Page 36 of Under His Skin

The rest of the ride to the courthouse was in silence, which Tracht appreciated. It allowed him to spend the ride fantasizing about what he would do to Galanis once Alex was returned to him. Whipped bloody was a given. Tied down, humiliated—oh, he would make the man act like a dog in front of a room of his peers. Maybe the current judge’s tastes ran tamer than this, but Tracht was sure there were plenty of men and women both in the courts and at the universities who were on the same wavelength as Tracht. It wouldn’t be too hard to round them up, surely, and Galanis must have had enemies.

Galanis would beg, Tracht was certain of that. He’d have Alex string him up and fuck him hard, and Galanis would see how wrong he was to have taken Alex from him. Perhaps Galanis would beg Alex to help him, which would be a funny joke in and of itself. As if Alex had a single shred of empathy for people! As if Alex cared about anyone except himself and Tracht.

But a part of him worried that Galanis would somehow be able to keep Alex away indefinitely. That he would get Alex a top-rate psychiatrist who would find all the many faults in Alex’s psyche, who would detangle the lifetime of codependency that had molded Alex. That Alex would be taught how to think for himself, how to be a healthy individual.

“Captain Tracht? Are you all right?”

Tracht startled and almost snapped at Krantz, then realized he’d been scowling at the window and that he’d clenched his fists to the point of pain. He quickly released the fist and smoothed over his expression. “Sorry. I’ve been finding this day… upsetting. And it’s sure to get worse, since Franziska is testifying today.”

He hoped she didn’t catch wind of the whole Alex thing. But somehow he doubted he’d be so lucky.

He was right: once they were seated in the courtroom, Franziska found him and sat down next to him, quite pointedly. Anna noticed and gave Tracht an incredulous stare, but she had to pay attention to the judge and what the lawyers were currently saying.

“I hear they’ve removed that poor boy from your clutches,” Franziska said quietly.

“Word travels fast,” Tracht answered mildly.

“The vids went up quickly, and I have an alert out on our name. I like to stay informed on how you two are dragging this family through the mud.”

Tracht’s lawyer made a zipping motion in front of his mouth: clearly, he didn’t want Tracht to talk to Franziska at all. It was an order Tracht was happy to obey, just this once. He had nothing good to say to Franziska.

The proceedings began, and Tracht kept his eyes facing forward, ignoring Franziska as best he could. But then she was called to the witness stand, and as she walked past, she dared to pat him on the shoulder. He glared at her, and she responded with her own cold gaze.

“I wish I didn’t have to do this,” Franziska said before she walked up to the stand.

There were so many ways to take that statement, but the irony was that she really didn’t have to do anything. She could have ignored it all. She could have left him and Anna alone all these years, but she’d insisted on them playing at something resembling filial piety. Regular dinners with Anna, inclusion in family events. Tracht didn’t want any of those things, and to this day he didn’t understand why Franziska had insisted on his presence when she had never once pretended to like him.

The prosecutor had Franziska state her name and occupation then asked her, “As Anna Tracht’s mother, do you consider yourself biased?”

Franziska calmly responded with, “Not at all. I’ve long since come to terms with the fact that I have failed as a mother to both my children. I admit, I did not expect Anna to stoop so low. But what mother ever does?”

I have failed both my children.

Both! Tracht gripped the back of the seat in front of him and suppressed a laugh. He should have known that she wouldn’t miss an opportunity to slander him. He caught sight of the jurors though, and a few of them were looking in his direction. Did they know him by reputation? Just from his face?

Well, after all this, he was sure people would know him either way. Changing shipping routes was looking more and more appealing.

“You seem very sure that Anna is guilty of what she’s been accused of,” the prosecutor went on.

Franziska made a show of taking a shaky breath, as if she was nervous, or actually cared about either of them. Tracht could see right through her, but the jurors were probably very taken by her performance. She’d always been good at winning people over. Anna and Tracht had learned from the best, in that regard.

“I’ve had my suspicions for some time. It’s the little things, you understand. If I’d tell a friend about a worry, they’d say that I was reading too much into it, or that I was making a mountain out of a molehill. But how many molehills do you need before they truly form a mountain?” Franziska looked over at the jury briefly, probably to gage their reactions. “Anna has always been the type to sniff out a profit. I never said anything when she married Vasilis Lysander, of course, because how could I say anything? I should have warned her husband.”

“Objection!” Anna’s lawyer shouted. “This is speculative and irrelevant.”

Thus started the back and forth between the various lawyers and the judge, until finally the questions got a bit more on track. This was probably what the reporters were salivating about though, this airing of family affairs. Tracht kept half an ear on it, mentally commending Franziska for managing to be so damning of Anna without ever actually saying anything specific.

The jury was eating it all up too. For even a mother to speak out against her child, it had to be bad.

But when Anna’s lawyer went up to question Franziska, she didn’t look all that worried. “Ms. Tracht, how would you describe your relationship with your children?”

“I wish I could say we were close, but I wouldn’t want to perjure myself.” Franziska turned to the jury again and gave them a half-hearted smile. “I’ve tried, but my heart can only take so much. After a while, it was easier to limit contact.”

Anna’s lawyer raised her hand to cover her mouth, probably to hide a smile. “Limit contact? So how often do you see them?”

“I see Anna and my grandchildren once every three weeks or so. I’m lucky to see Johannes once a year, what with his schedule and general reticence to be social.” Franziska was calm as she answered, but she must have started to sense that something was amiss. Tracht could see the set of her jaw, so familiar to him.

“Interesting. Despite barely seeing Judge Tracht, you’ve told us so much about her character. It doesn’t sound like the two of you have such a close relationship that you’re privy to her private dealings. So, how can you be so certain of her guilt, if you barely even know her?”

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