“Then it really doesn’t matter, does it?”
Before he could answer, she turned and strode out of the courtroom.
A minute later they were all gone, and Jason was alone. He turned to the jury box and stared at the twelve built-in chairs where the citizens who would decide his sister’s fate would sit. He walked over to the railing and gazed at the empty chairs.
How many times had his father, Lucas Rich, made his closing argument standing right here? What would his dad think of him now?
“See you, Monday,” he whispered over the railing.
58
They gathered around his small conference room table at 5:30 p.m. on Friday evening. Izzy, Harry, and Jason. A pizza box was between them, and all but one slice had been devoured.
“Are you absolutely sure?” Jason looked at Harry and pointed a piece of pepperoni at him before popping it in his mouth.
Harry slid the photographs across the table. “You tell me.”
Jason looked at them all again. Then he viewed the same shots in close-up on his laptop. “I haven’t been around Cowan in person like you have, but that’s definitely Maples.”
“Cowan is probably still at the Brick right now. Let’s go take a look.”
Ten minutes later, the trio were at a booth near the bar of the Brick. A man in jeans and a flannel shirt sat on a stool, sipping from a pint of beer.
“Iz?” Harry asked.
She glanced at the photograph and then the man. “Definitely him.”
“J. R.?”
Jason let out a deep breath. “Yep, that’s him all right.”
He glanced down at the photographs, which showed Colleen Maples embracing Trey Cowan on the steps outside the former football star’s apartment.
“I can testify that they went upstairs and into Cowan’s room.”
“So let’s walk through it together,” Jason began. “Cowan is angry at Dr. Waters because of the botched surgery. Maples is also angry at Braxton because of the jilted romance. Maples also feels guilty for her role in Cowan’s surgery and pissed that she was investigated and punished by the ABN while Dr. Waters suffered no such fate. She befriends Cowan, and they start up a romance. Cowan talks with Pike, who tells the two of them that Jana is thinking about hiring him to kill Braxton. Then Maples and Cowan decide that they’ll pay Pike the fifteen grand to kill Braxton. If he ever gets caught, he’s supposed to say Jana hired him.”
“So Jana’s withdrawal of 15K is a coincidence?” Izzy asked, the sarcasm evident in her voice.
“Not at all,” Jason said. “Jana must have told Pike she was taking fifteen grand out to pay Cade, and he must have alerted Cowan and Maples that they could pay him the same sum to do the deed to make Jana appear guilty.”
“I guess,” Izzy said. “Still seems like a huge stretch. Do you think Conrad will let you get all of this in front of the jury?”
“Jana’s entitled to defend herself and present alternative theories.”
“But you’re making great leaps with the evidence here,” Izzy pressed. “Is there anyone who overheard Pike and Cowan talking about Braxton and Jana? For all we know they talked about ball games.”
“That’s not true. Teresa can testify that she saw them huddled together and talking a lot. Sometimes for at least an hour.”
“That’s weak,” Harry said.
“I know, but it’s something. All we need is one reasonable doubt. Once I take Pike apart on the stand, then an alternative will be more feasible to the jury. We just need to give them something.”
“How’s the Pike cross coming?”
He sighed. “Good, but his statement is vague about how Jana gave him the money. That’s the most crucial part, and all he says is she gave him the money in the strip mall off Highway 69 after picking him up at the house.”
“I can’t believe there’s not one witness to her driving down Buck Island Drive that night,” Izzy said.
“I can,” Harry said. “I’ve scoped that road out at all hours of the day. The houses are huge, most well off the road. With all the fireworks and shenanigans of the Fourth, I doubt anyone was paying attention.”
“I’ll just have to see what he says and react,” Jason said.
“What if he says she gave him an envelope with the money? Or a package with the cash? Or stuffed the bills down his pants after sucking him off?” Izzy cackled after the last comment. “Look, I’m sorry, but you need to be ready for anything.”