Burden of Truth (Cass Leary Legal Thriller Series Book 1)

by Robin James

  “Objection, this is improper speculation.”

  “Sustained,” Judge Castor said before I could even respond. “The witness is advised to stick to facts she has direct knowledge of.”

  “I don’t know,” Aubrey said. “But … he stopped coming into Dewar’s.”

  “Okay, Aubrey, let’s move to the night of Coach D’s death. We’ve seen and read the texts between the two of you. Why did you contact him?”

  “Telling my dad and telling Kaitlyn. It was like I woke up from this nightmare all of a sudden. If he was messing with anyone else, I wanted it to stop. He was so angry with me that I’d told my father. He knew that by then. I thought … when we talked, he never even covered anything up. He would routinely talk openly about what happened between us and the things he wanted to do to me the next time he saw me. I thought if I could get him to do that … I was going to record it. I was going to get him to admit to what he’d done on tape. I know now how stupid that was.”

  “What happened when you met with Coach D at Shamrock Park on the night of the 22nd?”

  “He wanted me to sit and talk in his car. I wouldn’t. So he had his car parked by that stupid shamrock statue. I got out of mine. I went up to him and asked him to come to the middle of the park. There were lights on in all the houses that are around the park.”

  “Aubrey, did anyone know you were there with the coach that night?”

  “No,” she said. “I knew my dad would never let me try it. We’d gotten in a pretty big fight just before I left for work that day. He wanted me to go to the cops. He has a friend who is a detective. He grounded me, actually. I was supposed to come home straight from work.”

  “But you didn’t. You defied him?”

  “Yeah. I … I’m nineteen years old. It was stupid. I know he was trying to protect me. But … once I’d decided to try getting the coach to admit what he’d done, I don’t know. It was like I was obsessed.”

  “So what happened when you met with the coach?”

  “He did get out of the car. He walked with me until we were by the swings. He kissed me. And he hugged me and went on about how much he missed me. I got scared. I confronted him. I told him I knew what he did was wrong. I knew he was trying to do it to other people. And I was going to make sure he paid. But it was all me talking. He acted different. Pretending like he didn’t know what I was talking about.”

  “What happened then?”

  “I got scared. I should have kept trying. But, like I said, he started hugging me. I was afraid he was going to go too far again. So I chickened out. I told him I had to leave. He let me go.”

  “Did you record the conversation?”

  “I tried. But I found out later it didn’t work. I don’t know. I had my phone in my back pocket. I must have forgot to hit the record button or shut it off without realizing it. I don’t know what happened. I must have dropped my phone though. A little later, after I left the park, I realized I didn’t have it anymore. I’d been driving around for a while, trying to get my head together. I knew I was going to be in huge trouble for breaking curfew anyway. And it was all for nothing.”

  “What time did you leave the park?”

  “I don’t know exactly. It was before eleven. Probably around ten thirty. I got there at ten fifteen, straight from work. We didn’t talk for very long. Ten minutes, tops. Then I left.”

  “Where was Coach D when you left?”

  “He was still standing by the swings. I watched him sit on one and start swinging as I drove off.”

  “Where did you go next?”

  “I don’t know. I know what it sounds like, but I was numb. I drove around for a while, I guess. I got home really late. It was after one in the morning. I was trying to wait my parents out. Make sure they were asleep before I got in.”

  “Aubrey, did you kill Larry Drazdowski?”

  She went still as stone and leaned into the microphone. “No. I did not kill him. He was alive when I left that park.”

  “Aubrey, you have to help me out here. You have to help the jury out here. A week later, you went into the police department and you told them that you did kill Coach D. Now you’re saying you didn’t?”

  She looked at her father then back at me. “I lied to the police. I’m ashamed of it now. But when I found out the coach was dead, that he’d been stabbed, I thought for sure I knew who did it.”

  “Who did you think stabbed this man?”

  She fidgeted. From the corner of my eye, I saw Dan Ames give her just the slightest nod.

  Aubrey’s voice broke as she got her words out. “I thought it had to be my dad. I know he wanted to kill Coach D. I just wanted all of this to go away. I wanted my family to be normal. We can’t be normal if my dad goes to prison. He’s already ruined my life, Coach D. It was my fault. I should have said something so much sooner. I should have never let that man touch me in the first place. Maybe if I’d worn different clothes. Or been stronger. But I wasn’t. I couldn’t. And now they were going to take my dad away next. It wouldn’t just be from me. My mom wouldn’t survive that. My brother wouldn’t have a father. And I knew if he did it, he did it for me. So I told the cops I killed Coach D. It’s such a mess. I take it back. I did not kill him. My father didn’t either. I just didn’t know it at the time. He told me, but I didn’t believe him. I thought he was lying to me to protect me. Oh God. I can’t fix it. I tried to fix it, but I can’t.”

  Aubrey collapsed in tears, leaning over the edge of the witness box. She’d testified about the abuse she’d suffered and its impact on her. She denied killing the coach. She recanted her confession and she’d given a reason for it I hoped the jury would believe. There was nothing more I could ask of her. So I didn’t. Even though I knew in my heart it might not be enough.

  “I have nothing further for Miss Ames, Your Honor,” I said.

  “Okay,” Judge Castor said. It was eleven a.m. Aubrey had been on the stand for over two hours. “Let’s take a fifteen-minute break. Mr. LaForge can have his cross before we break for lunch.”

  Aubrey stepped down and went into her parents’ arms. Jeanie shouted questions to me, but I had to get a moment to myself.

  I slipped out of the courtroom and made my way to a corner of the building just off the law library. Squeezing my eyes shut to steel myself for what I was about to do, I pulled out my phone and did the second hardest thing I would do that day.

  Chapter 33

  The phone rang twice, then Killian Thorne’s Irish brogue cut through me as he answered simply, “Thorne.”

  I took a breath. Then another. It was all posturing on his part. He knew damn well it was me on the other end. The number on the card Corwin had given me probably went to a burner phone he’d saved just for me.

  “Killian, it’s Cass,” I said.

  In my mind’s eye I could see him. Those cold, pale-blue eyes, anvil-sharp jaw, the deep cleft in his chin.

  “Are you all right?” he asked. Of course, he knew I was. Corwin had likely reported every second of my day to him since he got here.

  “I need … Look. I didn’t want to call. And you can call your dog back home. You know you don’t have anything to worry about with me. It’s done. Everything you do is still protected by attorney-client privilege.”

  “Attorney-client, ay?” he said. His voice had a lilt to it that I knew meant he was smiling. Smirking, more like. My heart jackhammered in my ears.

  “Killian … listen …”

  “How’s championing the downtrodden going? I’ve heard some rumors.”

  I let out a sigh. “It’s going. And I’m fine. Send Corwin home.”

  “Not likely. And he’s not there for me, a rúnsearc. He’s there for you. Like always, you don’t know when to ask for help when you need it. It’s a serious character flaw.”

  We’d had this conversation so many times before. I bit my bottom lip. “You win. Okay. You always win. I’m done even trying with you. This time, I am asking for help. And you know damn
well you’re the last person I want to need it from.”

  Silence hung between us. I imagined Killian standing on the pier watching his cargo ships leaving port. It was his meditation. His solace.

  “Cass, I’m sorry. I’ll keep saying it. Things didn’t go down how I wanted. If I’d known sooner what my brother and the senior partners had planned, you never would have been on that ship. He never would have gotten close enough to touch you.”

  “Stop,” I said. If we went down this road, it would break me. For the rest of my life, I’d hear Killian’s lilting ringtone as his brother’s men held me on the deck of that ship. If he’d called just a few seconds too late ...

  “What is it?” he said.

  “Killian, I need you to help me find someone who doesn’t want to be found. I’ve … I can’t do it by myself. I know you can.”

  He let out a soft chuckle. It was the kind I’d heard so many times before. The kind that made his eyes dance just before he moved in for the kill.

  “You only needed to ask.” He paused. “I’ve missed you.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my forehead to the wall. “Killian …”

  “I’ll do this for you. You knew that. But you’ll owe me something, Cass. You knew that too.”

  “Yes,” I said, swallowing past the word. “And I know you always collect.”

  Sure enough, I heard the foghorn of one of Killian’s massive freighters in the distance.

  “Good,” he said, going all business again. “Give me a name.”

  I did, sealing my pact with the devil all over again.

  Chapter 34

  Jack’s cross-examination of Aubrey was short, simple, and devastating. He did exactly what I would have done. He did the only thing that mattered.

  “Miss Ames,” he began. “I need to understand a few things. You’re claiming that the victim in this case made unwanted advances toward you beginning three years ago. Is that correct?”

  Aubrey started to blink rapidly. She stayed remarkably composed other than that. “I’m telling you that he raped me. Yes. It started three years ago.”

  “You didn’t tell anyone about it at the time, yes or no?”

  “No.”

  “And you’re saying you continued to meet with the victim. In fact, you testified that you let him drive you home from school on more than one occasion.”

  “Yes. I was scared of him. I don’t know how else to explain that.”

  “Okay. Let’s move on. On the night of June 22nd, it was you who reached out to the victim, isn’t that right? You started texting him from work. Correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “He didn’t call you. He didn’t come to your place of work.”

  “No. I told you … I was trying …”

  “A simple yes or no,” Jack said. I shot Aubrey a look. We talked about this. I didn’t want her to try arguing with Jack. If there was anything I felt it necessary for her to clean up after cross, I’d ask her on redirect.

  “No,” she said.

  “And he came to Shamrock Park, the place he was later murdered, because you asked him to meet you. Correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you’ve testified that Shamrock Park was one of the most frequent locations where the victim allegedly abused you. Correct?”

  “He raped me there, yes,” she answered. Good girl. This was rape, nothing less.

  “When the police initially arrested you for Coach D’s murder, did you tell them you were innocent?”

  “Did I … I didn’t … I didn’t say that. No. I asked for a lawyer.”

  “And you went to the police station on July 10th of your own volition, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “You admitted to murdering Coach D, didn’t you?”

  “Yes … but …”

  “You said, and I quote, ‘I did this, I stabbed Coach D. I was angry, it was the heat of the moment. But I did it.’ Correct?”

  “Y-yes.”

  “You said it over and over.”

  “Yes.”

  “Today, you testified that you didn’t kill Coach D. So, were you lying then or are you lying now?”

  “I didn’t kill him.”

  “That’s not what I asked you. Were you lying to the police then or now?”

  “But I didn’t …”

  “Did you lie, Miss Ames?”

  “Yes. Yes. I lied to the police on July 10th.”

  “How did you feel about Coach D, Aubrey?”

  “How did I feel?” She looked at me. I tried to will strength to her with the force of my gaze. The jury was watching everything.

  “I hated him. That man stole who I was. He stole my dignity. My confidence. My virginity. I trusted him. I looked up to him. And he twisted all of it and used it. For years, I blamed myself for what happened. Maybe I dressed too revealing. Did I give off some signal? I didn’t though. And even if I did, it doesn’t matter. I know that now. I was sixteen years old. And he hurt me. He hurt me physically. He hurt me in my head. And he ruined my family.”

  “So you’re glad Coach D is dead then?”

  “Objection,” I said.

  “I’ll withdraw. I have nothing further.”

  Aubrey trembled. I wanted to get her the hell off the witness stand. But I had one last thing, one last chance to leave an impression in the jury’s mind.

  “Aubrey,” I said. “Did you kill Larry Drazdowski?”

  “No!” She said it loud and clear. “He was alive when I left that park. He was sitting on the swings when I left that park. And I left that park running. I dropped my phone … running.”

  “Thank you.”

  Jack didn’t look up from his notes as he waived his redirect.

  “You may step down, Miss Ames,” the judge said. “But I’d like to admonish you that you will remain under oath.”

  Aubrey stood, straight-backed as she walked past the jury, and took her seat again at the defense table. I wanted to wrap my arm around her and tell her how strong she was. All I could do was touch her wrist with my finger. It was enough. I felt her exhale.

  Chapter 35

  I called one more witness on Friday. Karen Larsen dressed in a simple, conservative navy-blue skirt with a cream-colored cardigan. She had a shiny flower brooch above her left breast and brown hair hung in a neat bob that swayed when she walked toward me. She had a thin manila file folder tucked under her arm.

  We had just a few moments before the bailiff would call us in.

  “Are you ready for this?” I said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

  Karen’s eyes flickered. “I’d rather be anywhere else.” She’d come under my subpoena. Damning as it was, Kevin Sydney’s testimony had given me a gift, an opening. Now I needed Karen Larsen to help me exploit it.

  She blinked back tears. “I should have done more. You have to get those girls to believe me. I didn’t know. I wasn’t sure.”

  Those girls. As Karen collected herself, I finally realized something I should have weeks ago.

  “It was you, wasn’t it?” I said. “The yearbook at my office. The circled names. You left that for me, didn’t you?”

  Karen bit her lip. She took a breath to answer but didn’t get the chance. The bailiff poked his head out and called us back to the courtroom. I gave Karen a tight-lipped nod, then made my way in. The bailiff guided her past the jury and swore her in as I took my place at the podium.

  “Can you state your full name for the record?” I began as soon as Karen adjusted herself in the witness box.

  “Karen Culpepper Larsen,” she answered.

  “And where do you work, Ms. Larsen?”

  “I’m a secretary at Delphi High School. I’m assigned to the athletic department. I manage the A.D.’s office for Mr. Sydney.”

  “How long have you worked there?”

  “This is my seventeenth school year starting this past September. I got hired just out of community college. I have an associate’s degree in office admi
nistration.”

  “Thank you. Have you always worked for Mr. Sydney?”

  “No. I was in the main office for the first year and a half, then got switched over. So it’s been about fifteen years since they put me in the A.D.’s office.”

  “What do you do for Mr. Sydney?”

  “Well, I handle all his correspondence. He’s very traditional in that sense. He still dictates letters to me. All of his calls come through me first. His scheduling. I coordinate with payroll and the union when it’s time for new hires. Basically, whatever paperwork is involved it goes through me.”

  “Can you tell me more about keeping his schedule?”

  “If anyone wants an appointment with Mr. Sydney, I schedule it in the system. I enter all appointments, meetings, whatever requires Mr. Sydney’s presence into the school’s electronic calendar. It also goes to his phone. And I keep a traditional paper day planner for myself.”

  “So, is it fair to say Mr. Sydney doesn’t take meetings unless you know about them?”

  “That’s pretty much true, yes.”

  “Pretty much?”

  “Well, yes. It’s entirely true. Mr. Sydney has a lot of balls in the air, so to speak. If something isn’t on his schedule, it doesn’t happen.”

  “Ms. Larsen, you are here under a subpoena, are you not?”

  “Um … yes. The school liaison officer served me with the paperwork at the office last week.”

  “Okay. As part of that subpoena, you were asked to bring copies of certain records you keep in the course of your employment. Did you do that?”

  “I did. You asked for scheduling records for the last seven years.”

  “And I’m sure you’re aware, but Mr. Sydney testified about these office procedures the other day. If he said that you keep track of every meeting he has, is that true?”

  Her eyes darted back and forth. “Yes,” she said. “That’s true.”

  “Okay. Do you recall ever scheduling a meeting between Mr. Sydney and a student by the name of Danielle Ford?”