“Autumn took her own life, as I’m sure you are well aware.” I couldn’t keep the razor sharpness out of my tone or the warning. I could typically play these dodge and parry games with the best of them, but with Avett caught in the middle and her composure as the prize I was barely keeping all the things I knew about brutality and violence leashed.
“Ms. Thompson’s parents feel very differently about the matter. They have a lot to say about Ms. Walker and her influence on their daughter. It seems your client is very good at leading other people into trouble and then ducking out while everyone else suffers some very dire consequences.”
“I think my client has a knack for finding lost souls and trying to help them out in her own way and we both know if you put the Thompsons on the stand that Townsend is going to pull them apart. Why would you question the parents and not the boys that actually hurt their daughter? The only people guilty of committing any kind of crime that night were the boys that attacked Autumn. Townsend’s going to ask the parents why they let Autumn spend time with Avett in the first place if they were so concerned about her influence. He’ll question their parenting ability and all the jury is going to see is you bringing up a dead girl and rehashing bad memories. People don’t like being manipulated, Tyrell. It doesn’t go to probable cause at all, and the judge won’t let it go beyond one question. Your sole purpose for bringing that part of my client’s past up is because you wanted to rattle her.”
His eyebrows went up again and that slick-as-shit smile was back on his face. It took every ounce of self-control I had not to let my hands curl into fists where they rested on the arms of the chair.
“You would do the same thing if you were in my position, Counselor. I’m obligated to give my client the best defense possible.”
It irked me because he was right. That was a huge, open, gaping wound that festered and seeped into pretty much every aspect of Avett’s life. It was her major weak point and every attorney, no matter what side of the law they were on, learned to go straight for that spot when dealing with anyone on the stand.
Suddenly, Avett straightened up in her seat and she reached out to grab my forearm. Her head turned in my direction and her multicolored eyes popped open so wide they seemed to take up half of her face. “Asa wasn’t alone when he came to see me the day after the attack. His sister was in town visiting and she was with him.”
“My client is accused of robbing her brother at gunpoint. Her testimony would be as suspect as Mr. Cross’s.” Larsen’s tone was sharper than it had been and his gaze had narrowed at our end of the table. It was the first time since we entered the room that some of the smug satisfaction that surrounded him slipped.
I snorted and leaned forward so that I could put a forearm on the glass tabletop. “Right, the brother and the sister and my client are all conspiring to set your client up and to send him to jail. Sounds like there is witness testimony available that backs up my client’s story that your client ripped off his suppliers and was desperate for money, leading to my client being shaken down and roughed up. The robbery was clearly his idea.”
“This witness isn’t on the prosecution’s list and hasn’t been vetted.”
It was my turn to smirk and flash some teeth. “It’s called discovery for a reason, Tyrell. I’ll be sure to send Townsend this new information, as soon as we leave.”
We had a vicious stare-down for several long minutes until Larsen moved forward and closed the file in front of him with more force than the task required. “I think that’s all for me today, Ms. Walker.”
Avett let out an audible sound of relief, but I could see by the predatory look in the other man’s eyes he was far from done with her or with me.
“Thank you for your time. I want to remind you that when you are on that stand, nothing, and I do mean nothing, is off-limits. I can ask you about your past, including the men in it, and I can ask you about your current circumstances. I’m sure McNair and Duvall will be thrilled to have their firm’s name tied to a felony robbery case when it hits the press that one of their top litigators is sleeping with one of the witnesses. I can discredit both of you, with the right innuendo and the right wording. We both know exactly how to do that, don’t we, Jackson? You’ll have no chance of making partner when this trial is over. That’s a promise.”
The other attorney swept out of the room and before I could tell Avett not to give a second thought to his idle threats she was on her feet and moving out of the conference room after him. I called her name but she didn’t even look back as her small body artfully moved in and out of the rush of people coming and going in the busy courthouse. She hit the glass entrance doors without slowing down and only stopped when I caught up to her a few hundred feet from the entrance. I put my hand on her elbow and spun her around to face me and felt my heart had split open when I noticed she was crying and that her lush bottom lip was quivering.
I didn’t think. I didn’t deliberate the pros and cons. I didn’t rationalize that it wasn’t the time or place. All I could do was react. My girl was hurting and I wanted to make it stop, so I pulled her to me and put my lips over hers and tried to kiss the pain away.
At first, she yielded soft and sweet, her return kiss a delicate surrender. Unfortunately, it quickly turned from something warm and comforting into something that felt more like combat. She jerked her head away from mine and then her hand cracked across my cheek with enough force to have my head snapping to the side. She gasped in shock at the same time I barked her name. She lifted the shaking fingers of one hand to her mouth and put the others on what I was sure was a violent red welt that was rising on my cheek. I could feel her shaking and remorse all the way through my body.