Breaking Steele (Sarah Steele Legal Thriller)

Chapter 10

MY ALARM WENT OFF at 5 a.m. My blankets were warm and I felt like I had melted into the mattress. I could hear Mandy’s deep breathing from the living room.

I soaked it in. It was like I’d woken with new strength. Part of the fear I’d felt yesterday was hidden deep inside—the other half I turned into righteous anger. Today, I was going to nail Williams.

After a shower, breakfast, getting ready, and a promise to Mandy that I’d call her when I left the courthouse, I was on my way to the office.

I’d driven there so many times, I was on autopilot. The streets weren’t very busy. I mentally went through my notes—taking out this, putting in that, and rearranging them the way I wanted.

The reporter was waiting on the steps of the large concrete-and-steel building. The thing I loved most about the office was its landscaped yard. There was a pond with a fountain, trees and ferns lined the back, and there were even benches and picnic tables. I told the reporter we should go out by the pond, which was my favorite spot.

After I told him the story and he asked the usual mundane reporter questions like “What did it feel like to be kidnapped?” and “Is there any doubt in your mind it was Williams?” I took over.

“This threat has made me more confident than ever that Williams is guilty, and he’s capable of anything. Tell that to the public.”

The reporter wanted more, but I had to go. There was a to-do list as long as my forearm that I had to finish before court started at ten o’clock.

I texted Joshua as I walked to my office. He was already on his way. Good man. That’d earn him some extra-credit points.

Once I sat on my chair, I noticed a bundle of notes on my desk. Joshua had gotten an appointment with Hannah Williams for tomorrow at three o’clock. It would’ve been better if it had been today, but I knew it was the best we could get. He also wrote that when he’d searched the database, he’d discovered another woman by the name of Hannah Williams who had lived with Hank Williams as a child, but she’d later changed her name to Heather Dade. That was curious. Why was this the first I’d heard of another child? And why would anyone give two of their kids the same name? That gave me something else to ask Hannah at my appointment.

For the next hour I went through my notes and retyped what I had. Taking out the DNA evidence and the witnesses’ testimony, I filed them away and put them out of my mind. I’d moved on. There was no time to dwell on the past. It was still a strong case, as the police testimony was coming up today, as well as a presentation of Williams’ previous offenses like the drug possession and a few DUIs.

By the time I’d wrapped my mind around the new and evolved case, I was once again confident I had what it took to prove him guilty.

That was, until I got the phone call.

It was Dan, saying the same thing he did yesterday. “Judge called an emergency meeting. Meet me at the courthouse. Now.” He didn’t have to say how bad this was. I got a sick feeling in my gut. Pressing my hand to my case notes, I just sat for a moment, as if saying goodbye to the work I’d just done.

And then I ran to my car, Joshua in tow, after gulping down the cup of coffee he brought me. He got extra points for that, too.