Page 8 of Trial Run

“Speaking of jury duty, I don’t suppose you have any pull to get me out of it? I just got picked for a case in Judge Hunt’s court.”

“Lucky you. If you’d come and seen me before voir dire, I might’ve been able to help you out, but I wouldn’t be inclined to. The parties are lucky to have you.” She cocked her head. “Although, I have to say I’m surprised one of them didn’t strike you.”

“Same. I have no idea how I got through, but I’ve got my PI licensing exam coming up and jury duty wasn’t in the plan. It’s Shirley Mitchell’s case and it’s going to take at least a week. They wound up adding an alternate and you know what that means.”

Nina laughed. “It’s more likely they picked an alternate because one of the original jurors collapsed in the middle of the courtroom than they were hedging their bets one of you won’t last for a long trial, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

Reggie had figured it didn’t hurt to make one last ditch for freedom, but Nina was right. The trial would probably only last a week, and she would survive. Thinking about the case reminded her that Brooke was likely sitting by herself somewhere in the cafeteria. She pushed back her chair and stood. “I need to get going, but it was good to see you. You’re a good judge and an even better person, and I hope Benton gets what’s coming to him.”

“Me too. And good luck with your exam. If you ever decide to come back here to work, I’m sure Lennox would hire you at the DA’s office in a heartbeat.”

Reggie nodded because saying “when hell freezes over” wasn’t polite. She checked her watch, and seeing they only had thirty minutes before they needed to report back, she grabbed a ready-made sandwich and chips and went in search of Brooke. It didn’t take long. She was seated at a table with two other women who were also on the jury, one of whom Reggie recognized as having tousled with Gloria Leland about whether the defendant in a case had to prove they were innocent. Lovely. She briefly considered bailing because she wasn’t in the mood to socialize with strangers and Brooke obviously didn’t need a babysitter, but before she could edge away, the guilty until proven innocent juror waved her over.

“Hi,” she said. “I’m Jenny Paulson and this is Lisa Martinez. Brooke said you were busy talking, but we saved you a seat.” Jenny looked at Reggie’s sandwich. “You should probably eat that fast. We have to be back soon. Was that one of the lawyers who works here that you were talking to?”

Great. In addition to butchering the law, Jenny was a busybody. Reggie took a big bite of her sandwich which allowed her to ignore the question for now. While she chewed the bite, she looked at the other woman, Lisa. She didn’t remember a thing about her from voir dire and she’d likely wound up on thejury because she’d kept her mouth shut. Fine by her. If everyone on the jury kept their mouths shut, they’d all be out of here as quickly as possible. “I was talking to someone I knew when I worked in the building. What do you do?”

Jenny launched into a long speech about how she used to work as a very important administrative assistant for a very important businessman, but now she was a greeter at Walmart because it gave her more time for her hobbies and hanging out with her grandkids, but how her job was still very important. Reggie nodded like she cared, but she resented not being able to talk to Brooke one on one, which was the only reason she’d suggested lunch. She caught Brooke’s eye, and got a semi-sympathetic expression, but didn’t get a feel for whether Brooke either enjoyed Jenny’s company or wanted to stick a knife in her brain like she did. Whatever. It was stupid to think she could develop anything out of the whiff of chemistry between them. They were there to hear the evidence and decide a verdict. Anything else was a distraction and she’d had enough of those to last a lifetime.

* * *

The defense attorney gave a rousing opening statement, but Brooke still felt her eyelids flickering shut off and on and she was frightened she was going to fall asleep any minute. When Gloria Leland finished and the judge ordered a brief recess, Brooke silently thanked all that was holy. Once they made it back to the jury room, she grabbed her purse and headed to the bathroom with a solid plan to splash water on her face in hopes it would wake her up so she could make it through the rest of the afternoon.

Once there, she set her purse on the counter where it clunked against the surface. Noting it had seemed heavier than usual, she reached a hand in and pulled out a rock the size of a softball.It had a Post-it attached and the note was spelled out with the lettering she’d come to dread.

Counting on you to weigh things down.

She was on her fifth reading of the note when the door to the bathroom burst open and Jenny and Lisa walked in, laughing and talking. She quickly shoved the rock back in her purse and abandoned her cold water wake-up plan.

“Hey, Brooke,” Jenny said. “Are you as sleepy as we are?” She mimicked a yawn. “I hope the rest of the day isn’t this boring.”

Brooke managed a feeble smile and headed for the door. “Just trying to make it through.” It was vague, but true. She pushed through the door and ran smack into Reggie who was standing outside. “Are you following me?” The words tumbled from her lips unbidden, but now that they were out, she wondered if it was true. Reggie was always right freaking there. She could’ve put the rock in her purse. She could be the eyes in the room reporting back to whoever was hell-bent on her being on this jury. She had no idea if her thoughts made sense, but she was too freaked out to care.

“What?”

She stared into Reggie’s eyes. If Reggie was involved in whatever was going on, she was really good at hiding it. Well, except for the always being right there part. Even so, she appeared to be genuinely friendly and helpful. But wouldn’t someone who was diabolical have a knack for seeming sincere? But when would she have been able to place the rock in her purse? It hadn’t been there before they’d gone into the courtroom after lunch and Reggie had been with her the entire time. Maybe she was losing her mind.

“Never mind.” She stepped away, but before she could get far, Reggie reached out and touched her arm. She flinched slightly and Reggie backed up.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you, but I can tell something’s going on. Do you want to talk?”

She did, but she couldn’t. And even if she could, she couldn’t talk to someone she barely knew, could she? She was tempted but let the feeling pass. Even if Reggie wasn’t part of the plot, anyone could be watching, overhearing, reporting back. She knew she was being paranoid, but it was justified, right? Besides, if she was going to talk to a stranger, she may as well go to the police. “No, I’m good.” She took a step toward the courtroom. “See you back in here.”

The rest of the afternoon was mind-numbing. The prosecutor, Rigley, called his first witness, Patricia Gillespie, a former employee of Shirley Mitchell who he’d promised, in his opening statement, had a lot of revelations about Mitchell’s nefarious business practices. Rigley spent an hour asking background questions with no end in sight when Judge Hunt interrupted.

“Mr. Rigley, how much longer do you think you’ll be with this witness?”

“A couple of hours at least, Judge.”

“Then I’m going to go ahead and recess for the day and we’ll start back up at nine a.m.” He turned to the jury. “Remember you all took an oath, and you are not to talk to anyone about this case, or read or watch or listen to any news about it either. Get a good night’s sleep because tomorrow will be a long day.” He smacked his gavel and disappeared through the door behind the bench before the bailiff could say “all rise.”

Brooke looked at her watch. It was only four o’clock. She should go in to work, but if she hurried, she could catch Ben home from school before he ran off to hang out with his friends. She’d done everything the voice on the phone had told her to do, but the only way she was going to be certain Ben was safe was to lay eyes on him herself. Decision made, she grabbed her purse from the jury room and headed to the parking garage. As she wasdriving away, she spotted Reggie walking up to a Jeep Wrangler. Reggie waved and she waved back—it was what people did, she told herself and besides, acting so standoffish was attracting more attention than being civil. The idea that Reggie was the one spying on her didn’t jive with the comfort she felt when she was around her. But if someone were spying on her, that’s what they’d want her to feel, right?

She pulled out of the garage and drove home. The real question was what did the mysterious stranger want from her besides serving on Shirley Mitchell’s jury? Was she supposed to guarantee an outcome and, if so, how? She was one person out of twelve. She’d have one vote when the case was over. Sure, one vote could hang a jury, but she’d seen enough legal dramas on TV to know that the case could be retried if they didn’t reach a verdict.

Counting on you to weigh things down.

The last message was too cryptic for her way too tired brain to figure out and she shoved it to the back of her mind. She was home within twenty minutes of leaving the courthouse and she came in to find Ben sitting at the kitchen table, shoving one of the donuts from this morning in his mouth.

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