Chapter 30

4:45 p.m.

Reporters surrounded me in the hallway as I left the courtroom. Their barrage of questions sounded like white noise. Veronica weaved through the crowd using her hands to knife through the gaggle as I repeated the words, “No comment.” She gently grabbed me by the arm and led me through the front exit.

The sun’s brilliance rained down. The air was heavy with moisture, the heat stifling. Fire burned my lungs as I breathed the hot, humid air. I guess sitting in an air-conditioned space all day will do that.

“Let’s get a drink,” Veronica said. “I’m buying.”

“I didn’t realize seeing the defense get thrown in jail during court was cause for celebration. But what the hell, I’m game.”

She slapped me on the shoulder. “That’s not the reason for the celebration. But I must confess, I almost had to bite my lip to keep from smiling when the judge tossed his ass in the slammer.” Veronica laughed. “Did you see the look on Lucius’s face when your mother stormed out of the courtroom?”

“No. I was too busy looking at my mom. Why?”

“When Crane tried to snooker you into his…well… I’m not sure what his plan was. You derailed it when you started to cry instead of going ballistic on him during his cross about your stepfather. That caused him to have to come up with a new strategy and it backfired. When he tried to get you to confess, it was all a lie. Lucius turned beet red. With that bald head of his, he almost lit up the room. If that didn’t hurt his case, the reaction of jury when your mom stormed out…”

She stopped and turned to me. “I think we just won our case today. In fact, I would say it’s a slam dunk.”

“Do you think Crane will try and make a deal?”

“He’ll try. I’m sure Lucius won’t be happy about it. He’s been looking forward to his freedom since the Supreme Court awarded him a retrial. Until this morning, they mustʼve felt pretty good about a victory.”

“I’m sure my mother will be pissed. She had her heart set on getting a big payday from this case.”

“Rebecca, even if by some miracle the jury finds him not guilty, there’s no guarantee he would win a civil suit for being convicted of a crime he claims he didn’t commit.”

“Do you really believe that?”

Veronica shrugged. “Ten years ago, maybe. Now, I’m not so certain. Several months ago, a California court awarded a man forty million dollars. He served twenty years for a rape and murder he didn’t commit.”

We started walking again. Sweat rolled down my temples. A cold beer would be divine about now. The faded green Lumina I’d seen following me over the past week rolled by. I wished the driver would roll down the tinted window so I could see who was in the car.

When the car reached the corner, it stopped briefly, even though the light was green. A truck moved in behind and then honked the horn. The Lumina turned right and disappeared.