The judge banged her gavel at the sudden commotion in the gallery. “Order!” Bang, bang, bang. “Order!”
When everyone quieted, the judge first reprimanded Andrew in a no-nonsense manner. “Your objection is moot, Mr. Slater. This is an arraignment, not a trial. And I’ll remind you for the last time that you’re not the one prosecuting this case.” Her gaze went to ASA Ross.
“Of course, Your Honor.” Andrew had the decency to lower his head in deference before taking his seat.
Then the judge addressed Callie. “Ms. James, please keep your personal opinions to yourself and stick to the facts.”
Callie nodded. “I’m sorry.”
The judge straightened her back and folded her hands on the desk in front of her. “Why don’t you tell me your version of what happened and why you won’t accept the plea agreement?”
As Callie began to explain how she’d been going to surprise Andrew with dinner because he said he’d be working late, the anger rushed through her as if she were reliving it. She unclenched her fists, relaxed her shoulders and blew out a breath, techniques she’d always used successfully to diffuse the first signs of anger.
“So you brought him dinner. Then what?” The judge’s smirk said she didn’t want to hear about some lover’s spat.
“It was our six-month anniversary.” Callie glanced at Andrew. Her confidence got a boost when he colored with embarrassment. “I had a key to his apartment and I didn’t bother knocking since he’d told me he was still at work. I took the food directly to the kitchen and heard a noise in the bedroom.” Callie swallowed. There was that pesky bile again. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Thinking Andrew had gotten home earlier than expected, I went to surprise him.” She drew in a breath. “He was in bed with a...woman.” Callie had other names for Andrew’s former colleague but refused to lower herself to their level.
A choking sound from the back of the room had Callie and several others turning.
Heat suffused Callie’s face and spread through her body as she relived Andrew’s betrayal. There was the woman, standing at the back of the courtroom as if she belonged. So sure of herself that she’d come to observe Callie’s further humiliation. How long had their affair been going on? Was it serious or merely a one-night fling?
Callie didn’t care. Once a cheater, always a cheater. She’d never take Andrew back.
The judge gave her a little prod. “What happened next?”
Truthfully, Callie wasn’t a hundred percent sure. Everything had blurred as she’d run out of the apartment. The blood rushing in her ears had been so loud that if she had knocked over Andrew’s precious vase, she hadn’t heard or felt it.
“I ran out of the apartment and went home.” Callie shrugged her shoulders. “I have no recollection of knocking over his vase, accidentally or on purpose. I do know that I didn’t throw it.”
The next thing she remembered was waking to the ringing phone, her pillowcase wet from tears, thinking Andrew had wanted to apologize. Instead he’d wanted her to reimburse him for the stupid vase. The thing was ugly, with some kind of battle scene on it, but he’d bought it in Germany several years ago and claimed it was very expensive.
Callie had refused to pay him and a few choice words to describe her feelings about his betrayal had remained unspoken. In return, he’d offered her a few hours to think about her options. The only option she’d been interested in was the one where she’d never see him again.
She’d gone to work as usual the next day. When she hadn’t heard back from him, she’d assumed he’d come to his senses and realized it was unfair to make her pay for something she didn’t break.
The following morning she’d awoken to banging on her apartment door. Two officers were there to escort her to the Montgomery County Detention Center. She’d spent several hours in an interrogation room until her lawyer made arrangements for her arraignment. At least she hadn’t been subjected to a jail cell.
She’d sworn to herself right then and there that she would never, ever, get involved with an assistant state’s attorney again. Or a lawyer. Or anyone else who could put her in this kind of position.
For that matter, she was swearing off men altogether.
Period.
The judge drummed her fingers on her desk, appearing to want Callie to say more.
“Your Honor, if I did knock over Mr. Slater’s vase, then it was by accident.” Callie couldn’t help adding, “An accident caused directly by Mr. Slater’s own inexcusable actions.”
The judge’s brows rose but she kept her focus on Callie while raising a hand to quiet Andrew, who was halfway out of his chair.
He pinched his lips shut but not before glaring at Callie as he sat.
She guessed he didn’t expect his private “affair” would come out in public. He probably thought he’d scared her and she’d gladly pay for his precious vase now.
“Then you admit you broke the vase?” the judge asked.
“No.”
“No?”
“I don’t remember bumping into it or breaking it, so I can’t say for sure that I broke it. We only have his version of events, and I’m not about to accept the opinion of a known liar.”
The judge nodded. “Thank you.” She turned to Andrew. “Mr. Slater, did you see Ms. James break the vase?”
“Well—”
The judge nodded, pursing her lips. “That’s what I thought. Do you perhaps have a witness who will come forward to verify that Ms. James broke the vase?”
Andrew looked to the back of the room where the witch was now seated, shaking her head vigorously.
Andrew turned back to the judge. “No, I don’t.”
“So it’s a ‘he said, she said’ case?”
Andrew looked at Callie, disgust on his face. “Unfortunately yes, Your Honor.”
“And you still think you can be successful at trial?” The judge wanted to know.
Again Andrew glanced to the back of the courtroom before answering. He straightened. “Yes, I do.”
The judge addressed Callie. “I know you don’t want to accept the plea agreement from the state, but I have an alternative so as to stop wasting the court’s time and the state’s money.”
Callie waited for the judge to continue, her knees knocking. Maybe she should have just given Andrew the money for his ridiculous vase.
Then again, why should she give him the satisfaction? He’d already gotten what he wanted. Callie glanced back at the woman she’d last seen straddling him.
Callie straightened her shoulders and raised her head high. She had nothing to be sorry for.
