Seats bolted to the rear wall of the courtroom were reserved for court security, law enforcement, and bail bondsmen. One of the agents threw his overcoat across Christine’s wrists and guided her to those seats. They’d wanted me to see the cuffs. Now they were being discreet.
From the crowd I picked out Dell’s bearded, smiling face. He winked.
Pressure. Dell was all about pressure. And he would use every last piece of leverage to force a deal. I saw Sinton get up from the gallery and leave the court. He nodded at Christine as he walked past.
I felt a cold spike in my back that spread up toward my neck. It was almost as if the gun in my waistband called to me. My eyes grew hot, and I thought about whipping out the piece, grabbing Christine, and running. If we got out of the courthouse, we could hide. But that would be no kind of life for Christine, or Amy.
“Mr. Flynn?”
Rollins, calling me. That icy tingle in my spine melted as I turned to face the witness—turning my back on my wife, turning away from her red, pleading eyes.
There was only one way to save her. Her fate and the fate of David Child were linked, bound together as sure as I was bound to her. I didn’t trust Dell, but I’d learned the hard way to trust my own instincts. It didn’t make sense to me at the time. I just knew. Get this kid off—that’s all I had to do, and things would play out for Christine.
“My apologies, Your Honor.”
Just as I knew he would, Rollins rolled his eyes. I was sure that he still thought this hearing was a waste of time.
“Mr. Gershbaum, you had heard gunfire and you went out onto your balcony to investigate. Then you saw the glass in the apartment next door exploding. So, you didn’t hear any gunfire after the bullet went through Mr. Child’s balcony window?”
He lowered his gaze, blinked, began shaking his head.
“No. I would’ve heard it. There was no more gunfire after the window exploded.”
“No further questions,” I said, glancing at Zader. His pen paused on the page. Then he looked to his assistants, hands spread, as if to say, Is that it?
I was glad. Zader didn’t see it, but if the rest of the case played out the way I hoped it would, then Leo Gershbaum would become the main witness for the defense.
“Redirect?” asked Rollins. Zader shook his head.
“Call your next witness. Let’s keep this moving, Counselors,” said Rollins.
“The people call Richard Forest.”
Even as he spoke, Zader eyed me suspiciously. He was beginning to wonder if he’d missed something.
Footsteps in the aisle. I hadn’t even heard the doors opening. It was Kennedy, with a bunch of documents in his hands. He almost bumped into the next witness, so eager was he to let me see what he’d found.
Four pieces of paper. Five copies of each of the four documents. A copy for me, one each for the judge, the prosecutor, and the witness, and the original, which was to be logged into evidence.
I read the documents as security officer Forest took the oath.
“What are those?” asked David.
“Snowballs,” I said. “Big freakin’ snowballs.”