Maya sat near the bench, clutching the edge of her coat. She looked up at me, her eyes too bright. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“I don’t know, sweetheart,” I said. “But whatever it is, he’s working it. He won’t let us down.” I told her that as if I believed it. But I wasn’t sure I did.
Twelve minutes.
Eight.
Four.
The bailiff called our names.
The doors creaked open, that polished wood groan of inevitability. We stepped through.
My legs felt like they belonged to someone else. Elia appeared on my left, one palm firm on my shoulder.
“We’ve got her,” he murmured. “No matter what.”
I nodded. Because I had to.
Dom reappeared, breathing fast, a storm just barely contained in a suit.
“Where the hell—” I started.
“Not now,” he said, sliding past me. “Just trust me, Lucas. Sit down. Hold tight.”
“Powell—”
“All rise.”
Maya satin the witness box, composed and collected, but I knew her well enough now to notice the slight tension in her shoulders and the way she kept flexing her fingers between questions. She was preparing for the next blow.
And it came fast.
“Maya Lucas,” the prosecutor said. “You initially claimed youweren’tat the Belrose estate the night of the burglary.”
“That’s right.”
“And now, under oath, youareadmitting you were there?”
“Yes.”
He cocked his head, feigning confusion. “So, which is it? Because you can’t have it both ways.”
“I denied it at first because I was scared,” Maya said simply. “The police already had their minds made up about me, just like they did four years ago.”
A murmur rippled through the courtroom. The prosecutor smirked, pacing in front of the jury. “So, youlied.”
“I changed my statement to tell the truth.”
“That’s convenient,” he scoffed. “Or maybe lying just comes naturally to you, Mrs. Lucas. It’s in your blood, after all.”
The room stilled, while Dom raised his objection.
Maya’s fingers curled around the edge of the witness box.
The judge warned the prosecutor, and he said he’d rephrase.
The prosecutor turned, flipping a page in his notes. “Yourfather,William Belrose, was arrested for theft when he was twenty-four, wasn’t he? And fraud four years later?”
