Lone Witness

by Rachel Dylan

  The elevator dinged, indicating their arrival on the fourth floor.

  “Ladies first,” Leland said.

  She stepped off the elevator and glanced over her shoulder. Cooper’s gaze was locked onto Leland’s back. He was skeptical of everyone at this point, but she didn’t have anything to fear from Leland.

  They walked into the courtroom for their scheduled hearing. The judge had specially set this motion, and she looked down at her watch.

  “This should be fun,” Leland said. Then he walked over to his table, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She had a minute to organize her notes.

  She flipped through her legal pad and pulled a copy of Leland’s motion out of her bag, along with a copy of her response. His motion had been brief and to the point, but she certainly expected his presentation today to have more dramatic flair.

  Judge Bernard entered the courtroom. Interestingly enough, Leland hadn’t yet gone through with his threat to file a motion for recusal. Sophie wondered if he was going to keep that in his back pocket.

  “Mr. Leland, we have before us today a pretrial motion to suppress evidence,” the judge said. “I’m ready when you are.”

  “Thank you, Your Honor.” Leland rose from his seat. “I’m moving to have all evidence taken from Mr. Shelton’s personal laptop be excluded from the trial.”

  “And the basis?” Judge Bernard asked.

  “It was illegally obtained. The search warrant was written specifically to cover my client’s work computer and did not say a word about his personal electronic devices. In fact, the search warrant explicitly stated, and I quote, all business electronic devices.”

  “I am looking at that language right now.” The judge studied the search warrant.

  Leland nodded. “My client’s personal laptop was clearly marked as personal. A sticker stating so was on the front of the laptop. The cases back me up here.”

  “Yes, I’ve read them.” The judge turned to look at Sophie. “What’s your response to that, Ms. Dawson?”

  “Mr. Shelton conducted some company business on his personal laptop, thereby making it fair game—and I have case law on that exact point. In addition, SIB company policy makes it clear that personal electronic devices are not to be used for company business, and in the event the employee does use their personal device, it is subject to collection in litigation.”

  “The policy cited by Ms. Dawson is best understood in the civil litigation context,” Leland countered. “This is a criminal trial. Therefore, different rules apply. My cases on the scope of search warrants are clear. Your Honor cannot overlook the explicit language of the warrant—which, by the way, was written by the Fulton County prosecutor’s office. This is a problem of their own making.”

  Sophie felt this argument slipping away from her. “There is highly relevant evidence on Mr. Shelton’s personal laptop.”

  “But you wouldn’t have known that if you hadn’t illegally obtained his laptop in the first place,” Leland said.

  “You’re banking on a technicality.”

  “It’s your technicality, though. Your office wrote the warrant too narrowly.” Leland stood tall. “The personal laptop should be excluded. It wasn’t included in the search warrant and therefore was illegally obtained. The case law backs me up. It’s pretty open and shut. Ms. Dawson’s cases are distinguishable from the facts here.”

  As Sophie listened to his reasoning, she realized she was in trouble. She should have had Monica do more research, but instead had wrongly thought that the judge just wouldn’t buy it. Now she may have made a strategic miscalculation.

  “Anything else from the state, Ms. Dawson?”

  “No, Your Honor.” She had nothing else.

  “Then while I’m sympathetic to the state’s position on this, Mr. Leland is correct. I have no choice but to exclude the personal laptop.”

  “Thank you, Your Honor,” Leland said.

  The judge didn’t respond but instead turned to her clerk to talk about the order. The hearing was over.

  Doubt crept into Sophie’s mind. Maybe her head wasn’t fully in the game.

  Cooper walked up to her table. “Everything okay?” he asked.

  “That didn’t go as planned.”

  “I assume his personal laptop isn’t key to winning the case?”

  She shook her head. “No. But I don’t like losing. I’m not sure why the search warrant was written like that. It was written by someone else before I started on the case.”

  “Don’t let it get you down. This is just one small piece of the greater puzzle. From everything I’ve seen, you’ll be able to get this guy based on the official documents from SIB.”

  Cooper was right. But there was still a nagging in her gut that made her question how this had gotten mishandled from the start.

  Once they were back in the car, she started strategizing her next steps. This setback today only made her more determined.

  After they drove for a bit and got off of I-85 north, she looked over at Cooper. His eyes where darting back and forth between the street ahead and the rearview mirror.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Nothing yet. But I think we might have a tail.”

  “Why?”

  “This dark blue Grand Cherokee has been on us for the past six minutes.”

  The fact that he had been watching the clock upped her anxiety level.

  “Where are the other guys?”

  “Noah is a few cars back. Landon went ahead to ensure the safe house was still secure.”

  She turned and looked behind them, but she didn’t see anything or anyone out of the ordinary.

  Cooper took a sudden left turn. “If he follows us through this neighborhood, we know we have a problem.”

  “Do you have any idea where you are?”

  “Not exactly, but I’m winging it. Take my phone and call Noah. Put him on speaker.”

  She did as he directed and listened as Cooper recounted what had happened.

  “I saw you turn off,” Noah said. “The Grand Cherokee did not pursue.”

  Cooper let out a breath. “Maybe I was just being paranoid.”

  “Better that than to take any unnecessary risks,” Noah replied.

  “Okay. Then the plan is to continue to the safe house.”

  “Roger that. Let me know if anything else comes up. But the Grand Cherokee is not on your tail. I’ve got eyes on it right now.”

  The call ended, and Cooper visibly relaxed, no longer gripping the wheel. “We’ll be back to the safe house in no time.”

  “Good. And don’t worry about the detour. I appreciate you being so careful.” She knew he was only doing what he thought was best to keep her safe. It was one of the many qualities she found so attractive in him. If only there wasn’t that one insurmountable obstacle. But there was no point in wallowing in that right now.

  Cooper turned back onto the main road, and something caught her eye from the right. A black truck was barreling toward them. She screamed and braced for impact.

  By the time Cooper saw the truck, it was too late. It rammed into the passenger side, jarring him. He managed to bring the SUV to a stop and watched as the truck sped away, tires screeching. He wanted to get the license plate number, but his first concern was Sophie.

  “Sophie, are you all right?”

  She looked at him, her expression dazed. She had a cut on her face from the shattered window. “Yes. My right arm hurts a little.” She gingerly lifted her arm.

  “Don’t move it.” He quickly dialed 911 and asked for assistance. “They’ll be here soon.”

  “Did he get away?”

  “Yes. I missed it. I never saw the truck coming, and then I couldn’t act fast enough.”

  “He was targeting us. Targeting me.” Her words broke as she said them. Her breathing began to speed up.

  “Yes. But it could’ve been much worse.”

  “You think?”

  “He punched the brakes right b
efore impact.”

  “What do you think that means?”

  “That he wasn’t trying to kill you.”

  “That doesn’t make a lot of sense, does it?”

  “Not if it was one of Wade’s men. But I think, given the facts, we have to seriously consider that this has something to do with your work on the Shelton case. Your inquiry is expanding, and you started digging into SIB. You were just coming back from a hearing on the Shelton case. He could’ve tracked us from the courthouse. This could all be connected to that. Plus, you’ve shown Leland that you’re going to be aggressive in prosecuting the case.”

  “You make a good point.”

  “The police will be here soon.”

  “And they will probably assume Wade is behind this. Are we going to bring up SIB?” she asked. She was breathing more steadily now, and some of his worry subsided.

  “That’s up to you.”

  “I’d prefer not to at this point. If we’re wrong, I’d create a really difficult situation for myself in continuing the prosecution. I can’t risk that.”

  The next day, Cooper stood in the foyer of the safe house and watched as Sophie quickly typed on her laptop. Thankfully, she hadn’t been seriously injured in the hit-and-run. She sat on the sofa with her legs up on the coffee table and the computer on her lap.

  It felt like a storm was brewing deep inside him. He had told her all about his past and how he planned to live his life, figuring that would be the easiest way to send her running.

  Well, she hadn’t run away yet, but he had sensed some hesitancy on her part, and rightly so. The problem was that he was just as interested, if not more, in her. But he’d lost sleep trying to figure out if there was a way forward for them. A way to at least see if there could be something there.

  He kept coming back to the central problem. The two of them wanted very different things out of a relationship. He couldn’t change her and didn’t want to. Whether she thought she could change him was another issue. She’d been resistant to his fear that he could end up like his father.

  Just thinking about his father made his stomach churn.

  “You just going to stand there?” Sophie asked.

  “Sorry, my head was somewhere else.”

  “Come on in. I could use a break.” She patted the spot beside her on the sofa.

  He hesitated for a moment, because he knew he should just walk away and let her get back to work. But instead, he took one look into her blue eyes and started walking.

  She laughed. “I’m not going to bite.”

  The way she looked at him only twisted him up more.

  “How’re you feeling?” he asked.

  She stretched out her right arm. “A bit sore, but I’ve been diligent with the ice. I just keep thinking back to what you said about it likely not being Juan behind the crash.”

  “We have to start considering that possibility. Noah hasn’t been able to trace the exact movement of funds out of Shelton’s account, but he has flagged some additional suspicious activities. He’s going to email you a report.”

  “Thanks. I know there might be something going on here. And if SIB is involved, then that provides motive.”

  “You still need to get through the Shelton trial. Who knows what you’ll uncover there. That could lead to even more problems.”

  “If we get to that point. I’m worried Keith might intervene and pull the rug out from under me. I’d like to think that if I take my concerns to him about the additional suspicious cash deposits, he would have to back me. But we’ll see.” She paused. “Enough about all of that for now. You’ve been avoiding it, but we never got to finish the conversation we started about everything you told me.”

  “Yeah, but that may be for the best. Don’t you think?”

  She frowned. “Why are you trying so hard to push me away?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” It was to him. She was so bright that she had to have figured it out for herself.

  She studied him for a moment. “Can I say something brutally honest to you?”

  He didn’t know what to expect from her, but how could he argue with honesty? “Go on.”

  “I think you’re afraid of letting someone into your life. That’s why you’ve concocted this protective mechanism about your father.”

  He sucked in a breath. Her words were like a punch to the gut. “I don’t know if that was honest, but it was brutal, that’s for sure.”

  “I’m not trying to be hurtful, but I think you’re selling yourself short by relying on your past as a reason not to have a full and thriving life. Are you just going to be alone forever?”

  “You’re questioning me, but what about you?”

  Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

  “If you’re really so gung ho to get married and have a family, then why are you still single?”

  “It’s not for lack of trying,” she shot back. “I don’t think you realize how hard it is to find someone who is right for me.”

  “There has to be something holding you back,” he said.

  She shook her head. “No, but I want to make sure I’m with the right man. Of course I want someone I’m attracted to who is smart and kind. But I also want someone who shares my beliefs. That takes out a big chunk of guys right there. And not just faith in name only. I want a man who lives it every single day.”

  “And you think that’s me? Because we haven’t even had that many discussions about that.”

  “We haven’t needed to. I’ve seen God’s love through you in all of your actions.”

  That was a good thing, but hearing her say those words scared him. What if she thought that God was bringing them together? He needed to dispel that notion right then and there. “Sophie, just because we share our faith doesn’t mean anything beyond that.”

  She sighed. “Cooper, you are lying to yourself if you think our common faith is the only thing drawing us closer to each other. Yes, I think it’s part of our connection, but if that was all there was, then you could be any random guy that I’ve dated from church. But you’re not. You’re different. Way different. What I feel for you is not what I’ve felt before. You have your opinion about what you want, and you’ve stuck to it for years, but what if there’s another way?”

  “And I’m telling you that I’m not the right guy for you. You’re the type who would try to change my mind, but I’m not one of your cases. You can’t win me over or argue me into being someone I’m not. I’m obviously attracted to you. I’d have to be a fool not to be, but there’s so much more to this picture. And like I said before, the last thing I want is to hurt you.”

  She was quiet for a moment, then said somewhat stiffly, “I respect your opinion.”

  “I appreciate that.” He knew she wasn’t going to give up even if she said so. But for now, it was best to act like that was going to happen.

  She looked down at her computer. “I should get back to work.”

  That wasn’t how he wanted to end the conversation, but it was better to let it go. For now.

  Ashley sat in a booth in the back corner of the diner, waiting for Juan to arrive. He’d summoned her to talk pretrial strategy. She still had to let him think he was in control, but she had a bone to pick with him too.

  Juan walked in and immediately made eye contact with her. As he approached her table, she plastered on a fake smile. She didn’t like him, but right now he was one of her most important clients. She didn’t have to like any of her clients to reach her goals.

  Juan had his security entourage with him, but they hung back as he took a seat.

  “What’s on your mind?” she asked.

  “I want to make sure I have all my bases covered.”

  What he needed to do was let her handle things. “I hope that doesn’t mean going after Sophie directly again. There’s way too much risk there. In fact, the police are investigating a hit-and-run incident involving her. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

&nb
sp; His nose crinkled. “No.”

  “Cut the crap, Juan.”

  “Seriously, you know I own up to what I do. At least with you, anyway, since you can’t rat me out.”

  She’d need to push him to get to the bottom of this. “You’re saying you had nothing to do with the hit-and-run?”

  “Absolutely nothing.”

  “And to be clear, you didn’t tell any of your crew anything that would have led them to do it?”

  He shook his head. “You told me no more violence, and for now I’m listening.”

  “Let’s keep it that way.” She wasn’t sure whether she really believed him or not, but he seemed like he was telling the truth. That led her to a bigger question: Who else would be targeting Sophie?

  Juan nodded. “But I have other ways to reach the same results. Do you have any dirt on the lawyer?”

  “Who?”

  “Hunt,” Juan said bluntly.

  “I don’t know him extremely well, but I think he’s clean.”

  He cracked his knuckles. “Everyone has skeletons. I plan to figure out what his are.”

  “I don’t think he’s susceptible to bribery.”

  His eyes widened in amusement. “Like I would ever consider that. I prefer more direct pressure points.”

  “I think you’re barking up the wrong tree by focusing on him. He’s just the prosecutor.”

  He slammed his fist on the table. “Just the man who’s going to put my baby brother away for his life.”

  “Keep your voice down. You’ll draw unnecessary attention.” Juan was like a ticking time bomb. She wondered if he was strung out tonight.

  “You need to be careful in your jury selection.”

  She hated when he tried to play lawyer. “I always give ample thought to the makeup of the jury. As you know from your vast experience, sometimes we get a dud that we don’t want on there. That usually works both ways, though.” It was difficult to keep her sarcasm in check.

  “We only need one to get an acquittal.”

  She held back a smirk. “Juan, you are aware that I am the lawyer here? I understand how this all works.”

  “I’m just reminding you of where your attention needs to be. Discrediting that woman and getting me the right jury. If you do that, I can handle the rest.”