The Way of Grace (Miller's Creek Novels) (28 page)

Grace’s bloo
d ran cold as David
, his blue eyes wide and innocent, raised his righ
t hand and promised to tell the truth. The jury had most likely already formed judgments
, despite their promise to
wait until they’d heard
the evidence. She wiped her sweaty palms against her skirt, her stomach turning
cartwheels
. They couldn’t help but like him with his boy-next-door image.

S
immons
took a seat
as
Andy approached
.
“P
lease
state for the court your recollection
of the events from the evening of December twelfth.”

“Yes
sir.” He looked at the jury. “After I finished
my
volunteer work at the soup kitchen, I went back to my ro
om to clean up and
go out with
friends.”

“Which friends?”

“
Greg Johnson,
Scott
y
Evans,
and Michael Bedford
.”

“Go on
.”
Andy leaned against the table.

“We had dinner
and
drove around for a while, just talking and having a good time.”

“Did you drive around the entire evening with your friends?”

“No. We
stopped at Jerry’s bar
for a few drinks.”
Simmons
possessed an innate charm
that made him very likeable.

“Then what happened?”

He gave a brief shrug. “We drove around some more, you know,
just cutting up and laughing.”

Andy checked his notes.
“According to Mr. Evans’ testimony, you were the designated driver for the evening.”

“I was supposed to be, but we were in Scott
y
’s car. W
hen we left the bar,
he wouldn’t give me the keys. I got in the front seat with him just in case. I knew he’d had too much to drink.”

Grace glanced
over
at Scott Evans. If looks could kill, David Simmons would be meeting his Maker
right about now
.

Andy
crossed
his arms
.
“W
hat
time did you leave the bar?”

“B
etween ten-thirty and eleven.”

“What
happened next
?”

David’
s
face paled, and he
lowered his gaze
. “
We wer
e downtown by the old depot.
Michael started
feeling sick
.
We let him out and h
e went behind the building to throw up.
We decided to play a trick on him, so we turned off
our headlights and drove
to the oth
er side like we were leaving
. Scott got carried away and started driving too fast. Out of nowhere, Michael
appeared
in front of us and we
hit him.”

Scott Evans jumped to hi
s feet, his face
livid red. “That’s not true and you know it!” He made a move to climb the seat in front of him, but was immediately restricted by the bailiff and guards. As they escorted him
from the room, he
yell
ed
over his shoulder. “I’ll get you for this, David. I’ll get you if it’s the last thing I do!”

The courtroom erupted, and Judge Clark brought his gavel down on the stand with several hard raps.
“Order.”
Silence gradually prevailed.

Grace brought a hand to her chest, her gaze
on
the jury
.
If she didn’t know about his prior c
onviction, she’d buy every word. Judging by the
ir faces,
it looked like they’
d done just that
.

Judge Scott turned to a
visibly upset David, his hound dog eyes soft with compassion. “It’s okay, son, finish your story.”

Andy stepped closer
, his voice low and calm
. “David, can you tell the court why you originally lied to the police about driving the car that night?”

David sniff
ed and nodded,
swabbing tears with the back of his hands
. “Scott
y
already had a DWI
from
a few months earlier. A second offense would have been bad. We’d
all gotten
out of the car to check on Michael
.
He was groaning and moving so w
e thought he was
gonna
be okay.
A siren went off and I panicked. I climbed behind the wheel to protect Scotty.
”

“
Thank you, David.” Andy sent
a soft smile,
then
strode back to the defense table. “You
r
Honor, I’d like to enter Scott Evan’s prior
DWI
conviction as evidence.”

The words faded into background noise in Grace’s ears as she thought through the testimony. Not only was David Simmons convincing, but Scott’s emotional outburst made him
appear guilty. She snapped back to attention
.

Andy faced the judge.
“Your Honor, I request a recess for my client to gather himself.”

Elena sprung to her feet. “I object. The client is
still
able to answer questions.”

The judge didn’t hesitate.
“Objection overruled. We’ll adjourn until two o’clock this afternoon
at which time the prosecution may cross-examine the witness.”

As the gallery
clear
ed
,
Elena angrily stuffed papers into her briefcase, obviously unhappy with the recess.

Grace
moved closer. “I
s there something I can help
with?”

“No, I think I
know how to put my things away, but w
hile
you
’
r
e
here,
we might as well discuss something else.”

The hairs on the back of Grace’s neck stiffened in anticipation, and a nasty taste developed on the back side of her tongue.
This couldn’t be good.

“D
idn’t I make it clear
I wanted you to
stay away from
Matt and Andy Tyler and anyone else involved with the defense?”

“You did.”

“Then why
were
you walking through downtown
Miller’s Creek with Matt last night?” Her
voice lowered to a sibilant hiss.

“He’s my friend.”

“Not
if you intend to work for me.
We’ll discuss
this further in my office, and
you
’d
better not
keep me waiting.
” Elena turned and strode from the room, her high heels making angry snaps against the floors.

Grace slumped to a seat
in the
almost
empty
room to curb
her anger. How dare Elena
dictate her friendships
! She
breathed deep
to slow her thrashing p
ulse. A
fter several
minutes
she finally felt in control enough to leave.

In spite of her warm coat, she
shuddered
as she stepped into the bitter
November cold,
feeling
world-weary. L
ess t
han a week until Thanksgiving, and m
aybe she could catch up on sleep and make some hea
dway through the mental turmoil
.
Grace
cranked up the old truck
and quickly traversed the few blocks to the DA’s office.

Elena was waiting for her when she arrived. “It’s about time you showed up,” she spouted from her office door. “As soon as you put down your things, I need to see you in here.”

Though her knees trembled
, Grace lifted
a prayer as she traipsed to her boss’s office.
Help me be who
You
want me to be.
A floral scent
attacked Grace’s nostrils as she
entered
.

Ele
na looked up
. “Have a seat.”

She sank into the plush chair, dreading the verb
al tirade about to come her way.

A
n
inscrutable
expression
resided on the woman’s
face.
“
I appreciate how quickly you did the research I requested
.”

Grace
clamped her jaw
to keep
it
from snapping open. This woman had a serious case of Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

“
It might be our best chance
to put
this creep away
.”

David Simmons definitely topped her creep list. What made him even creepier
was his ability to appear
so innocent. “That’s why I’ve always wanted to be a prosecutor.”

Elena shifted her head to on
e side
. “Is the
re something from your past
—” She stopped,
as though
unsure
of what to say
.

“That makes this case especially difficult?”

Her boss
nodded.

“Yes
, my mother
was killed in a car accident where the other driver was at fault. The guy got off with little more than a slap on the hand.”
A thorn in her flesh that festered to this day.

“I’m so sorry.” Elena’s eyes moistened.
She
stared at her desk, but after a few seconds shook
herself from the
reverie
.
“
I n
eed
to tell you something
that
I really don’t want to mention.”

Grace’s eyebrows crinkled. “What?”

“I know you’re upset
that
I told you to
stay away from the Ty
ler’s. I guess I should
be more specific about why.” She wet her lips. “There are rumors that Andy mig
ht be involved in illegal
or unethical activity.”

There was no way to stop her
gaping jaw. “
I don’t believe it.”

“I don’t
either, but in situations like th
is we can’t
stick our head in the sand and
pretend it might not be tru
e.”

She shook her head in astonishment
. “What kind of things are we talking about?”

“Some question why he wins
an extraordinary number of cases involving high-profile people.
Apparently
the authorities are interested in how thi
s case turns out for that very reason.
”

“Are you saying he’s on the take?” Grace resisted the temptation to laugh.

“I know it seems ludicrous. I questioned it, too.
But he does have high
prominent connections. That’s why
you
need to stay away
. If the rumors are true
,
a
nd they suspect you
. .
. ”

A feather could have pushed her over.
While her heart didn’t
believe, her brain told her anything was possible.

“I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”

“Is there concrete evidence?”

“I don’t know
. The authorities will take care of it, but it would be easy for
them to suspect you, since you
work
ed for him and have now
for me.
It
look
s
more than a little suspicious.”

Her head swam. How could an
i
nnocent career move hold such
threat, e
specially
in her attempt
to
seek
justice?

“Anyway,” continued Elena, “
just watch your step. I have to
get back to work and figure out how to call David Simmons’ bluff
before court reconvenes
.
I’ll let you go.”