Page 52 of Griz Rides Tall

“What?” Becca said. “Nothing.”

“We were just talking,” Kate said.

“You always talk while holding a cucumber and one of you pinches the other one’s ears?” Wyatt said.

“I was…” Becca said slowly, awkwardly, “going to eat the cucumber, and Kate wanted it, and we were… arguing about it.”

“I really like cucumber,” Kate said, adding, “Not as much as Becca, though,apparently.”

“You shut your mouth,” Becca said.

“Oh, you’re one to talk about shutting mouths.”

“Kate! I mean it!”

“I’m going to let you guys work this out amongst yourselves,” Wyatt said, backing out of the doorway and leaving the cabin.

After Wyatt left, Kate said, “If you’re done with your starter dick, you really should put it away. The trial’s coming up soon. You wouldn’t want to dislocate your jaw or anything.”

“You’re a terrible person,” Becca said, but she did put away the cucumber.

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“And you’re certain that the defendant was the driver of the vehicle that caused the accident?”

“Yes,” Becca said, pointing. “That’s him.”

“Let the record show that the witness indicated the defendant.”

The day had finally arrived. The Death’s Head hit-and-run driver was having his day in court, and it was time for Becca to make good on her promise and testify against him.

So far, it had gone more or less as expected. She’d been sworn in, and had been asked the standard preliminary questions by the assistant D.A. prosecuting the case.

Peter Neeves, the local District Attorney, didn’t seem like he was going to make an appearance, but Becca wasn’t surprised. They’d had a bit of an encounter before, during Kate’s trouble with Wyatt’s ex-wife, and Peter had come out on the worst end of that deal. It was small wonder that he was letting someone else run this case.

Now the prosecution was done asking their questions, and Becca felt like she was halfway home.

“Cross examination, Your Honor?” the defense attorney said.

“Go ahead,” the judge said.

Here we go, Becca thought.Now it gets weird.

“You claim that you are able to definitely identify my client as the driver during the incident in question?” the defense attorney asked.

“Yes,” Becca said.

“What time of day was it? Day time? Night time?”

“Night time.”

“Night time. So it was dark out, yes?”

“It usually is, at night,” Becca said.

That drew a few snickers from the gallery, but Becca saw that the defense attorney wasn’t impressed with her wit. Instead, he seemed very annoyed with her answer.

“Very amusing. And you say that you were somehow able to see my client, in the dark, while he was inside a speeding car? I find that hard to believe.”

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