“Yeah. Same here. Come on. Let’s head back. Will’s got to be wondering what’s taking us so long.”
My stomach answered for me. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. “I’m looking forward to that chili,” I said.
“Me too,” Sam agreed. “The kid might have a knack in the kitchen. I was watching him. I mean, until he kicked me out.”
I laughed. Sam looped his arm around me and we headed out to the parking lot.
I got as far as the ambulance bay before my phone went off again. I pulled it out, then froze mid step.
“Mara?”
“We have to call Will,” I said. “The chili will have to wait.”
“What?”
I turned my phone screen so Sam could see it. It was from Judge Saul’s clerk. The jury was in. She wanted us assembled within the hour.
37
“Has he been told?” Hojo whispered to me. He raced into the courtroom on my heels. He was still tying his tie. A group of reporters set up along the back wall.
A moment later, the deputies led Jamie Simmons in. He wore a suit, but his hair was wet as if he’d just been pulled out of the shower before transport. Bennett Cutler was already at the defense table. Simmons leaned over and whispered something to Cutler. Then Simmons scanned the back of the courtroom.
Claudia Luke and Erin Simmons were obviously not present.
“I don’t know,” I said. Cutler straightened, then turned toward me, scowling. He whispered something back to Simmons then walked over to me.
“My client wants to know what you know about his wife’s condition,” he said. “What happened? The sheriff has been less than forthcoming.”
“I don’t have all the answers,” I said. “But Erin made a suicide attempt. She swallowed a lot of pills. She’s improving, but when I left the hospital, she was starting to give limited responses to stimuli. That’s a good sign.”
“You were with her? Who else was there?”
“Her daughter, her father. There was …”
Cutler’s attention went to the courtroom doors. George and Hayden walked in together. Cutler frowned at me and charged over to them.
“On it,” Hojo said. He got to George and Hayden before Cutler did.
There were harsh whispers. “Unauthorized!” I heard Cutler say.
“All rise!”
Judge Saul took the bench. Cutler was still trying to harass George and Hayden. Hojo physically pushed him back. Every reporter in the room took note of it.
“Mr. Cutler?” Judge Saul said. “Is there some sort of problem?”
Cutler shook his head and he stormed back to the table. “Your Honor, it’s come to my attention that my client’s wife is being harassed by members of her family against her wishes. Against Mr. Simmons’s wishes. She is incapacitated in the hospital. But Mr. Simmons still holds her medical power of attorney. He’s still her next of kin. While I know this is unusual, I’d like to move for a restraining order against them.”
Judge Saul barely looked up from her notes. “And I know you’re aware those aren’t issues I have jurisdiction over. I’m sorry to hear about Mr. Simmons’s wife. I wish her nothing but a full recovery. But those are matters you’ll have to take up with the probate court. Are we ready to proceed with the matter at hand?”
“We are, Your Honor,” I said.
George and Hayden moved into the row behind me. George had his arm tightly around his granddaughter.
“I demand to know what these people have been telling my wife!” Simmons shouted. Judge Saul looked up, startled. It shocked me too. Simmons was about to hear whether he’d been convicted of aggravated murder. He was worried about what George and Hayden were telling Erin? He didn’t ask about her condition.
“Enough, Mr. Simmons. Mr. Cutler. Can you control your client? The verdict can be read in his absence, if not.”
