The Law of Attraction (15 page)

Without giving him a second glance she left the room and
turned the corner to see Daniel Fortune standing before her, one shoulder leaning against the wall. She planned to walk past him with only a polite hello, planned not to react to his presence, but she failed when he said, “Are you okay?”

She smoothed a hand down her jacket, praying he didn't see the slight tremble. “I'm fine. Why?”

“I saw Moreau go in after you in the break room.”

“Nothing I can't handle.”

He pushed off the wall. “I know, but I still worry about you.”

She wanted to ask exactly what was worrying him. She wanted to smooth the concern from his face. She wanted to kiss him so badly she was tempted to forget who and where she was. But she couldn't do any of those things, at least not now. She needed to stop by the rest room, throw some water on her face and get back to business. “I'll see you in a few minutes.”

When she passed him, he caught her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, then let her go. She kept right on walking, wondering all the while if he'd meant to provide comfort or throw her mentally off balance.

No. Daniel wasn't like Troy. He'd only meant to remind her that she had his support. She trusted him, something she hadn't thought possible after her involvement with Moreau. Maybe that made her a fool. Or perhaps a woman very close to falling in love.

This afternoon she had a fight ahead of her. She needed to focus on the case and ignore Daniel Fortune, who would be seated only a few feet away—in the role of adversary, not lover.

I
f Alisha was at all shaken, Daniel couldn't tell it from her current demeanor as she prepared to cross-examine the state's most valuable witness. He didn't care about the indecent-exposure charge or the disorderly conduct. The strength of the case hinged on the eighty-year-old assault victim's testimony, and so far, so good. During direct examination Mrs. O'Reilly—who looked like everyone's favorite cookie-baking gray-haired granny—had been a rock. Daniel had all the confidence in the world she would remain that way during cross. If Alisha found some way to discredit her, he'd eat his briefcase.

“First of all, Mrs. O'Reilly,” Alisha began, “I want to tell you how sorry I am you've broken your arm.”

The lady smiled and rubbed a careworn hand down the blue sling. “Thank you, dear.”

“Now I want to ask you a few questions in regard to your health before the accident.”

Daniel came to his feet. “Objection. Mrs. O'Reilly's health before the accident isn't relevant.”

Without looking at Daniel, Alisha addressed the judge. “There are circumstances in regard to her health that could impact her testimony, Your Honor.”

“I'll allow it for now,” Slagle said.

Alisha folded her arms across her chest, a sure sign, at least to Daniel, that she wasn't altogether comfortable with the line of questioning. Neither was he. “Do you have any vision problems?”

“Yes, I do. Cataracts. But they're not bad enough to require surgery.”

“How close do objects have to be for you to see them?”

“I can see you just fine, dear.” She leaned around and looked toward Daniel. “Mr. Fortune looks fuzzy from here.”

Alisha turned and nailed him with a quick glance before facing the witness again. “So I assume you can't see clearly more than a few feet away.”

“That would be correct.”

“Have you fallen before?”

Damn. He knew exactly where she was heading. He rose and called out, “Objection. Irrelevant.”

Alisha addressed the judge. “I'll prove the relevance if the court will give me the opportunity.”

Slagle tapped his gavel with one bony finger. “Fine and dandy, but let's speed things along. You may answer the question, Mrs. O'Reilly.”

Mrs. O'Reilly shifted in her seat. “Yes. I fell a few months ago and had a hip replacement. That's why I use a cane. I tripped after a dizzy spell.”

“A dizzy spell?”

“I have bouts of vertigo.”

Daniel sat tight even though he wanted to object again, which would only be futile. He would see where this led, at
least for now, and hopefully not into a trap from which his star witness couldn't escape.

“Did you have one of those bouts the night of the incident?” Alisha asked.

The woman shook her head. “No, I haven't had a spell in a long time. I was feeling quite fine. I'd been shopping that evening.”

This time Daniel wanted to applaud. He relaxed somewhat and tried to hide his smile.

Alisha took a few steps, then came back to the stand. “Okay. When Mr. Massey approached you on the walkway, were there a lot of people around?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Were those people watching Mr. Massey?”

“Yes, we all were. Quite a few young girls were screaming and cheering. Of course, I couldn't see him that well. That's why I wanted to catch a better look.” She smiled an amiable smile. “At my age, the opportunity to view a handsome young man doesn't come along too often, especially one who is barely dressed. I wanted to see what the fuss was all about.”

Several snickers came from Massey's side of the courtroom, prompting Slagle to pound his gavel, and he looked pleased to do it. “Simmer down, people.”

Alisha presented her own smile, knocking Daniel for a loop. “Now when Mr. Massey approached you, where exactly were you looking?”

Mrs. O'Reilly's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. “At first his face, but then his red sash caught my attention.” More giggles, but this time Slagle didn't bother to pound his gavel. In fact, Daniel could swear he looked pretty amused.

“What happened while you were looking at his sash?” Alisha asked.

“The next thing I knew, I was on the ground.”

“Did you see Mr. Massey's hand push you before you fell?”

The woman hesitated. “Not exactly, but he was right there.”

“So you're telling everyone in this courtroom that you didn't actually witness him pushing you?”

That sent Daniel out of his chair. “Objection. Counsel is leading the witness.”

“I'll rephrase it. Mrs. O'Reilly, did you see Mr. Massey raise his hand and push you?”

The woman who'd been solid as stone looked totally disconcerted. Daniel could relate. “Well, I guess…I felt it,” she said.

“Then you didn't actually see him push you?”

Looked like he might have barbecued briefcase for dinner. “Objection. Witness has already answered that question,” he said without bothering to stand.

“Sustained,” Slagle said. “Get a move on, Ms. Hart.”

“I did hear someone say, ‘What a jerk,'” Mrs. O'Reilly added.

Daniel didn't doubt Alisha would jump on that, and she did when she asked, “Did this person call Mr. Massey by name or mention him pushing you?”

The woman lowered her eyes. “No, he didn't.”

“Is it possible, then, that maybe someone else around Mr. Massey, perhaps one of the young women, could have pushed you down?”

“I suppose that's possible, but he was right there.” She tapped her finger on the railing. “Right there when it happened.”

Alisha gave her a sympathetic look. “Thank you, Mrs. O'Reilly. No further questions.”

Slagle turned his attention to Daniel. “Redirect, Counselor?”

Daniel couldn't think of a damn thing to say. The reasonable doubt had already been planted in the jury's minds, and not one other witness had come forward to confirm Mrs. O'Reilly's claims. He'd have to do damage control during closing arguments. “No, Your Honor.”

“Fine,” Slagle said. “You may step down, ma'am. Any other witnesses, Mr. Fortune?”

Daniel stood. “The state rests.”

Slagle banged his gavel. “Court is adjourned until nine tomorrow morning.”

After the jury exited, Alisha addressed Slagle. “Motion to dismiss, Your Honor, on the grounds the state has failed to prove its case.”

“Good try, Counselor, but the motion is dee-nied, although it's kind of tempting.” Slagle topped off the comment with a condescending look targeted at Daniel.

Daniel remained in place while the courtroom cleared, wondering what the hell had happened. He knew what had happened—he'd been bested by the defense. Considering his own lack of conviction, he should have seen it coming. He should have been better prepared, interviewed the witnesses himself, but he hadn't really cared. His heart hadn't been in this case from the beginning. He'd been totally focused on Alisha Hart. And now he'd have hell to pay for his disregard.

Hell came a few minutes later in his office when he confronted the boss standing by the window and staring out over the city streets. “She kicked your ass, Fortune,” Vera said. “Kicked it clean into the next county.”

Daniel tossed his briefcase onto his desk and yanked off his jacket. “It's a weak case, Allan. The bulk of it rested on Mrs. O'Reilly's testimony, and she buckled.”

Allan turned and gave him a hard stare. “And you let it fall apart. Now what are you going to do to salvage it?”

Daniel collapsed into his chair. “To tell the truth, I'm not sure there's much I can do other than to try to discredit Massey, provided defense counsel decides to put him on the stand.”

“She'll have to if she wants to answer to the other charges aside from the assault. I imagine she's going to go for broke.”

Daniel suspected his boss was right. “It's going to be tough to make this guy look bad. He's a damn hero to a lot of people. We don't have anything to go on.”

“Don't be so sure about that,” came a woman's voice from the doorway.

Daniel looked up to see Sara Utley striding into the room. “You found something?”

“I found an ex-girlfriend. It took some time, but I tracked down the guy who's supposedly his roommate. As it turned out, he only let Massey sleep on his couch for a few days. He gave me the number of the former girlfriend, Carol Novak, who lives in New Orleans. I called her but didn't get an answer. I was just about to throw in the towel when her call came in.”

Maybe his luck had taken a turn for the better. “What does she have to offer about Massey?”

“Plenty. She saw coverage of the case on the news yesterday. She told me he's never supported a cause in his life. He wants to be in show business and for the two years they were together he was plotting ways to get attention. She's pretty mad at him because he just took off one day without telling her.”

“How long ago?”

“About four months.” Sara sent him a bright smile. “This is the kicker. It seems the toreador outfit he was wearing on the river is hers. Also—” she fished a notebook from her jacket pocket and flipped it open “—he took several of her favorite CDs and the hibachi grill he gave her on her birthday.”

“Did she mention him taking anything of greater monetary value?” Allan asked.

“No. That's it.”

Too bad. Daniel would enjoy slapping him with felony theft. “All right. We know for sure what I've suspected all along. Massey's in this for the publicity. But considering she's just now come forward and she lives out of state, that complicates everything.”

“She's more than willing to testify,” Sara said. “I can book her a flight and get her here in the morning, bright and early.”

“At the expense of the taxpayers,” Daniel said. “I'm just
not sure it's worth it. We should make a deal on the disorderly conduct charges and cut our losses.”

Allan guided the clerk toward the door. “Could you give us a minute, Sara?”

“Sure,” she said. “Just let me know if I need to reserve the flight.”

“Go ahead and make the arrangements,” Allan told her, fueling Daniel's anger almost to the boiling point.

After Sara left the room, Allan closed the door and leveled a hard look on Daniel. “I don't think I have to remind you how important this case could be to your future.”

Daniel mustered all his composure to keep his anger in check. “Dammit, Allan, I've told you from the beginning I didn't have time for this. I have the Jamison case pending, not to mention one that landed on my desk this morning involving a parolee who shot a store clerk in the head during a robbery. That clerk happened to have a wife and four kids. That's important, not some guy who's nothing more than a nuisance.”

“The party's counting on you with this one.”

Same song, second verse, and Daniel was tired of it. “I find it damn hard to believe that my record doesn't speak for itself. That should interest the party, not this nothing case.”

“This case is important to the city. This idiot has to be stopped before he wreaks more havoc. Besides, Pettigrew—”

“The hell with P—” Daniel stopped himself and with the last of his waning strength reclaimed his composure. “Look, the best I can do, even with this girlfriend's testimony, is prove that Massey has a different motive for doing what he's done. It doesn't change the fact that the assault and indecent-exposure charges probably aren't going to fly.”

“And that proves that the ass is basically a liar,” Allan said. “That could go a long way toward erasing reasonable doubt on all the charges.”

“But only if the defense counsel decides to call him. And even if she does, she'll have to give me an in during direct ex
amination of Massey, otherwise we can forget about a rebuttal witness.”

“Mark my words, Ms. Hart's going to make Massey look like a saint. And my guess is, he's going to play right into your hands.”

Probably an accurate guess, but Daniel was sick of the whole thing. He also knew the defendant's counsel well. Very well. “We have no way of knowing what Alisha plans to do, but you can bet she's going to handle whatever we throw at her.”

Vera narrowed his eyes. “Alisha? Since when are you on a first-name basis with opposing counsel?”

Dammit to hell. “I'm on a first-name basis with most opposing counsel.”

Allan took a seat in the chair across from Daniel's desk. “You know, I haven't mentioned this before, but I'm going to now. I saw her leave with you the night of the reception. I figured, hey, she's a good-looking woman, what could be the harm in it? Besides, I trusted you not to cross any lines. Have you?”

Concerns Daniel had dismissed had come back to bite him—exactly what Alisha had feared all along. “What I did that night has no bearing on this case.”

“If word gets out that you've been sleeping with the defense, you could compromise this case. If you lie down and just let this one slide without putting up a fight, it could raise suspicions.”

“We haven't discussed this case outside of a professional arena,” Daniel said.

Allan came to his feet. “Regardless, you better be prepared to go back into battle tomorrow and win. Otherwise it might be your political future as well as your ass in a sling. And hers, too.”

Daniel watched his boss leave without posing any more arguments or defending his relationship with Alisha. In doing so, he would only make matters worse. One thing he did
know—he couldn't see her again until this trial was over. Maybe even for a few weeks. He couldn't afford to cast any suspicion on himself, but more importantly on her. His persistence had gotten them into this mess, and it was up to him to get them out of it. Otherwise Alisha might get hurt, and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. Professionally or personally. Especially personally.