A Snow Covered Nightmare: Refuge Series Book Two by Debbie Zello (10)

Chapter Ten

Blain was accomplished at jury selection. He played poker in his spare time with a local Texas Hold ‘em group that he and a friend had formed ten years ago. There were fifteen men in the group and they played in invitation only tournaments all over the country. His team had played in the World Poker Championship in Vegas just about every year.

Blain was a prosecutor for the intellect and the kill. He played poker for the money and the adventure. Together, he felt he had the perfect life.

The jury was seated with seven men and five women. They ranged from a twenty-year-old dishwasher at a local restaurant, to a fifty-eight-year-old APRN at a well-known doctor’s office in town. Blain was happy with what he saw.

The trial would begin on Monday. Blain decided to go with a chronological order of the events. Briah would testify first, followed by the responding officers and medical personal. The medical examiner next, then forensics, Pete and Aiden, and end with Jeanette, his coup-de-gras.

Briah walked into his office Saturday morning, alone. Aiden would be testifying too, so they needed to keep their individual accounts separate. “Good morning,” she said.

“Good morning. Are you ready for this?”

“I hope so. I’m nervous.”

“Understandable. I have a secret, so am I!” he admitted. Briah giggled. “Have a seat. Can I get you some coffee or water?”

“No thanks, but you go ahead,” she said taking a seat in front of his desk.

“I’m not going to go over your testimony today. I want it to sound fresh and unrehearsed on Monday. If it sounds like we have point after point it comes off as being made up for court.”

“That makes sense.”

“What I do want to talk about is both body language and how to answer a question.”

“Okay.”

“Your body speaks way before you do. When people aren’t telling the truth, they often break out in a sweat. They blush right down their chests. They’re tense in their seat. They shift their legs and tend to grab the armrests on their chairs. I know that you aren’t going to lie, you have no reason to. Just be careful of the ‘tells’ that liars have and don’t do them.”

“Okay.”

“My examination will be in the order of what happened. When you are cross-examined, he will switch questions around in an attempt to trip you up. Wait for him to ask the full question, before you answer any of it. Take your time in formulating a difficult answer. Cough, sneeze, take a drink of water, and stretch your neck, anything you want if you need that minute or two to think. Just don’t sit there staring, waiting for the wisdom to come to you. That looks like your trying to come up with a lie.”

“This is complicated. Can’t I ask for a recess or something?”

“After you have answered the question and only one time. You can’t bob up and down like a three-year-old that’s toilet training. Any attempt to delay answering will appear to the jury that you’re evading the answer. I will protect you as much as I can, Briah. They can only ask you questions on what I bring in as evidence. What I introduce in my questions to you.

“They can ask briefly about your background. Things like, have you ever testified before, been arrested for anything, and do you pay your taxes. These questions are designed to make you look like a bad person to the jury. In your case that will be useless because you don’t have anything to go after.

“Your Achilles heel is your relationship with Aiden. They can ask personal and probing questions about that. I can’t stop that unless it gets nasty.”

“Define nasty for me, please,” she said taking a deep breath waiting for his answer.

“He will ask when you began this. How it began and when you became physical. Most people know that the only virgins walking down the aisle would be around twelve-years-old. Knowing that, and hearing in open court that you are having sex with your boyfriend are two different things.

“If he went so far as to ask if you have orgasms or engage in oral sex, that I would stop immediately. All those kinds of questions do is enflame the jury. Because I need to know what I’m dealing with and not because I’m nosy, when did it start?”

“After the investigation with me was over. After I came to work in the fraud division. I couldn’t find my car keys. He helped me and we just kissed.”

“How long after that did it become physical? Please don’t say that night.”

“I’m off the hook; it was forty-six days later. The night Aiden arrested David,” she said shyly.

“Way to celebrate!”

“We thought so,” she said with a smile.

“You just went public recently, why?”

“It was awkward working in the same building. It wasn’t anyone’s business, yet it was. It’s better to come out before the trial, than during. Or after when he could use that as a reason for an appeal. It’s better this way, don’t you think?”

“Timing is everything. Do you have any questions for me?”

“I don’t think so,” she said shaking her head.

“Okay, then I’ll see you Monday morning at eight-thirty. We’ll meet in a conference room, just prior to going into court. Aiden won’t be there because he can’t hear your testimony. You can stay for his and actually watch everything once you’ve given your direct and cross.

“A marshal will pick you up and bring you home for a while. Just as a precaution. They’re in for a big surprise once they see that you are the eye-witness.”

“Yeah, big surprise.”

Aiden wanted to make her night special. He thought they might go to LoDo (lower downtown) and hit a few of the nightclubs which inhabit that area of town. They hadn’t been bar hopping yet. He told her to wear something hot.

When she opened the door to his knock, he realized he should have said warm. What she had on was scorching. The top looked like chainmail. Something worn into battle. The skirt was white and tiny. Her legs were bare, ending in silver stilettos. “Wow!” Was about all he could say.

“You said hot. I don’t own anything hot so I borrowed this from one of the girls in the office.”

“It’s not what you are wearing, baby. It’s how it covers that body. I was going to leave my gun in the car. I think I should keep it on me, I might need it.”

“Stop, you’ll embarrass me,” she said bumping his shoulder with her hand.

Once they parked, it was easy to walk from club to club. At the first, Aiden saw the hunger in the eyes of the males in attendance. He kept Briah close and kissed her often. After a couple of hours of dancing and a wine or two, the DJ took a break. Aiden whispered in her ear, “Do you want to stay, move on, or go home?”

She shyly looked up at him and said, “I want to go home, unless you want to stay.”

“Let’s get out of here,” he said taking her hand.

Sunday, they went for a long walk. Aiden tried to gauge her anxiety with a few questions. “How do you feel about testifying?”

“I’m nervous. Blain went over what I can expect to happen. We didn’t talk about what happened because he doesn’t want it to sound rehearsed.”

“Blain is very good at what he does. You’re in good hands with him. Do you have it all straight in your head?”

“It’s strange. I see it repeatedly in my head. It plays out in slow motion. You can’t even embellish on this kind of horrendous occurrence. It’s so awful it stands alone.”

“It’s the embellishing that gets you into trouble so don’t do it anyway. Giving credence to one particular part sometimes blinds you to the rest. Don’t dwell too much. Blain will move you along anyway.”

“He didn’t tell me how long it might take and I forgot to ask him.”

“I’m on for Tuesday, so I believe he’ll direct you in the morning and then cross after lunch. I wish I could be there for you,” he said squeezing her hand.

“Me too.”