I didn’t need to be told twice. I have no intention of talking to the people who stalk our every move and analyze us on live t.v. for entertainment. Noah wraps an arm around me, pulling me close as we walk through the hordes of reporters.
Inside the courthouse we move through the metal detector, removing shoes and sending our personal items through the scanner before being allowed to enter.
David is already there when we get through security, a tan briefcase hanging from his fingertips while he stares at the watch on his opposite wrist. “Ready?” he asks when we approach. His eyes rake over me in a way that makes me uneasy. He’s always assessing me, checking to make sure I fit the brand or that I won’t freak out.
I think I’m the loose piece in this puzzle and he knows it. One wrong move and I could blow up this entire trial. I don’t know if I actually have that much power though. If I blew up this trial, I don’t know what would happen but I’m sure the Bancrofts wouldn’t take it lightly.
“Are you ready,” David asks, his eyes landing back on Noah who adjusts his navy suit, straightening the silver tie.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” he says, a soft smile etched on his face. He’s cocky, a normal attitude for him.
“What about her?” David nudges his face in my direction.
A sigh
escapes Noah, his hand comes to the back of his neck nervously. “She doesn’t know.” He says and instantly my body runs cold.
“What don’t I know,” I try to whisper the question as to not draw attention to us, but anxiety is coursing through me. I know we have secrets, I’m not naive, but I thought we were doing better. I thought he was being open with me.
Not waiting until we walk into a courtroom to tell me something, that judging by the look on David’s face, is important.
“What?” I press when no one tells me.
A breath rushes from Noah’s lip. “David’s, uh, David’s about to get this entire case thrown out.”
That chill comes back to me. How? How deep do the Bancroft pockets run that they can get a criminal case thrown out?
“How?” I say, the word leaving my lips in a hushed tone.
David shrugs his shoulders as if this is something he does everyday. “Dirt,” he says.
“We got something on the DA.” Noah elaborates. “They’re going to drop the charges, this is just the official process.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I blurt out, this time slightly less discreet.
Noah pulls me into his side, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “Shh, baby girl.” He whispers.
“We can’t do this here.” David states, his eyes scanning the crowded hallway of the courthouse, making sure no one heard us.
“Trust me?” Noah asks in a whisper, that same phrase that he’s been tying me to. He leans on it anytime my faith waivers, asking me over and over again like one time I’ll finally admit that I don’t.
I’m trying to, damn I really am.
I swallow my pride.
“Yeah.” I answer. “I trust you.”
My parents aren’t in the courtroom and I take that as a small miracle.
Not many people are really. Just the lawyers and us, not even a reporter is in here. The DA is a tall, well dressed man. He looks clean and professional, shaking hands with David and Noah before they take their separate seats. I wonder what they have on that man to make him flush this case down the drain.
It has to be good, right?
My parents put a lot of trust in him. My mother would tell me while she unpacked groceries in my dorm room and I laid still under my covers, too fucking depressed to pull myself out. Every meeting they had with him she would share the details.
They believed in him, they were sure he was going to be the one to finally solve Auden’s case and punish her murderer.
I guess that makes them fools.