“Yes, Judge,” she demurred. “I would simply restate that my client is not a flight risk.”
“Mr. Carmichael,” Turner said. “Your response?”
“Flight is not the issue, your honor. We’re basing our motion on the fact that Mr. Tenant is suspected of committing related crimes,” Dante said. “He tampered with his ankle monitor to evade detection.”
Turner looked exasperated by the lack of details. “What are these crimes?”
Dante tried to bluff his way around the question. “I’d rather not get into it, your honor, but suffice to say we could be looking at a capital offense.”
Leigh was disheartened to hear him bring up the death penalty. Dante was clearly throwing a Hail Mary. His case on Ruby Heyer’s murder was weak. He was either trying to buy himself time to break Andrew’s alibi or scare Andrew into confessing.
She said, “Judge, as you know, that’s a very serious allegation. I would ask that the prosecutor either put up or shut up.”
Turner narrowed his eyes at Leigh. She was pushing too much. “Ms. Collier, would you like to rephrase that?”
“No thank you, your honor. I think my meaning is plain. Mr. Carmichael has no evidence that my client’s ankle monitor was tampered with. He has possible reasons but nothing concrete. As for the so-called capital crime, are we meant to extrapolate from his—”
Turner held up his hand to stop her. He sat back in his chair. His fingers rested on the bottom part of his mask. He looked out at the vacant gallery.
Andrew was finally interested now that his freedom was under threat. He lifted his chin for Leigh to come over and explain what was happening. She held up a finger, telling him to wait.
On television, judges who ruled from the bench usually did it quickly, but that was because they had a script that told them what to say. In real life, they took their time thinking through the finer points, weighing the options, trying to anticipate whether or not they would be overturned on appeal. This looked a lot like staring into the void. Turner was known to take longer than usual.
Leigh sat down. She saw Jacob writing on one of the legal pads, explaining the judge’s silence to Andrew. Andrew still hadn’t reacted to the two new names on Dante’s witness list. Lynne Wilkerson and Fabienne Godard. Were they two of the three previous victims that Reggie had been tipped off about? Were they new victims who’d come forward when they’d seen that Andrew was going to trial?
Walter was right about so many things, but never so much as about Leigh’s role in Andrew Tenant’s crimes. Her silence had allowed him to continue hurting people. Ruby Heyer’s blood was on her hands. Worse, Leigh had been willing to go after Tammy Karlsen in order to keep Andrew from releasing the videos. She had never let herself think too hard about the consequences of Andrew’s freedom. More women abused. More violence. More lives destroyed.
Their beautiful girl forced to flee her home.
“All right,” Turner said.
Leigh and Dante stood up.
Turner looked at Andrew. “Mr. Tenant?”
Leigh indicated Andrew should stand.
Turner said, “I find these reports on your ankle monitor malfunctions to be very troublesome. While the cause of the alarms cannot be pinpointed, I want you to understand that my continued lack of remand depends on nothing further occurring. Do you understand?”
Andrew looked at Leigh.
She shook her head, because of course the judge had ruled in his favor. “ He’s not revoking your bail. Don’t fuck with your monitor again.”
She could tell Andrew was grinning. “Yes, your honor. Thank you.”
Turner banged his gavel. The bailiff called it a day. The court reporter started to pack up her things.
Jacob told Leigh, “I’ll put together profiles and email them to you later tonight. I’m assuming we’re working through the weekend?”
“Yes.” Leigh powered back on her work phone. “I want you to finish out the examinations tomorrow. I’m going to tell Cole Bradley that I’m moving you to co-counsel.”
Jacob looked surprised, but he was too overjoyed to ask her why. “Thank you.”
Leigh’s throat worked. It felt good to do something right for a change. “You’ve earned it.”
She looked down at her phone as Jacob left. She started the email to Bradley. Her hands were still steady. Dante and Miranda were powering up their phones as they walked out of the courtroom. The rollercoaster was steadily falling toward Walter speaking to the police. Leigh needed to find Callie tonight. Her sister had a right to know the amount of hell that was about to rain down.