The Choice

The Choice-Chapter Sixteen

They think it's over. They have let their guard down.  It is not over. They will see. Soon they will be forced to tell the world the truth. The world will see them for who they really are. Murders. 

*****

Thanks to Rain making a motion with the judge for a speedy trial, Jury selection was to start in two weeks. Rain's idea was to force the state's hand. The state's usual process was to put motion after motion through the court and hold the trial off for years. 

Rain used my pregnancy as an excuse to get the process over and done with. The judge agreed. He said that all motions should be given to him to be heard within the next two weeks. So while Rain spent the two weeks fighting over the state's motions. Tony and I spent every possible minute in the conference room of Rain's office going over every piece of discovery. We've seen everything at least a dozen times, and we know what the state is going to try. 

Though we've seen it, we know that there will be surprises. When Rain made it back to the office, he wasn't too happy. He had motioned a change of venue, to get the trial into Tucson instead of Phoenix. The judge denied that. I didn't really expect it to happen, I mean, there isn't a county anywhere in the country that would be uninfluenced by the news coverage. 

As the judge said, they would just have to find sixteen unbiased people. People who, while they know about the case, they can still be neutral. 

The Prosecutor, a woman named Emily Hartman, was ruthless, and had a very high success rate, but as Jane Wolff likes to remind us, Rain's success rate is over ninety percent. She put a motion before the judge and stated that telling the jury of my pregnancy will unfairly influence them. The judge agreed. So during the trial, no one can mention that I am pregnant. I don't know what happens if the trial goes on for months as it is predicted to do, and I start to show. Perhaps they will put me behind the table in black clothes so it's less obvious. 

During the two weeks before the trial, Brian was there to escort us and from Rain's office. He left someone to guard the lobby of the building while he spent much of his time flying to and from the scene of the accident. He was looking for evidence that would both exonerate us, and finger the murderer. 

So far, the only thing he has figured out is that the physical evidence from the scene did not support the State's theory, although they think it does. Instead, it supports my story. The state had an accident reconstruction expert that was scheduled to testify. Of course, Rain has his own, who will testify to refute what the other guy says. 

The night before we were to appear in court for Jury selection, Tony and I were both anxious. Neither of us could sleep. I could tell there was something on his mind. He had been unusually quiet and distant all day. I was hesitant to ask, but I was getting worried. Rain had said we both need to have our minds in the game tomorrow. 

"What's on your mind?" I finally asked. 

He glanced over at me from the recliner he sat in. He hadn't wanted to sit next to me on the sofa as he had every other evening. Another fact that worried me. He paused a moment, before answering. "Nothing." 

I rolled my eyes. "You've barely spoken two words to me since we got back." I said, "And you've been staring off into space. It's more than the trial. What is it?" 

He sighed, "I've just been thinking of the future." 

Uh, oh! This isn't going to be good. My hand went to my belly. "What about it?" I asked. "Kind of silly to think about something that's not very secure right now. Don't you think we should worry about this trial before we worry about the future?" 

"What do you want in life?" He asked. 

I sighed. He isn't going to let this go. "I don't know. I guess not to go to jail for murder. Not to have this baby behind bars."