The two men touch hands, and then Zack steps forward. Almost instantly a crowd of alphas surge toward him. The lawyer narrates as Zack disappears among the seething bodies. “Here we see Mr Jones inciting the inmates—”
“Rewind the tape,” I call, bristling.
He stammers. “It’s not done playing.”
“No, but you’re making unverified claims about the footage.” I swivel to the judge. “I ask that the opposing counsel rewind it and validate their statements.”
The judge nods in agreement. “Restart the footage and play it back at half speed.”
It plays again, and I watch carefully, smiling when I confirm my suspicions. “Your Honor, what grounds do they have to claim Mr Jones incited anything? It’s very clear the other prisoners run at him first.”
McKenna shoots me a death glare, but I ignore him.
The judge orders the video to be rewound for a third time.
The lawyer fumbles to defend his case. “You can clearly see Mr Jones posturing up in clear alpha challenge.”
“It’s not clear to me,” I say. Film can’t capture scent, and they don’t appear to have sound, either. “To me, it looks like he’s getting jumped by twenty-something alphas. An alpha can straighten his back for any number of reasons unrelated to inciting a fight. Or do I need to get an orthopedic surgeon here toexplain how the human spine works? I’m sure I have one in my contacts.”
The opposing lawyer glowers at me like he wants to peel my skin off.
The judge hums and nods. “I have to concur with Counselor Wren. Let’s see the rest of it.”
Big, burly alphas go flying as Zack blasts through the group. Alhedy runs behind him, clearly protecting his back, but I can easily make a case he’s trying to catch Zack to stop him. I’ll worry about that when I do the crime boss’s appeal.
“Here we see Mr Jones headed directly toward inmate Ray Fibbistachi, who was gravely wounded in the vicious attack—”
“Looks like he’s heading to the door, for safety,” I interject.
The lawyer whirls around. “Done interrupting, counselor?” he hisses.
I shrug and smirk. The judge gives me a pointed look, but it does nothing to quell my elation. Crossing my arms, I settle in my chair to watch the rest of the footage.
Now Rickon and Red’s paralysis makes perfect sense. I knew Zack was a fighting machine, and personal experience taught me how intense he can be but seeing him plow through hardened criminals leaves me in awe. I stare, spellbound, as he pushes through a pack of alphas even OCB agents would hesitate to dive into.
And he expects me to prove myself against that power? My stomach hollows out.
Digital Zack, still circled with a white ring, reaches out to snag Ray’s clothes, but they disappear off the edge of the screen. A few blurry smudges on the screen’s edge suggest elbows moving, but the bodies aren’t clear. Alhedy really found a dark spot for them.
“Is this all the footage?” I ask, my voice dripping scorn.
The lawyer ruffles. “As you can see here, Mr Jones beats down on the alpha who’s now in hospital with life-threatening injuries,and who also has a personal connection to Mr Jones’ omega.” His gaze shifts toward Red.
I raise my hand. “Objection! Without another camera angle, it’s complete speculation that he’s the alpha attached to that limb. Any of the prisoners moving in and out of this shot could have ended up there, not to mention more coming out of the door. Are we really admitting this farce of evidence?”
The footage plays on. After only a few seconds, Zack and Alhedy stumble back into the frame, collapsing on the ground as prison officers swarm. Rain blurs the rest of the footage, but I can see Zack panting as he lies face-down in the dirt.
I contain a smile along with the urge to march over and tell Zackatta-boy!
“Motive is clear,” the lawyer says. “And at the start of the film, we saw Keith Alhedy pass the sharpened implement found in the victim’s body to Mr Jones.”
I scoff. “Your Honor, the amount of conjecture here is sickening. How about we ask Mr Jones what really happened?”
“I’ll allow it,” he says, twirling one finger. Surely he’s as sick of the wild speculation as I am.
I march over to the dock. “Zackary Jones, why did your cellmate, Keith Alhedy, whom you know as ‘Al’ touch your hand in the prison yard?”
Zack cocks his head. “Damn fly.”
