The Lies That Shatter by A.V. Asher
Chapter Nineteen
Alec made sure Kristin was delivered to Declan before following Nick to the small office. Charlotte was leaning against the desk, gazing out the window. When they stepped into the room, she smiled. Alec could see the lines of fatigue on her face. This trial was sapping her energy too.
Nick stepped into the room and closed the door. “I’m sorry for being all mysterious on you. And for last night. That’s not usually my style.”
Alec glared at Nick. “That’s not good enough, Nick. You scared my family last night.”
“I know, and I’m sorry for that too. It couldn’t be helped.” Nick held his hands up. “It’s important that you know I didn’t know what was happening until yesterday.”
“And what is happening?”
“People haven’t been honest with either of you, and what I’m about to say is going to be hard for you to hear.”
Alec tilted his head. “So, you lied to me, then?”
“No . . . I mean . . . Damn it. I didn’t lie to you, but you were definitely lied to.”
Charlotte sighed. “Nick, what’s going on?”
“I’m sorry.” Nick’s brows drew together into a grimace. Then looked Alec directly in the eye. “Sadie’s alive.”
Alec’s brain took in the words but couldn’t process them. “What the fuck did you just say?”
Nick pursed his lips. “I said, Sadie is alive. They’ve had her hidden for the last eleven months, waiting for trial. She’s set to testify next.”
“I don’t understand.” Charlotte raised her voice. “Are you sure?”
“Very sure. She and I had quite the conversation last night.”
“Last night?” Alec said. None of what Nick was saying made any damn sense.
Nick swallowed. “Sadie was in the car with me. That’s why I drove off.”
“In the car with you?” Anger flared in Alec’s gut. This wasn’t funny. “Have you gone mad?”
“No, I’m not mad. I thought they would give you both a few days before they called her, but Whitley wants her now.”
Charlotte tilted her head. “Wait. So, you’re saying she’ll be in the courtroom in a few minutes?”
Nick nodded his head. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Holy fuck.
“Alec.” Charlotte’s brow was creased with fear and hope. “Is this real?”
“I don’t know.” Alec had lost a grip on reality.
He’d had dreams like this before. Grief dreams, his counselor had called them. It had been months since he’d awoken in a cold sweat, fresh agony washing over him, when he realized she hadn’t come back to him.
This felt different.
“We can talk more later, but we should get to the courtroom.” Nick moved to the door. “Whitley asked for a recess, so I’d at least have a second to tell you.”
Their footsteps echoed off the marble floor, mixing with the thundering of his pulse. Every noise amplified. Inside the courtroom, the murmurs of the waiting reporters and court staff echoed in Alec’s head.
Brenden Whitley came into his view and the world suddenly corrected itself.
Bastard.
How many phone calls had they had? How many opportunities had Whitley had to tell him the truth?
If it even is the truth.
Alec didn’t believe it. It could be another lie designed to forward the US attorney’s agenda. He wasn’t exactly sure how, but there was no way this was happening.
A swell of anger broke free, and he crossed the courtroom. “Is this some kind of sick joke?” Alec ground out as he approached Whitley.
Whitley looked him up and down. He didn’t have to ask Alec what he meant. “I can assure you it’s quite real, Mr. McKinley. And quite necessary.”
“So for nearly a year you let us believe this?” Rage was unfurling, Alec moved toward Whitley, his fists clenched.
Brenden Whitley stepped back, warily eyeing him. Then shuffled through a file on the table. He pulled a document out and handed it to Alec. “Mercedes let you believe it.”
Alec snatched the paper, blood pumping in his ears. It was a copy of a security and protection plan. Alec scanned it until his eyes landed on his own name. He reread the typed words, hoping he had it wrong.
It stated in no uncertain terms would Alec Ryan McKinley or Charlotte Lisette McKinley be made aware of the arrangement or Mercedes would violate the order and would risk her removal from the program.
At the bottom, Mercedes’s name was written in her scrawling script. She had dated it two days after her death.
Mercedes had signed it.
She knew he’d be told she was dead, and she fucking signed it.
“I’m sorry, man. Otherwise, they never would have stopped trying to get to her.” Whitley had the look of a man who wanted to have sympathy but didn’t.
The strike of the gavel echoed out, dragging Alec back to reality.
“You better take a seat,” Whitley said with a smug smile. “This is about to be one hell of a show.”
Alec let out a shallow breath. “A show?”
Whitley ignored him, brushing by to take his seat at the table.
Dazed, Alec stepped back, the paper still in his hands.
“Alec, what the bloody hell is going on?” Declan hissed in his ear. “Charlie’s as big a wreck as you are.”
“Sadie . . .” was all he could get out.
Declan frowned at him as if he’d gone daft. Alec handed the paper to him and sat. Cressida read it over Declan’s shoulder, and their jaws dropped as understanding hit them.
“What’s going on?” Kristin moved to sit next to him and gripped his hand. “Are you okay?”
“No.” was all he could manage.
The judge called the session to order. “Mr. Whitley,” the judge was saying, his words muffled. “Do you have any further need for delay?”
“No, Your Honor, that minor detail has been cleared up.”
Minor detail.
Alec’s gut churned. The roiling emotions were all over the place. Anger. Hope. Grief. Betrayal.
How could this have happened? Why had she let them do this?
“Alright then. Please call your next witness,” the judge said.
“The prosecution calls . . .”
This cannot be happening.
“. . . Mercedes Elliott, your honor.”
Her name struck him like a hammer.
A hum built in the room. Reporters were turning to one another with questioning looks. When the doors opened, the hum turned to a roar.
He couldn’t look. It would give him hope. This wasn’t something that was possible.
It was Charlotte’s gasp of, “Oh, my god,” that finally made Alec turn.
Time fell away.
She was as perfect as the night he met her. Her thick, dark hair swept along her shoulders as she walked. Her every movement was filled with a graceful purpose. The tailored suit she wore accentuated every curve of her body. A body he’d craved to touch for far too long.
When Mercedes reached the stand, she turned to face the courtroom, and Alec inhaled as much air as he could. Everything about her delicate features was stunning. That little lift of her chin was back, and her expression was cool and collected.
The judge said something to her Alec couldn’t make out, and she gave him a nod. Then she faced forward and lifted her right hand to take her oath.
It never happened.
The defense table was in an uproar. They shouted objections over the calls to order from the judge. The chaos gaining the attention of the reporters who were now talking animatedly to one another.
But Alec was lost in her. She was all he could see.
Mercedes’s hazel eyes never lifted to meet his, no matter how much he needed them to. Instead, she focused intently on the back of the room. Her face gave nothing away. Alec’s gaze went to her fingers.
Jesus, she still did it.
She was delicately tapping her fingers against her leg. The only tell that showed her genuine emotions.
A sudden shifting in the crowd brought his attention back. The press was scrambling to the doors.
Alec looked at Kristin and shook his head. “What’s happening?”
Kristin furrowed her brow. “The judge gave the defense the night to collect themselves. She’ll testify tomorrow morning.”
A big man he recognized as Noah Ramirez, the agent that was supposed to have died with her, walked up to her and leaned to whisper in her ear. Mercedes nodded to him and stepped down from the stand. The man had his hand on the small of her back as he escorted her down the aisle. She still wouldn’t meet Alec’s eyes, even after she passed by him.
She couldn’t even look at him after what she’d done.
Get ready for the show.
Alec watched her walk away. Mercedes had played her part beautifully.