‘Unfortunately for my client, when he arrived at Ms Keller’s residence, she attempted to seduce him, and when Alexander Cane informed her that he was in a committed relationship, Ms Keller flew at him. She attacked him with a knife, Your Honour, leaving my client no option but to fight back despite Ms Keller’s significantly smaller stature.
‘And as for afterwards … Put yourself in Mr Cane’s shoes. A young, attractive,powerfulman, suddenly caught in a scandal not of his own making, a scandal eerily resonant of those many #MeToo movement claims that were exaggerated or false and that unforgivably diluted the immensity of sexual assault claims for women everywhere as a result. Is it any wonder that he feared for his own safety? Is it any wonder that he ran?
‘Your Honour, if my brief summary of that night is undermined in any way by the frequency of false allegations like the one that Nina Keller has made against my client, all you have to do is look at the man himself. Mr Cane is a respected member of the community, an upstanding citizen with no history of sexual or violent crimes.
‘And Ms Keller … Ms Keller is a woman who grew up in a broken home where she was systematically deprived of love and attention. She is an actress of the highest calibre, as proven by her extensive list of accolades and awards. She is a woman who is paid millions of dollars toliefor a living.
‘That being said, it is a travesty that we are here at all today, Your Honour. My client deserves to go home and recover from the toll that these allegations have taken on him, and to recuperate with the help of his family and friends. He deserves to be within the comfort of his own home as we prepare to defend his innocence.’
Maverick, who had been raised with a clear sense of right and wrong, didn’t understand how anyone could defend someone who was so clearly guilty. He knew the defence attorney was being paid a fortune, but how could he sleep at night knowing that he was putting a predator back on the streets? Did he not have a wife or sister or daughters?
Maverick stoically sat through the flight-risk discussion, his nerves so on edge that he didn’t hear the courtroom door open or see Amanda Black until she walked past where he sat, her purse clutched against her chest like a shield. A man who he assumed was her husband walked beside her, his hand pressed supportively to her lower back.
Mav’s heart stopped beating as she stopped and took two rapid steps back.
The movement seemed to garner some attention from the judge, who raised his eyebrows at the interruption.
All eyes shifted to Amanda then, including Linda Patton’s. When she saw Amanda, she sprang to her feet and hurried to where the other woman stood.
She whispered something, and Amanda shook her head. But she passed the attorney a piece of paper.
‘Ms Patton, if you’re quite done,’ the judge said, clearly frustrated.
‘Yes, Your Honour.’ She led Amanda Black and her husband to where Nina and Markus sat, ushered them into the bench row.
Up to that moment Mav hadn’t, not even once, looked at Alexander Cane. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to control his rage. But he did then. He couldn’t help himself. And when he saw Cane’s red-faced, eye-popping fury, Mav outright grinned.
Perhaps he sensed Mav’s taunting gaze, but Alexander shifted his eyes to Mav’s, where the message ‘Fuck you,’ was as clear as day.
Mav recognized the unguarded hate that nestled in the other man’s irises, but he didn’t let it bother him. It was completely mutual.
‘Your Honour, I apologize for the interruption; however, I would like to submit a second victim’s statement – this one written – for your consideration.’
The judge only waved her forward and took the piece of paper. He scanned it. The only indication that what he read was highly disturbing was the way his bushy eyebrows gathered.
He was quiet for a long moment once he had put the piece of paper down.
The proceedings began again. Mav listened intently as the judge summarized the list of charges. He noted that rape had been added as the presumptive charge and finally understood what he had asked Amanda Black to do.
Maverick felt sick with shame. Even though he couldn’t take back asking Amanda for help, and even though he knew that she had ultimately made the choice herself, he hated that both the women had to put their trauma out in the open to get justice.
Still, the judge set bail at a measly four hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars and required that Alexander Cane submit all his travel documents prior to release.
He ended the hearing by saying, ‘Due to the highly disturbing nature of the charges against you, Mr Cane, I’m also granting temporary restraining orders to both Ms Keller and Mrs Black. You are not to contact – or go within five hundred feet – of either of them until your next court date, after which the facts and evidence will be reassessed.’
The moment the hearing concluded, Amanda Black and her husband stood to leave. They hurried down the aisle as if they were terrified of being stopped and questioned.
Mav pushed to his feet and stepped out in front of them.
Amanda Black smiled at him.
‘I’m so sorry – for asking for your help,’ he said. ‘It wasn’t right.’
Amanda shook her head. ‘Honestly? It feels like this weight has been lifted, and I had gotten so used to living with it, I had completely forgotten it was there.’ She surprised him by leaning forward and giving him a huge hug. ‘Thank you for being so kind and understanding. You gave me a chance to finally lay this all to rest. Linda …’
‘She’s great,’ Mav said, and gave her a squeeze before stepping back.
‘She is. She’s pushing to have my NDA nullified due to the criminal nature of the case. I might have to give back the money.’ She laughed. ‘But the craziest thing is that I haven’t spent a dollar of it. Every time I thought about using it – and, trust me, there were times I needed to – I remembered where it came from, and I couldn’t stand for my big expenses – my home and my kids’ education – to be tainted byhim, by what he had done.’
