Page 59 of Prey for You

What the hell was I doing? I was the one who put him here. I was the one who’d fucked this all up. And now he was facingrealcharges because of me.

I couldn’t fall apart. I couldn’t look guilty. These people needed to see thetruth.

God, if you’re real, then you better fucking show up because our whole world is about to crumble and it’s my fault. Not his.I took a deep breath as Derek frowned. “Mrs. Priestley, I—”

I made my voice strong when I interrupted him.“I said,he threw away the knife. He didn't want me dead. It was a role-play.”

Derek’s eyes went flat. “Be very careful, you are under oath. This is a yes or no question.” Then he glanced at the jury before leaning closer to me and dropping his voice. “Did you enter those woods that night, knowing Mister Priestley was pursuing you with the purpose of killing you?”

In my head I saw myself answer that question five different ways, and every time, those cell bars clanged shut over Sam, separating usforever.And I was so fucking angry at myself for putting us here. Because it was me who’d done this, not him.

But as that thought sank into my bones, the sunlight broke through clouds in my mind.

It was me who’d done this… not him.

I inhaled deeply and smiled—and Derek’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, I did,” I said calmly. “ButIwas the one who coerced him. He’d already made it clear that he was done with me, and I was forcing his hand. I told him hehadto come that night otherwise I was going to get in trouble. He came to save me, not to kill me. He never said he would kill me. I just wanted that to happen.”

“Bridget, you are under oath—”

“Check all your records, Derek. Check all your transcripts, and all your statements. Hefooledme. He intervened when he saw my post and told mehe would make me feel alive.Whenever we talked about the endgame, it wasme.He never once actually stated that he would kill me. Not. Once. I… I entrapped him.”

Back in the seating area, Jeremy cursed.

Derek was working hard to keep his professional foot forward. His lips went tight like a father who wanted to shout, but was in public. “Bridget, are you aware of the laws governing entrapment, how and when it applies?”

I nodded. “When an agent of the law proposes a crime—I am one. I was an informant. We were working together—”

“Your Honor, permission to treat the witness as hostile?” Derek broke in.

“Permission granted.”

I frowned. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but Derek didn’t miss a beat.

“Bridget, I will remind you and the Court one more time that you are under oath, and anything you say that is untrue could lead to charges againstyou,as well as prison time of your own. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Fantastic, then allow me to explain a crucial point of law: It is only entrapment if the accused was notpredisposedto the crime when it was proposed. If you were to suggest this crime to an innocent man who’d never shown propensity for violence—but was tempted to itby you,then, yes, you may have been guilty of entrapment. But Samuel Priestley has a proven record of violence, includingspecificallyviolence against women.”

Oh shit. “But, he wasn’t—I mean—”

“Additionally there are other details which preclude entrapment, for example: Who created the rules of your… engagement?”

I gaped at him, memories of that morning outside the gym. The scent of him in my car. Thethrill.

…kneeling on the floor behind the driver’s seat, with his hand clapped over my mouth and pulling my head back into the headrest so I couldn’t move, he whispered, a gravel barely above the volume of my pulse.

“We’re going to have a few rules, Bridget. Blink once to tell me you understand what I’m saying.”

I blinked hard, squeezing my eyes shut for a second then opening them again to stare through the windshield at the blank, cinderblock wall of the gym, cursing myself as an idiot for parking back here. But as he continued to speak, I couldn’t help smiling behind his hand. My initial panic was quickly being replaced by a rush that would leave me shaking for hours—

“Bridget, you are required to answer under oath.Who made the rules”?

“He did,” I admitted. “I… I didn’t want any rules.”

Derek nodded once, satisfied. “So, Mister Priestley actively and intentionally engaged in planning and committing crimes against youwithout your input?”

“Objection! Asks the witness to give a legal determination for which she is not qualified!”

---