Page 194 of Perfect
“I know it seems unconventional, but I was so afraid that Danny might show up and hurt me, and I couldn’t trust the police to protect me. I was vulnerable, and it made me feel safer knowing that Theo always knew where I was, just in case.” She seems so earnest when she talks about it, and she’s making it sound almost believable. Judging from the face of at least one person on the jury, I think she’s fairly decent when it comes to lying to other people.
“Can you tell me why, after only a few months of dating, you’d entrust Mr. Anderson with something like that?” Alex smiles softly and tucks her hair behind her ear.
“Well, I wascertainhe wasn’t going anywhere.” She shoots me another amused look, and I struggle not to smile at her.
She’s fucking flirting with me.
“You’d only been dating for a few months. How could you be sure?”
Alex shrugs. “It took me a while to open up emotionally, but that wasnotthe case for Theo.” She looks down at her hands, laughing weakly. “He was very open about how he felt about me from the beginning, and we only put the tracker in after we started talking about a real future together.”
I sneak another swift glance at the jury, who are all focused on her sweet, vulnerable face as she lies through her teeth. Some of them look skeptical, but most of them don’t.
Elise transitions to asking Alex about the kidnapping and the cabin again, but she gets alotof details out of Alex that the prosecution didn’t, which makes Alex cry so much that she has to be granted a five-minute break.
Someone on this fucking juryhasto understand that Danny forfeited the right to his life the second he touched her.
Alex’s testimony takes all day, and the prosecutor is a dick during cross-examination, calling her Mrs. Murphy again. I can tell Alex is wrung out and exhausted by the end of it, and then Elise has to go again.
Alex is completely withdrawn as she gets escorted off the stand, and I lock eyes with her as long as possible. She tries to smile and mouthsI love you, and it takes everything in me not to rush after her.
I’m slightly calmer as I watch Bailey get up from her seat in the gallery. She locks wide eyes with me and nods at me quickly before she wraps a protective arm around Alex and leads her out of the courtroom.
I need to find a way to thank Bailey, even though I’m not sure anything will ever be enough.
Once the jury is dismissed for the day, Elise leans close, keeping her voice almost inaudible as she slowly packs up her bag.
“She made you look like a knight in shining armor,” she whispers, barely moving her lips.
“I believe the word isperjury,” I mutter through my teeth, catching Elise’s sharp look out of the corner of my eye. “Sorry. Bad joke,” I say, glancing at my feet.
“Donotthrow away the gift she just gave you,” she hisses at me.
I shake my head slightly. “Story of my fucking life.”
***
“Mr. Anderson, can you please explain what happened in that room?” I grit my teeth and take a deep breath, blowing it out quickly.
Ineedto keep my shit together.
“Yes. I looked through the window and saw Danny raping Alex on that bed, and I was positive she was going to die.” I have to pretend I didn’t think Alex wasactuallydead, otherwise it doesn’t legally count as self-defense. “I entered the house, took a knife from the kitchen to defend myself, and went in to save her. Danny and I fought, I defended myself to the best of my ability, and then I got Alex to the hospital.”
“Alex being Mrs. Murphy?” I scowl at him. The whole fucking room knows she goes by Alex.
“I’ve only known her as Alexandria Shearer, which sheprefers.” Prick.
“Can you explain why you thought Mrs. Murphy was going to die?” I nod, taking another deep breath.
Despite the sedatives, the breathing exercises, and the fact that I know I need to keep my emotions under control, I have a tough time staying calm. My knee starts bouncing instantly, and I push my hands back through my hair as I describe in graphic detail what I saw through that window and what I saw in the bedroom. I watch the prosecutor pale a little when I tell him what I heard Danny saying to her, and I need a minute after sharing it to keep my shit together.
I still have nightmares about it every single fucking night. In the future, this will be one of the things Ineverthink about, but right now I need everyone in the courtroom to know what that bastard put her through.
I think it makes the crime scene photos look like an underreaction.
“Mr. Anderson, can you please review Exhibits 1 through 20?” I pointedly ignore the large printouts to my left and look down at the crime scene photos in front of me, focusing just to the left of the photo, then just to the right before I slowly flip to the next one.
Elise had to coach me not to look at the pictures. Apparently, I can’t hide the look of satisfaction on my face when I see them, no matter how hard I try, and the jury can’t know that I’m thrilled that I killed Danny.
