Page 55 of Ashes of Us
The courtroom was completely silent for what seemed like a very long time to Danica, and then the Judge cleared his throat. “Mr. Mathers, when you've finished your cross-examination of Sergeant Galvin, we are going to recess for the day, but I want Ms. Gamache on the stand first thing in the morning. I want to hear from her directly regarding the argument we just heard on those recordings.” Mathers nodded, and Danica noticed he looked like he was about to be sick. “Mr. Niehaus,” The Judge turned back to David. “Do you have any further questions?”
David shook his head somberly. “No, Your Honour. I believe the record before this court makes it abundantly clear: Jasper Preston neither wanted this child nor fathered it, and ifhe did, it was not the result of consent. I have nothing further. The respondent rests.”
Judge Perella's mouth went into a thin line as he looked at David for a long moment, then nodded. “I will take your motion under advisement, Mr. Niehaus. For now, I intend to complete the testimony I've ordered before making any final ruling. Mr. Mathers, your witness.”
David sighed softly as he sat beside Danica, and Mathers got up to start questioning Galvin. “Are you okay?” he murmured. “I'm sorry, I didn't realize you hadn't heard the last clip.” He reached out and gently squeezed her shoulder, keeping his voice to a low murmur. “It's over, Danica, we won.”
Danica slowly lowered her hands and gave him a confused look. “But he wants to hear from Lucy.” She whispered, wondering why he thought they had won already. She could hear Mathers in the background asking Galvin to walk him through the chain of custody after finding the dashcams, trying to find some reason to have them stricken from the record, but Danica wasn't too concerned about that, the Judge had already agreed they were admittable and Galvin was way too OCD to have messed up something that could make or break his case.
“Oh yeah, trust me.” David gave her a reassuring smile. “That's not going to end well for her.”
Chapter Forty-Three: Capias
When Mathers finished cross-examining Sergeant Galvin and David declined to redirect, Judge Perella reminded Mathers to make sure Lucy was there first thing in the morning to take the stand, then recessed the proceedings for the day, sweeping out of the courtroom immediately after. David told Danica to go home, have a hot bath and relax. “This will all be over by lunch tomorrow.” He reassured her as they walked out. “Excuse me, I need to go thank our witnesses for coming today and let them know they don't have to come back tomorrow.” He turned left, heading to the room where the witnesses were sequestered as Emilia, Xavier, and Alex approached her. Emilia and Xavier gave her huge, tight hugs and told her if she needed anything, to give them a call, but they had to get home to the kids. Maverick joined them just as Emilia and Xaver left and suggested that they get food and take Watson and Indie to a dog park near Danica and Alex's building.
After Danica picked up Indie, her and Alex met Maverick and Watson at the park, grabbed sandwiches from a nearby food truck and let the dogs play while Alex and Danica filled Maverick in on what happened in the courtroom since he was sequestered with the other witnesses who had been waiting to be called. Maverick wasn't surprised that David had rested his caseafter what Alex called “the most poorly put together case in the history of law proceedings and a colossal waste of time.”
“Seriously, it was like it was his first time he went to trial.” Alex shook his head as Maverick chuckled. “If he were my lawyer, I'd refuse to pay him.”
“Eh, I think he did the best he could with what he had.” Danica shrugged, amused by Alex's frustration with Mathers. “When the people who hired you aren't honest about everything, what are you going to do? He legitimately looked like he was going to projectile vomit all over everyone after he heard the recordings and the Judge demanded that he call Lucy to take the stand tomorrow morning.”
“Didn't he get the transcripts?” Maverick frowned. “Why would the recordings throw him off if he knew what was said in them?”
“Because there is a huge difference between reading them and actually hearing them,” Alex muttered. “Listening to them actually made me sick to my stomach, so I understand the other lawyer's reaction.”
“That bad, huh?” Maverick looked at Danica sympathetically as she nodded and watched as Indie went up to random people to get pets, her tail wagging frantically.
“Yeah, it wasn't fun.” She swallowed and then tried to shake off the heavy feeling that had settled on her when she heard the accident. “But the good news is the judge is making Mathers call Lucy to the stand tomorrow morning, so we get to see how far into crazy she's spiralled.”
“What about Jasper's mother?” Maverick asked curiously as he threw a ball for Watson. “Do you think she's going to admit she was wrong and apologize or double down?”
“I don't see her doing either, to be honest,” Danica admitted. “I think she'll kick Lucy out and try to pretend none of this ever happened. I don't know what Cecil or the rest of the family will do, but I'm done with her. Finding out she was actively trying to convince Jasper I was cheating with Alexander so he would leave me while being sweet and nice to my face... no thanks, I don't want people like her, or anyone who forgives her in my life.”
They walked around for another hour, and then Maverick announced he had to head home. “I'm heading to Salem tomorrow after court for a couple of weeks to spend some time with Toni.” Grinning, he nudged Danica with his elbow. “Feel free to come visit the store. Toni, Raven and Jynx would love to meet you. They've been expecting you to come redeem your gift certificates.”
Danica laughed and nodded. “I'll see if Emilia is up for it this weekend, she's very excited to shop in your sister's boutique.”
“I'm pretty sure Xavier isn't quite as excited about it.” Alex chuckled as he took Indie's leash from Danica and called her back to them. Maverick snorted out a short laugh as he snapped Watson's leash to his collar.
“Their clothes are actually very reasonably priced. They aren't high-end fashion or anything like that, think bohemian or goth style.” He led Watson to his car and got aboard, honking and waving to them as he drove off. Danica and Alex started the short walk back to the condo building, discussing what they thought the outcome of Lucy being put on the stand would be.
“It's not like she's going to admit to sexually assaulting him.” Danica frowned as they entered the building and walked to the elevator, nodding at the security guard as they passed his desk.
“She might not admit to sexual assault, but only because she probably doesn't think that's what it was. She'll insist he wanted her.” Alex's voice was tense. “The absolute delusion when she got in his car, calling him Jaz and being all happy and excited, like she wasn't trying to blow up his life completely, was stomach churning.”
Danica had to agree but shrugged. “We know she's a few crayons short of a box; it'd be more surprising if she were upset.”
Alex nodded, and they fell into comfortable silence as they rode the elevator up and got off. At Danica's door, Alex asked if she would be okay, and when she assured him she was fine, he said good night and left her to do her own thing for the evening. She fed Indie and curled up on the couch, scrolling aimlessly through her streaming apps, trying to find something to watch before settling on a few episodes of Bob's Burgers.
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Danica was up ridiculously early the next morning, so early that she was able to take Indie on an hour-long walk, get in the shower, dress and do her hair, and was on her third cup of coffee before Alex knocked on her door to take her to the courthouse. “You look like you didn't sleep a wink last night.” Alex folded his arms, studying her face critically as she opened the balcony door for Indie and made sure the magnetic screen curtain she installed so she wouldn't be stuck inside all day waiting for Danica to come let her out to pee.
“I watched the entire first season of Bob's Burgers last night,” Danica admitted, grabbing her thermos of coffee and motioning for him to leave. “I don't know why, but I really struggled to get to sleep, and I was up at five.” She made sure the door was locked and followed him to the elevator. It's probably better that you drive today.”
“No kidding,” Alex muttered, shaking his head. “Are you ready for this?”
“I'm ready for it to be over.”
