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him down until he looked away. A tall, skinny woman in black jeans held the hand of a
little boy, who rubbed his eyes with his other hand. Kate exchanged a look with her, and
they shared a moment of resignation. She and this woman were pushing uphill against a
system rushing down the slope too fast to stand against. The little boy and Ellie were both
about to be swept away.
The elevator dinged open. Kate put her misgivings inside, Ellie still latched to her
hand. The elevator car had been restored to its art deco origins. The panel was framed in
sharp silver angles, a stylized leopard ready to pounce on the lighted buttons.
The woman with the boy clicked the button for the fourth floor. The attorney was
headed to three.
Six, please, Kate said, and the attorney shot her a speculative look, because the
sixth floor was criminal court.
When the woman and child got off at four, she gave Kate a tight, sad smile. Kate
gave Ellie s hand a squeeze, but Ellie didn t respond. She just stared front and center,
bottom lip caught in her teeth.
The elevator jerked and settled. A hollow ding, and the doors parted to frame the
sculptural centerpiece of the rotunda, a marble Lady Justice, her hair perpetually frozen
in a stream of unfelt wind, her sculpted gown caught forever against the lines of her
stylized body, her molded arms outthrust to carry the weight of the scales.
Kate stepped from the elevator, Ellie still clutching her hand.
Talk. Reassure her. The ADA s office is down the west hall.
Ellie slowed like a reluctant child.
It ll be alright. Kate repeated the words, a promise that might come true if she said
it over and over. It ll be alright, Ellie. It ll be alright.
Ellie s courage rallied, and she kept up with Kate s strides. They moved past the
attorneys and workers and defendants milling in the hallway, past the wide double doors
of the courtrooms.
It ll be alright.
One of the double doors opened almost on top of them. Kate skipped backwards a
step, felt Ellie stumble. Their hands came loose. Kate turned to see if Ellie was still with
her. Ellie s eyes went wide, and she flinched into a defensive crouch.
Kate whirled. Right in front of her, coming out of the courtroom, without handcuffs,
without restraints, was Ellie s husband. He didn t seem to see Kate. His narrowed slits of
eyes were fixed on Ellie.
Ellie shrieked like a rabbit caught by a cat.
Shawn Harris lunged, and instinctively Kate put her body between him and Ellie. His
fist slammed into her cheek. Kate felt a hot slice of pain and she pushed back, bringing
her knee up into his soft spots. The man grunted and fell, dragging Kate down with him.
Her head hit the floor hard, and the edges of her vision blurred. She felt Harris try to
scramble up her body. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and clung tightly, a
parody of lust. His knee ground into her side, his elbow caught her temple. Her world
tilted and her grasp loosened. But strong hands pulled him from her. Light flooded her
eyes and she saw the blue uniforms of bailiffs and sheriffs. Ellie was screaming,
screaming. The world shivered with the force of the sound.
Kate closed her eyes. This was supposed to be the best day of my life. She tried to
picture Paul, her hand in his, his dark lashes sweeping down against his cheek, but before
she could assemble the memory, consciousness teetered, spun and fell away.
* * * *
Will you follow my finger with your eyes, please? The ER doctor moved his lifted
index finger back and forth in front of Kate s face.
Kate stared at him. They did this in the ambulance. They said I was fine. No
concussion.
Do it for me again.
Instead of obediently following the finger, Kate crossed her eyes. The doctor heaved
a sigh. Ms. Scott&
There was a woman who came in on the other ambulance same time as me, Kate
broke in. I need to know how she is.
Ellie had still been screaming when they took her out of the courthouse, the last thing
Kate heard when they loaded her into the ambulance, high and scratchy as her throat gave
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