investigation. We could unintentionally influence each other’s account of what happened today.”
“They took your statement, right?”
“Yes.”
“And I gave them mine. We told our stories and we didn’t compare notes beforehand. It’s okay for us to talk about it now.”
“Possibly. But in regard to your custody hearing, it’s unethical for us to talk privately. Don’t you realize that by coming here, you’ve compromised—”
“How were you going to decide today? Me or my in-laws?”
She looked him in the eye for several seconds, then lowered her gaze to somewhere in the vicinity of his collar button. “I don’t know.”
“Bullshit.”
Her reestablishment of eye contact was sudden and angry. “ Not bullshit, Mr. Hunt. I was going to give everything said in court today careful review before rendering a decision.”
He placed his right hand over his heart. “Lady justice is nothing if not fair.”
With obvious vexation, she took a firmer stance, which was hard to pull off with bare feet. “Precisely. I am fair. I wouldn’t want to make a decision that could possibly damage your daughter’s—”
“Her name is Georgia.”
“Georgia’s welfare. She is my main concern. Not you, not her grandparents. Georgia. My hope is that your relationship with the Gilroys will remain amicable, that both parties will graciously accept the outcome of the proceedings. Any resultant animosity could have an adverse effect on Georgia. Everyone, especially the court, wants to avoid that. Which is why arguments for both sides should be carefully weighed, looked at from every angle, and deliberated long and hard before a ruling is handed down.”
He didn’t say anything for a time. Then, “Rousing speech, judge. A real rah-rah. You should save it for a campaign fund-raiser. But I’m not buying a damn word of it, especially the part about deliberating long and hard. You had made up your mind about my petition before you came into that courtroom today, hadn’t you?”
“No.”
He made a skeptical sound.
“Fine. Believe what you want.” She pointed toward the door. “But do it somewhere else. Please go.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll call the police.”
Technically, he was the police, but he huffed a laugh. “Not a chance. Bad publicity. Bad for your campaign. More negative attention drawn to you after today?” He shook his head. “Un-huh. Your rival Sanders, Governor Hutchins, people in general are already speculating on whether or not the shooting was your fault.”
As though he’d literally struck her below the belt, she protectively crossed her arms over her middle and tucked her hands beneath her elbows. “Don’t say that.”
Clearly she’d already considered the possibility that she was somehow responsible, and it bothered her greatly. But he couldn’t soft-soap this to spare her feelings. The stakes for him were too high. When the investigation into the shooting incident was laid to rest, he wanted there to be no misgivings about the action he’d taken today. If there were, he didn’t have a chance in hell of getting Georgia back.
So he pressed. “Did Jorge Rodriguez have a beef with you?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Come on, judge. It’s just you and me now.”
“You’re suggesting that I lied to the police?”
“Everybody lies to the police.”
“I don’t. I had never heard of Jorge Rodriguez until tonight. Why would I lie about it?”
“That’s easy. In November you want to be elected on merit. If there’s something really ugly—”
“Get—”
“—you wouldn’t want it exposed when we’re coming up on voting season.”
“—out!”
“No scandal involving an illegal, then?”
“No!”
Nugent had disclosed that she claimed not to recognize the suspect’s name, but Crawford had wanted to gauge her truthfulness for himself. If she was lying, she was damn good at it. He didn’t detect any of the classic giveaways.
She was, however, raging mad,
“They took your statement, right?”
“Yes.”
“And I gave them mine. We told our stories and we didn’t compare notes beforehand. It’s okay for us to talk about it now.”
“Possibly. But in regard to your custody hearing, it’s unethical for us to talk privately. Don’t you realize that by coming here, you’ve compromised—”
“How were you going to decide today? Me or my in-laws?”
She looked him in the eye for several seconds, then lowered her gaze to somewhere in the vicinity of his collar button. “I don’t know.”
“Bullshit.”
Her reestablishment of eye contact was sudden and angry. “ Not bullshit, Mr. Hunt. I was going to give everything said in court today careful review before rendering a decision.”
He placed his right hand over his heart. “Lady justice is nothing if not fair.”
With obvious vexation, she took a firmer stance, which was hard to pull off with bare feet. “Precisely. I am fair. I wouldn’t want to make a decision that could possibly damage your daughter’s—”
“Her name is Georgia.”
“Georgia’s welfare. She is my main concern. Not you, not her grandparents. Georgia. My hope is that your relationship with the Gilroys will remain amicable, that both parties will graciously accept the outcome of the proceedings. Any resultant animosity could have an adverse effect on Georgia. Everyone, especially the court, wants to avoid that. Which is why arguments for both sides should be carefully weighed, looked at from every angle, and deliberated long and hard before a ruling is handed down.”
He didn’t say anything for a time. Then, “Rousing speech, judge. A real rah-rah. You should save it for a campaign fund-raiser. But I’m not buying a damn word of it, especially the part about deliberating long and hard. You had made up your mind about my petition before you came into that courtroom today, hadn’t you?”
“No.”
He made a skeptical sound.
“Fine. Believe what you want.” She pointed toward the door. “But do it somewhere else. Please go.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll call the police.”
Technically, he was the police, but he huffed a laugh. “Not a chance. Bad publicity. Bad for your campaign. More negative attention drawn to you after today?” He shook his head. “Un-huh. Your rival Sanders, Governor Hutchins, people in general are already speculating on whether or not the shooting was your fault.”
As though he’d literally struck her below the belt, she protectively crossed her arms over her middle and tucked her hands beneath her elbows. “Don’t say that.”
Clearly she’d already considered the possibility that she was somehow responsible, and it bothered her greatly. But he couldn’t soft-soap this to spare her feelings. The stakes for him were too high. When the investigation into the shooting incident was laid to rest, he wanted there to be no misgivings about the action he’d taken today. If there were, he didn’t have a chance in hell of getting Georgia back.
So he pressed. “Did Jorge Rodriguez have a beef with you?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Come on, judge. It’s just you and me now.”
“You’re suggesting that I lied to the police?”
“Everybody lies to the police.”
“I don’t. I had never heard of Jorge Rodriguez until tonight. Why would I lie about it?”
“That’s easy. In November you want to be elected on merit. If there’s something really ugly—”
“Get—”
“—you wouldn’t want it exposed when we’re coming up on voting season.”
“—out!”
“No scandal involving an illegal, then?”
“No!”
Nugent had disclosed that she claimed not to recognize the suspect’s name, but Crawford had wanted to gauge her truthfulness for himself. If she was lying, she was damn good at it. He didn’t detect any of the classic giveaways.
She was, however, raging mad,
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