Cascade (43 page)

Sandy nodded.

“
Well, that’s not true.
She’s not sick of you or getting your calls,” Sam said.

“
Who, sir?”

“
My secretary,” Sam
smiled. “Please just call me, Sam. I know this has been an awful
time for you. We’ve got to get through these months together. That
makes us a kind of family. I’m Sam. People call me Big
Sam.”

“
Why do people call you
Big Sam?” Sandy asked. “I always wondered.”

“
That, my dear, is a long
story,” Sam smiled. “There’s a guy from Brazil, I never remember
his name, and anyway, he says, ‘Life sometimes separates people so
that they can realize how much they mean to each other.’ I get that
one right because I have it written down in my wallet. That’s why
Aden’s gone, Sandy. That’s all.”

He moved into the hall toward her
bedroom.

“
I know you’ve had your
fair share of troubles, more than anyone deserves. I’m not
discounting that. But it’s time to get moving.”

“
But sir, I mean Sam, I
can’t work. The FBI says my life’s in danger and…”

“
It’s not who you know,
Sandy, it’s who you know!” Sam beamed. “Let’s get the kids up.
Delphie’s making breakfast. We’ll take Noelle to school, where
she’s sorely missed. Then I’ll take Nash and you can go to
work.”

“
I can’t go to work, Sam!
I just said that. The FBI…”

“
Oh, I forgot to tell
you,” Sam said. “Jill didn’t say anything?”

“
Say what? Jill’s at
school today.” Sandy looked around for her cell phone.

“
Life with psychics. I’m
so glad to have another person on my side. You can’t imagine all
the years I was alone. Now there’s Jill and Val too. But we still
feel outnumbered. Maybe with you here...”

Sam stuck his head in her bedroom.

“
Noelle? Nash?”

The kids gave him a groggy look.

“
Time to get up. Let’s get
dressed. We have to hurry to make sure we get some of Delphie’s
waffles while they’re hot.”

Nash jumped out of bed. He hugged Sandy and
went down the hall to the bathroom he shared with Noelle. Noelle
went into Sandy’s master bathroom.

“
Delphie makes the best
Pecan waffles. Have you tried them?” Sam asked.

“
Sir, you were talking
about me working?”

“
Oh, right, sorry. Jake
found a building a couple months ago. Well, not a whole building.
The owner of an established commercial building on east Colfax
decided to sell individual storefronts. He basically gave one to
Jake in return for helping him fix up the place for the sale.
Jake’s figured it would be great place for a hair salon, so he
rehabbed the bones of the building last month. Jill didn’t tell
you?”

“
No, she didn’t say a
word.”

“
She was there all night
painting it,” Sam said. “Tanesha helped after her shift at the
hospital. I was just there. It’s gorgeous. The plumbing was
finished last week. You’ll have to take a look.”

Sandy’s heart beat quickened. She’d always
wanted her own salon. Salon owners make really great money. She’d
dreamed out loud with Aden. He could take care of the business
stuff and she could do hair. Maybe this dream could come true!

Then she remembered the whole ‘life in
danger thing.’

“
I can’t go there,” Sandy
said. “Someone might kill me.”

“
Well, someone might,” Sam
said. “MJ and Honey are taking the day off the trial too. I guess
they’re showing the films of the attack. Honey didn’t want to see
that. They’ll spend the day with you.”

“
Oh,” Sandy
said.

“
We’ll work something out
for tomorrow. Maybe Anjelika can stay with you. She can be pretty
scary. But MJ will stay with you on Saturday. My secretary has set
up your schedule for today, tomorrow and Saturday,” Sam said. “She
also has a cousin who just finished hair school. She’s going to
help out as your assistant so you don’t have to mix colors, clean
up or whatever. We didn’t want to affect the baby.”

Sandy blinked.

“
Hey kids, the waffles are
getting cold,” Sam yelled.

Nash came out of his room dressed in a
hooded sweatshirt and jeans. He made a slow, sleepy progress to
Sandy. He latched on to her.

“
Your friend Teddy is
coming to work today as well,” Sam said.

“
Really?” Nash brightened.
He let go of Sandy.

“
Really. You boys are
working the roads until we figure out what to do about your
school,” Sam said. “Fighting at school. You don’t get to hang out
and play video games all day because you’re kicked out of school!
You’re going to work.”

“
But Dad
didn’t…”

“
Your Dad set this up,”
Sam said. “He picked the crew and talked to the boss. He even
arranged everything with Captain Jakkman so Teddy can join you
today.”

“
Yes, sir,” Nash said.
“May I go to breakfast?”

“
Go on,” Sam said. Nash
skipped out of the apartment. “And you, Noelle…”

Noelle came out of her room wearing a short
skirt and a low cut blouse.

“
Did you forget your
semester assignment is due tomorrow?” Sam asked.

“
My… oh… oh goodness!”
Noelle said. “I read all the books but…”

“
You need to be in
school,” Sam said. “But after you change! Ten year old girls don’t
get to dress like they’re going out to bars. Your Dad wouldn’t let
you go to school like that and I won’t either.”

“
I’ll help,” Sandy led
Noelle back to her room.

She coaxed Noelle into jeans and a pretty
top then sent her on her way to breakfast. Sandy took a quick
shower then changed into her work cloths. She smiled at herself in
the mirror.

Maybe, just maybe, they would make it
through this mess.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE
Survivors

Thursday — 1:05 P.M.

Denver County Court Building

Jill moved across the court room to retake
her seat in the witness box. She had been on the stand since they
showed the horrible videos of Honey’s attack. Jacob and her mom,
Anjelika, had been with her all day. She smiled at them after she
sat down.

This morning, the Assistant District
Attorney had led her through her testimony. Yes, she found the
apartment ransacked. Yes, she threw away the dead cat. Yes, that
was her police report. Yes, she had a restraining order against
Trevor. They had shown the video of Trevor hitting her just before
Honey was attacked. She explained that she was coached to behave as
if she wanted him. She believed her little act may have saved her
life. Without ever mentioning MJ or his team, Jill talked about
Trevor and his wife, the defendant, trying to take Katy and Paddie
on that horrible night.

She and Jacob
had practiced her testimony for days. She’d hoped to be helpful and
unemotional. But when she saw the video of Trevor hitting her and
taking her Katy, she broke down. The Judge had to ask for a recess
so she could get control of her emotions. It had been such a
terrible night. To have to relive it
here
, in a courtroom,
for
that
woman, was torture. She stumbled through the
rest of her testimony until the court finally went into lunch
recess.

While her mother checked in on Aden’s kids,
Jacob took her to the Downtown Aquarium for lunch. After wandering
around the fish, tigers and other exhibits, they had the most
amazing meal. Jacob laughed and talked about nothing. With Aden in
jail, and Blane on Daddy duty, Sam was covering Lipson Construction
today. That meant no interruptions. In Sam’s world, all problems
could wait until tomorrow. Jacob kept her entertained the entire
lunch. They had a wonderful break.

Jill swallowed hard. The defense attorney,
Miles Blanchard, was going to cross examine her today. He had been
brutal to Honey. Jill had never thought that someone could be so
mean and so calm at the same time. Honey wasn’t fazed at all.

But Jill was not Honey. When the Defense
Attorney opened his mouth, she panicked. Glancing at Jacob, she
could feel his hand in hers. His psychic thumb stroked her hand
like he did when they were at a movie or a play. She smiled.

“
I’m sorry I don’t
understand your question,” Jill said to cover the fact that she
hadn’t heard his question.

“
Let’s face it, Ms. Roper,
you had it in for my client,” Mr. Blanchard said.

“
How did I have it in for
your client? It seems to me like she had it in for me.”

“
You ruined her engagement
party. You tried to seduce her fiancé. You stole her step-daughter
from her. You create legal and emotional havoc everywhere you
go!”

“
Objection! Conjecture!”
The assistant DA, Ann Campbell, sprang to her feet.

“
Sustained.”

Mr. Blanchard leaned against the table with
a calm confident air.

“
Tell us about crashing
the defendant’s engagement party,” he smirked as if he would be
proven right.

“
I was invited to the
engagement party,” Jill said. “I don’t know why was invited. But I
was invited. Trevor had told everyone that Katy, our daughter, was
from a one-night stand. I’ve been told that his future
mother-in-law thought it was polite to invite the baby mommy. I
don’t know that for a fact. Maybe Tiffanie hoped I would bring
Katy. But I had an invitation.”

“
And your
show?”

Jill flushed. She was sure no one in the
courtroom could see the cruel look on the man’s face. She cleared
her throat and tried to speak but found her voice gone.

“
Mr. Blanchard! You are
cautioned!” the Judge said. “I will not tolerate your intimidation
of this or any witness.”

“
But your honor, I would
never…”

“
You just did! I saw that
look!”

“
But your
honor you cannot caution over a
look
…”

“
My courtroom, my rules.
You are cautioned. Continue that behavior and you’ll experience the
hospitality of the Denver Police!”

Jill was able to collect herself when the
defense attorney and judge argued back and forth. She was surprised
at how angry the Judge seemed. Clearly, the defense attorney wanted
Jill to screw up. No matter. She was going to tell everything.

“
You may continue, Ms.
Roper.”

“
My husband and I had been
married nine years. We had a three year old little girl. He
divorced me, took all our money, my car, everything of any value
and left me and our daughter with his loans, his credit card debt
and… well… nothing.

“
I had three one-hundred
dollar bills that I got waitressing. That’s what Katy and I used
for food for two months.”

Jill swallowed hard.

“
I went to the engagement
party to tell my side of the story. He wasn’t very smart in setting
it up. He knew that all our friends work those parties. They even
hired my brother-in-law’s friend’s band.

“
Anyway, that’s what
happened. I went and told my side of the story. I wasn’t a one
night stand. I’d known Trevor since we were kids. We had a family,
a life together before he met…”

Jill couldn’t bring herself to say her
name.

“
The, um, defendant,” Jill
said.

“
You’re saying it’s all
right that you disrupted a twenty thousand dollar engagement party
with your…” the defense lawyer raised his eyebrow in disgust.
“Event.”

“
Define
right,” Jill said. “Is it right that she stole my husband? Is it
right that she tried to steal my daughter and her friend? Is
it
right
? Is it right that she tried to kill her own
sister? Is it right…?”

“
Objection, your honor.
This witness is hostile and uncooperative.”

“
Fine Mr. Blanchard.
Objection sustained,” the Judge said. “This is a hostile witness.
The jury will disregard Ms. Roper’s last statement. Let’s move
on.”

“
Tell us about trying to
seduce your ex-husband.”

“
I don’t know
what you mean,” Jill said. “I had sex with Trevor and he divorced
me. That was… January 3
^rd
… last year.
He gave me the papers right after we finished. I signed them. He
filed them that day and I threw his stuff out of our
apartment.”

“
You’re saying that you
don’t remember attempting to seduce your ex-husband in July? Last
year?”

Jill shook her head.

“
Oh come on, Ms. Roper.
You swore an oath to tell the truth! You tried to seduce your
ex-husband and when he wouldn’t fall for your ploys you sicced your
dogs on him. He had a laceration on his forearm.”

“
What?”

“
Your honor, the defense
would like to enter photos of dog bites on Trevor Mc Guinsey’s arm.
You’ll note the dates.”

“
He tried to rape me!”
Jill exclaimed. “He hit me, scratched up my back, ripped my jeans.
He said we’d been tricked by these rich people. We should continue
our relationship but he was getting married a few days
later.”