If It Walks Like A Killer (The Carolina Killer Files #1) (11 page)

“So you say. What I’m hearing is that there is a fifteen percent chance we could send an innocent woman to prison. Babies are born every day simply because condoms have a fifteen percent failure rate.”

“It is impossible to have a one hundred percent match. We had a very small sample to work with, my team and I are very happy with the results we received.”

“You’re perfectly happy with eighty-five percent? Let’s say, for a second, I bake a batch of cookies. I give you a cookie and I tell you that if you eat it there is an eighty-five percent chance you won’t be poisoned, would you eat it?”

The doctor scoffed, “No. Of course not. That’s different. You’re taking what I’m saying out of context.”

“I’m simply putting things into perspective. There’s an eighty-five percent chance, doctor, that you’ll eat this cookie and go on the rest of your day, perfectly healthy and with your sweet tooth satisfied. Are you going to eat the cookie or aren’t you?”

“No. I wouldn’t risk my life over eighty-five percent, no.”

Hampton grimaced, walking back toward his desk. “No, just my client’s life. No further questions, your honor.”

Chapter Nineteen

Caide

Just as Hampton took his seat, Rachael grabbed the waste bin below her feet and began emptying her stomach into it. The courtroom erupted with people jumping up, shouting, and gagging. Caide leaped to her side, reaching for her hair. A bailiff rushed forward, restraining him.

“I just want to hold her hair back. She’s my wife.” He struggled to tell them.

Hampton stepped in front of Caide, grabbing Rachael’s hair as she sat up. He handed her a tissue and a glass of water, continuing to hold her hair.

“Can we get a recess, your honor?”

“Very well. We’ll reconvene in thirty minutes. Everyone clear out and get some air. Bailiffs, take the jury back to the deliberation room and escort Mrs. Abbott back to her holding cell.”

The bailiffs finally let go of Caide, reaching instead for Rachael. Hampton threw Caide an angry look. “Calm down,” he mouthed.

Caide couldn’t help but notice Hampton still clutching Rachael’s hair until the bailiffs took her. He felt as though he were going to be sick himself.

***

Rachael

The bailiffs led Rachael into a cell larger than her usual one. She felt lightheaded and her legs wouldn’t stop shaking. She felt hands on her back, leading her, but she was unsure of who it was. She heard someone talking, a voice, mumbling under their breath. Everything sounded so distant. She sat in a corner, pressing herself into the solid wall, listening to the shallowness of her own breathing. Her hands were cold, she tucked them under her legs, trying to warm them. She watched the shape of a person walk her way but she couldn’t make her eyes focus on who it was. She saw two gray pant legs in front of her. The legs were talking. Why couldn’t she understand them? She only saw fuzziness, only gray. She held her stomach, terrified she was going to be sick again.

***

Hampton

Hampton walked down the dimly lit hallway to where Rachael was being held. At the end of the hall were two guards. They stepped aside, allowing Hampton to pass through. He looked around the cell, expecting Rachael to be sitting at the small table in the center of the room. Instead, it took him a few moments to locate her sitting in the far corner, knees to chest, staring blankly into space.

“Rachael,” he called softly, trying not to spook her. She didn’t look his way, didn’t acknowledge his presence at all as he walked toward her. She didn’t seem to notice she was crying, tears cascading down her cheeks. He inched toward her, afraid to move too quickly.

“Rachael,” he said again once he was standing in front of her. He bent down, wiping her tear-stained cheeks with his sleeve. She didn’t look up at him. He’d planned to come talk to her, make her see reason. He’d hoped that seeing all the evidence the prosecution had would make her understand that he was only trying to help her. He had planned to try once again to convince her that a deal was the only thing going to save her. Seeing her silent tears fall, however, made him think twice about saying anything. Instead, he slid down the wall beside her, watching her hands shake as she cried. She leaned her head onto his shoulder, acknowledging his presence for the first time. He slid his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him. He knew legal advice was not what she needed right now. This, this moment right here, was all she had needed since he’d met her, and he was finally ready to let her have it. He let her cry and cry some more, sobbing openly for everything she’d already lost.

***

Rachael

The legs had moved. They were standing in front of her, but now she felt them beside her. He wasn’t talking. Or maybe he was. She couldn’t be sure. Rachael had never felt so lost and alone as she did in that moment. Her stomach was churning again, ready to blow at any moment, and her hands would not stop shaking. She leaned her head over onto something soft and warm. The smell of freshly mowed grass and a soft smelling cologne eased her stomach. His whiskery cheek scratched her forehead but she didn’t mind. For the first time in weeks, Rachael felt safe. She watched him shift his hands, her eyes starting to find their focus once more, onto hers. Her fingers found the warmth they’d been craving. She cried, her tears coming from a place she could not explain, emptying her soul of an endless pain.

She tried to find her voice, to tell him thank you, but it was hidden deeper in her chest than she could reach. Instead, they sat softly, him gently rocking her back and forth, and her pretending she was anywhere but here.

Chapter Twenty

Caide

Caide walked the halls of the courthouse, looking for one person.
She has to be here somewhere.
Suddenly, the doors to a hallway he’d yet to check opened and he saw her bun emerge.

“Avery,” he called, running toward her.

She crossed her arms, smiling. “Caide Abbott. You’re the last person I’d expect to come looking for me.”

“I need a favor.”

“And why would I do you any favors?”

“I need you to put me on the stand.”

She stared at him for a second, her expression stoic. “You know I can’t do that.”

“You can. I’m requesting it.”

The smile left her face. “You have to know that’s a suicide mission. I mean, I want to win this case as much as the next person, but to win like this it hardly seems fair. What could you possibly have to gain?”

“She didn’t do this, Jeanna. I have to do what I can to help my wife. They won’t even let me see her. This is all I know to do.”

“Abbott, look. I can’t imagine what this must be like for you, but you aren’t thinking clearly. I hardly think of you as a friend but I’m not completely heartless. Being a witness for me, it’s only going to hurt your wife’s case. I won’t help you. I won’t go easy on you. I came to win.”

“Hampton won’t put me on the stand.”

“For good reason. There are laws in place for a purpose.”

“Look, I know what I’m doing. It’s got to be you. I’m not asking you to do me any favors. I’m not asking you to go easy on me. I know what I’m getting myself into better than anyone. Please. Just put me on the stand.”

She was silent, staring at him haphazardly. “I’ll talk to the judge. I’m not making any promises. You’d better know what you’re doing, Caide.”

“I do.”

“I won’t go easy on you.”

“I know.”

“I’m going to make you look really, really bad.”

“I know that too.”

“I’m going to use everything you say and everything in my power to make sure that your wife goes to prison for a long, long time.”

“And I’m going to use everything in my power to make sure she doesn’t.”

Avery nodded as Caide turned to walk back toward the courtroom.

Avery was tough. He knew a lot about her from Mason and Meachum. She’d had three rough marriages and lost her son a few years ago. Caide had seen her be ruthless and he knew today would be no different. He knew she thought he’d just given her the golden ticket to win this case, but he was planning to use that every bit to his own advantage.

Chapter Twenty-One

Judge Crafton

“You want to do what?” Daniel Crafton was a reasonable man. In his eight years as a judge he’d seen a lot of crazy things in his courtroom, but never had he been asked what he was being asked now. “Avery, you’ve got to be joking. You know the laws.”

“The law says that the husband and wife can choose to waive it. Caide Abbott has requested this. He knows what he’s doing, your honor.”

“Of course he doesn’t. If he did he wouldn’t ask. What does he have that makes him think this is a good idea?”

“He wants to help his wife. He’s usually one of us, Daniel. But today is different, today he’s a hurting husband on the opposite end of the bench. Today, he’s just like any of them. He thinks he can help.”

“You think he can’t?”

“Hampton won’t put him on the stand. Whatever he’s planning to say, I’m not worried about it hurting my case. I don’t believe he’s thinking straight.” She crossed her arms.

“I wouldn’t be.” He rubbed his temple, taking his glasses off his nose.

“Look, I agree it’s probably a bad idea. I didn’t like it at first either, but if this is what it takes to lock up a guilty woman then so be it. I have to try. A woman is dead, Daniel. He was having an affair with that woman, maybe he was in love with her, I don’t know. I can’t imagine this from his point of view, but it’s time for him to decide who he’s loyal to and if I can use that to my advantage then I’d like the chance to do that. I just want justice to be served, through whatever means necessary.”

“Fine, but you’re going to tell the defense, not me. Where is Hampton?”

“I haven’t seen him since you called recess. I can check with his client?”

“No, send a bailiff. You stay here and come up with a damn good reason why this is a good idea. If there’s one thing I don’t need, it’s to be on Argus Hampton’s bad side.”

***

Bailiff Isaac Lawson

“Bailiff Lawson,” came Avery’s voice through the empty hallway, “go get Hampton quickly please. Tell him the judge needs to see him immediately.”

Lawson nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” He took one last sip of his Dr. Pepper before throwing it out.

He walked through the hall of holding cells, all full of people waiting for their trials. Even working around criminals daily, they still made Isaac nervous. Finally, he reached the cell where Mrs. Abbott was being held. He stuck his key into the door and pulled it open.

He laid eyes on Mr. Hampton along the wall, Rachael Abbott’s head resting on his shoulder. Unmoving, they sat side by side, both of their eyes closed. They looked so comfortable, it was easy to forget they were sitting in a jail cell, rather than on a cozy back porch somewhere.

As Isaac took a careful step toward them, Hampton’s eyes shot open.

“Sir?”

A look of realization filled Hampton’s face. He lifted Rachael’s head off of his shoulder, leaning her onto the wall he’d been pressed up against. Standing up quickly, he brushed himself off and cleared his throat. “What is it?”

“Avery is in with the judge. She’s asking for you, says it’s urgent.”

“Did she say what it was about?”

“They don’t keep me in the loop, sir.”

“Right, of course. Thanks. I’ll head that way. Hey, listen, could I get you to stay with my client?” He asked, turning around as he got to the door.

Isaac swallowed, looking at the defendant, whose eyes were now open, staring dreamily into space.

“For God’s sakes kid, she’s not going to kill you.” He lowered his voice. “She’s had a rough day. She just needs someone to stay with her.” He moved the chair out from the table. “Just, here, sit in this chair and watch her. Please.”

Isaac sat down, keeping his chair a safe distance from the defendant. He’d been working at the courthouse for only about a year now so he was mostly thrown on small cases: petty theft, a few drug charges, even a kidnapping once. He’d never been in the same room with a killer before. He wasn’t scared, he told himself, just cautious. He still had a lot to live for.

Hampton rolled his eyes and darted from the room.

She didn’t move, not a single muscle. It was as if she thought if she was still enough, unnoticed enough, she might disappear forever. Isaac swore he never even saw her blink.
Is she even breathing?
After a few moments passed, his heartrate slowed down. There was something about her that made him feel at ease, made him almost feel sorry for her.
She’s a killer. You cannot feel sorry for a killer, man.
As if she’d heard his thoughts, her eyes turned to meet his. They say eyes are the windows into the soul. Isaac had seen many convicts in his line of work and he made a point to remember their eyes. They almost all had the same look, especially on their court date: empty, cold, cruel. Rachael Abbott was one of the others, the different ones, the ones Isaac hated the most. It was them with their puppy dog eyes, their fake tears, and their faces with glimmers of hope that made him sick. It was this small group of convicts that made his job so hard. It was hard to hate someone, hard to convict someone, hard to hope for their downfall when they looked so completely innocent.

***

Hampton

Hampton walked to the judge’s chambers with dread filling his stomach. He pushed the door open and was immediately met by Avery’s smug grin.

“What’s this about?”

“I’ve added a last minute update to my witness list, Hampton, I just wanted to let you prepare.”

“Who?”

Avery smiled, folding her arms across her chest. “Caide Abbott.”

“My client’s husband?” He looked to the judge. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re allowing this?”

“Mr. Abbott has requested it.” Avery answered for him.

“There are laws against this. You can’t be serious.”

“Those laws are to prevent trouble in the marital home, I think we’re way past that don’t you?” Avery asked.

“Judge?”

“Hampton, the husband has requested it. I’ve spoken to him myself. I don’t know why but we’re all just going to have to let this play out. Avery, you so much as step over the line once and I’ll pull him from the stand. Hampton, you can use this to your advantage too. He wants to defend his wife, so let him. I don’t like this one bit, for the record, but I’ll admit I’m a bit curious as to what the husband has up his sleeve.”

“Thanks.” Hampton grabbed the door handle, anger boiling inside him. Caide Abbott was going to ruin his wife’s only chance at freedom and Hampton had no idea why.

“Oh, and Hampton?”

“Yeah?”

“Prepare your client,” The judge said, an apology in his eyes. “This won’t be easy on her.”

“None of this is,” Hampton called over his shoulder, storming out the door.