16th Seduction (Women's Murder Club 16)

“You were standing on the sidewalk.”

“And you? Where were you standing?”

“Behind you.”

“And were you connected to the explosion?”

The witness stared at Grant until he said, “I guess that’s a no.”

The witness was dismissed, and as she left the courtroom, Yuki thought about Grant’s astonishing skill in disabling witnesses without implicating himself.

Judge Hoffman said, “Will the prosecution call their next witness.”

Parisi stood, saying, “The People rest.”

The judge turned his eyes to the defense table and said, “Mr. Grant, are you ready to present your case?”

Grant said, “Your Honor, I’d like to add a witness to my list, Ms. Annalee Shaw.”

Len Parisi got to his feet and said, “Approach, Your Honor?”

The judge beckoned to counsel on both sides, and when the four were in front of him, Parisi said, “This is very late for the defense to be coming up with a new witness.”

Grant said, “Your Honor, I only became aware of this person’s name yesterday, and it took our investigator until now to locate her. She can speak to my whereabouts and frame of mind before the bombing.”

Parisi said urgently, “This is completely out of bounds. We haven’t deposed the witness, Judge. We must have time to do that before she can testify.”

Hoffman said, “Mr. Grant, make this witness available to the prosecution immediately. Mr. Parisi, take the rest of the day and all of tomorrow to check her out. We’ll resume the proceedings on Thursday.”

The judge adjourned the court, leaving Yuki to wonder about the open switch of this new witness. What the hell was Connor Grant pulling now?

CHAPTER 41

JULIE AND I were sitting together on a lounge chair beside the indoor pool at Pacific Rehab Center, where Joe had been living since his release from the hospital.

The pool room was large, with many floor-to-ceiling windows, a huge aqua-blue pool with ropes separating the lanes, and a lifeguard perched in a tall chair mid-pool. Families grouped around small tables, and a half dozen swimmers did laps to the soft music coming through the speakers.

Julie-Pie was wearing a candy-striped tutu of a bathing suit, her dark hair in two little pigtails above her ears. I wore jeans and a white cotton blouse over my two-piece, not sure if I would swim or watch Julie and her daddy from the sidelines.

Julie shrieked.

I looked up and saw Joe rolling toward us in his chair, the scars showing vividly on his scalp and arm, his right leg still encased in a walking boot. I had been afraid of Julie’s reaction to seeing Joe this way, but I’d worried for nothing.

She screamed again, this time, “It’s Daddy,” and she ran across the tiles in her bare feet and into his open arms. She climbed onto Joe’s lap, and he hugged her to him and rolled over to my chaise.

I got up and gave Joe a gentle hug.

“So glad to see my girls,” he said, his voice breaking with emotion. Julie didn’t notice. She was singing out, “Let’s go. Let’s go in.”

Joe said, “Next time, sweetheart.”

“Noooooo.”

I watched and listened as Joe explained to our two-yearold that he still needed help getting in and out of the pool, but that he was getting better really fast.

He asked me, “Lindsay. You brought a suit?”

“I did.”