Too Far

37: Snakes

Katherine's testimony was somewhat... easy. A.D.A. Johnson was frustrated because she was skilled at deflecting questions subtly so the judge couldn't quite say anything on real grounds. He asks a question, she gives a vague answer and adds something that's practically unrelated to the topic. It's distracting.

And helpful.

When she leaves the stand, though, we don't know who to expect next. We've had an inkling of the witnesses from the beginning, but now it was shots in the dark. Luckily, it was a few trivial, irrelevant people who didn't actually know what they were talking about.

Then we went home for the day. It had been a long one. The jurors were obviously perplexed by the case. They were instructed not to read, watch, or listen to the news because protesters and opinions might sway them in a biased direction. They didn't need to watch the news to hear what people thought about this, though.

When we walked out of the courthouse, it was obvious Louise was feeling a little better. She'd adjusted slowly to the scene, growing accustomed to the questions and officers. Mr. Hudson had informed her that the jury looked as though they were leaning in the direction of innocence. When she was bombarded by reporters, she handled it a little better.

"Ms. Bren, what is it like in the courtroom after years of hiding?"

"Ms. Bren, how do you feel about the accusations being made towards you?"

"Ms. Bren, why did you run?"

She didn't answer any but one. At the last one, she turned and smiled, but I knew that smile. They weren't getting a real answer. "I just felt like running."

I wonder if they knew she was quoting Forrest Gump?

Katherine came to my house when we got home. Immediately, Louise smiled at her. "Thank you," she said quietly. I knew it must have been hard because neither Selena nor Louise liked Katherine. "For lying, I mean."

"It was my pleasure to lie to the authorities," she promised sincerely. "Anything to ruffle their feathers."

"I don't think you ruffled them too much," I said, opening the pantry for some food. "Most people seem to think that she's been in the wrong place at the wrong time for her whole life, like it just sucks to be her."

"It kind of does," Selena said earnestly, smiling to take off sting as she looked at Louise. "But you have us to make up for it. We're pretty great."

Louise laughed briefly, nodding. "I'm going to go lay down for a nap." We all nodded and she disappeared up the stairs.

Katherine scoffed. "You guys aren't ordering pizza or going out to celebrate a good trial?" We all shook our heads in unison, frowning. "I only came over here because I thought you would get good food."

"So have the cops talked to your dad?" I asked, sitting at the island.

She grinned. "He managed to make a deal. He talked and, in exchange, they let him out on good behavior within the year. They were already planning on doing that, so it wasn't much, but my dad is really happy with it."

"Did he help?"

"Mostly just talked trash about Robbie. That discredited both him and his men, though. If Mr. Hudson uses it, the jury will distrust the D.A.'s witnesses even more."

"They say he's got one up his sleeve, though. Some boy," Selena said, looking between us all. I nodded.

"I guess they haven't told you that the boy isn't all they've got." Jay frowned at Katherine's words, looking from Selena to her. "Someone said they have a girl. Nineteen or twenty. She's going to rip Hudson's case to shreds."