“What?”Did I miss something?We just went from A to Z so fast.
“I’m sorry, I meant to tell you in a much cuter way. I just found out, so I’m only like four weeks… The saltines are just a precaution right now.”
“No, don’t apologize. I’m so happy for you!” She leaps up to hug her friend, and my hands go wide, preparing to catch her if she falls. “Another baby,” she exclaims gently.
“I’m terrified,” Thea laughs.
“It’ll be great. You just made my whole day.”
“Well, come on. I’m eating for two, and you need to fuel up for your afternoon. Hayes, take us to lunch,” Thea instructs, and I nod, happy to oblige.
* * *
Trial resumes after lunch, and the gallery seems to fill up significantly. It’s time for Liv’s victim statements, and she has quite a few of them.
Curtis is outside with his nurse, Sienna. Jesse joined us at lunch and followed us back to the courthouse to help support Curtis. Jo and Lochlan are here because Jo has to take thestand this afternoon, so Callie came to support her new friend. Which means Nathan is here too, because where Callie goes, he goes.
Natalie and Jackson are here with half of the Rollins County police force because so many of them were affected by the Porter family’s crimes. Jeremiah also has quite a few people here in his corner, though they look more like his mother’s associates, and not his.
If Liv is feeling the pressure, she isn’t showing it. She swears that lunch fixed her up, and she doesn’t feel faint anymore, but I’m on high alert regardless.
Jeremiah is going to prison. It’s just a matter of how much Liv can prove that will affect the severity of his consequences.
Curtis is the star witness. The gravity of his injuries will put Jeremiah behind bars for a long time if she can prove it was attempted murder.
“I’d like to call my first witness to the stand. JoAnna Dane, formerly JoAnna Montgomery,” Liv tells the judge, and she waits calmly as Jo takes the oath.
“JoAnna, can you tell us about the night you were kidnapped?”
“Yes, of course.” She begins recounting the night of her postgrad graduation party when Emory went missing, and then Jeremiah took her against her will.
She gets to the part about being chained inside the bear enclosures, but I’m hardly listening. My body is angled, keeping Lochlan in my peripheral vision.
His jaw is set tight, and I know he is imagining serving his own kind of justice. His eyes are on Jo, but his anger is penetrating Jeremiah’s back.
“JoAnna, at any point, did you believe that Jeremiah meant to harm you?”
“Yes.”
“He claims that he was only going to chain you up and leave. Is that accurate?”
“Yes, but he told me that he wanted to let the bears handle me.”
“As far as you know, the bears at Second Chance Sanctuary are not tame. Correct?”
“Correct.”
“Jeremiah knew that leaving you at the mercy of adult black bears could result in your death,” Liv responds to Jo, but is speaking towards the jury. “His actions were not merciful. Even if he did not wish to harm you with his own hands, he had ill intent.”
“Objection!” Jeremiah’s lawyer stands. “Speculation. She can’t prove that my client knew anything about the bears’ mental state.”
“Move on, Miss Greenwood.”
“Of course, your honor. JoAnna, did you witness Jeremiah’s attack on Curtis?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think that Jeremiah intended to kill, Curtis?”
