Stone Cold

Chapter Forty-Six

Alex sat in her chair at the defense counsel table, bleary-eyed from a restless night, hands in her lap, rubbing her palms and twisting her fingers. The morning session had begun with Claire’s cross-examination of Bonnie. Claire had been brief, highlighting how afraid Bonnie had been of Dwayne Reed, staying away from whether Alex had been truthful with her about the gun. Having Bonnie repeat or explain that testimony would only remind the jury of it. A lie was a lie.

Alex and Bonnie had hardly spoken last night, knowing that they couldn’t yet lift their self-imposed gag order. All they could do was get in bed and hug and hold each other.

“I’m so sor-,” Bonnie started to say before Alex pressed a finger gently against her lips.

“Don’t,” she said as they wrapped themselves together.

Alex waited until Bonnie was asleep before untangling herself and getting out of bed, putting on a coat and sitting outside on the patio. Quincy followed her, curling up on top of her feet, keeping them warm.

She knew that Ortiz had won the day and she knew how difficult it was to play catch-up in a murder trial, shivering at what that might mean for her and Bonnie. After an hour, the cold chased Quincy and her inside. She spooned against Bonnie’s back, kissing her on the cheek without waking her, asking herself again whether killing Dwayne Reed had been worth it. No matter what else happened, he would never hurt anyone again, especially Bonnie, and that was answer enough. As she drifted into sleep, an image of Dwayne’s body lying on the floor swept across her closed eyes, leaving her with an uneasy peace.

Sitting in court the next morning, she saw another picture of Dwayne’s body, only this time it was splashed across a fifty-inch video screen and Odyessy Shelburne was weeping at the sight of it. Ortiz had called her as his next witness after Bonnie. She’d been on the stand the rest of the morning, testifying about Dwayne from the moment he was born, bragging about how good he’d been to her and how little she deserved it because of the life she’d led, admitting to a litany of petty crimes, drug abuse, and prostitution.

Her family story and personal confession out of the way, Ortiz led her through the events leading up to the moment Alex shot Dwayne, pointing to the photograph and asking her if she recognized her son. Odyessy’s answer was in her tears.

“Ms. Shelburne,” he said, “would you like a moment to compose yourself?”

She shook her head, pulling a tissue from the box on the witness stand, rubbing her eyes and wiping her nose. “I’m okay.”

“Does this photograph show your son when you found him after the defendant shot him?”

Alex nudged Claire, whispering, “Object! That’s leading.”

Claire gave her a sideways glance, keeping her voice down. “I’m not going to drag it out, and neither would you if it weren’t your case.”

Alex nodded, her face flushed with embarrassment. She knew better but couldn’t help herself.

“Ms. Shelburne?” Ortiz said.

Odyessy sniffled. “Yes. That’s my boy.”

“Where were you when the defendant shot him?”

“I was on my way down the stairs.”

“Where had you been before you started down the stairs?”

“In my room.”

“Why did you leave your room and go downstairs?”

“On account of I heard his lawyer shoutin’ at Dwayne.”

“What was she shouting?”

“All kind of crazy stuff.”

“Can you be more specific? What exactly did she say?”

Odyessy straightened and glared at Alex. “She say she gonna kill him.”

“Had you been in your room the entire time that the defendant was in your house before you heard her say she was going to kill your son?”

“Yes, sir. I was up in my room the whole time.”

“And was your door open or closed?”

“It was open.”

“Could you hear the conversation between your son and the defendant before she said she was going to kill him?”

“Not too much till she started screamin’.”

“What did you do when you heard the defendant say she was going to kill your son?”

“I hightailed it down the stairs.”

“Why did you do that?”

“I was scared for my boy.”

“Were you scared that you might be in danger if you went down the stairs?”

Odyessy shook her head. “I wadn’t thinkin’ like that. I was jus’ scared for Dwayne.”

“What happened while you were coming down the stairs?”

“She shot him. Shot him down like a dog.”

“Who did you see shoot your son?”

“That woman!” she said, flinging her arm at Alex.

“And could you also see your son at the moment he was shot?”

“I surely did.”

“What was he doing at that moment?”

She folded her arms across her chest, setting her jaw in a hard line. “He wasn’t doin’ nuthin’. Just standin’ there.”

“Was he holding a gun?”

“Not that I saw.”

“Was he saying or doing anything to threaten or endanger the defendant?”

“Objection,” Claire said. “Calls for speculation as to Mr. Reed’s state of mind.”

“Sustained,” Judge West said. “Rephrase.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” Ortiz said. “Did you hear your son say anything at all to the defendant?”

“Naw.”

“Did you see your son point a gun at the defendant?”

“No.”

“Did you see your son raise a hand or a fist at her?”

“Uh-uh, no, sir.”

“Did you hear him say anything or see him do anything at all from the moment when you heard the defendant say she was going to kill him until she shot your son?”

“Nuthin’, nuthin’ at all.”

“And what was the next thing that happened after the defendant shot your son?”

Odyessy sucked in a breath, dropping her chin to her chest, and then looked up at Ortiz. “I ran to my boy. Blood was pourin’ out of him. I got down on the floor next to him and laid his head in my lap, and I held him and I called his name and then he died.”

Ortiz paused, looking at the photograph of Dwayne’s body on the screen, then at Alex, and finally at the jury.

“Thank you Ms. Shelburne. No further questions.”

Judge West banged his gavel. “We’ll take the noon recess and resume at one thirty.”

Odyessy stepped down from the witness stand. Ortiz cupped her elbow with his hand and walked her toward the hall.

Mason rose and turned toward the back of the courtroom. Blues was standing near the door. Their eyes met and they nodded. Blues waited for Ortiz and Odyessy to pass before slipping out.

“What’s that about?” Alex asked.

“Just due diligence,” Mason said as a short, round-shouldered, pasty-faced man approached them.

“Lou?”

Mason turned toward the man. “You got it?”

“Yeah. Six months’ worth of data. Hope you find what you’re looking for,” he said, handing Mason a flash drive, and left.

“Who was that?” Claire asked.

“Simon Alexander. He does forensic IT investigations. He helped me out with something last night.”

“What?” Claire asked.

“Sorting through the stuff on Gloria Temple’s cell phone.”

“How in the hell did you get that?” Alex asked.

“Yes,” Claire said, hands on her hips, “how did you manage that?”

Mason grinned. “Do any of you really want to know?”

Claire shook her head. “I don’t know which is worse: you losing your license or me still having mine so that I have to give you a job. I’m going to find a quiet place to look over my notes for Odyessy’s cross-examination.”

Mason showed Alex the picture he’d taken of Gloria. “I took this last night. You recognize her?”

Alex shook her head. “Is that Gloria Temple?”

“The one and only.” He handed the flash drive to Alex. “I’ve got some calls to make during the lunch break. Why don’t you have a look at this and see if there’s anything that might help us.”

“I’ll need a laptop.”

“We can use mine,” Kate said. “My hotel is six blocks from here. We can order room service and see what’s on the flash drive.”

Alex couldn’t wait to find out what was on the drive, but she didn’t want to share the moment with Kate Scranton. She didn’t buy Kate’s claim that she could divine the truth from micro facial expressions, but Claire and Mason trusted Kate and would believe whatever Kate told them about her. That’s why she’d avoided spending much time with Kate or talking with her about the case. Now she didn’t have a choice.

“Sounds great,” Alex said.