Hostile Witness

CHAPTER 37

CHAPTER 37

There were things missing in Hannah Sheraton's hospital room. The contraption that held her head steady was gone. The IV that had fed her was gone. The pallor was almost gone. Linda was gone.

Josie was there.

The television on the wall opposite Hannah's bed flickered. The sound was mute so Josie watched the closed captioning run across the programs as they changed. She had made the news. Cameras caught her leaving the courtroom pushing through reporters and family rights activists as Archer, huge and calm, cleared the way. It was a frantic mime on TV but Josie's brain rang with the memories of the sound. The reporters: How do you feel, Josie? Are you giving up? Were you surprised? Enraged Family First activists: How could you push a mother that far? You accused Kip Rayburn. Destroyed a family.

The world was furious with Josie but no angrier, no more disappointed than she was with herself. She had broken the first rule of examining a witness: don't ask the question if you don't know the answer.

For two hours and fifteen minutes, as Hannah slept, Josie had sat in this room trying to figure out why she had done it. Was she simply caught up in the drama of it all? The late night meeting of Miggy, the tantalizing information he had given her. The possibility that Josie could not only exonerate Hannah, but also offer lady justice the real perpetrator in her place had proved to be a powerful draw. Had she craved the headlines that would declare her to be a heroine who stood by Hannah when no one - not even her own mother - would?

Josie put her head in her hands. Who knew what her motivation was for running headlong into such a disaster? And who could tell why she needed to hear from Hannah herself that what Linda said was true? But there it was. Josie would not leave until Hannah had admitted to this crime.

And even then. . .

Even then Josie was not ready to give up. Josie knew that she could still defend Hannah and let the girl walk free. She was sure of it. Josie would call Ian Frank and May to the stand to corroborate Fritz's threat against Kip. She would call Rosa and the subpoenaed Lyn Chandler. Josie would follow through with her plans to bring medical experts to testify. She would grill Linda Rayburn and find out the last detail of what she thought she saw. Josie would call Kip Rayburn and rip him to shreds in front of that jury.

Closing arguments would sound like a soap opera: Was it Kip? Was Linda protecting her husband by trading on her daughter? Was it Hannah who was lying and Linda who was telling the truth? Who knew? How could they find out? What evidence, she would ask, did the prosecution have that would convince them beyond a shadow of a doubt that Hannah was guilty? Certainly it wouldn't be Linda's testimony, not when Josie was finished with her. The jury would be exhausted, and Josie would offer them reasonable doubt like a soft bed. All they had to do was fall into it.

Unfortunately, Josie couldn't exhaust her own mind. She planted her elbows on her knees and clasped her hands high enough that she could rest her chin on them. She looked at Hannah Sheraton.

Are you guilty? Could you be?

And if she was - and if Josie convinced the jury that Hannah was innocent - and if Hannah was freed-

Josie's ghosts were raising their heads just as Hannah Sheraton woke up and asked for water.

Josie stumbled as she got up. She managed the water and Hannah managed a smile.

"Here. Oh, God. I'm sorry. I'm not very good at this," Josie said quietly. She kept her fingers on the straw and guided it to Hannah's lips. When she'd had enough, Josie stepped back. "Want me to sit you up a little higher?"