Page 47 of Ashes of Us
Danica's Monday morning was spent with David in his office, going over everything for court the next morning and coaching her on how to respond if they got to the point that she had to take the stand. He assured her that, given all the evidence he had compiled with Maverick's help and the police recordings, it was unlikely that it would get to that point, but he still wanted her to be prepared for it.
“Since we're the defending party, we go second,” David assured her. “But when I lay out the evidence I've collected in my opening statement, I think there's a very good chance Judge Perella will dismiss the case and refer it for criminal investigation.” He slid a folder across his desk to her. “The forensic recovery of his text messages with his mother showed he told her what happened that night, and she knew damn well he never had sex with Lucy. As a matter of fact, they show he had told her about your argument and what happened that night athis cousin's. It's strongly inferred that she convinced him to keep it from you.”
Danica took the folder and opened it. From the looks of things, they had been able to recover about a weeks worth of text messages between Jasper and his mother, with the first dozen or so being fairly innocuous, just Amy telling him to tell his father lunch was ready, asking him if he was sure he didn't want to spend the night at their house while Danica was away, that kind of thing, but halfway down the second page of the transcripts Jasper's texts become frantic.
Jasper Preston: She says she's pregnant!
Amy Preston: Who? Danica? Why are you telling me over text? This should be an in-person conversation so we can celebrate with you! Does Danica know you're telling me?
Jasper Preston: Lucy! She says she's pregnant and its mine! What the hell do I do? How am I supposed to explain this to Danica?
Amy Preston: I thought you said nothing happened? How can she be pregnant?
Jasper Preston: I don't know! I swear I never touched her; I wouldn't do that to Danica.
Jasper Preston: She was asleep on top of me when I woke up
Jasper Preston: But I swear I never touched her, there's no way that baby is mine.
Jasper Preston: What the hell am I supposed to do? Danica will leave me.
Amy Preston: Danica doesn't need to know unless the baby is actually yours. Tell her you want a paternity test.
Jasper Preston: I never should have listened to you. I should have told her immediately.
Amy Preston: No, she would have left you, you know that.
Amy Preston: If the baby is yours, what are you going to do?
Jasper Preston: It's not, but I don't know. She won't get an abortion, I already told her to, she refused.
Jasper Preston: She's definitely pregnant; she sent me proof
Jasper Preston: Raise it, I guess.
Amy Preston: You said you never had sex with her, so it's not yours. Stop panicking and confront her.
Jasper Preston: She claims I'm the only one she's slept with in the last year.
Jasper Preston: I woke up with her on top of me in her bra and underwear.
Amy Preston: You're positive you didn't sleep with her?
Jasper Preston: If I did, I was on something more than weed.
Jasper Preston: I crashed out hard.
Jasper Preston: She's agreed to meet with me tomorrow
Amy Preston: Good. Demand the paternity test, and we'll go from there.
Danica looked up at David, feeling stomach sick. It didn't really surprise her that much that Amy told him not to tell her about the night in question; she knew the way the family was with cheaters and wouldn't want her precious boy to be ostracized by the family. “He was planning to raise it if it washis?” She groaned and leaned back in the chair. “Fuck me and our marriage, I guess.”
“To me, it sounded like he didn't believe it was his, but if it was, he was going to step up and be a dad since he knew you would most likely leave him over this.” David smiled sympathetically at her. “He repeatedly insists the baby isn't his.”
“The thing is, I wouldn't have left him if he'd just been honest about things.” Danica put her elbows on the table and hid her face in her hands. “I would have thought it was suspicious, but I wouldn't have just believed her over him.”
David nodded and looked pensive for a moment. “I spoke with the detective in charge of your husband's accident investigation, and he agreed to take the stand and talk about the dash cam audio. He agrees that if she were pregnant with Jasper's baby, then she either raped or sexually assaulted him while he was asleep. I'm hoping that having him on the stand will either get her to admit it wasn't Jasper's baby or to admit she assaulted him, because we have lots of evidence that says he didn't consent to having sex with her. If she doubles down that it was Jasper's baby, he will be passing the case over to the sexual assault unit regardless of whether or not the Judge refers it to the district attorney.”
