Hostile Witness (21 page)

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. Do not twist my words. You cannot twist them to suit you. Hannah was the one who abused my father. Hannah was the one. . .”

Josie threw herself back into the courtroom, her arms raised in disbelief.

“Hannah was fourteen when she came to live in your home and barely fifteen when your father first took an interest in her. We’ve all seen her. She weighs one hundred pounds, and you want to tell this court that she was the one who abused. . .”

“Objection,” Rudy roared.  “Counsel is blatantly badgering this witness.”

Forgetting Kip Rayburn Josie turned on Rudy.

“What is outrageous is that my client is on trial when it is the Rayburn family that should be held accountable for what they have done to her. How far did you look for a perpetrator, Mr. Klein? How far were you willing to go to sacrifice a child so that you could make a name for yourself – or was it to protect the reputation of a dead judge?” Josie’s eyes slid to Kip. “Or is your office protecting the next Justice Rayburn, Mr. Klein?”

“Ms. Bates, that is enough,” Judge Norris warned.

“No, I want to know.  Were you afraid if you tried to find the real criminal someone might have dug up the fact that Fritz Rayburn wasn’t such a good guy after all?”

“That’s ridiculous. Your client had the means and the opportunity. You’re client set that fire. . .” Rudy was half out of his seat, outraged at the turn of events.

“That is enough!” Norris roared and his gavel crashed onto his desk.

Josie took too many steps back, moving so close to Kip that she could almost touch the wooden railing between them. She rerouted herself again. It was wrong to be so aggressive, so outraged. Righteous indignation would help her client, not an attack. The silence was deafening. Rudy Klein sat down. Josie pulled herself together.

“Continue with this witness in an appropriate manner, Ms. Bates or you will be sanctioned.”

She turned toward the jury then back again, her head bowed in thought. Rudy fumed in his chair.  Josie was composed once more.

“Is it true your father was abusive to you, yes or no?”

“No.”

“Mr. Rayburn isn’t it true that in the two days before his death you and your father fought violently.”

“I wouldn’t characterize it that way,” Kip answered.

“Did you argue?”

“Yes.”

“What did you argue about?”

“A business matter.”

“During that business disagreement, were you so outraged that you threw a glass decanter at your father?”

“Yes. It was a mistake.”

“Did you resolve the matter?”

“We would have,” Kip replied.

“So at the time of his death, you still harbored ill will toward your father for a current transgression. Yes or no.”

“No.”

Josie didn’t give him time to breathe.

“Did you harbor ill will toward him for his treatment of you as a child?”

Kip swallowed hard and answered, “No.”

“Were you upset that your father paid so much attention to the defendant.”

“I didn’t think it was healthy.”

“You didn’t think it was healthy,” Josie reiterated. “That’s an interesting choice of words, Mr. Rayburn. For whom was it unhealthy? For Hannah Sheraton?”

Kip ignored the question and answered as he liked, “There was an unhealthy concern on my father’s part for a girl who didn’t know the value of his attention.”

“Are you still contending that your father only had Hannah Sheraton’s best interests at heart?”

“Yes.”  Kip leaned forward in his chair, daring her to take this further. Josie pulled herself to her full height, a small smile on her lips.

“Mr. Rayburn, do you know the penalty for perjury?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then answer this question truthfully. Was your stepdaughter abused by Justice Fritz Rayburn?”

Kip couldn’t contain himself any longer. He stood up and leaned over the railing of the witness box.  His tone was cruel, his plain eyes seemed dead.

“If I had any knowledge of abuse in my home I would gladly tell you because then everyone would see that Hannah is a murderer.  If my father did such a despicable thing, if any of what you said was true, at least that little shit would have a decent motive for killing my father.  Or didn’t that occur to you, you bitch?”

Time stopped. The courtroom reverberated with the echoes of Kip Rayburn’s fury. His face, so ordinary in repose, took on angles and shadows carved by the twin blades of raw emotion and brutal honesty. He trembled as he stood looking down on Josie Baylor-Bates. His hatred of her was palpable. She took a step forward, holding out her right hand as if to ask the judge to give her a moment. It was Josie and Kip in that instant. Everyone else faded to black and the camera captured them in close-up.

“If everything I said is true,” Josie said firmly, “then Hannah isn’t the only one with a motive to kill your father is she, Mr. Rayburn?”

22

“In my chambers!” -  Judge Cy Norris

“Sit down!”

Judge Norris bellowed as he swept into his chambers.  He yanked at the zipper on his robes and fought his way out of them. Behind him Linda and Kip, Rudy and Josie scattered.  Linda took a chair, as did Rudy. Josie and Kip stood on opposite sides of the room.

“Your Honor,” Josie began.

“Not yet. Not yet, Ms. Bates. You just give me a minute here to cool my jets.”  Norris huffed.  Adrenalin kept him from his seat. Behind the desk he paced like a caged animal; long strides in a short space.  His hands were on the side of his head before they landed on his hips. The temperate looking man who had initially taken the bench had a formidable temper.

Finally he stopped, grasped the back of his chair, and hung his head. In the silence that ensued he finally sat down, tented his fingers and looked at them. He was, in a word, appalled.

“Mr. Rayburn. I will not accept that kind of behavior in my courtroom. Period. And I am disturbed to think that your behavior might be repeated in your own courtroom were the governor to allow you to take the bench.”

“It isn’t my courtroom I’d worry about, it is your own.”

“Mr. Rayburn,” Norris snapped.

“This entire trial is a farce.” Kip sounded off. “You’ve enabled that woman to degrade these proceedings by attacking me and my father in public when she had every opportunity to ask me those same questions before this trial began. This is a calculated attack.”

“You will show this court respect, sir,” Judge Norris intoned, “because you have no standing except as a witness here.”

“It doesn’t matter when I ask a question,” Josie insisted, ready to fight with Kip. “I expect a truthful answer.  If you were going to turn a blind eye to what was happening in your own home then I had no choice but to bring it to the court’s attention.” Josie whipped her head toward Judge Norris.  “Your Honor, I request a continuance. I need more time to fully prepare now that I have this information. I need to see what bearing the victim’s behavior, this witnesses’ behavior, has on my case.”

“Your Honor,” Rudy jumped in. “There is no need to put the court out because Ms. Bates’ client has been less than forthcoming. The defense has had ample time to uncover and investigate all aspects of this matter. We aren’t talking about forensics that need additional testing, or an eye witness that needs to be located.”

“I should say not,” Kip drawled. “There couldn’t be a witness, or evidence, because nothing happened to that girl. Ask my wife. Ask her.”

All eyes turned toward Linda. She sat with her knees together, her hands fisted in her lap. Her face was the color of chalk, her eyes cold as ice as she stared at Josie.

“Why are you doing this to us?” Linda lifted her hands slightly.

“Did you know, Linda? Did you?” Josie asked quietly. But Linda didn’t answer. She turned to Judge Norris.

“Your Honor, my daughter is ill. She lives in a world of fantasy. Hannah lives in her own mind.  She paints pictures; she makes up lives for herself. She smokes marijuana.  She reinvents herself every. . .”

“Linda!” Josie cried. “What are you saying? Hannah has been abused, and she has the scars to prove it.”

Linda dropped her head before swinging it toward Josie, glaring at her from beneath her long lashes.

“Don’t you dare tell me about my daughter, Josie.”

“I’m not. I’m asking you to look at her objectively. Look at what that man did to her,” Josie pleaded.

“And I’m telling you to look again.” Linda shook back her hair and sat up straighter. “You always could tell a fake when we played ball, Josie. You should be able to tell one now.”

Josie’s eyes narrowed. Something was wrong. It was there in Linda’s tone, the shadow behind the eyes.

“This isn’t sport, and Hannah isn’t my opponent, Linda,” Josie said cautiously.

“No, this isn’t sport,” Linda whispered before finding some strength and starting again. “Hannah is a sick girl who has taken up every minute of my life with worry. I don’t mind for myself, but she can ruin my husband’s career, and the reputation of a fine man who died a tragic death.” She turned toward Rudy then to Judge Norris. “How can you let this happen?  How can you let her insinuate these things? Whatever Ms. Bates believes she saw, Hannah probably did it to herself; whatever she told you are the imagining of a lonely teenager who has never fit in anywhere.” She turned her gaze back to Josie.  “This isn’t helping Hannah, Josie. This isn’t helping any of us.”

Kip stepped in.

“If you stay this course, Ms. Bates, you will be on the wrong side of a slander suit.  We want Hannah to plead no contest to all charges. Mr. Klein, I’d like you to negotiate a plea bargain. We will advise you of new counsel. . .”

Josie scoffed.

“You know counsel can’t be replaced without good cause, and I haven’t done anything but act in the best interest of my client.”

“That’s a laugh,” Kip snorted. “I can replace you this minute.  I won’t pay one more cent for this kind of representation. . .”

“So this is all about money and appearances.” Josie nodded, resigned to what she had to do next.  “Fine. Let’s remove her from you – not me from her. Judge, Ms. Sheraton is being prosecuted as an adult. She should make her own decisions and, if there is a question as to the legality of that, Your Honor, then I’d like to go on record with my intent to file for emancipation of the minor Hannah Sheraton to sever all legal ties with Linda Rayburn.”

“You can’t do that. . .” Linda cried half standing.  Kip grabbed her shoulders and settled her again.

“Your Honor, this is a mockery of the system,” Rudy argued. “Emancipation was never meant to be used this way.”

“Then leave me alone to defend that girl!” Josie pushed the envelope without a thought to the consequences.

“Quiet.  All of you.” Norris cut the air with his hand and looked at each one in turn. Josie infuriated and determined, Linda stiff with rage, Rudy anxious to get this proceeding back on track, and Kip Rayburn hurt, angry and dangerous. There was something else in Kip Rayburn, too, but it took Norris a minute to identify it. Then he had a word for it. Shame.  Shame could be a powerful motivator.

He gave his order.

“I’ll talk to the defendant. Alone.”