Worse News (sequel to Bad News)

Worse News - Chap. 15

Chapter 15

 

‘’Were you in a lot of fights when you were younger?’’ Camila sighs and plays with her fingers while looking down. ‘’Yes.’’ She answers softly, but loud enough for the lawyer in front of her to hear her. ‘’So we can say you were quite the aggressive one, right?’’ Duncan asks.

Camila looks up at him, watching Keaton from the corner of her eyes. ‘’No.’’ she answers. Mr. Duncan raises his eyebrow at her. ‘’No? You just said you were in a lot of fights. Care to explain that?’’ he asks, glancing at the jury quickly with a questioning look.

‘’I was the one who got attacked. I only ever defended myself. But because I was good at that, it always seemed like the fights were my fault.’’ Camila answers simply, keeping her eyes on Duncan, trying to understand where he was going with these questions.

‘’So you are telling me that none of the fights, were ever really your fault?’’ Duncan asks, narrowing his eyes at her. Camila gulps before nodding. ‘’Yes.’’ She answers shortly. Lasser had instructed her to give short answers to his questions, so it would be harder for him to use Camila’s words against her.

‘’Have there ever been chances that you could have walked away from a fight?’’ Duncan asks. ‘’Objection.’’ Lasser says from his table, standing up. ‘’Where are you going with this?’’ he asks Duncan. ‘’Denied.’’ Judge Johnson says, looking back at Duncan. ‘’Continue.’’

‘’Thank you your honor.’’ He says, before looking back at Camila expectantly. ‘’No.’’ she answers. ‘’And why not?’’ he asks further. ‘’Because I could get hurt if I walked away. Or worse, somebody I love could’ve gotten hurt.’’ She answers, averting her gaze to glance at Lauren quickly, who sends her a small smile in support.

‘’So instead of getting hurt, you hurt others.’’ Duncan states more than he asks. Camila looks back down at her hands. ‘’Only if I have to.’’ She answers shortly, not wanting to fall into discussion with this man, knowing he’s dangerously good at arguing.

‘’You didn’t have to hurt Mark.’’ He says, making Camila’s eyes shoot up at his, her shoulders visibly tense. ‘’Not in the way that you did. Same goes for Ally and Drew, Wesley and Keaton. You didn’t have to hurt them that badly that they would be badly injured, or die.’’ He says, venom dripping from his voice.

Camila opens her mouth to respond, but no words are coming out. Is he serious right now? He knows how dangerous that situation was for Camila, and still he says she didn’t have to hurt them like that? This guy is crazy. Camila is getting frustrated.

‘’Yes, I had to.’’ Camila replies, feeling her irritation grow and Lasser’s rule about short answers fall to the back of her mind. ‘’Why?’’ Duncan asks, trying to hide his small smile. ‘’Because like I said, I could get hurt if I hadn’t done that. If I had let Ally live, she would chase after me for the rest of my life, and more importantly, chase Lauren. If I hadn’t done what I did, we could both be dead by now. All three of us.’’ She says, glancing at Lauren and Tyler quickly before looking back at Duncan.

‘’Maybe you wouldn’t be dead. Maybe she would have let you walk away if you had given her the chance to speak. And Mark.. Mark was too weak to put up a fight, you didn’t have to kill him too, he wouldn’t have been able to go after you anyway.’’ Duncan counters.