fumbled for my phone,dropping it on the floor. It landed face up and the caller ID made me groan.
Woodbridge County Jail.
For a moment, I debated even answering. This was Jeanie’s case now. Whatever Katy needed she should direct to her. But my constant need to fix everything won out over my common sense once again.
“Cass,” Katy cried before I could even say hello.
“What’s going on, Katy?” I said. “You know you should talk to Jeanie if …”
“No!” she shouted. “I don’t want to talk to Jeanie. She can’t tell me what I have to know.”
I lifted myself up on one elbow as Eric walked in. He’d heard enough to know who was on the other end of the phone.
“All right,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “What’s going on?”
“I’m losing my mind,” she said. “That’s what’s going on. And I’m losing my case. I can feel it. They don’t believe me. I can see it on the jury’s faces when they look at me. It’s pure disgust and disdain. And some of them seem annoyed like all that’s happening is we’re wasting their time. They’ve already made up their minds and they want to get on with it.”
“You can’t read too much into their facial expressions,” I said, trying to suppress a yawn. “Believe me. I’ve been at this long enough to know. It could be Addison Quick they’re annoyed with. Or the judge. Or not even annoyed at all and you’re projecting. Which is perfectly understandable.”
“Did she tell you what happened today? How my own doctor threw me under the bus?”
Jeanie hadn’t really described it that way, but I could see where Katy’s paranoia would kick in.
“Your doctor told the jury that you could very plausibly have been asleep during Tom’s murder. That’s all that matters. Jeanie will argue that alone is reasonable doubt.”
“Not if I can’t explain,” she said. “Not if I can’t look them all in the eyes and tell them what happened. They need to hear me say I didn’t do this. You have to let me testify.”
It would have been a cop-out to tell her it wasn’t my decision anymore. It wasn’t. But if it were, I’d never put her on the stand. She wasn’t strong enough to stand up to Addison Quick’s blistering cross-examination. He’d turn her upside down. Get her to admit things she didn’t even realize could condemn her. She would have to answer for some of the things she said before I got to her.
“You have to trust Jeanie,” I said.
“I didn’t hire Jeanie!” she shouted.
My anger flared. In the back of my mind, I knew a good deal of it was at myself.
I sat fully upright. “Yes, you did,” I said, my tone harsh.
“You’ve killed me, Cass. It doesn’t matter that I’m not facing the death penalty. If I get sent to prison for life, I’ll find a way to kill myself.”
“Stop it,” I said. Lord, this was typical Katy. Emotional manipulation was one of her specialties. I’d kept my mouth shut dozens of times when I heard her do it to Joe throughout their marriage. It wasn’t often, but when it happened, it worked on him every time.
