Naked Justice

Chapter 34

DEANNA REALIZED SHE NEEDED to do something, and quickly, but for some strange reason she couldn’t get her feet to move. What was she doing here? She should never have come; she should’ve gotten her boss to say she was indispensible or pleaded dependent children or something. Stupid or not, though, she was here now, and the man was calling her name, and she needed to get off her butt and move.

She pushed herself to her feet and took her seat in the jury box. Well, surely she wouldn’t actually be selected for the jury. What were the odds? She knew scores of jurors were excused in these big capital murder cases. They would find some reason to boot her. Especially after she told them …

Ah, there’s the rub. Would she tell them? She knew she should, knew she was morally obligated to tell them.

But would she?

Well, she told herself, she wouldn’t volunteer anything, but if they asked the right questions, she would answer honestly.

Right. She almost laughed out loud. What could they possibly ask that would unravel her secret? Excuse me, ma’am, but by any chance is your daughter involved with a man who you think may actually have been responsible for the slaughter of the defendant’s family? Somehow she just didn’t think that one was going to come up.

Did she think she could consider the evidence presented, forgoing all outside knowledge she might have, and reach a fair verdict? No way in hell.

The question then was, would she keep quiet about it, or would she do the right thing?

And the problem was, if she did the right thing, what would happen to Martha?

She couldn’t believe that Martha had knowingly played a part in the murders. Despite all the heartache they’d shared these past few years, she knew Martha was fundamentally a generous, caring person.

But the district attorney, of course, did not know Martha. If Barrett was acquitted and the DA had to find another suspect, he might just stumble onto Buck. And from Buck, it would be a short hop to Martha.

Would he go after Martha as an accessory? Of course he would. He would have no choice. The public would demand it. The media would cry for it. They much preferred conspiracies to lone gunmen, after all. Conspiracies were so much sexier, so much more intriguing.

Martha would go to prison. Maybe not forever, but long enough to irreparably ruin her life. Scars like that you didn’t bounce back from.

So would Deanna do the right thing?

How could she? She was a mother, for God’s sake. Her whole life was based on the premise that she must take care of her daughter, protect her, shepherd her, help her find a happy and productive life. She couldn’t let this tragedy happen. She just couldn’t. Even if …

She turned her head slightly and gazed at ex-mayor Wallace Barrett sitting next to his attorney at the defense table. He was trying to be strong, she could tell, but he was worried. She could see it in his face. Who wouldn’t be? With what he was going through. What, in part, she was putting him through.

She looked away and stared at her hands.

Yeah. Even if.