THE PROSECUTOR (17 page)

Chapter Seventeen

The following morning Emma forced down dry toast, a relatively boring breakfast, while surrounded by the fancy marble and stainless steel of their temporary kitchen. If she broke something in this palace, it would take a year to pay for it. Her phone whistled and she punched the screen, scanning Penny’s text summoning her to the criminal courthouse. In thirty minutes. Thirty minutes to shower, get dressed and face the end of rush-hour traffic.

Their lawyer truly was nuts.

At this point, with Alex Belson still being
interviewed,
the only thing Emma wanted from Penny was confirmation that Belson had killed Chelsea Moore and that Brian would come home. That’s it. The terror of the previous night would be worth it if Brian came home.

Why?
Emma texted back.

Just get there.

Emma sighed.

“What is it?” Mom asked.

Emma contemplated a response. Something must have been happening with Brian. But she didn’t have the heart to tell her mother that.
What if it’s not good?

They were too far gone for that. No more sheltering her mother. The load had gotten too heavy and this had to be—had to be—good news.

She met her mother’s stare. “I’m not sure. She wants me down at the courthouse in half an hour.”

“That’s good, right?”

I hope so
. “It could be nothing.”

“I don’t care. I’m going with you. It’s time I started helping you.”

Wow. How far they’d come in a week. All because of the Hennings family. Emma glanced down at the phone in her hand. Those crazy Hennings siblings. They’d drive her mad before this was done.

And yet she welcomed the madness.

Putting her thumbs to work, she texted Penny.
See you soon.
She dropped the phone, shoved her chair out. “Be ready in five minutes. I’m gonna take the fastest shower of my life and throw some clothes on.”

“Put your hair back,” Mom called as she charged down the long hallway behind Emma. “It’s a mess.”

Exactly twenty-six minutes later, Emma and her mother joined the back of the security line at the criminal courts building. On her tiptoes, Emma counted heads in front of her. Ten. Not as bad as usual, but they’d never make it in four minutes.

She texted Penny. A second later her phone rang. She didn’t bother to look. She knew who it was. “Not my fault. I’m stuck at security.”

“Here’s the deal,” Penny said, the words firing faster than usual. “My father, Zac and I are walking into Judge Alred’s court. We’ve—the State’s Attorney included—filed a joint emergency motion to vacate Brian’s conviction and sentence.”

Every word rolled into a massive ball in Emma’s throat. She tried to speak, but only managed a high-pitched squeal. She spun to her mother and latched onto her arm.

Mom winced and Emma let up. “What?”

Finally, the massive ball trapping her words unfurled. “This is happening now?”

“Yes.”

“Is the judge a good one?”

“He’s perfection. A good guy and reasonable. Hang on... What?” A muffled sound came through the phone line. “He’s ready for us. Hurry. Judge Alred’s courtroom. 400.”

“Wait.”

Dead air. Emma jerked the phone from her ear and stared at it.
Don’t get too excited
. The judge could deny it. Anything could happen.

Mom’s face blanched.

Emma squeezed her mother’s arm again. “It’s good. They filed a motion to vacate Brian’s conviction and sentence. In a little while we’ll know if Brian is coming home.”

“My God.”

“Don’t get your hopes up. You know our luck stinks.”

Mom held her hands out, her eyes big and round and...well...happy. “But we’ve never gotten this far.”

The gray-haired security guard Emma had seen several times before motioned her to the x-ray machine. “Step forward please, ma’am. Cell phone down.”

She shoved her purse and phone on the belt. “Sorry.”

He waved her through. “No problem.”

Once through the machine, she grinned up at the guard. “My brother may come home today.”

He offered a thumbs-up. “Good luck. Hopefully I won’t see you here anymore.”

Her mother stepped behind her, both of them grabbing their items off the belt.
This could be it.
Brian coming home.

Don’t go there
.

They got into the elevator, and Emma watched the numbers tick by until they reached their intended floor. Dragging her mother along, Emma dashed off the elevator, her low heels clickety-clacking against the tile floor. People cluttered the hallway, blocking her, forcing her to cut around them.
Just get there
. A door banged open and two men in suits stepped into her path.
Move
. Emma threw her arm out and angled around them. Her mother had better be keeping up. On her right, courtroom doors whizzed by. She checked numbers as she went.
Almost there
.

Courtroom 400.

She stopped and her mother plowed into Emma’s back. Emma grabbed Mom’s arm to keep her from falling over.

“Sorry. This is it.”

She stared at the double doors, rocked onto the balls of her feet. “You ready?”

Mom breathed in. “I have to be.”

“We’ve got this, Mom.”

Emma swung one of the doors open, ushered her mother inside and eased the door shut. The soft click echoed and she winced.
Don’t piss off the judge
.

She spun around, her gaze landing smack on the judge, a man appearing to be in his late forties. He sat behind the bench, two fingers pressed against his meaty cheek. His face gave away nothing. Not a scowl, not a smile, not a frown. He simply listened, and Emma imagined that she’d go mad wondering what the heck the man was thinking.

Zac spoke from his place at the prosecutor’s table, his voice, as usual, assertive. Confident. Penny and her father sat behind the defendant’s table, their postures tall but not stiff. Almost relaxed, but that couldn’t be. Could it?

Judge Alred focused on Emma, then her mother, the only two spectators in the room. Not wanting to cause further disturbance, Emma slid onto the nearest bench. So what if it was way in the back? She needed to sit before her legs gave way.

Her mother landed next to her and gripped her hand. This was it. Emma clung to her mother and directed her attention to the front of the room where the judge addressed Zac.

“Counselor, why is this a joint motion?”

“Your Honor, new evidence has come to light. After examining this new evidence, we determined that said new evidence changes the State’s position.”

Emma tapped her foot.
Yeah, yeah, we get it.
New evidence. Blah, blah, blah. Get on with it.

“Because of this new evidence,” Zac continued, “the State joins in the motion to vacate and set aside.”

Please, please, please
. A loud whoosh filled her head, smothered the voices of Zac and the judge. She closed her eyes. Hot little stabs traveled up her arms and made her itch.
Please let him come home
. Never had she prayed so hard, but this warranted it. She wanted her brother back. Maybe she wanted a few other things, too, but Brian coming home was the priority. If that happened, they’d rebuild their lives as a family. And, if the world could be so generous, she’d be free to have her own life and maybe make Zac Hennings part of it.

That’s what she wanted. Zac, her brother and her mother. With them, she almost believed anything could happen. With them, the impossible became possible.

An immense calm inched over her, slowly smothering the pinpricks her body had just endured. Her mind went quiet and a male voice sounded. The judge.

“Okay, counselors, motion granted. Defendant is ordered immediately released.”

What?
Emma snapped her head sideways. “What?”

Penny leapt to her feet. “Thank you, Your Honor.”

Mom held her fingers to her lips before the judge yelled at them.
Wait
. Emma turned to the front again, stared at Penny’s back. Beside Penny stood Mr. Hennings and the two high-fived, their faces glowing.
It’s happening
. On the other side of the aisle, Zac shoved a folder in his briefcase, all serious prosecutor but chances were he was dying to smile. He’d never give his sister the satisfaction. He’d make her beg for it.

The judge rose from the bench and rounded the corner, his long robe swaying behind him as he entered his chambers. Just like that, they were done.

Brian was free.

Penny whipped around, a mile-wide grin on her face. “
Now
you can talk.”

But Emma shook her head. The words
immediately released
looped in her mind, over and over and over, and she breathed in.
Don’t believe it.
Not yet. Not until they told her. Then she’d allow herself to believe that finally, after endless trudging through the justice system, they’d won.

Zac closed his briefcase, and turned to her. Their gazes held and he finally offered up a grin that sent blood racing into Emma’s brain.

Penny stood in the aisle hugging Mom whose sad, wilting eyes were now gone.
My mother is back.

Emma jumped up. Too fast. The rush made the room spin and she held on to the bench in front of her, taking it all in. The Hennings crew huddled together, father, son, daughter. Zac and his dad shook hands, slapped some backs and—they’d done it.

“Come here, girlfriend,” Penny said. “Give me a hug. We won.”

And Emma lost it. She held her arms in front of her as tears barreled out of her eyes.
We won
. Mouth gaping, happy sobs rocked her. Darn, she was tired. So tired.

The foursome gathered around her, their faces a mix of surprise, shock and—in Mr. Hennings’s case—curiosity. Mom had her own set of waterworks going and Emma had to look away. It was all too much. All the emotion that had been shoved deep inside, brutally packed away with the lid slammed down, came bursting free and she sobbed harder.

Zac eased her mother out of the way and stepped beside Emma. He slid his arms around her and squeezed.
He’s so good
. She buried her face in his chest, bawling on his suit jacket and gripping the material at his back.
Just hold on
.

“You did it,” he whispered, his lips pressed against her ear. “Why are you wasting time crying when you should be on your way to get your brother?”

Emma slammed her eyes closed.
He’s coming home.

Zac ran his hand over her head. “You’re okay now. Sshhh. Emma, you did it. You put your family back together.”

And then she laughed, a sort of pathetic snot-filled snort that at any other time would humiliate her, but for now, none of it mattered.

She backed away from him, grabbed the lapels of his suit jacket and tugged. “Thank you.”

“Hey,” Penny said. “What the hell?”

Emma rolled her eyes, but the feeling she had inside, that easy, settled hum of joy, made her attempt at irritation a lost cause. “You know I’ll thank you, too. He makes me giddier than you do.”

“Oh, please,” Penny said. “Blah, blah, blah. We have paperwork to deal with and then you need to get on the road. Go get Brian and tonight we’ll have a celebration dinner.”

“But you’re coming with us, right? To get him?” Emma turned to her mom. “Wait. I’m sorry. Do you want it to be just us?”

Mom dabbed a tissue over her face and grinned. “The more the merrier.”

“Good.” She went back to Penny. “Can you come with us?”

“If you want, I’ll make it happen.”

“I want.” She turned to Zac. “And you, too. You should be there. We should all be there when he comes out.”

He bent low and kissed her, a gentle brush of his lips, right in front of Mom and Penny and his dad and—
wow
—that’s different.

Except he blew it by stopping. “A prosecutor welcoming a wrongly convicted man home. You’re determined to get me fired.”

She hadn’t thought about that. She tugged on his jacket, only a little disappointed. Maybe more than a little. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’ll be worth it. Let’s head north.”

The courtroom door opened and they all turned. Detective Leeks stood in the doorway, his vile gaze slithering over them.
He shouldn’t be here
. Not when he’d done so much to hurt them, to terrorize them and to steal Brian’s life.

“Leeks,” Zac said, but Emma threw her hand up and stepped toward him. Behind her, she sensed Zac following. “Why are you here?” he asked.

Leeks stood still, his arms now crossed over his chest. “Thought I’d take in the festivities. Guess I missed it.”

Pulverizing anger blasted through Emma. Her body buzzed and the sudden urge to lash out consumed her. She halted in front of Leeks. His son hadn’t even been guilty, yet he’d been willing to ruin another man’s life to protect him.

She wiggled the fingers of her right hand as Leeks stood there, that disgustingly smug grin on his face, and Emma couldn’t take it anymore.

Crack!

She smacked him. One solid blast and the man’s head flew sideways. From somewhere behind her, Mom gasped.

“You go, girl,” Penny said.

“Whoa.” Zac shifted in front of Emma. “This is over, detective. You’re lucky I didn’t have enough to charge you with having Brian Sinclair attacked in prison.”

Leeks stared up at Zac, his eyes burning, but there was nothing to be done. Not unless he planned on taking on all five of them.

“We’re celebrating,” Emma said. “And you don’t belong here.”

* * *

H
OURS
LATER
,
Emma, her mother, Zac and Penny stood outside the prison gates waiting for Brian. Emma leaned against the gleaming black stretch limo Zac’s father had provided and tilted her head to the sun. Spring, at least for today, had finally blessed them with its presence. All in all, a great day to welcome Brian home. Still, she had to admit, this was a scenario she’d never imagined.

Off to the right, Penny paced the edge of the parking area, talking on her phone. Mom stood by the gate, sometimes wandering back a few steps, but then returning, waiting for her baby to come to her.