“There’s aspirin in the bathroom and water in the fridge.”
“Thanks, Banner.”
“Sure. Give Kate some space, she’ll come around. She’s stubborn.”
Jericho groaned when he got to his feet. Heading directly to the bathroom, he took care of his insistent bladder, grabbed aspirin and water, and left. In his car, he wanted to go by Kate’s apartment to see if she was home, but he realized that Banner was right. He needed to give her space. She’d come around. At least, he hoped that she would.
One hour later he was showered, shaved, and dressed in a charcoal suit. He slipped his dove gray tie around the pale gray shirt and had to knot it twice but still couldn’t get it right. Damn, the woman had turned him inside out last night. She should have been in his bed this morning, in his shower, in his damn arms right now.
He cursed the tie and pulled it from around his neck. With another curse, he undid the top button of his shirt because he felt as though he was strangling.
He’d do the damn thing when he got to court.
* * *
He walked into the courthouse and realized that he was running late. He took the stairs up to the courtroom but stopped outside the doors and put on his tie.
He couldn’t get it done because there wasn’t a mirror.
A feminine hand slid over his and his head jerked up to find Kate standing in front of him.
“Here. Let me help you with that.”
“Kate,” he breathed as she took the two ends of his tie and deftly tied it correctly. The first time.
“I’m sorry.”
Her head jerked up and she smiled softly. “Thanks. You look like hell, by the way.”
A grin spread across his face. “Talk to Banner. It’s his fault.”
The bailiff went to close the courtroom doors and Jericho had no more time to talk to Kate.
* * *
The first three arraignments went quickly, and then Danny was brought in. He was dressed in a suit that Stephen must have gotten for him. Already she felt better about asking him to defend Danny. He would do the best job he could.
The judge read Danny his rights. The rights Kate had explained to him the day before.
The judge asked, “How do you plead?”
Danny said, “Not guilty.”
“Mr. St. James, bail?”
“The state requests the court set bail at five hundred thousand dollars.”
“Objection,” Stephen said. “Mr. Hamilton is a handyman with a diminished capacity. He is no risk to the community.”
“Your Honor, Mr. Hamilton is accused violently strangled a woman to death in her apartment. I’d say his temper is questionable, and he’d be a threat to the community,” Jericho argued.
“Bail is set at five hundred thousand dollars.”
The judge scheduled a preliminary hearing for one week later, any pretrial motions for four weeks later. Then he banged his gavel and said, “Next case.”
The schedule would give Kate time to analyze the blood and the fibers found at the crime scene and that exculpatory evidence would give Stephen ammunition to blow holes in Jericho’s case.
Kate looked at her watch. She really wanted to talk to him, but she wasn’t sure how long he would be.