Page 35 of Trial Run

“When do you think they’re going to start back up?” Mark asked.

Brooke stared at him for a moment, having almost forgotten he was standing next to her, and then glanced up at the clock on the wall. The lunch break had ended over thirty minutes ago, and while it wasn’t unusual for their breaks to last longer than the time the judge had ordered, Leroy had made it clear when he was asking about Reggie that the judge was raring to get started. “Good question.”

A few minutes later, Leroy appeared in the doorway, his face red and flustered. “Judge is adjourning for the day. Plan to be back at nine a.m. tomorrow.”

He remained in the doorway as the jurors filed out of the room. Brooke noticed Reggie didn’t line up with the others, so she hung back, hoping to get a moment alone with her before they went their separate ways, but when the line began to dwindle and Reggie still hadn’t moved, she started to the door only to have Leroy motion for her to stay put.

“The judge wants to see you both in chambers.”

His words were gruff, but she couldn’t tell if he was perturbed with them or the situation overall. Either way, it didn’t look like she was going to get that alone time with Reggie anytime soon. She followed Leroy and Reggie followed her down the hallway behind the courtroom to an office with Judge Hunt’s nameplateon the door. Leroy rapped on the door and announced them and then headed off in the opposite direction.

Judge Hunt rose from behind his desk and motioned for them to have a seat. “Sorry for the drama, but we need to talk to the two of you.”

Brooke looked around for the “we,” but didn’t see anyone else in the room. As if he could read her mind, Judge Hunt pointed to the door where Leroy had returned escorting the prosecutor and defense attorney into the room, along with Agent Flores. Brooke tried to catch Reggie’s eyes, but she was focused on the judge.

Once everyone was settled, Judge Hunt shook his head. “It seems we have a situation the likes of which I’ve never encountered before. Agent Flores, would you like to bring us up to speed?”

Sarah scooted to the edge of her seat. “Yes, Judge. We received a report from Ms. Knoll this afternoon that she overheard Harry Benton engaged in a heated conversation with Ms. Mitchell. Apparently, Ms. Dawson also heard this conversation, during which Mr. Benton implied that he was the one who’d orchestrated the attempted jury tampering previously reported by Ms. Dawson.”

She turned and gestured to Gloria Leland. “Benton threatened Ms. Mitchell and her ‘loved ones’ with harm if she cooperated with law enforcement regarding the allegation of jury tampering or anything having to do with their shared business arrangements which may or may not be involved in the current charges against Ms. Mitchell.”

Gloria rose from her chair. “My client has no reason to cooperate with the government because she not only didn’t do anything wrong, but she doesn’t know anything about these accusations.”

“That’s a lie.”

Brooke immediately covered her mouth with her hand. She hadn’t planned to say the words out loud, but it was too late to take them back now. She looked over at Reggie who gave her a hint of a smile which she took as encouragement to press on. “Harry Benton was in the parking garage this afternoon standing as close to Shirley Mitchell as I am to you now and he said ‘I’m not going down, and if you stay in line, you won’t either. Keep your mouth shut and let me handle the rest.’”

“You remember his exact words?” Gloria asked, her tone sarcastic.

“You would too if you’d received similar threats,” Brooke retorted.

“Your Honor,ifHarry Benton threatened my client and that’s a big if, that doesn’t make her culpable of any wrongdoing. But I will acknowledge that it seems like someone is certainly out to get Ms. Mitchell, and they will do anything, including trying to set her up for a crime she didn’t commit, to take her down. I’d like to renew my motion for a mistrial.”

Judge Hunt sighed and looked over at the prosecutor. “Mr. Rigley, do you have a response?”

“I don’t know, Judge. It’s clear the jury has been tampered with, but if you grant a mistrial, then the person who would’ve benefitted from the tampering is getting a pass.”

“If your evidence is so great, you can simply retry the case,” Leland shot back.

“You and I both know that retrials come with all sorts of issues—witness memory fades, witnesses disappear, evidence gets lost.” Rigley shook his head. “I’m inclined to keep going.”

“Not with a juror in the box who is predisposed to believe my client is guilty,” Leland said.

“Didn’t sound like she thought your client was guilty,” Rigley retorted. “Sounded like she thought your client is a coward.”

Hunt slammed his hand on the desk. “That’s enough, both of you. Save your theatrics for the courtroom. Leroy, please escort Ms. Knoll and Ms. Dawson back to the jury room for now.”

Brooke rose reluctantly from her seat. She wanted to know what was going to happen and she wanted to know now, but it wasn’t like she could defy the judge and stick around. Nobody seemed to care that she was more exposed than ever now that Mitchell’s attorney knew she’d heard Mitchell being threatened, not even Reggie. She’d wanted time alone with her, but now she wasn’t so sure that was the best thing for either of them since Reggie seemed to care more about the outcome of this case than how it affected her.

Chapter Thirteen

Reggie followed Brooke into the jury room. She hadn’t expected the judge to pull them into chambers, but if Mitchell was lying to her attorney about Benton’s influence over her, it was probably for the best Leland had heard about it from someone who’d seen it all go down. Not that she’d believed it. Still, maybe there was a chance that, once they were alone, Leland would be able to convince her client she should take a deal and tell Flores how Benton had threatened her.

“What did you tell them?” Brooke asked.

Reggie kept her voice calm in response to the indignation in Brooke’s voice. “I told Lennox and Sarah what we heard in the garage. That I think Benton is the one behind the threats against you and, if that’s the case, they should beef up security on you and up surveillance on him.”

“Did it ever occur to you I wouldn’t want to be put on the spot like that? It’s pretty clear, Mitchell’s attorney thinks I’m a liar.”

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