to take her legs out from under her. “He thinks I might be the guilty one.”
Gil nodded. “But you can fix everything.”
“Don’t try to play me anymore. I came to you because the law required it, and I thought you might see that Griff was in trouble. You just want me to help you lock him away for life.”
He nodded. “Now you’re seeing the light. Let’s go.”
The instant she set foot inside the courtroom, every head turned. A wave of disdain slammed into her.
For a second, she was back in elementary school. One of the Keaton girls, whose mother, Gail, showed up in big hair, brilliant-colored flowing faux silks and excesses of fake gold—when she remembered to attend parent conferences at all. Maria breathed in, preparing to run the gauntlet. She lifted her chin and pretended that nothing could touch her. She’d made peace with her mother and her past. She didn’t fight that kind of battle any longer.
She walked to a seat behind Gil’s table. Within moments, the jury returned. A door behind the bench opened and Jake came in. His eyes scanned her face, and she felt as if his fingers had followed.
She shuddered.
Her whole body went hot and then cold. She didn’t enjoy feeling out of control. People considered her nonconformist, maybe even quirky, but she managed risk by knowing her boundaries exactly.
Jake nodded to the bailiff, who asked the room to rise. Jake waved them back into their seats.
“Defense?”
Buck took his spot behind the podium. “Will you return to the stand, Dr. Keaton? That is, if you’re able to continue.”
“Mr. Collier.” Jake had clearly had enough.
Maria squared her shoulders, needing no rescue. “I’m happy to go on.”
“Why did you give the district attorney this ridiculous—All right, Your Honor, I’ll rephrase. Why did you tell the D.A. that Mr. Butler had anything to do with his parents’ deaths?”
“The law requires me to report crime. I had to tell the police when Griff confessed that he’d killed his mother and father.” She paused. Wisdom required her to shut the hell up. Years of practice and caring for people in need ripped the words out of her mouth. “Even if I didn’t have to report the crime, this child’s in trouble. He needs help.”
Gil straightened in his chair. Maria refused to look at him but swore inwardly that she’d do herself no more harm.
“Griff Butler is in trouble because of you,” Collier said. “We’ve explained all the so-called evidence linking him to these crimes. They brought a grieving young man to trial on the strength of a lie told by a woman fifteen years his senior, who fought back after he ended their illicit affair.”
“Objection.” Gil’s voice cracked across the courtroom. “At the least, the defense assumes facts not in evidence. We have only Mr. Collier’s innuendo as proof that an affair occurred.”
“I’d like to enter my client’s journal into evidence, Your Honor.”
“My objection stands. Maybe the defendant wrote these stories, but their existence does not make them truth.”
“We disagree and we want the jury to have all the evidence.”
“The prosecution has never seen this notebook.”
Jake gestured for the defense attorney to pass it to the court clerk. “As you well know, Mr. Daley, the defense is not required to disclose. I’ll allow the journal with the stipulation the jury understands no claims in this document have been proven as fact. The entries go to state of mind.”
Maria watched it move across the room as if no actual hands were holding it.
“Your Honor, I’ve marked the passages where Griff talks about how reluctant he is to hurt Dr. Keaton by ending their alliance. He also notes the day she swore she’d make him pay for leaving her.”
Maria sat perfectly still, hiding her shock.
But Gil had found his feet again. “…is testifying for the witness. Perhaps Your Honor could instruct him to wait until closing before he sums up his case full of lies.”
“I suggest you both stick to the facts at hand.” Jake’s tone remained utterly calm. “Mr. Collier, have you any more questions for this witness?”
“No, Your Honor. I think we all know—”
“Mr. Collier, I gave you a break earlier. Are you asking for a contempt charge?”
Buck attempted a defiant look, but his squarish jaw wobbled. “No, sir.”
“Thank you. Mr. Daley, any redirect?”
“Yes.” Gil grabbed his notepad, but didn’t even glance at the yellow pages as he stepped to the podium. “Dr. Keaton, did you have an affair with Griff Butler?”
“No.”
“Did you read his diary?”
“No.”
“If he claims in his journal that you were in love with him, or that you and he had a sexual relationship, will that be a lie?”
“Yes.”
“Did you threaten to accuse him of murder?”
“No.”
“Did he confess to shooting his parents?”
“Yes.” She couldn’t afford a second of hesitation. Her future did matter—desperately.
“Have you been honest in giving your testimony?”
“Yes.”
He stepped back, flaunting his pleasure at ending on a rational note. “Nothing more, Your Honor.”
“Anything from you, Mr. Collier?”
“One question, Your Honor.” He danced with the silence for maximum effect. “Miss—Dr.—Keaton, do you love Griff Butler?”
Did he honestly think he could unnerve her now? “No.”
Buck exaggerated his disappointment, as if he’d expected her to find the moral strength to confess her sins.
“Mr. Collier?” the judge asked.
“I’m done with her.”
Maria looked at Jake. His gaze was troubled, and yet, a deep down kindness made him look like Leila, who swore he did not know how to care. About anything.
Leila had been wrong.
Like everyone else in this room, Judge Jake Sloane wanted to know if Maria had seduced Griff Butler.
THE NEXT MORNING,
