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

by Robin James

  “Yes.”

  The courtroom erupted. Judge Castor banged his gavel and the shouts from the gallery nearly drowned out Jack’s objection. When the dust settled, I reminded the judge and Jack that I hadn’t moved to enter the tape into evidence. Yet.

  “Vangie, did you ever play that tape for anyone?”

  She dropped her head again. Tears rolled down her eyes. “No. Some stuff happened.”

  “What happened, Vangie?”

  “Coach didn’t know I had that recording. But I think he finally understood it wasn’t safe for him to mess with me anymore. About a week before graduation, I got followed home.”

  “Followed home?”

  “I had my own car by then. Joe rebuilt one from scratch and gave it to me as a present. I was driving home from work. I worked at Coney’s as an ice cream scooper. Anyway, some kids ran me off the road. When I tried to get out of the car, they blocked my door and threatened me. They said if I didn’t stop saying things about Coach …”

  “Objection, Your Honor,” Jack said. “This is hearsay.”

  “Sustained,” Judge Castor ruled.

  “Did you recognize these kids?” I asked. I could barely breathe. They ran her off the road, just like me.

  “Yes,” Vangie answered. “It was Luke Bowman and Bryce Mitchell. They weren’t even trying to hide it. They were wearing their letterman jackets even though it was like eighty degrees and right after Memorial Day.”

  Luke Bowman. If the jury didn’t remember that name, I’d make a point of reminding them in closing. Captain of the basketball team. Nephew to the lead investigator of this case. Bile rose in my throat.

  “You said some things happened. Was this roadside incident the only thing?”

  “No.” Vangie’s tears dried up. Her face was covered in red blotches and her breathing became erratic. She got through it though.

  “No,” she started again. “Danielle died.”

  “She died?”

  “She killed herself. Swallowed a bottle of pills.”

  It got hard to breathe. She still blamed herself. I could see it in her face. Danielle was not her fault. She was failed by every person in her life that was supposed to protect her. Maybe me, most of all. Kevin Sydney. Our absent father. I walked around the podium, intending to end my questioning and give her over to Jack after moving to admit her recording. God help him if he tried to badger her. From the sickened look on his face, I didn’t believe he would.

  “And there was one final thing,” Vangie said, her voice small, almost unrecognizable to me.

  I turned to her. There was nothing else. This was where her story ended last night. But my sister’s face changed, growing hard. Some deep part of me wanted to stop her. I wasn’t a lawyer anymore. I wasn’t there for Aubrey. I was my little sister’s big sister and I would take any bullets meant for her.

  “I found out I was pregnant,” she said and it felt like that bullet ripped through my own heart.

  My brothers rose to their feet in unison. She stared straight at them, willing them to be still with her eyes.

  “Vangie,” I said.

  “I found out I was pregnant and before you ask, yes. It was Coach D’s. Despite all the rumors people like to spread, it could be no one else’s. I’ve seen the way people look at me. I know what they think. I can prove it if I have to. I have the tape I made. It’s hard to see what’s happening, but you’ll know what it is. And then there’s my daughter. She’ll be six years old in January. I gave her up for adoption but I’m still close to her parents. Take a DNA test if you want.”

  I was floored. Gutted. Shattered. But I was still a lawyer and Vangie wasn’t the only young woman in this room I was trying to protect.

  “Your Honor,” I said. “At this time, I’d like to move for admission of the video recorded by Ms. Leary.” It was a long shot.

  “Objection,” Jack said. “It’sot relevant. No one is accusing Evangeline Leary of murdering Larry Drazdowski. Once again, as much as defense counsel would like the jury to believe otherwise, Mr. Drazdowski is not on trial. I’d also like to move that this witness’s entire testimony be stricken for the same reasons.”

  “Counsel, I’d like to meet in chambers. Bring the tape. Ms. Leary, Ms. Evangline Leary, you may step down for the moment. But you’re still under oath and under subpoena.”

  Vangie nodded. I gave her a quick, supportive wink. I wanted to wrap my arms around her. I wanted to get her the hell out of there.

  Jeanie whispered to me from her seat directly behind me. “Go get ’em.”

  I turned to her, whispering back so she was the only one to hear. “Do you have any brilliant ideas? Other than bolstering Aubrey’s credibility?”

  Jeanie shrugged. “Afraid not, kid. You were lucky as hell Jack and the judge let your sister say the things she did say. I know Castor. He’s pissed. He’s disgusted. And I’m pretty sure no matter what else happens, he’s damn glad that fucker Drazdowski is dead.”

  Jeanie was just telling me the things I already knew. I squeezed Aubrey’s shoulder and followed Jack into Judge Castor’s chambers along with my laptop and the flash drive containing my sister’s video.

  Jack was pacing in the corner when I shut the door behind me. Castor flipped his robe up as he took a seat behind his desk.

  “Play it,” Castor said.

  My pulse pounding, I did. The video itself was grainy, dark. The phone was on the floor of Larry’s front seat. You couldn’t see much more than the back of Vangie’s left shoulder and the interior roof of the car. But, for a few brief seconds, she moved enough so Larry Drazdowski’s face was visible. His cheeks were flushed, making the old acne scars on his cheeks stand out. His blond hair was combed back and his blue eyes flashed.

  “It’s over,” Vangie said. “I don’t want this. You’ve twisted everything all up.”

  Coach D laughed. “Right. Sweetheart, you’ve wanted this since the minute you came into my office that first time. Don’t tell me you don’t love it. Because I do love you. I’m the only one who’s ever appreciated how special you are. How smart. The rest of the world thinks you’re just some Eastlake slut. You wouldn’t have anything if it weren’t for me. Do you realize what things would be like for you if I didn’t treat you so well?”

  “Get off me,” Vangie said. “You’re hurting me.”

  I couldn’t breathe. In some ways, I felt like I was right there in that car with her. My fists curled and I dug my nails into the flesh of my palms, drawing blood.

  “You love every second of it. People think you’re special. One look, one word from me and your life turns to shit again. Never forget who I am.”

  The sound was muffled. When I’d watched this video with Vangie last night, she told me she’d changed her mind, gotten scared, and tried to get out of the car. Drazdowski threw himself on top of her then. She screamed “No!” and it tore through me. Judge Castor dropped his head and pounded his fist on his desk. Jack went still and cold.

  There were no words on the tape then. Just the unmistakable sounds of a struggle. Larry’s heated breath. My sister’s cry. Then Larry Drazdowski’s guttural, rhythmic grunt as he hurt my sister.

  “Enough,” Castor said. I stopped the tape. He was shaking with rage and snapped a pencil in half.

  “Your Honor,” Jack started. Castor glared at him and he fell silent.

  “I can’t put this monster on trial,” Castor said looking at me. “Hell, I’ve probably already done enough to get this whole thing … I’ve got no choice. I’m going to deny your motion to admit this into evidence. As much as this town needs to know the full truth about what they were harboring, I can’t do it.”

  I looked at the floor.

  “What else have you got?” Castor asked.

  “Vangie’s my final witness,” I said.

  “Okay,” Castor said. “Goddammit all to hell. Okay.”

  Jack gave me a grim nod and let himself out the door. I started to follow him. Castor rose, came arou
nd his desk and gripped my arm.

  “What are your plans after this is all over?” he asked.

  “I … my what?”

  “I don’t know how this is all going to play out. Juries are wild. And this town’ll rip you apart for this.”

  “They’ve already tried,” I said. “Other than my client, I’m probably the most hated woman in Delphi.”

  “Not by me,” he said. “And are you the type of person who gives two shits about what people think of you?”

  I lifted my chin. “No, I’m not. I used to be. But not anymore.”

  “Good,” he said, smiling. “Because as a citizen of this town, I’m going to count on you to go get that son of a bitch.”

  “I will, Judge. Consider that a promise.”

  Chapter 39

  “Ms. Leary?” Judge Castor regarded me with a furrowed brow, his hands folded neatly in front of him. His court reporter held her fingers poised over her keyboard waiting. She too sat stone-faced, the muscles of her jaw clenching. Vangie had just left. Our brothers rose to follow her out. Beside me, Aubrey Ames fell apart. She made no sound as tears fell down her face.

  “The defense rests, Your Honor,” I said. Several members of the jury twisted in their seats. To my right, Jack LaForge rose to his feet.

  “Mr. LaForge, are you ready to proceed with your closing argument?”

  “I’ve been ready, Your Honor.”

  Castor threw him a steely glare. “Then proceed.”

  Jack straightened his tie and stepped around the prosecutor’s table. He took a position in the center of the courtroom, right next to the podium facing the jury. He shook his head and threw his hands up, pantomiming confusion. I wanted to throw my shoe at him, but I understood the strategy.

  “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. You’ve taken time away from your jobs, your families, your lives and from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it. The work that you do here is the greatest responsibility we have as citizens. I honor your sacrifice.

  “Over the course of the last week and a half, we’ve learned some shocking things. It’s up to you to choose which ones to believe. But let me offer you this. Maybe Larry Drazdowski really was the monster the defense has made him out to be. If so, well, I’m a father too. I have a daughter. If someone had done to her what Coach D’s been accused of, I’ll be honest. I’d want him dead. You might too. It’s human. We might think of it as justice.

  “But the law does not allow us to take matters into our own hands. So I’d like you to take the defendant, Aubrey Ames, at her word. Even if you believe Coach D did all the unspeakable, horrifying things she said he did. He raped her. He threatened her. He groomed her. Used her. Brutalized her. But then, you must also take her at her word that she killed him.

  “As a prosecutor, I don’t have to prove motive to you. Even so, Aubrey Ames had every reason to want Larry Drazdowski dead. And she just told you that’s exactly what happened. You heard her words both on the stand and in that police video. By that alone, there can be no other verdict in this case, as much as we might think the defendant deserved what he got.

  “We know that she herself lured the defendant to the place of his murder. You saw the texts she sent. We have witness testimony that Aubrey Ames was seen talking to Larry Drazdowski in his car near the shamrock statue. And we know that her cell phone was found near Larry’s body in the park. She admitted she dropped it there. She’s admitted to all of it.

  “You might even secretly cheer Aubrey Ames for what she did. That’s between you and your own conscience and no one would judge you for that. But, according to the law, that just doesn’t matter. The defendant admitted to carrying out the premeditated killing of Larry Drazdowski. Premeditation does not require hours of planning. It can be made in almost a split second. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly what happened on the night of June 22nd. Aubrey Ames is guilty of murder. There is no doubt that’s exactly what happened in this case. Aubrey Ames may be brave. She may be a victim herself. But, under the law, she is also a murderer and you cannot let that stand. This is not a case of reasonable doubt. The defendant has removed all doubt. I ask you to find her guilty of first-degree murder. Justice demands it. Your conscience demands it. And, like it or not, even Aubrey Ames demands it.”

  Jack dropped his shoulders, nodded one more time toward the jury, then took his seat. I held Aubrey Ames’s hand in a death grip beneath the table.

  Judge Castor eyed me. “Is the defense ready to proceed?” he asked.

  “We are, Your Honor,” I said. I straightened my skirt and rose to face Aubrey’s jury.

  “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,” I started. “I too would like to thank you for your time. This has been a difficult, emotional case for all of us. My client, Aubrey Ames, did not kill Larry Drazdowski. But yes, she had every reason to. She told you the truth on the stand. Believe what she said. The prosecution wants you to believe she’s a liar. But she isn’t. She is a victim. And she is a champion. Has she made mistakes? Yes. Could she have handled things differently? She is the first one to admit that.

  “The prosecution has told you they don’t have to prove motive. They’re right. But the simple fact is, motive is the only thing they have proven to you beyond a reasonable doubt. Nothing else.

  “There is no witness to this crime. No murder weapon. No defensive wounds on the accused. Larry Drazdowski towered over Miss Ames by over a foot and more than a hundred pounds. And yet, the prosecution wants you to believe she was physically capable of carrying out this crime. That she is some jilted Lolita when you now know nothing could be further from the truth.

  “Aubrey Ames lied about one thing and we can’t escape that. But she told you herself, she did it because she thought she had to protect her family one last time. She didn’t want Larry Drazdowski, even in death, to strip one last thing away from her. He had already stolen so much.

  “Aubrey is no killer. There’s no doubt of that. She is a victim. She was failed by Coach Drazdowski in the most unspeakable ways. But she spoke them. Here. In this courtroom. She spoke them to you. She was failed by the administrators at Delphi High School. She was failed by me because maybe I should have known about the kind of man the coach was all those years ago. I will be forever sorry for that. And finally, she was failed by law enforcement in this case. You heard the lead investigator in this case testify about how much he admired Larry Drazdowski. You heard how his own star-player nephew was part of the cult of worship of Coach D. How he threatened another of Coach D’s victims into silence. I put to you that Detective Bowman wanted to bask in that hero worship for himself. So that he could be the man who took down Coach D’s killer. Except he’s done the exact opposite, hasn’t he? He’s made it so that the killer may actually go free.

  “When you review the evidence in this case, you must return the only just verdict. You must conclude there is reasonable doubt. Aubrey Ames was not the killer. Don’t fail her now, ladies and gentlemen. I beg you. Be the champions of justice she has sorely deserved. Thank you.”

  “All right,” Judge Castor said. “We’ll adjourn for the day and start at nine tomorrow for the jury instructions. Let’s see if we can’t get this case to the jury by tomorrow afternoon.” He banged his gavel. It went through me like the echo of a gunshot.

  Chapter 40

  As the judge dismissed the jury, I turned to Aubrey. She let out a sigh as her father’s arms went around her. He was crying. Diane Ames slumped in her seat, her face buried in her hands.

  “Time to take her home,” I said to Dan. There was nothing else for him to do. There was nothing left for Aubrey to do.

  “It doesn’t matter, does it?” Dan said to me. “All of it. What that LaForge guy said. He’s right.”

  I touched Dan’s arm. “We’re not out of this yet, Dan. I’m still fighting. So for now, you just keep your chin up and take care of your daughter.”

  He pulled me into a hug I wasn’t expecting. It touched me, stirring my emotions to th
e point I felt I might lose control. I hugged him back but kept my cool. I couldn’t afford to fall apart now.

  “See you in the morning,” I said. “We all need to try and get some sleep.”

  I was far too keyed up for sleep or anything else. Joe would take Vangie and Matty to the lake house. They would wait for me there. I gathered my things as Jeanie came back into the courtroom.

  “You’re all right, kid,” she said, her eyes misted with tears. I knew Vangie’s testimony would affect her almost as much as it did me.

  “Hey, Jeanie.” She let out a garbled sob and threw herself at me, embracing me in a hug that threatened to unravel me.

  “I should have done something. How the hell did I miss it?”

  “Jeanie, this isn’t on you. If it weren’t for you, my brothers and sister would have been scattered to the four winds in foster care.”

  She let go of me. “Maybe that would have been better! Maybe it would have put Vangie in some other school district and that fucking monster never would have learned her name.”

  “I love you, Jeanie. I’m going to have the rest of my life to second guess all the choices I made. At least you were here. When that kid needed me the most I was in Chicago. She came to me the summer after graduation. God. She was already pregnant.”

  My knees buckled. I took a deep breath to steady myself.

  “Honey, you’re right. It’s no good trying to take the hit for this one. You just go on home and be with your family.”

  “For all the good it will do,” I muttered. The cold hard truth was, Jack LaForge had delivered the closing argument I would have if I were on his side. I’d thrown up all kinds of smoke. I half expected Jack to move for a mistrial. Instead, he’d rolled the dice that the jury would see straight through that smoke. My only hope was they believed Aubrey’s retraction of her confession and took the bait that she’d suffered enough.

  Jeanie and I walked to the parking lot together then went our separate ways. She made no comment about Corwin’s steady presence in his SUV parked beside my car. I tossed my messenger bag on the passenger seat and started to pull out of the parking lot. I looked around; there were no more Lettermen lining the sidewalk across the courthouse. I had to take it as some small victory as I drove through the gate and headed toward Finn Lake.